manga: 7 Seeds vol 1-23
Sep. 22nd, 2013 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreTo the delight of my twitter feed (or at least, the ones who don't follow 7 Seeds) I have caught up with the scanslated volumes of Tamura Yumi's 7 Seeds. I believe some of volume 24 is scanslated, but I don't think I could handle the tension of trying to read the series in small amounts. I've posted a fair bit on it in my weekly reading posts, but I'll try for something a bit more comprehensive now.
7 Seeds is an ongoing post-apocalyptic shoujo manga (though I believe it was eventually moved to a josei magazine) by the creator of Basara. Both series are set in post-apocalyptic Japan with a drastically altered landscape, lots of women, lots of travel, complicated characters (and make you keep liking characters who do things that would normally make you hate them) emotionally wrenching and often devastating character arcs that regularly put the characters through hell, and all kinds of relationships among a wide variety of characters.
Despite that, the two series are actually almost nothing alike. (Though it should be mentioned that a lot of the character designs in early volumes of 7 Seeds look enough like Basara's character designs to be jarring. Eventually, though, they're tweaked enough to stand apart from their visual counterparts.) While Basara is about war and revolution and defying a corrupt society and forbidden DOOMED romance and gender identity and roles, 7 Seeds is about survival and the discovery of a new and horrifying world and the early steps of creating a society. It's also about psychology and how different environments and rules (and the lack thereof) affect people and their choices. It's also very much about the idea that everyone, no matter who or what they are, is important, and that everyone has something valuable to contribute, not just the people who know how to hunt for food and determine if plants are poisonous and the ones who can build houses, but also the ones who can make you laugh or quote something they read 5 years ago. And people learning the above is also a very important aspect of the series. Also, the ability to find toilet paper and alternatives to toilet paper is very valuable.
The concept of 7 Seeds is that the world's governments know that a meteor is is going to hit earth with enough force to wipe out most, if not all, life. A variety of plans to ensure humanities survival are put forth, and the last ditch plan is to cryogenically freeze small groups of people who will be stored beneath the surface until the systems preserving them determine that the planet can once again support human life, at which point they'll be released. Japan creates four teams of seven people (each team is named after a season-Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, and each team member has a name that is associated with their team's season) plus a guide, and also seven storehouses spread throughout Japan that hold preserved supplies to help them create a new society in their new world. The members of the teams are considered the "elite," artists, musicians, architects, scholars, doctors, athletes, people especially trained in survival, etc., but it's eventually decided to send a fifth team-Summer B-made up of people who have trouble fitting into society (and gangster, a runaway, a girl who's almost pathologically shy and timid, etc.) as a "backup" team in case the "elite" aren't able to adjust to the new world.
We're introduced to the series through Summer B, specifically through Natsu, the shy and timid girl mentioned above, and the first plotline introduces us to the idea of the 7 Seeds project as Summer B starts to see the changes to the world. Normally, you'd expect Natsu to be the main character of the series, and to meet the rest of the world through Summer B's travels, but instead we soon move to another team entirely. Unlike most shoujo series (or manga in general) there isn't a clear lead protagonist or main character. While I'd say Natsu and the main POV character for Team Spring are the POVs we probably spend the most time with, the focus frequently shifts between various teams and subgroups formed from teams as they travel and attempt to find the best places to make their homes. For a while (I think about the first ten volumes?) events aren't completely chronological, and where they chronologically fall in relation to other events isn't always made clear right away. This, however, doesn't interrupt the flow of the story at all, and I think it actually adds to it at times.
As I mentioned before, it's a very psychological series, and as a result, not only is it very tense and nervewracking (there are many times I went "surely she won't go there..." and then Tamura did) and there are parts that are rather traumatic to read and lots of what I can only call soul crushing angst. But the good kind? She appears to get most of the soulcrushing angst out of her system by around volume 13 or so (but not the overall tension) but has revisited it a couple times since. There are also various horror elements (note: if you have an insect phobia, it might be best to very selectively read the second volume, or ask someone to give you a summary) and a couple rape attempts, though I somewhat expected that given the premise, and the subject is actually handled MUCH better than elsewhere.
The series isn't light reading at all, but it is excellent reading.
