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[skygiants]

For the 17th, bookblather asked about the thing that should have a fandom MOST and inexplicably doesn't have one, which means: IT'S TIME TO TALK ABOUT 7 SEEDS AGAIN. >:D >:D >:D

So for those of you who don't remember when I fell head over heels a year and a half ago, 7 Seeds is a manga about a bunch of teenagers who have just woken up to find themselves in a bizarre and terrifying post-apocalyptic Japan full of things that want to eat them. These kids -- carefully selected for their skills and arranged to wake up in groups of seven, plus one adult helper -- basically represent the last, most stupid, and most implausible plan of a whole bunch of really stupid and implausible plans developed to save humanity from METEORIC DOOM.

Bear in mind that when I say "carefully selected for their skills," I mean most of them are like "THE BEST TEEN BASEBALL PLAYER IN JAPAN" or "THE BEST PIANIST IN JAPAN" or "KNOWS THE MOST LANGUAGES IN JAPAN." Real useful apocalyptic skills here!

Then of course there is Team Failboat, who were selected for being the most socially maladjusted children in Japan, because our genre-savvy sinister mastermind did not want to gamble against the possibility that the only way to save the future would be to bank on a Wacky Band of Misfits.

7 Seeds has everything. It HAS EVERYTHING. A short list of stuff that fandom SHOULD LOVE that 7 Seeds includes:

- hilariously implausible doomsday scenarios!
- teamwork and friendships!
- kickass female characters!
- assholes who turn out to be surprisingly lovable!
- a ZOMBIE PLOT!
- a HUNGER GAMES PLOT!
- a PLOT about EVIL MUSHROOMS THAT GROW ON CROCODILES!
- infinite numbers of attractive teenagers to smush against each other in infinite combinations!
- plus a lot of CUTE PUPPIES!

In addition, a short list of stuff that I love that 7 Seeds includes:

- an incredibly diverse array of female characters who have really important relationships with each other!
- character development! in spades! for everyone!
- really thoughtful and well-done handling of trauma and abuse and cycles of abuse and the recovery process!
- teenagers who have realistic short-term crushes and then move on without having it be the source for endless angst!

There are a lot of things I love that I wouldn't wish a fandom on, because a fandom would probably do terrible things. But -- maybe optimistically -- I don't feel that way about 7 Seeds! There is just so much POTENTIAL. Like, okay, yes, probably if fandom did ever glom onto 7 Seeds, sixty to seventy percent of the resulting fanworks would be variations on dudeslash starring Awful Angry Ango, because that's just how fandom rolls. But I could ignore that and focus on the remaining 30%, which would be TEAM-BUILDING FIC and backstory fic and "today everyone has to face a new and EVEN MORE RIDICULOUS PERIL!"-fic and ridiculous AU fic and, like, silly crossover fic and some hilariously random pairing fics and at least a FEW amoral architect lesbian fics. AND IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL. I would be so happy!

Comments

[remindmeofthe]

Boy, I bet you thought it was funny when I was complaining about the stupidity of ignoring the importance of entertainment. XD

[skygiants]

>:D >:D >:D

My favorite thing about 7 Seeds is how everything that is terrible about one contingency plan is fixed in another, EVEN MORE TERRIBLE contingency plan!

. . . Okay that's not my FAVORITE thing, but it is a thing I enjoy deeply.

[remindmeofthe]

I am starting to suffer from character fatigue.

"Here's this one dude you haven't seen for about a thousand pages and who barely did anything anyway, you totally remember him, right?"

SURE I DO, 7 SEEDS. SURE I DO.

[remindmeofthe]

OH RIGHT THE BUDDHIST DUDE

Of course, why wouldn't I remember the guy who prayed at everything?

[remindmeofthe]

omg he named his dogs after a bunch of MLB players, that's so cute! "Puppy" gave me pause, but it came right after Manny so I think it's supposed to be Papi, which is the nickname for David Ortiz. Manny and Papi would have still been teammates when this was written, or at least at around the time Aramaki went under.

SO CLEVER. I love little details like that.

[remindmeofthe]

And then I sort of accidentally didn't go to bed. Maybe it'll help reset the disaster my sleep cycle has become?

I wrote a poem for Ango. It goes like this.

i hope your hand rots off
and i hope you find birds
and they poo on your head
and then maybe you should die
of something
really
embarrassing

fin

[remindmeofthe]

With the following coda in prose:

And don't think you're forgiven just because you and Ryo bearing bewildered witness to this mysterious ritual called "fun" may be the actual funniest thing I will encounter in what has become an extremely long day.

