*Spoilers Ahead*
Another week, another Shin Sekai Yori. What will Saki and the others do with Shun gone? What does this mean for the rest of them? No time to waste! Let’s get to it!
Saki has revealed to Satoru and the gang that Shun has left and that the village knows about them. Not being able to stand for any of it, Satoru tells them that they should all go in search of their missing friend. Taking off as sneakily as they can, the kids make their way to Pinewood Village to find any clues to Shun’s location. Once they get there, Saki and Satoru take note that this place is odd: flowers everywhere, then a frost-chilled ground, and even a renegade Monster Rat. Their hunt comes to an abrupt end when Saki notices a damaged tree, calling back memories of her childhood. The two of them end up calling it quits, saying they will try again the next day.
Saki goes home to have dinner with her parents. As they talk about their day to day, Saki breaks her silence, asking her mother and father what has happened to Shun. Her father tells her that it’ll be okay, but as you grow there are many trials. Saki’s mother demands she stops talking about it, frightened to lose another one of her…she means scared to lose Saki! Saki goes to bed, assuring her parents that she’s done with it all and will continue on as usual.
Laying in bed, our protagonist recalls a moment in her past, remembering an older sibling. Had she really forgotten? Where did they disappear to? Why? Are they dead? Maria also visits her through the window explaining that her and Mamoru broke into the courtyard at the school. Investigating the storage rooms before their teacher and two others show up, they discover the teacher taking a lion-like cat from storage and leaving, lamenting that Shun had such potential. Maria takes off, leaving Saki all alone. Saki’s not going to take this lying down — she equips herself in ninja gear, grabs Shun’s cat ward, and takes to investigating on her own. She makes her way back to Pinewood Village only to come face to face with what Shun warned her of — a giant cat. She drops her torch…and that’s it!
This episode is a lot more straightforward than the previous episode. Thanks to a commenter on Omen by the name of Alex, who knows more about the source material for the series, we now know that heterosexual relationships are a no-no for kids their age and so, since they’re driven to find lovers at their tender age, they go for others of the same sex. So, it’s nice to have a little clarification. If anything else comes up that isn’t accurately portrayed in the anime or I interpret things pretty far off from what the author originally intended, I encourage Alex and others to let me and others in on the info (so long as future spoilers aren’t revealed, thanks) to help keep things clear.
The real meat of this episode, and what really kept my attention through it, is Saki’s conversation with her parents. Her father talks about how he wants to replace the torches in the town with electric lamps, but the Ethics Committee doesn’t allow for electricity use besides for broadcasts. He laments that the issue will never be resolved, Saki’s mother joining in saying that the Library (a normal library or like The Library we saw most featured in Bloody History?)needs more money, that perhaps they could build a water wheel by the stream there. It’s very interesting to see just how controlling the Ethics Committee is in their town. These guys are in charge of every single little thing!
Way back in the first episode we were given a hint that Saki isn’t her parent’s only child, and mysteriously those children are no longer around. Now we get some solid evidence of that. Apparently Saki was old enough to remember them being around, but curiously she has completely forgotten their existence and, now even with this new revelation she cannot make out their faces.
I gotta say, I’m digging Saki’s gumption and ninja gear. We haven’t gotten to see her get serious and actually be capable in a long while, so it is quite refreshing! She slyly makes her way around guards and travels almost all the way to Pinewood Village, but is stopped by the mysterious cat that Maria and Mamoru told her about. Will she make escape? Will she defeat it? Gotta wait till next week, folks! Got any theories? Predictions? Please, by all means, comment down below and let’s get talkin’!
*Note: We apologize for the delay in this episode and realize the next episode is already out. Please ago ahead and discuss anyway!
Shin Sekai Yori is up on Crunchyroll every Tuesday at about 3:30 PM Eastern Time.