I think most of what I'd want to say about the series has been covered byoyceter and skygiants in their respective tags and the comments to their posts, but some more spoilery commentary from me:
-So, we'll probably never know this for sure, but I wonder if the teams were actually supposed to be awake yet at all? I mean, it's possible that they did intend for the teams to wake up in stages, but if that's the case, then Summer A should have woken up first (instead of last, as seems to be the case) as they were supposed to guide the other teams, and aside from them, I think only Team Autumn's equipment didn't malfunction somehow, and that's assuming they were meant to wake up 3 years early (given their skillset, it is possible, I suppose). Team Winter's malfunctioned bigtime, with half the team dead and at least Aramaki, and maybe the others, having aged a bit, but then we have Summer B being separated, and Hibari in Team Spring still sleeping for months after the others woke up. And I keep obsessing over that even though I know we'll never know.
-OMG POOR TEAM WINTER. They were headed towards a canon OT3 who was going to repopulate Japan AND THEN ARAMAKI WAS LEFT ALL ALONE FOR 15 YEARS WITH DOGS NAMED AFTER HIS DEAD GIRLFRIEND AND BOYFRIEND AND HALLUCINATIONS. And you're just getting over the backstory when the dude shows up again and you get hit with the 15 years part. But I love how he isn't angry or delusional or bitter or antisocial, but instead is all "People! Actual people! Not hallucinations! Please be my friends! Also, can I maybe touch you a bit in a completely nonpervy or creepy way-I just want to make sure you're real!" and then he gets rejected and thinks it's his fault and is all "Maybe I look creepy? I should have shaved!" (And then Team Spring finds him and it's ok.) Also, I was always ok with his quasi-romantic relationships with Hana and Ayu despite the age difference precisely because he hadn't interacted with any other humans since he was their age, but I was glad when Tamura addressed that.
-POOR PETS. I'm not sure whether Aramaki's dogs or Genguro's animals was worse, but OMG. Also, Kaname killing Natsu's little creature at the beginning, and Chisa killing one of Hana's little furry animals. SO SAD. (puts a protective barrier up around Aramaki's puppies*
-Summer B's post-apocalypse coping strategies and Ango and Ryo's culture shock with them are still my favorite thing in the series. Also, I loved how, on the ship, Arashi told Natsu to jump into his arms and she deliberately DIDN'T and then Ryo told Matsuri to and it was HER DREAMS COME TRUE, and both were totally ok. And while I like the Ango and Natsu relationship in general (though I hope it doesn't turn romantic) I'm glad he keeps getting called on thinking she can't handle anything.
-The interesting thing about Ango's attempting to rape Hana (and I feel SO INCREDIBLY WEIRD typing that) is that it's one of the few times I've thought a writer really "got" that rape isn't about passion or lust or rejection or anything like that, but about one person attempting to prove their power over another. In this case, Hana's father is one of the main ones who made Ango feel powerless and robbed him (and everyone he cared about) of autonomy and free will. He can't challenge Takashi himself, and proving his power over Takashi's daughter is the next best thing. (And, as Ryo pointed out, the fact that part of him actually liked Hana just made everything that much worse.) And instead of focusing on Ango's pain and angst or just moving on like most writers would, that, and Ryo's later attempted murder of Hana, are actively punished and viewed as repulsive and unforgivable by literally everyone (well, aside from Nijiko not really caring about Ryo trying to kill Hana) and their exile is one of the first steps towards the Spring/Autumn/Summer A fusion camp starting to turn into a real society.
-Related, does anyone know if there's any meta out there about the various forms of consent and power and abuses of power in the series? Because that would be interesting, to say the least.
-Every time something happens to help drive home that Summer A was literally trained to not think for themselves or have any personal agency or autonomy, it's like being stabbed in the heart. Actually, that's pretty much anything involving Summer A.
-So, I'm wondering how close to the end we are at this point? I can't help but think that the end game is all the various groups finally ending up in one place, probably with a couple more deaths (My money for "significant and possibly tragic character deaths" is on Ango and Kaname. I mean, we can't really have a high body count unless Tamura is planning on "EVERYONE DIES. NO ONE IS LEFT TO REPOPULATE JAPAN.") and setting down possibly-permanent roots, and right now, the fire appears to be driving everyone but Summer B together, and Ango telling Arashi that Hana is dead almost has to lead to the revelation that he and Ryo know where the other teams are. (Or were.)
