I think Saki accidentally wandered onto the set of Madoka Magica.

Summary: Saki and Satoru read through Maria’s poignant goodbye letter. As they reflect on their pasts and what they have learnt about Kamisu’s 66th District, they are driven to a frightening decision.

What do you know, after 16 episodes, From The New World finally gets an OP. More than some flashback scenes hidden behind some obnoxious credits and a ballad that desperately tries to stylistically fit the rest of the show’s soundtrack it isn’t, but it does once again prove that From The New World is very much an episodic show. We have seen cold opens, cinematic title sequences, simple title cards and even some episode titles being snuck into the artwork itself, and now some good old opening credits; From The New World makes really good use of its guest directors. This also shows in the episodes itself, of course. From The New World has the smell of carte blanche all over it, and every weekly instalment manages to be an entirely unique affair when it comes to art style, directing, writing or even genre.

The first half of this episode was essentially a recap episode, but the sheer effort put into making it a worthwhile one with the noticeably low budget it was given is admirable. Maria’s musings over the difference in nature between the lovers she was forced to choose between, the horrors of Kamisu’s 66th district and even the nature of humans and the difference between children and adults suited the quick cuts of important past events very well. This episode did a good job at both recapitulating the show and indicating what the kids’ current position is, as well as showing how they cope with it. It has taken its time, but From the New World has crafted a truly likeable cast of characters that are both human, yet still hailing from an entirely different society than ours.

One true threesome.

This was an immensely dark episode, not only because of Saki’s insane nightmare, featuring some eerie monster design and a prophetic long haired version of Shun, but only because of the emotions at play. Saki and Satoru know they will never see Maria and Mamoru again, and both have to deal with their feelings at the same time. Saki shows that despite their relationship maybe having been conditioned into them by the Ethics Committee, she truly madly deeply loved Maria — and the feeling was entirely mutual. Satoru, on the other hand, has been crushing on Saki for more than two years now, and this episode showed him as a great shoulder to cry on, albeit one with a dark side. He remains immensely weary of what the Queerats do, immediately snapping at Squealer when the latter proposes something that is actually quite clever, similar to how he felt disgusted at the French Revolution-esque scenario that had played out last week. Aside from that, it is rather obvious he is making use of Saki’s newfound bachelorette status to move in for the kill. It’s heavily implied the two slept together at the end of their search (even though that could be due to their “bonobo reflexes” kicking in as soon as Saki started crying), and it won’t come as a surprise if they turn out to be married after next week’s timeskip.

The strong, subtle emotions in this episode were wonderfully complemented by the visuals and soundtrack. It is clear that most of the budget of this episode went to the beautiful landscapes shamelessly exploited during flashbacks, and the poignant soundtrack hits all the right buttons. A red filter adds a gloomy sense of dusk to this final chapter of the second arc, like the end of childhood, friendship and love signifying the fall of a long, dark night. Snail pacing aside, this was a quite splendidly directed episode of From The New World. Next time, we will meet Saki and Satoru again at age 26, and it seems like the story will take a turn for the political, with the now seemingly highly advanced Queerats paying a visit to Kamisu’s 66th District and Satoru struggling with a heap of paperwork. Oh dear.

Random Observations

• Looks like Saki went through a bit of a “phase” after the end of the first act, judging by her extremely messy hairdo. And “experimentation” with Maria, of course.
• The figure in Saki’s nightmare once again mentions that many will be saved if Maria would die. Looks like they haven’t abandoned that plot thread after all.
• Bit of a tragic irony in Maria referencing Shun — or in this case ‘X” — as an example of friends never forgetting each other in her letter, because forgetting about him is exactly what they did.
• I want to kiss whoever designed all these costumes. I’m pretty sure we see the cast in more than 10 different, unique outfits each over the course of this episode.
• I am pretty much just assuming the kids are 17-18 at this point, because no 14-year-olds look, act or write like that. From The New World‘s character designers have some really weird concept of age.
• Jun Maeda and company, take note, this is how you do a sudden breakdown right.