Tamura Yumi - 7 Seeds, vol. 01-03
Wed, Jun. 12th, 2013 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterIn lieu of Reading Wednesday, since this is basically what I read. I am so sad that I have to actually make myself sit and read manga again. *shakes fist at casual computer games*
16-year-old Natsu remembers eating dinner with her family, then wakes up to find herself on a raft with seven other people, none of whom she knows. They all have a little in terms of supplies, but it's clear they will soon have to forage and find water.
Later, we find that as insurance against a catastrophic meteorite hit, various governments have selected teams of people to be cryogenically frozen, only to be woken if the environment is once again habitable for humans. The series follows the five Japanese teams after an unspecified amount of time has passed from the presumed meteorite hit.
I wasn't particularly drawn in by the first volume, largely due to Natsu, who is terrified of everything. I feel kind of bad about this, since on an intellectual level, I actually appreciate having a character in a post-apocalyptic universe who is too embarrassed to ask people to stop so she can go to the bathroom. That is probably who I would be in those circumstances, as opposed to the survivalist characters who quickly learn to deal with lack of material comforts and killing things. Some of it is that her primary relationships with fellow team members are romantic/sexual in nature; she has a crush on teenager Arashi, who just wants to see his girlfriend again, and jerk Semimaru keeps sexually harassing her.
But! We are introduced to more characters later on, one of whom I already adore.
Spoilers I guess? Mostly for who is on another team
Hana! Hana is awesome! I am not terribly sold on her and Arashi as the star-crossed lovers who will probably eventually meet and be pitted against each other, or something, but it was so awesome for Tamura to introduce her via Arashi's romanticized musings, and then have you compare and contrast that with the actual person herself. I thought it was a nicely subtle way to underline how the "other girl" (since we're introduced to her via Natsu's POV, and Natsu is wistfully crushing on Arashi) is a fully realized human being with her own personality and desires. And Hana is nothing like what I was expecting.
I especially love her friendship with Fujiko, and I want more about her and her parents, particularly the little bit in her memory that doesn't feel quite right to her.
So far, I am much more interested in Team Spring than in Team Summer B. I want to know more about Chisa in particular, as well as the girl who didn't wake up. Then again, once Botan revealed that Summer B was basically composed of society's rejects, I liked them much better. I'm especially wondering if Arashi has more to his society's rejects status outside of killing a guy to protect Hana, largely because I find it very interesting that he's the sentimental one who cries, as opposed to Hana, who climbs cliffs and is determined to survive.
I hadn't picked up Tamura Yumi prior to this, despite the praise that 7 Seeds and Basara get, mostly because her artwork is much older in style. I think I'm getting less put off by that in general, as I very much liked the art in Hagio Moto's The Heart of Thomas after I got used to it. And Skip Beat's art is a bit retro as well, though the recent volumes look more modern. Maybe it's the line work? Or the tones? Who knows. But I find myself really loving the giant sparkly eyes in 7 Seeds, especially when contrasted with the monster bugs.
Warning: there are a lot of monster bugs. They aren't rendered in nearly the same loving detail as in Black Rose Alice, but they're still pretty realistic and gross. Also, there are gross bug details that would have been even grosser if I hadn't already read a fair amount about parasites and insects and the creepy things they do.
... I like reading about them! But reading is a little different from seeing it illustrated!
Aside from the giant insects, I like the setting, especially once they get to the ruins of civilization. The look of skyscrapers overgrown with moss and trees reminds me a lot of the post-apocalyptic visions in X, and now I'm wondering if the same imagery appears in English language post-apocalyptic SF? Most of what I've read has been more along the line of barren landscapes and civilization buried under dirt, as opposed to drowned cities covered in greenery, but I don't know how much I've read.
I'm not at the "OMG LOVE!" stage, but I am very much anticipating getting to know the other teams, as well as watching interpersonal dynamics and more scenes of post-apocalyptic Japan.
16-year-old Natsu remembers eating dinner with her family, then wakes up to find herself on a raft with seven other people, none of whom she knows. They all have a little in terms of supplies, but it's clear they will soon have to forage and find water.
Later, we find that as insurance against a catastrophic meteorite hit, various governments have selected teams of people to be cryogenically frozen, only to be woken if the environment is once again habitable for humans. The series follows the five Japanese teams after an unspecified amount of time has passed from the presumed meteorite hit.
I wasn't particularly drawn in by the first volume, largely due to Natsu, who is terrified of everything. I feel kind of bad about this, since on an intellectual level, I actually appreciate having a character in a post-apocalyptic universe who is too embarrassed to ask people to stop so she can go to the bathroom. That is probably who I would be in those circumstances, as opposed to the survivalist characters who quickly learn to deal with lack of material comforts and killing things. Some of it is that her primary relationships with fellow team members are romantic/sexual in nature; she has a crush on teenager Arashi, who just wants to see his girlfriend again, and jerk Semimaru keeps sexually harassing her.
