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This is a review of the 7Seeds manga with additional points about its comparison to Basara, its predecessor for prospective readers who are wondering what the differences are between these two manga.

7Seeds is the second major long running work of Yumi Tamura. Here are some of my thoughts about it. Long story short I rank it a 9.5 compared to Basara's 10/10 (rounded up to 10 based on it's many strong points and my own biased enjoyment of the story).

1. I found that the main antagonist for the 7Seeds story was more often than not the environment. This makes sense because as opposed to ... Basara where society has developed quite significantly after a post apocalyptic event, 7Seeds features characters who are thrust into a new unfamiliar (but familiar) world full of dangers and unknown hazards. Some of these interactions with nature were downright unsettling and scary. I would have appreciated more maps like Basara before every chapter showing where characters are in relation to each other and to Japan as a whole. It got hard to keep track of where characters were compared to Basara.

2. As you read 7Seeds, you might feel the characters and their reactions to this new world as relatable or sometimes un-relatable. Due to the wide cast of characters with various backgrounds and personalities, you may find one you may relate to the most. For me, that was Natsu because I have (or had) some painfully similar hangups. I could see myself reacting much like Natsu in various situations in that setting. For others, Natsu may be completely intolerable as a character.

3. The romance in 7Seeds may be worse or better compared to Basara depending on your tastes. I was way more invested in Basara's main romance as opposed to 7Seeds. But the side character romances in 7Seeds may have been better and more fleshed out compared to Basara's.

4. One of the downfalls of this manga is the lack of an official translation. The first group who translated volumes 1-5 offered often halting and unnatural dialogue, but I liked that they translated Yumi Tamura's author notes before every chapter. The translations get much more natural and consistent post Volume 5, but they don't include the author notes as often. Yumi Tamura wrote both Basara and 7Seeds over 10+ year periods. It was really nice reading her thoughts across the story of Basara as this connected you to the mangaka and sadly this was inconsistent in 7Seeds translations. Some translated ones pop up here and there but not as consistently as Basara.

5. The other downfall of this manga is that the last couple of major arcs are repetitive in a very annoying way. Not to get too spoilery but it involves major characters getting separated for stupid reasons and then struggling to reconnect back together. To be fair, this was oddly a consistent theme throughout the entire manga (and I suppose Basara to a lesser extent), but for 7Seeds this issue was that the last two arcs completely revolved around that scenario. Even after the main character realizing and saying out loud that they shouldn’t get separated anymore. It would have been okay if one those last two arcs were replaced with something else (particularly an arc focused on the entire community of characters trying to interact and live together which is what I waiting for).

Due to the issues mentioned above, I had to rank 7Seeds lower than Basara. But I would say for a solid portion of the manga (first 20ish volumes), 7Seeds reached higher peaks than Basara did. 7Seeds despite its issues (both related to the actual work like the last two arcs, or unrelated like the translations) was much more of a page turner.

6. The strongpoints of 7Seeds are many from an insanely diverse cast of characters, frankly amazing writing by Tamura in numerous aspects of the story like the flashbacks regarding other shelters, awesome art, thrilling page turning story etc. It's just a very solid manga and worth reading full stop.

According to myanimelist, I finished Basara in 127 days (27 volumes), but I finished 7Seeds (36 volumes) in 17 days. I was a lot more comfortable putting Basara down and coming back to it, but ultimately I think it had a much more satisfying conclusion, and a better more memorable romance.

TLDR: Both Basara and 7Seeds are great, but due to a couple issues I had to rank 7Seeds a bit lower despite like a significant part of it more than Basara. Still a great manga on it's own.

I had a great time reading this. It ended up being my 3rd favourite manga I’ve read after Yokohama Kaidaishi Kikou, and Hunter x Hunter. Some thoughts:

1. I was surprised at how intricate the world building was. First off, I loved the desert settings throughout the manga. I have a certain attachment to the desert and its iconography due to my background. I’d go as far to say it’s a good manga for someone who’s interested in a middle eastern/Arabian themed manga.

2. I also learned a lot about Japan. As I was reading I would frequently be on Google maps looking up cities in ... Japan mentioned in the manga and where they’re located and how they look like. This manga gave me a deeper knowledge and appreciation of Japan and its culture.

3. Another thing I enjoyed was the depth of politics in the manga. It felt very “Game of Thrones” like, and anyone who is looking for that sort of setting would enjoy Basara. It honestly got a little confusing at times, but Tamura gave a few explanatory extras at the end of a few volumes to clear stuff up.

4. The wide and very diverse cast of characters who all got highlighted and developed was another really awesome aspect to this manga. From villains to comrades, it seemed the vast majority of characters got their just due. You come to care about the characters and understand them at a deep level. I am sad to see them go. I loved how even later in the manga, she was introducing characters I came to love (like KIKUNE 😊).

5. It was surprisingly brutal at times! There were certain scenes that actually made me sickened and disturbed. But these scenes were never for shock value or anything. They were use to emphasize the brutality of what the world of Basara was at that time and how much it needed to change. These scenes were always depicted tastefully and with tact but they definitely gave you a punch to the heart.

