I'll make this review as spoiler free as possible, but it's impossible for me to write without minor spoilers. But don't worry, I have covered the spoilers with spoiler tags, so you can just skip it

I have heard people describing this anime as "Weird" so I hesitated. But now, I'm glad I watched this anime. Rather than weird, Shin Sekai Yori is very unique, but in a good way

NOTE--- Don't let the first 2 episodes deceive you, watch at least 4 episodes before dropping

Shin Sekai Yori, or " from the new world" in English, is one of the notable works of A-1 pictures. It aired in 2012, almost side by side with SAO

The world building and foreshadowing in this anime is fantastic, as well is the animation. I was very Interested in the world, as supernatural stuff and dystopia being my favorite genres. Shin Sekai follows the rule of " show don't tell" perfectly, but as a result you have to use your brains a lot.

I'll be breaking down into sections so I can go into further detail

Animation-
A whole 10/10 without hesitation

Can we all appreciate how the art is way ahead of its time? As expected of A-1 pictures, they didn't disappoint. Every single episode, I found myself thinking, "was this really released in 2012?" That's how good it was.
The animation brightness was a little low/dull, but it went well with the dark themes of the anime. I don't know if it was intentional, but even if it was a co-incidence it went pretty well together.

Voice Acting-

9/10

The VAs did an excellent job, especially the voice actors of Saki and Satoru. The way they changed their voice for the 3 time skips (technically two) was so amazing that I almost couldn't believe it

Music-
8/10

To be frank, music isn't the strong point of Shin Sekai The OSTs were nice, but I found one OST repeatedly used for many scenes. But regardless, I loved both of the ed songs, especially the ed 2, "Yuki ni saku Hana"
I like it when the voice actors sing the anime's theme

Characters

8.5/10

The main characters except Satoru and Saki weren't really fleshed out, the other 3 characters(Maria, Shun and Mamorou) just exist and feel one dimensional. But I guess that's fine since

This anime is no romance, but I liked the development a lot. The romantic development is actually better than any romance anime I have watched

The absolute positives are the world building, art, pacing and foreshadowing. The foreshadowing was done in such a way that it was obvious at the same time not obvious. Like,

And speaking of the pacing, it was perfect, but I had a hard time scoring this anime because a lot of things happened. When I finished it I did a little recap of it in my mind, and couldn't find anything I dislike about this anime.
But I guess that's just because I had to pause a lot and think to understand.

In conclusion, I liked Shin Sekai a lot. It was a very enjoyable watch . The first 2 episodes does seem a bit strange, but it's because those episodes were merely setting the mood for a more darker adventure. The real plot starts from ep 3, it all starts in their camping trip.
I recommend it to people who like mystery and are willing to use their brains a bit

Another note before I close off-- For people worrying about fanservice, there is none. Even if there was, I didn't notice anything because it probably was very minor

Overall- Shin Sekai Yori gets a

98/100