-I am I think, possibly over-invested in almost every character still alive. Including the ones I feel I should hate.
7 Seeds is an ongoing post-apocalyptic shoujo manga (though I believe it was eventually moved to a josei magazine) by the creator of Basara. Both series are set in post-apocalyptic Japan with a drastically altered landscape, lots of women, lots of travel, complicated characters (and make you keep liking characters who do things that would normally make you hate them) emotionally wrenching and often devastating character arcs that regularly put the characters through hell, and all kinds of relationships among a wide variety of characters.
Despite that, the two series are actually almost nothing alike. (Though it should be mentioned that a lot of the character designs in early volumes of 7 Seeds look enough like Basara's character designs to be jarring. Eventually, though, they're tweaked enough to stand apart from their visual counterparts.) While Basara is about war and revolution and defying a corrupt society and forbidden DOOMED romance and gender identity and roles, 7 Seeds is about survival and the discovery of a new and horrifying world and the early steps of creating a society. It's also about psychology and how different environments and rules (and the lack thereof) affect people and their choices. It's also very much about the idea that everyone, no matter who or what they are, is important, and that everyone has something valuable to contribute, not just the people who know how to hunt for food and determine if plants are poisonous and the ones who can build houses, but also the ones who can make you laugh or quote something they read 5 years ago. And people learning the above is also a very important aspect of the series. Also, the ability to find toilet paper and alternatives to toilet paper is very valuable.
The concept of 7 Seeds is that the world's governments know that a meteor is is going to hit earth with enough force to wipe out most, if not all, life. A variety of plans to ensure humanities survival are put forth, and the last ditch plan is to cryogenically freeze small groups of people who will be stored beneath the surface until the systems preserving them determine that the planet can once again support human life, at which point they'll be released. Japan creates four teams of seven people (each team is named after a season-Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, and each team member has a name that is associated with their team's season) plus a guide, and also seven storehouses spread throughout Japan that hold preserved supplies to help them create a new society in their new world. The members of the teams are considered the "elite," artists, musicians, architects, scholars, doctors, athletes, people especially trained in survival, etc., but it's eventually decided to send a fifth team-Summer B-made up of people who have trouble fitting into society (and gangster, a runaway, a girl who's almost pathologically shy and timid, etc.) as a "backup" team in case the "elite" aren't able to adjust to the new world.
We're introduced to the series through Summer B, specifically through Natsu, the shy and timid girl mentioned above, and the first plotline introduces us to the idea of the 7 Seeds project as Summer B starts to see the changes to the world. Normally, you'd expect Natsu to be the main character of the series, and to meet the rest of the world through Summer B's travels, but instead we soon move to another team entirely. Unlike most shoujo series (or manga in general) there isn't a clear lead protagonist or main character. While I'd say Natsu and the main POV character for Team Spring are the POVs we probably spend the most time with, the focus frequently shifts between various teams and subgroups formed from teams as they travel and attempt to find the best places to make their homes. For a while (I think about the first ten volumes?) events aren't completely chronological, and where they chronologically fall in relation to other events isn't always made clear right away. This, however, doesn't interrupt the flow of the story at all, and I think it actually adds to it at times.
As I mentioned before, it's a very psychological series, and as a result, not only is it very tense and nervewracking (there are many times I went "surely she won't go there..." and then Tamura did) and there are parts that are rather traumatic to read and lots of what I can only call soul crushing angst. But the good kind? She appears to get most of the soulcrushing angst out of her system by around volume 13 or so (but not the overall tension) but has revisited it a couple times since. There are also various horror elements (note: if you have an insect phobia, it might be best to very selectively read the second volume, or ask someone to give you a summary) and a couple rape attempts, though I somewhat expected that given the premise, and the subject is actually handled MUCH better than elsewhere.
The series isn't light reading at all, but it is excellent reading.
