Waking up to a post-apocalyptic future isn’t what you expect.
What They Say:
The meteor strikes wiped human civilization from the face of the Earth, then even the face itself changed, transformed into something alien and hostile as devastating climatic shifts, global darkness and unprecedented geologic upheavals reshaped what was once our world.
But, even in the aftermath of mass extinctions and world sweeping firestorms, life managed to find a way, evolving to new forms, some close to what came before, others from beyond our worst nightmares. It is into this toxic landscape filled with flesh-eating cockroaches, telepathic wolves, and man-eating plants that humanity’s last survivors are released from frozen cryogenic slumber. Five groups; each consisting of seven youths and one adult survival specialist. They are mankind’s last hope, and if they fail to survive in this strange and horrifying new world, the human race will end forever.
Contains episodes 1-12.
The Review:
Audio:
The audio presentation for this series is straightforward as we get the original Japanese language track in stereo using the DTS-HD MA lossless codec along with the English language dub. The series is one that has a good mix of dialogue and action to it, though more dialogue than action, and it plays out across the forward soundstage well. There’s not a lot of stretching going on with the dialogue as it’s often just one person at a time and mostly coming from the center of the stage, but there are some better moments amid the action that gives it a little more to work with. The action itself hits some nice impact moments along the way with more serious moves being employed, but the quieter pieces are handled pretty well along the way. Combined with a solid score that builds the atmosphere, we didn’t have any problems with this track during playback in terms of dropouts, distortions, or other issues.
Video:
Originally airing in 2019, the transfer for this TV series is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p using the AVC codec. The twelve-episode series is spread across two discs in a nine/three format that gives it plenty of room to work with. Animated by Gonzo, the show has a pretty good visual design about it and it comes through well throughout the run with its color design that has some good and appropriate pop while also working the darker and earth tones well. I really like the color design for the background for a lot of it and there’s a distinctive enough feeling overall without it being wildly done. This all comes together without any noise or breakup, allowing it to flow well during both the quieter scenes and the busier action pieces. There’s a decent bit of detail in general to both backgrounds and designs and it all has a smooth and clean look that’s a big positive for its overall presentation.
Packaging:
The packaging design for this release is kept to a standard sized single Blu-ray case that holds both discs against their interior walls. The front cover works with the familiar imagery of the expansive cast as they walk along together in the reflection of the sky that provides for a neat feeling to it. It’s a very light and kind of subdued cover – and one that doesn’t tell you much since it’s just people in standard outfits overall – but it has just enough of a twinkle to make you take a second look at it. The back cover is a bit busy with its layout as we get a few different spots for shots from the show along with all the usual elements. Mixed between them is the breakdown of the premise itself which works well and an amusing tagline. The episode and disc count is laid out clearly as are the extras included in the set. The remainder is the standard production credits and a clean and accurate technical grid. No show related inserts are included nor is there a reversible cover.
Extras:
The only extras included with this set are the clean versions of the opening and closing sequences.
The anime adaptation of 7 Seeds is one of those projects that kind of surprises sometimes because you discover just how much there is of something that you never heard of before. And I really enjoy discoveries like that. Produced for Netflix with a summer 2019 debut for this part, which was animated by Gonzo whereas Studio Kai handles the next season), it’s based on the manga by Yumi Tamura. That series began in 2001 and wrapped up in 2017 with thirty-five volumes produced. That series never got licensed for English consumption before and it’s unfortunate because it reads as something that would have had a solid if small dedicated following for years and years. The anime adaptation had Yukio Takahashi on board to direct working from scripts by Touko Machida.
The idea behind this is one that works well and you can easily see all kinds of live-action adaptation possibilities as well (and have seen variants of before). With Earth in line of a meteorite, a plan is put into motion around the world by various governments in order to provide some continuity of species at the least. In Japan, there are five groups that were picked and placed around the country made up of seven members that would be placed in cryonic preservation so that they could awaken in a future. Only one member of each group was told of what was really going on and they were strong in survival skills and training. Those that were chosen had it kept secret and then when things were starting to get bleak, they were basically abducted in the middle of the night and placed in stasis. The not knowing and waking up to this new world is an interesting twist on it to be sure.
With a very expansive cast to this show, we move about them pretty well in order to get an idea of the different regions as they exist. Japan is no longer what it once was and we don’t have any idea of how long they’ve been asleep. It’s clearly been a long time as any amount of destruction would have been significant and the way everything has grown up since shows a healthy recovery period. So you have a lot of characters struggling with the idea that they’re now with strangers who are key to their survival in their respective group but also that everyone from the past that made up their family and lives are now long dead and gone. And not just by normal living but by the fact of a meteorite slamming into the planet. And you know there’s also the underlying reason that they were chosen because each group had to be compatible enough genetically in order to start reproducing in order to restart the species again in their country and location.
Like a lot of shows of this nature, the threats to start with and throughout are the insects that have grown massive and dangerous in this new world. That’s a common approach and I won’t fault them for it since we also have the whole humans are dangerous too aspect. There are some grisly combinations (such as the first episode when one group’s wilderness guide is eaten from the inside out) and some crazy designs but that’s part of the appeal in seeing how the world changed. It’s easy to not get into that whole “that’s not how science works” thing if you remember it was all caused by a meteorite and just leave yourself open to things. Part of the appeal of all of this is that it does go back to some of the things from my childhood with 80s films and books where they started tackling eco-disasters and how a world would be strange yet familiar after such things. So while we get familiar groups operating here – including the group of rejects just to have a wildcard chance of survival – it all combines together really well.
A good chunk of the fun that comes from this for me is also seeing what kind of caches were left behind by the government in order to provide some help in the future. With so many landmarks wiped out and the landscape having changed as much as it has, things can be found but it takes a bit more work to do so. When we do deal with finding these places, it’s definitely interesting to see how they’re set up with tools, instructions on how to do things, base food things, and lots and lots of seeds. Some resist the idea of essentially becoming farmers as you can imagine, but everything is laid out here in order to start society anew. And watching that start to become a reality and how everyone has their different views of things, and their own agendas as well, provides for the tension and chaos that builds over the course of it. I do like that we get nods to what the world was like before and seeing the aftermath of it all because there’s something to be said for seeing the reality of the destruction in order to make the break and move on into the future.
In Summary:
With the show working as many groups as it does over the two seasons, the first season here covers just some of it but there are a lot of characters to keep track of. I do enjoy the way it weaves the stories and experiences of the couple of groups we follow (which in turn split at times for a while themselves) so it’s a busy story with a lot of plots to follow as they acclimate to this new world. There are the obvious central focus characters but it really doesn’t feel like it’s a story about a single character as the true focus, which helps to make it an engaging ensemble to watch and there’s a lot to like as more of the world reveals itself to them and to the viewer. The show has a pretty solid look to it and I really like the general ideas behind its visual design and approach. Sentai’s release is pretty standard fare as it’s a solid bilingual release that comes with the basic extras, but it looks great and sounds good which is what matters in the end. With a lot more to go in the second collection to come, I’m excited to see more of this world and find myself wishing that the manga had been picked up already.
Features:
Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Language, English Subtitles, Clean Opening, Clean Closing
Content Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Menu Grade: B+
Extras Grade: B-
Released By: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: December 8th, 2020
MSRP: $69.98
Running Time: 300 Minutes
Video Encoding: 1080p AVC
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
