Shinsekai Yori - 20

"Drenched in Cold Sunlight"

Thanks a lot, Tomiko. I'm sure Saki really appreciates the matriarchal responsibility now.

Right when I thought things couldn't get much worse, they go to hell. The fact that a Fiend has emerged in Kamisu 66 should have been tantamount to the most horrible disaster one can think of, but almost ironically, the bakenezumi under Yakomaru have effectively recreated the destruction of the most disastrous events in modern Japanese history without even needing to resort to their ultimate weapon. Make no mistake, the Fiend is the final nail on the coffin for these people, but the bakenezumi are the ones who have really done the dirty work so far. The same arrogance that let the PK users lord over the bakenezumi has become the source of their downfall at the hands of none other but those whom they had oppressed with that same arrogance, and Yakomaru knows exactly how to use that against them. The lack of safety measures other than basic self-defense training, the lack of transportation other than that by canal, the lack of efficient communication, and the failure of the humans to anticipate kamikaze attacks and the use of new mutants has left PK users extremely vulnerable to attack and it's no longer just a foreboding premonition that Saki and Satoru may just be looking at the end of the world as they know it.

In all truth, the humans are standing on their last legs; the village is razed to the ground, the death count mounts ever higher, and while the survivors might be able to fight back against the bakenezumi a little, the Fiend is untouchable. Death feedback will kill or maim anyone who attacks it, and even before it escalates to that point, just the panic that comes before it approaches is enough to destabilize whatever system of order remains. Even Tomiko, a survivor of the last Fiend humanity remembers, knows a lost cause when she sees one. Luck is the only thing that stopped K, and now it's far too much to ask for a miracle. All the PK users can really do is run and avoid it for as long as possible, and even that may prove impossible with Yakomaru out in the shadows, aiming to kill every last one of them.

It's amazing that after all we know about this terrible society we should still care so much to see it destroyed. More than anything, I think this is a central part of the message Yusuke Kishi attempted to impart in this work. We're supposed to condemn the world that the PK users inhabit; this is a world that kills off it's own children on mere suspicion for the sake of self-preservation, a world where Cantus is equal to godhood and gives humans all sorts of dominance over creatures that they mutate and subjugate for their own purposes, a world where cruelty and bloodlust runs in the very basic human natures of every individual, only held in check because of extremist scientific and hypnotic measures. But really, just how different are we from them? We might not be at the extremes yet, but historically, human beings have done some truly horrible things in every region of the world. It was human beings, for example, who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a disaster alluded to here in the destruction sown by the bakenezumi. Then there's the fact that no one in this series, and I do mean no one, is really innocent of cruelty. Satoru once reveled in killing as many bakenezumi with his Cantus as possible, Saki threatened to kill the False Minoshiro through torture, and then there's the fact that no one remembers Mamoru or the other missing children like Reiko. While some of it can be attributed to hypnosis, not all of it is so easily forgotten. Shun, as Boy X, remains imprinted on Saki and Satoru's memories, and Maria forever haunts them with the uncertainty of her fate, but not once since they've become adults have Saki or Satoru worried about Mamoru explicitly. Even Maria seems like a far better person, abandoning her life and love behind to protect the forgotten boy that the rest can't be bothered to spare a thought for. Yet, despite this inherent meanness, we still feel horrified to see these people destroyed and sympathy for their plight. Why do we find empathy for this terrible society? Probably because this is us we're watching, this is the arrogance of the human psyche sowing the seeds for its own destruction. The only difference is that we haven't the Cantus or necessity to start self-preserving yet, and thus we haven't quite reached the fantastical extremes of this particular scenario. If it sounds like a stretch, think about the fact that there's nothing quite as cruel as a child. If children aren't taught restraint and caring, they do some of the worst things to each other and to anything they can get their hands on. Even well-behaved children occasionally taunt and hurt one another, and it isn't just psychopaths who hurt animals for amusement (every child in my elementary school, for example, went ladybug hunting during recess; nothing gave them more pleasure than ripping the wings off and stuffing the poor things into empty water bottles). Not a nice thought.

However, Shinsekai has never been anything but bleak, and Saki is effectively inheriting the leadership of a society on the brink of utter decimation. There is literally no hope left, save perhaps the faint notion of successfully escaping to another village before the bakenezumi declare war there as well. Tomiko has chosen to stay behind, where she will no doubt be killed by the Fiend, Satoru is missing after an attack by the mutant leech bakenezumi, and Saki has had the responsibility of the survivors' lives thrust upon her shoulders when there's really nothing she can do. Even worse, there's talk of Karma Demons next episode with the possible implications of Satoru's impending death, though the condition could just as easily be referring to the young companion Saki picks up this episode (at least I kind of horribly hope so; should Satoru die I will cry for days). After all, we know of no adult Karma Demons or Fiends, though this may simply be the result of artificial selection by choosing the more resistant members of the village to keep alive. Regardless, things are going from bleak to worse with every passing moment and the introduction of a curly, red-haired character next week certainly seems to imply that Maria and Mamoru's child really is the Fiend responsible for the destruction of what little remains of Kamisu 66.

N.B.: Thanks to Ivan for the wonderful screencaps!