6. I was never turned off by the art. I always thought it was solid and frankly I’m not really a snob about art in general (must be the Hunter x Hunter fan in me 😅). Some panels were a little hard to decipher at times but nothing major. I do know it’s a common complaint but I don’t think it took away from the story at all. Honestly, the 90s art style made me feel nostalgic and cozy in a way. It’s a big reason why I prefer 90s/2000s manga in general.

Basara will always be one of my favourites and I’m glad it was my introduction to the works of Yumi Tamura.

I didn’t expect to do this, but I went straight into 7Seeds immediately after finishing Basara. A review of 7Seeds and it's comparison to Basara will soon follow.

I gave this a 7/10 due to couple issues I had with it. This volume featured 3 chapters dealing with the formation of the daily routines, jobs, new struggles and challenges the remaining members of the 7Seeds project now have to deal with while they live together. The last chapter fleshed out how Chimaki became a member of the 7Seeds project.

One of the main story lines this volume deals with is the conclusion of the Ango and Ryou story line. As someone who has read the main series would know, Ango and Ryou were in limbo due to being exiled from the community due ... to their actions. Both characters had made strides with 7Seeds members from other teams like Natsu, Semimaru, Matsuri, etc. who had warmed up to them and were seemingly hoping they would be reintegrated...but sadly Ango's actions have provided a huge barrier that's seemingly insurmountable. It was actually heartbreaking to see how crushed he was that despite his efforts at making amends, being useful, saving others etc. his actions towards Hana among others will poison people's perception of him forever. This is a fitting punishment for him which I don't disagree with. I just hoped that there would be an avenue of redemption that didn't involve exile but sadly it just wasn't able to be realized. I'm happy that at the end that he was able to find something to do with his life that would help humanity and I'm glad that ever loyal Ryou and dear Matsuri will be able to join him on his journey.

My main issue with this of course is that other people had also done bad things like Ran and Akira seemingly running a slave camp, abusing Team Autumn and encouraging drug use among Team Autumn. Ayu had used Momotaro literally as a test subject, and other members from Team Summer A were also seemingly willing bystanders to his torture (which includes being used as bait). Where was the conflict surrounding Ayu and Ran/Akira's inclusion into the community? These people never even had to apologize! For characters outside of Ango/Ryou it seemed a foregone conclusion they wouldn't ever have to be punished, make amends, etc. let alone apologize. This is a major inconsistency.

There was a scene that really annoyed me where Momotaro was seemingly scared at simply the sight of Ango. Okay, this is fair due to what Ango did to him. But where is that same energy with Ayu who used him as a test subject and could have possibly killed him? Ayu also showed no concern at all and frankly seemed perfectly okay with how he was initially treated by Team Summer A. Why isn't he scared of her?

Lastly the very last 7Seeds story featured the background of...Chimaki? Out of all the reoccurring characters in this series, he had arguably the least interesting story line in the main manga (if you can call it a story line). He had seemingly no useful skills for survival and not even an interesting personality. The story shared how his father had worked himself to the bone for 20 years to carve the Budda's that would eventually mark the entrances to the Fugis. He did this all for Chimaki and his dedication to the project allowed Chimaki to be entered into the project. On it's own the story was great and written well, but unsurprisingly Chimaki says about his father after the flashback is over: "I didn't care much about him". Great, a story of sacrifice and hope for someone's child ending with that child not even acknowledging his father at all.

Overall, still enjoyed it. Still loved most of the characters in the story, the romantic pairings that have been confirmed, the bright future these group of people will have and so on and intrigued at how there seems to be a slight opening for a continuation with Ango, Ryou and Matsuri's adventures. If this is the end of the story, it's been one heck of a ride!

A very short one shot featuring some coloured art (that were really beautiful) plus a very short extra chapter that occurred before the events of 7Seeds.

This extra chapter featured Aramaki pitching in a nationally televised baseball game while a variety of characters around Japan that were featured in 7Seeds tune into his game (with varying levels of interest 😅).

I can't give this more than a 7/10 but I really appreciated the art and the story was short (very short)...but still sweet in a way. I would recommend this for any fan of 7Seeds who wants to have a complete experience with what is ... available for us to read as fans of this manga. It won't take much more than 10-20 minutes of your time to read it and it is fully scantalated.

When Yukito Kishiro first created Gunnm (Battle Angel), he started with the world. It's basically future post-apocalyptic, but it's well thought out, and perfectly feasible. He even has little notes here and there throughout the book giving details on some of the new (or old) technology. Like most manga, the artwork is fairly simple, but beautiful. Vehicles, landscapes, character designs.. you name it. All of it has that futuristic dirty feel to it that the original Star Wars movies have, with more than a bit of Mad Max thrown in. But, the characters are where it's at. The main character starts at the bottom. She ... is literally found in a trash heap. Her character development, as well as the man who finds her, are very well done. There are a lot of internal struggles as well as external, and no punches are pulled. As she tries to figure out who she is and who she was, the world begins to expand with her travels. And, those outside influences that are only at the edge of the story in the beginning start coming into play.

There are nine original books. Then, Kishiro took a ten year hiatus. Rumor is he was sick. When he started again, he retracted the ninth book and continued with a series called Gunnm: Last Order. Off to my next stop...