Summary: Two years after the end of the previous episode, Saki and company are now teenagers and seem to be slowly drifting apart. But a visit from a mysterious figure places Shun into a dangerous predicament.

Dragonzigg’s Thoughts: I have absolutely no idea what to make of this episode of New World and you know what? That’s fantastic. After a few weeks where the show look in danger of slipping into tedium, this is a fine return to the creepy, unnerving uncertainties that characterised the first few episodes.

Let’s try and break it down piece by piece. We’ve timeskipped forwards by two years, and I’m pleased to see that there’s been effort made to age the characters appropriately in look, voice and manner of dress.  And they’ve also aged in other ways as well. Put simply, the entire school now appears to be camp as a field of tents and loving it.  It’s certainly a…bold move? The series has already shown it isn’t afraid of dabbling in the thorny subject of adolescent sexuality, and that’s correct for a show that aims to explore the human condition, but the way it’s presented here raises interesting questions. People clearly aren’t exclusively gay in this society – there are children after all, and several girl on boy crushes, like Saki on Shun – but the only couples in the school we see are same sex.

Sure, you can argue that the passage of time has broken down sexual barriers, and that homo- and heterosexual are no longer valid classifications (everyone’s bi basically) but then again, why only same sex couples? [Aqua’s Note – I think they have been conditioned to only engage in physical relationships with the same sex as long as they’re still teenagers, in order to lower the birth rate, maybe?] It’s super odd and pretty unnerving, although amateur psychologists will probably have a field day. Myself, I’d posit it may have something to do with the fact that young people are perhaps more comfortable in the presence of their own sex and it’s just typical teenage experimentation taken to a society-wide extreme. We also get a repeat of the Bonobos  mantra from before, but that doesn’t really answer the issue at hand. This is probably more thought than needs to be given to it, but considering how much of this episode is made up of interpersonal relationships and, uh, ‘antics’ (though huge credit is due for keeping it tasteful) it’s definitely something that bears thinking about, and a fascinating new facet to an already deeply weird world.

The other major issue that’s raised here is the question of the team’s blossoming powers, and Shun in particular. He appears to be something of a prodigy, and the task he’s given is both impressive and disturbing. It’s the first time we’ve seen the powers being used in a conscious attempt to shape a living being, and that has profound implications for the extent of their abilities.  This is only furthered by the appearance of the mysterious Kaburagi, a person said to have literal earth-shattering powers. The source of authority in New World has always been somewhat murky at best, with possibilities for both a religiously dominated society and one by the mysterious ‘Ethics Committee’. Kaburagi is different, a person who everyone is clearly in awe of. His appearance leads me to question some aspects of the world – if a being widely considered to be the most powerful alive is visiting a middle school, what does that tell you about the scale of the world? Is this village the last outpost of humanity, for such an important figure to show up there?

His reaction to Shun is of course the crux of this newly developing story. The powerful reaction from the younger boy, along with his increasingly anguished mental state, suggests someone about to lose control, and given how much power he’s said to have, that certainly seems to be an issue. We’re not given any indication here how he discovered that the gang are still being watched, or his cryptic warning about cats (have we seen any cats in the show? I honestly can’t recall) [Aqua’s Note – The Copycats were mentioned in episode one as the creatures that will take you away if you fail to develop your powers] but he’s clearly aware he’s about to be ‘disappeared’ as his classmates had been before. This is what I wanted from New World, a return to the conspiracy and Orwellian dystopia that we saw in earlier episodes.  Why would the village’s overseers allow the children, who had clearly violated the rules and discovered a secret none were meant to know, continue living? Perhaps they hoped they could be successfully rehabilitated? That sounds out of character considering the ruthlessness with which the others were dealt with, and this question is bound to lie at the heart of whatever arc we move through next.

There’s one final bit I want to say, and that’s on what might be the most interesting subject of all – Mamoru. Up until this point, he’s been the tagalong, the anonymous scaredy cat that nobody has really cared about. But this episode shows he has depths to him beyond possibly even the other characters.  His unrequited crush on Maria is cute in the way such things are, but what’s shocking is the apparent coldness and disregard Saki has for his feelings. She asks him ‘is it fun?’ as if he’s wallowing in his loneliness, and offhandedly suggests he should hook up with somebody else, before suggesting to Maria that the two of them should get matching pendants, right in front of the boy she’s blocking. There’s an alarming lack of empathy here, and in return it paints Mamoru’s love as something pure and beautiful, as opposed to the casual hookups he’s surrounded by. He’s not willing to compromise his feelings for his urges. Even Saki realises that at one point, spontaneously being moved to tears by the sight of him gazing at his portraits. He’s a rare outpost of genuinely touching melancholy in the otherwise morally grey story. It’s also worth noting Mamoru only speaks once in this episode, to remark how nostalgic it is to see the gang back together. Perhaps, more so than the others, he feels hurt by their slow drift apart? Time will tell, but I’m certain he’s a sleeper who will eventually awaken to powerful effect.

In case you can’t tell by how much I’ve written, this was a fascinating, mentally challenging episode that opens up plenty of new questions and a myriad of possible answers. it looks as if From the New World is back to its weird, troubling best and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Random Observations

• Someone enjoys animating teenage boy tongue more than they probably should
• I don’t mean to be crass, but with the super weird design of Saki’s shorts, there is literally no way she can be wearing underwear.
• Worth noting – Satoru gets complimented by Kaburagi. He also seems most at home in the weird setup they’ve got going.
• I’m pretty certain that Shun’s collar is more than just a ‘good luck charm’. But precisely what remains to be seen.

Aqua’s Thoughts: You know the characters, you know the history, you know the mechanics. This is where the story begins. There is not a single bigger curveball From The New World could have possibly thrown than to establish that the much-ridiculed lesbian “friendship” between Maria and Saki would actually be canon? And Shun and Satoru too! And it makes sense! By God, does it make sense. The manga still sucks, though.

Anyways, it has been two years since we’ve last seen our five friends, and it looks like the town authorities brought down the hammer pretty heavily. I am fairly certain the sudden outbreak of the gays in the school is the result of the “bonobo” conditioning the false Minoshiro explained a few episodes ago. This results in a very interesting episode, which portrays the village as some sort of post-apocalyptic Woodstock – only with less nudity. I have to congratulate the writers and animators for the beautiful simplicity with which they portray the various relationships. Small details like lovers playing around, smiling at each other or cuddling — it is a rarity within a medium that loves its extremes, especially when both lovers are of the same sex.

Nevertheless, through small details it turns out that these beautifully portrayed relationships show some very harsh cracks. Something just feels wrong, from the way the characters talk, act and react – and it quickly becomes clear that there is a huge difference between these seemingly ‘forced’ relationships, that children only indulge in because they have to, and the genuine affection as shown by Mamoru for Maria. I’m threading very closely to what Zigg said now, but he basically said everything I wanted to say. How often do you see that. I just hope that From The New World won’t go too far with its unfortunate implications of “gay love is only to satisfy your urges, and straight love is genuine”. As ever, it’s on the cliff, but boy, does it remain interesting.