[remindmeofthe]

oh my god Ryo's FACE during Semimaru's ecology lesson

help me

[skygiants]

OMG THAT ARC. IT MAKES ME SO MAD THAT THAT ARC IS THE BEST AND FUNNIEST ARC

I was so mad at Ryo and Ango and then. AND THEN. AND THEN TEAM SUMMER B!!!!! and then everything was talent shows and hilarity and I was still incredibly mad at Ryo and Ango BUT I COULDN'T BE UPSET THAT THEY WERE IN THE STORY BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT WAS HAPPENING WAS PURE GOLD

DAMMIT, YUMI TAMURA

[remindmeofthe]

I KNOW I KNOW

I'M NOT DONE HATING THEM YET USING THEM TO MAKE ME LAUGH SO HARD IS RUUUUUDE

(Well, I'm not done hating Ryo yet; I can live with fictional characters attempting and/or committing murder, so he might eventually get a pass from me. Ango can explode and die forever, though. There's a line not even people who don't exist get to cross.)

[skygiants]

IT'S COMPLETELY UNFAIR. YUMI TAMURA!!! This is pure witchcraft. >:(

(I have come round to where I think the exploration of both Ango and Ryo and their damage is a relevant and interesting part of the story, and I love the way she handles and talks about it . . . and I'll be okay if Ango dies in some kind of redemptive fashion? BUT I STILL WOULD BE QUITE HAPPY FOR HIM TO DIE.)

[remindmeofthe]

Oh, it's totally fascinating without a doubt. I love psychological exploration stories, and I love them done well and thoughtfully even more. I don't even eat them up with a spoon, I just use my hands. That's why I probably won't hate Ryo forever - I will forgive a lot when a character is interesting.

All that said, let us remember this: even if Ango never dies in the narrative, he is not immortal. Someday he will die, and that day will be awesome.

[remindmeofthe]

Wow, so I'm unexpectedly bored by the nuclear wessels plot? Like, the character stuff is delicious - Natsu getting MILES AND MILES of character development! Ango weaving in and out of reality and desperately resisting character development! Ryo gaining a glimmer of insight into this "fun" thing! Semimaru chastened by his near death for all of five minutes before giving it up to squee over soybeans! - but every time the plot kicks in, my brain checks out. I think I'm almost to the end, though. I CAN DO IT.

[remindmeofthe]

"they really threw us a curveball with this one"

and still they don't INSTANTLY GET THE ANSWER OH MY GOD though I wonder if that saying exists in Japan or if the translators are just trying to piss me off.



OH LOOK IT'S BASEBALL WHAT A FUCKING SURPRISE

[remindmeofthe]

"Is that science? That's science, right?!" Bless your face, Semimaru.

im so glad that plot is doooooooone I am all ready for Shinigami Kaname, oh yeah.

(I am also counting the pages until I regret saying that.)

[skygiants]

ahahaha, here we disagree, I actually SUPER LOVE the ship arc. Semimaru and SOYBEANS!!!! Natsu and FEELINGS ABOUT CATS and being SO EXCITED TO FIND THE TOILET! Like, I agree that the plot itself is ridiculous, but it's so . . . paper-thin . . . to provide an excuse for the character stuff that I can't even care. Natsuuuuu <333333

[remindmeofthe]

Plots that insist on artificially complicating themselves when the solution is so obvious that even I can see it coming when I never see ANYTHING coming - they just make me tired. I mean it was totally totally worth it for all that great character stuff, plus bonus points for entirely lacking in vomit-inducing mushroom body horror, it just made my brain turn off whenever it took center stage for more than two panels.

I'm gonna go have nightmares about mushrooms now goodnight.

[remindmeofthe]

So how much important shit will I miss if I just skip the mushroom arc? Mushroom-related body horror makes me physically ill (I blame that one episode of Hannibal) and I really really REALLY don't want to deal with it if I don't absolutely have to.

[skygiants]

I think you can probably skip the mushroom arc if you have to! It's a shame because it has lots of really good Chisa-Fujiko-Hana friendship stuff, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Read the Aramaki-Ayu field trip if you haven't already, though! (I can't remember if that comes before or in the middle of MUSHROOM PERIL.)

[remindmeofthe]

Oh, it sounds like I managed to get all the good stuff, then! I should have been more specific about where I was at - I didn't realize I would have a serious problem until the dogs got infected and my dinner quietly threatened to make a second appearance. Cool, I will skip on to the next arc once I get a chance to start reading again, then. Thanks!

[skygiants]

No problem! All you will be missing is sad dead dogs and Hana realizing that the manga has moved on from teasing Hana/Aramaki to shipping Aramaki/Ayu.

[remindmeofthe]

I am totally okay with missing sad dead dogs, not gonna lie.