7Seeds opening few minutes are simple enough - a montage of characters we're going to meet, scattered across Tokyo. All this everyday peace doesn't even last 2 minutes before our protagonist, Natsu, wakes up in a strange room and immediately roused by an unknown woman who informs her that "we're about to sink". Not the easiest start to a series, made all the more ominous by a voice-over declaring that "When you awake, you may be in heaven or you may be in hell, but whichever the case, I sincerely hope you will all strive to survive". Oo-er missus.
A Netflix original series, 7Seeds is a survival show following disparate groups of characters struggling to make sense of the desolate landscape they find themselves in. With no idea of how they came to be in this situation, the initial four strangers make landfall on a mysterious island. Following a similar formula to the popular Lost series, answers are not given up easily, and this opening episode is a bit of a muddle. It isn't helped by the initial four not giving their names to each other for nearly 10 minutes, an odd practice for a Japanese group, you'd think it'd be the first thing they'd do!
Arashi is a normal and upstanding 17 year-old who befriends the shy Natsu and acts as a rival of sorts to the boorish Semimaru. Botan is a no-nonsense type who leads the team when they awaken on the sinking ship. Together they make an interesting group for the viewer to follow as they discover their surroundings.
However, around the 13 minute mark, the show jumps to a completely different group of characters, with a young woman being chased by a horde of insects. This is a really jarring jump and could have been handled better - perhaps a camera pan to the other side of the island to show a change of location would have been helpful, but as it is we abandon the opening four characters and start to follow a new group. The group is attacked by some large and rather disturbing preying mantis creatures, one of which manages to stab the bullying and arrogant Dosei Yanagi. He appears to survive, but treats his team like garbage so its debatable as to whether or not this is for the best.
The episode ends with a third group waking up in what appear to be cryogenic pods. Greeted by an older man who announces that he was added to their group because they're worthless and need an adult. Unimpressed they all draw guns and shoot him. I actually found this slightly comical given how fractured the narrative was at this point. Clearly all these groups will eventually interact, but the introductions are poorly handled and the whiplash direction from one group to the next with no explanation just makes the whole thing a bit of a disjointed mess.
As first episodes go, there's very little to latch onto here - there are too many characters to take in, made harder by the lack of any proper introductions or a timeline (for all we know these events are not happening simultaneously) and no answers of any sort are provided. The best description I can think of is "stuff happens". The opening animation suggests a meteorite strike has occurred, but no other clues are offered.
As always with these First Thoughts articles, the question to be asked is whether or not the initial episode entices investment from the viewer. In this case I could take or leave another episode, but it certainly needs a lot of work before it's in any way compelling. Any show needs relate-able or intriguing characters to follow, and because of the choppy nature of this episode and poor transitions I can't say I care enough about anyone here to find out what happens to them. So I guess the short answer is a resounding no.
That said, the dub is passable, the animation clean if uninspiring (though some of the panning shots have a lovely level of detail) and the character designs nicely understated. I can't even recall the music, so it's serviceable but ultimately forgettable.
If you enjoy a mysterious island adventure, there may be something here for you - there is at least potential in the multi-group set-up on an island full of danger. The cliffhanger ending suggests a level of brutality that may yet lift it from being mundane, but as I'm destined to review the full series for the UK Anime Network, I'll be finding answers to the show's mysteries whether I'm hooked or not!
Why not check out the official trailer below and see if it tickles your fancy?
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