But! We are introduced to more characters later on, one of whom I already adore.
Spoilers I guess? Mostly for who is on another team
Hana! Hana is awesome! I am not terribly sold on her and Arashi as the star-crossed lovers who will probably eventually meet and be pitted against each other, or something, but it was so awesome for Tamura to introduce her via Arashi's romanticized musings, and then have you compare and contrast that with the actual person herself. I thought it was a nicely subtle way to underline how the "other girl" (since we're introduced to her via Natsu's POV, and Natsu is wistfully crushing on Arashi) is a fully realized human being with her own personality and desires. And Hana is nothing like what I was expecting.
I especially love her friendship with Fujiko, and I want more about her and her parents, particularly the little bit in her memory that doesn't feel quite right to her.
So far, I am much more interested in Team Spring than in Team Summer B. I want to know more about Chisa in particular, as well as the girl who didn't wake up. Then again, once Botan revealed that Summer B was basically composed of society's rejects, I liked them much better. I'm especially wondering if Arashi has more to his society's rejects status outside of killing a guy to protect Hana, largely because I find it very interesting that he's the sentimental one who cries, as opposed to Hana, who climbs cliffs and is determined to survive.
I hadn't picked up Tamura Yumi prior to this, despite the praise that 7 Seeds and Basara get, mostly because her artwork is much older in style. I think I'm getting less put off by that in general, as I very much liked the art in Hagio Moto's The Heart of Thomas after I got used to it. And Skip Beat's art is a bit retro as well, though the recent volumes look more modern. Maybe it's the line work? Or the tones? Who knows. But I find myself really loving the giant sparkly eyes in 7 Seeds, especially when contrasted with the monster bugs.
Warning: there are a lot of monster bugs. They aren't rendered in nearly the same loving detail as in Black Rose Alice, but they're still pretty realistic and gross. Also, there are gross bug details that would have been even grosser if I hadn't already read a fair amount about parasites and insects and the creepy things they do.
... I like reading about them! But reading is a little different from seeing it illustrated!
Aside from the giant insects, I like the setting, especially once they get to the ruins of civilization. The look of skyscrapers overgrown with moss and trees reminds me a lot of the post-apocalyptic visions in X, and now I'm wondering if the same imagery appears in English language post-apocalyptic SF? Most of what I've read has been more along the line of barren landscapes and civilization buried under dirt, as opposed to drowned cities covered in greenery, but I don't know how much I've read.
I'm not at the "OMG LOVE!" stage, but I am very much anticipating getting to know the other teams, as well as watching interpersonal dynamics and more scenes of post-apocalyptic Japan.
(no subject)
Wed, Jun. 12th, 2013 10:40 pm (UTC)Keep reading! You will be pleased! :)
(no subject)
Thu, Jun. 13th, 2013 04:49 pm (UTC)\o/!
(no subject)
Thu, Jun. 13th, 2013 12:19 am (UTC)And yes, that Arashi and Hana are the main draws initially, though Natsu does grow quite a bit. It's probably not much of a spoiler to say that eventually we meet all the seasonal teams (which means the overall pacing can get kinda slow, even while the stories of each team are reasonably brisk) and that there's more great characters to come.
(I'm actually several volumes behind the current scans, and need to archive binge to catch up.)
ETA: Oh, and the overgrown ruins vision of after the apocalypse also appears in (obligatory plug) Janni Simner's Bones of Faerie trilogy.
---L.
(no subject)
Thu, Jun. 13th, 2013 05:11 pm (UTC)Oh, I hadn't thought Janni Simner's books would have that! I think I just have a general idea of them set in Iceland due to Thief Eyes.
(no subject)
Thu, Jun. 13th, 2013 07:39 pm (UTC)---L.
(no subject)
Thu, Jun. 13th, 2013 07:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Jun. 13th, 2013 05:07 pm (UTC)I didn't know that, thanks for the FYI!
(no subject)
Thu, Jun. 13th, 2013 02:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Jun. 13th, 2013 05:10 pm (UTC)I didn't know that, thanks! I was also thinking of the Waterworld movie (ahaha), except it's more set on water without the drowned cities. Am now wondering if there's more, especially given global warming and the melting of the polar ice caps...
(no subject)
Fri, Jun. 14th, 2013 03:20 am (UTC)I actually really love Tamura Yumi's art, especially her color pieces. (At one time I owned both the Basara art books, though I don't buy that sort of stuff anymore.)
(no subject)
Mon, Jun. 17th, 2013 04:30 pm (UTC)I'm now further along and have decided that I love her art as well. Oh man, I would love to see color pieces of 7 Seeds stuff.