I think most of what I'd want to say about the series has been covered by
oyceter and skygiants in their respective tags and the comments to their posts, but some more spoilery commentary from me:-So, we'll probably never know this for sure, but I wonder if the teams were actually supposed to be awake yet at all? I mean, it's possible that they did intend for the teams to wake up in stages, but if that's the case, then Summer A should have woken up first (instead of last, as seems to be the case) as they were supposed to guide the other teams, and aside from them, I think only Team Autumn's equipment didn't malfunction somehow, and that's assuming they were meant to wake up 3 years early (given their skillset, it is possible, I suppose). Team Winter's malfunctioned bigtime, with half the team dead and at least Aramaki, and maybe the others, having aged a bit, but then we have Summer B being separated, and Hibari in Team Spring still sleeping for months after the others woke up. And I keep obsessing over that even though I know we'll never know.
-OMG POOR TEAM WINTER. They were headed towards a canon OT3 who was going to repopulate Japan AND THEN ARAMAKI WAS LEFT ALL ALONE FOR 15 YEARS WITH DOGS NAMED AFTER HIS DEAD GIRLFRIEND AND BOYFRIEND AND HALLUCINATIONS. And you're just getting over the backstory when the dude shows up again and you get hit with the 15 years part. But I love how he isn't angry or delusional or bitter or antisocial, but instead is all "People! Actual people! Not hallucinations! Please be my friends! Also, can I maybe touch you a bit in a completely nonpervy or creepy way-I just want to make sure you're real!" and then he gets rejected and thinks it's his fault and is all "Maybe I look creepy? I should have shaved!" (And then Team Spring finds him and it's ok.) Also, I was always ok with his quasi-romantic relationships with Hana and Ayu despite the age difference precisely because he hadn't interacted with any other humans since he was their age, but I was glad when Tamura addressed that.
-POOR PETS. I'm not sure whether Aramaki's dogs or Genguro's animals was worse, but OMG. Also, Kaname killing Natsu's little creature at the beginning, and Chisa killing one of Hana's little furry animals. SO SAD. (puts a protective barrier up around Aramaki's puppies*
-Summer B's post-apocalypse coping strategies and Ango and Ryo's culture shock with them are still my favorite thing in the series. Also, I loved how, on the ship, Arashi told Natsu to jump into his arms and she deliberately DIDN'T and then Ryo told Matsuri to and it was HER DREAMS COME TRUE, and both were totally ok. And while I like the Ango and Natsu relationship in general (though I hope it doesn't turn romantic) I'm glad he keeps getting called on thinking she can't handle anything.
-The interesting thing about Ango's attempting to rape Hana (and I feel SO INCREDIBLY WEIRD typing that) is that it's one of the few times I've thought a writer really "got" that rape isn't about passion or lust or rejection or anything like that, but about one person attempting to prove their power over another. In this case, Hana's father is one of the main ones who made Ango feel powerless and robbed him (and everyone he cared about) of autonomy and free will. He can't challenge Takashi himself, and proving his power over Takashi's daughter is the next best thing. (And, as Ryo pointed out, the fact that part of him actually liked Hana just made everything that much worse.) And instead of focusing on Ango's pain and angst or just moving on like most writers would, that, and Ryo's later attempted murder of Hana, are actively punished and viewed as repulsive and unforgivable by literally everyone (well, aside from Nijiko not really caring about Ryo trying to kill Hana) and their exile is one of the first steps towards the Spring/Autumn/Summer A fusion camp starting to turn into a real society.
-Related, does anyone know if there's any meta out there about the various forms of consent and power and abuses of power in the series? Because that would be interesting, to say the least.
-Every time something happens to help drive home that Summer A was literally trained to not think for themselves or have any personal agency or autonomy, it's like being stabbed in the heart. Actually, that's pretty much anything involving Summer A.
-So, I'm wondering how close to the end we are at this point? I can't help but think that the end game is all the various groups finally ending up in one place, probably with a couple more deaths (My money for "significant and possibly tragic character deaths" is on Ango and Kaname. I mean, we can't really have a high body count unless Tamura is planning on "EVERYONE DIES. NO ONE IS LEFT TO REPOPULATE JAPAN.") and setting down possibly-permanent roots, and right now, the fire appears to be driving everyone but Summer B together, and Ango telling Arashi that Hana is dead almost has to lead to the revelation that he and Ryo know where the other teams are. (Or were.)
-I am I think, possibly over-invested in almost every character still alive. Including the ones I feel I should hate.