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First off I just want to say I marathon-read the majority of this manga quite a few months ago, so my memory's a bit fuzzy on certain aspects.

What initially drew me into 7Seeds was definitely the combination of genres; a long-running horror shoujo story sounds fantastic, but adventure, and a dystopian future thrown in as well? I was sold. If it’s the same for you, I’m sure you will love this manga.

The plot is fairly straightforward and unlike many storylines, it’s not clear how and when the story will end - no clear goal has yet been distinguished. The constant elements of mystery and ... suspense will keep you anticipating the next chapter, and are done well enough so that you don’t get confused by all the separate plots. Likewise, the time dedicated to each group of characters (there are five groups in total), and the characters themselves is used efficiently so that after a few volumes away from a certain group you’ll still remember who they are, what they’re aiming for and how they actually function as a group. But the horror and adventure elements are what really set 7Seeds apart from other manga. There are the shoujo-esqe type characters and emotional plot-twists mixed in with giant man-eating insects, pre-historic creatures and life-threatening diseases. Natural disasters, murder and a warped sense of time among school-life drama and subtle teen-romance.

The characters themselves, and the motives and attitudes of each group are varied, and all endearing in their own unique ways, so there’ll be no difficulty in having a favourite character, group or storyline. It’s easy to tell just by the characters’ appearances what type of person they are and I’ve found no two characters alike in personality. The only problem I found was with the sheer number of characters we’re introduced to, it’s doubtful that you’ll be able to remember the majority of character’s names, if any.

To bring the story to life, the art fits superbly. It’s shoujo-style, there are some sparkles, and there’s yet to be an unattractive character, but there’s no cuteness and no ridiculously out of proportion women. Simply put, the art is beautiful and consistent, the characters, the natural scenery and the ‘monsters’ all look as if they belong in the same story line. It can be beautiful and terrifying all in the same panel, which I believe is a great feat by Tamura Yumi.

Overall, I think 7Seeds is a manga that everyone should at least give a chance, it has so many different aspects to it that everyone would find something they love. Particularly people who want something different from ‘the norm’, horror/sci-fi fans in general will take great pleasure in reading this manga. I have immensely enjoyed this manga and I’m thrilled that it’s ongoing at 15 volumes.

(so far, only up till Volume 8 has been scanlated).

Omatsuri Danshaku to Himitsu no Shima (Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island) is the sixth One Piece movie and differs in many aspects to the series in terms of animation, sound and character. I have to say now – if you like One Piece for it’s fighting – look elsewhere, this film is all about adding depth to the emotional bonds of the crew, which is picked upon during major arcs in the series, and how important nakama are to everyone.



Story.
Whilst sailing the Grand Line the Mugiwara pirates come upon a message in a bottle, advertising Omatsuri Island (Festival Island), a pirate paradise. But ... when the crew reach the island eager to kick back and relax, they are propositioned to go through ‘Ordeals’ (much like the Skypiea arc) that are all based on Japanese festival games (goldfish catching etc). Luffy, forever positive, is happy to participate in the ‘games’ while the rest of the crew slowly start to fall apart. Compared to the series, this movie is much more mysterious and, at times, even unsettling, especially towards the end when everything becomes desperate. I’ll leave the Story at that, not wanting to spoil anything.



Animation.
I noticed the art straight away and it first I thought it was just for the opening, but it stays throughout the whole anime and fits perfectly for the more serious tone. The characters are still drawn the same way, but there isn’t any cell-shading (y’know that band of light anime characters get across their hair? Yeah, there’s none of that), it gives a more ‘flat’ and simple look.

Computer animation is also used quite a lot (backgrounds, weapons, plants, goldfish..), especially when they first arrive in the island and are moving through the jungle. It jarred me at first, but eventually I started to like the 2-D characters against a computer animated 3-D background, it some ways it made up for the lack of colour the characters had.

There are also other things in this movie which you wouldn’t find in the series: a First Person Perspective – there are a lot of times where you hear dialogue but you don’t see our characters. Sanji also breaks the fourth wall a few times (turning to the viewer and speaking to them) early on.



Sound.
Where do I begin? I think after the art, the sound is something easily noticed. I cannot express how much I adored how the sound was used in this film, rather the background music or lack thereof. During the opening, there’s some steel drums and very ‘Caribbean’ music – highlighting the fact that the Mugiwaras are heading to a paradisiacal island (this actually reminded me of a certain Disney movie ¬_¬).

I can’t really remember any distinct scores of music in the film, but that’s probably because there are massive gaps of silence in the music. I loved it. It’s common that during a film we’re subconsciously affected by the soundtrack, it’s even more common that we can’t remember things like background music unless it’s highlighted. In this film, the lack of music really works; it makes us focus our attention on the characters and their expressions, their emotions and conversations. Often, the camera would be fixed on a character for a number of seconds with no dialogue or music, and even no real animation. It can feel a bit strange at times because you end up thinking to yourself “It would be more interesting if they were actually doing something” but looking back it enhances the overall style and feel of the movie.

As usual, the seiyuus of One Piece are brilliant.



Character.
This is probably the most important aspect of the movie, as in most movies that are based off a series; you need to be able to introduce your characters effectively for the familiar and unfamiliar audience. Within the first five minutes, we are shown all of the main characters personalities and desires quickly, whether it be Sanji’s affection for beautiful women or Nami’s for luxuries, Usopp’s ‘cautiousness’ or Zoro’s aloofness. For an unfamiliar viewer it helps you understand who these characters are, and their motives, for the familiar viewer, it’s fun to see the characters basic urges being poked fun of.

I’d say through the film we see (without trying to spoil anything) a different side of the characters, or at least in their attitude towards each other. Misunderstandings occur, arguments happen, crew members go missing and suddenly everyone’s fighting with each other. If, like me, when you watch One Piece’s emotional scenes (the character’s pasts, Luffy and Usopps fight etc) you actually feel for the characters, you cheer Luffy on, and when your favourite is beaten, you feel beaten too, this movie will get to you. The sight of the main characters drifting apart is painful and you think “What are doing you idiots? You’re nakama!” – that is the key to this whole film.

To touch upon the new characters that are solely in this film, they all have their own charm – I found Brief endearing and funny, the Tearoom pirates, despite their smaller amount of screen time, managed to have their own story and a family dynamic. Finally, Baron Omatsuri and the rest of the Island’s inhabitants are probably the most difficult characters to talk about. Personally, I probably felt more pity for them than anything else, despite the Baron being the ‘villain’. Characters like Muchigoro and DJ had the strange ability to invoke fear and sympathy at the time, I found it hard to completely dislike them even though they were the enemy.



Enjoyment.
Briefly, everything I love about One Piece was in this movie – the characters, the humour and the usual emotional nakama-related plot. If you enjoy One Piece for the same reasons, I highly recommend you watch this. I would even perhaps recommend this to people who haven’t watched the series, but I doubt it would have the same impact as it would for fans.


Thank you for reading, please feel free to send me any feedback etc.