Late at night around 3 am, years after I had watched the anime for Shinsekai Yori, I finally read the manga.

I'm approaching this manga as someone who considers Shinsekai Yori to be one of my favorite animes. It's plot is frankly just incomparable in many ways. The art style, though maybe not the most elaborate, is nothing to scoff over either. Having watched the anime, I was prepared for most of the twist and turns that I was about to face from the manga.

The story is set hundreds of years into the future in Japan, and there is terminology that is used to describe different abnormal conditions of psychic powers as "syndromes". That being said there is not a lot of detail on how these ideas come to be, who they originated from, why certain character designs are the way they are (not just for the people but the "animals" too.) The real value of the story is thus not necessarily in the world building, albeit still quite good, but in the nuance of the storytelling and its commentary on humanity. That commentary of course, is a very sad one, which makes every twist and turn in the story all the more impactful. Some questions discussed are: What remains at the core of humanity when evolution takes place? What determines what enables us to express the nuturing empathy that humanity prides itself for having responsibility for? Furthermore, if you are well informed with Japanese history, I think it also shows commentary on cultural and societal Japanese values that may repeat themselves into the future if we do not address them. Even though this series takes place in the future, it is not a techno-utopian story. Rather, it's definitely adopting many traditional Japanese aesthetics to its style.

For the most part it seems like the anime was true to what the manga exposed me to, however that also meant that most of the plot holes remains just the same. The universe that you are drawn into does not get much bigger, whether you are reading the manga or watching the anime. The plot of the anime DOES seem to have more storytelling than the manga though, especially in regards to discussing Maria and Mamoru. I believe this is just one of the many reasons that the anime is rated at an average of 82% compared to this manga which is rated at an average of 62 percent. Along with that sentiment, this is one of the few series where I would agree that the anime is better than the manga, and I also still stand by the fact that the anime is one of the top must watches!

Another reason may be for something that the other reviewer also mentioned: the sex scenes. As someone who is a bit sexually repulsed, I was a bit shocked that the sex scenes and relationships were so much more graphic in the manga than in the anime. When things are aired on Japanese television, it's not super surprising to see things being censored out. In comparison between the anime and manga, the sex scenes frankly just seemed to be excessive. But if you do like a little yuri fan service... please remember they're also like only 14 years old! There characters also definitely look young as well, so that will be hard to miss. Considering the original source is a novel that I have to have read, it's hard to say how much the graphicn-ess of these scenes is warranted. I would not consider it to be on the level of hentai-- just quite smutty.

The manga also has extra panels of what happens in heaven when certain main characters die, which adds a bit of a comedic effect? Seeing this side isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't have a huge role in the plot and this is not something found in the anime at all. I guess as you read the manga, the lightheartedness is cathartic? I was not a fan.

In the end, would I really recommend this manga? No-- but only because I would prefer that you watched the anime instead. You also will not get many answers out of the manga that you get after watching the anime. If anything, the manga is a smutty refresher of the plot. With the complexity of the plot, the anime also feels much more preferable to experience the frustrations and emotions compared to the manga. Pacing feels much more intentional rather than in the manga which to me felt like a lot of skipping around, the bond you form with characters is not the same. The anime is nothing to scoff at since it was produced in A-1 pictures. The fact that the anime both started after and ended before the manga might have also impacted how the pacing of the manga occurred since they were both being released around the same time. It may have been to draw more readers to read and watch both that they included the sex scenes the way they did.