7Seeds

Another diehard fan of the "7 Seeds" manga here and a diehard fan of Yumi Tamura, who is perhaps the greatest manga artist in the history of this art form. Tamura has outdone herself with 7 Seeds. It is a gem--a deeply complex, compelling shoujo manga that appeals to all genders and ages (though may be inappropriate for children under 13).

Why Netflix would attempt such a half-assed job at animating this manga is beyond me. I suspect it was a decision based purely on avarice and a desire to diversify their TV drama selection. But clearly the decision makers at Netflix are not manga fans or else they would have known better than to half-ass the equivalent of the Lord of the Rings. Yes, that is how awesome 7 Seeds is and even Peter Jackson who directed LOTR prepared to fully pay homage to this great work of fantasy. Alas, there was no Peter Jackson at Netflix, so they hired the crappiest screenwriters and lousiest animators that their stingy budget could afford and ruined the greatest manga of all time.

I can only hope that a better production company one day attempts to animate Tamura's "Basara" manga one day. Someone who understands the delicate emotional sensitivity and complexity of great shoujo works and will endeavor to properly animate this lovely work of art.

I've not read the Manga so keep that in mind.. The story and concept is very fresh and appealing, as is the unusual trope twists, and the characters have promise, but it's not quite there..

Especially as of the second season, the characters are missing that key element that makes you really connect with them and make mistakes that go beyond excusable to the inexcusable, but I don't regret the time spent watching it, yet..

Where to begin with this show.

Story : Its muddled to say the least. The writers dont have the competence to give you any motivation to continue watching. By that I mean that its very hacked together. There is no flow to the narrative.

Characters : In the first few episodes there is maybe 2 or 3 likable characters. The rest could be left to die and the show wouldnt suffer in any way. There is a difference between writing a character that conflicts with others, writing a villain, and putting flaws into a blender and calling it a character. It feels as if the writers got to the first dimension of a character, got scared, and pulled it back to about 0.5 character dimension.

Animation/Look : This is where half of my issues come from. The animation is average at best. The 3D is not integrated well, and the 2D is very saccadic. Because the artists didnt match the colors in some places it can feel like you are watching a nice background painting that had paper cutouts of characters put over top with no blending.

The Good : I know it feels like Im ranting. Its purely from the bad taste left in my mouth. The good portion of this show is the overall plot. The episodes individually may be weak, but the plot as a whole isnt terrible. You could say that since that portion is form the Manga that maybe the manga would be a better format for this series. I have always been a fan of plots like Lord of the Flies, Battle Royale, Swiss Family Robinson. Modern people deserted on an island with no information, what do they do.

Overall, I would hard pass this show. If I heard someone mentioning they were going to start it I would probably let them know the same. Its a failed attempt at a good idea.

Great concept and great sound engineering. An okay animation style but the pace of this anime is rushed at some point since the earlier episodes. Action packed and great watch for adventure geeks. A little bit of scifi and horror. Huge fan of isekai and post apocalytic storyline. Plot wise is okay, not that great tbh. Great characters and developments almost on all of the characters throughout part 1 and 2. Some extreme choices on some characters like ango and ryo (hate them). Some poor choice on characters like hana, arashi, semimaru, etc - taking turn to be annoying, ruthless and keep getting a complete personality change. Basically driving me insane. Great original opening and ending songs - very japanese pop rock & soft indie songs. Touch on climate changes, meteorites, evolution, science experiments, bacteria, viruses, sustainability, family issues, trauma, friendship, survival, etc. All in one - maybe the reason why i felt it was rushed and put in a very complex flow. Recommended but definitely not for younger audiences due to very disturbing scenes. Wanted more but apparently it was cancelled after part 2.

Great premise, but the execution is lacking. It jumps from scene to scene, with sometimes drastic changes in between despite only a second having passed. Time skips abound... Also quite a bit of artistic and metaphoric hubris, which is unnecessary and just drags the plot down. Too many cliches and moments of deus ex machina, too. Overall, a good premise let down by poor writing/direction.