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Days: 342.2
Mean Score: 4.43
  • Total Entries1,916
  • Rewatched0
  • Episodes22,385
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Yubisaki to Renren
Yubisaki to Renren
Mar 5, 1:57 AM
Watching 9/12 · Scored -
Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai.
Yuzuki-san Chi no Yonkyoudai.
Feb 20, 9:08 AM
Watching 3/12 · Scored -
Made in Abyss: Retsujitsu no Ougonkyou
Made in Abyss: Retsujitsu no Ougonkyou
Feb 13, 6:54 AM
Completed 12/12 · Scored 8
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Days: 154.9
Mean Score: 5.72
  • Total Entries636
  • Reread2
  • Chapters24,218
  • Volumes2,796
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Ajin
Ajin
Aug 15, 2022 11:19 AM
Reading 24/84 · Scored -
Sousou no Frieren
Sousou no Frieren
Jul 29, 2022 11:28 AM
Reading 23/? · Scored -
Yubisaki to Renren
Yubisaki to Renren
Jul 19, 2022 11:31 AM
Reading 11/? · Scored -

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Diogo_Brando Mar 5, 4:22 PM
I actually had to read a part of your comment twice, because I didn't believe my eyes when you said that Aramaki was a supporting character on MAL. Then I checked and you're right. How is that possible when he drives so much of the plot, and is such an integral part of the themes of the manga? I really liked Haru as well, but I think Aramaki deserves the position of main character far more than he does. Speaking of Ayu, that scene when Ayu proposes that, after she has a baby with Aramaki, that she would have her second with Tsunomata, was abolutely hilarious. The time she spent with Tsunomata, while short, really had a strong impact on her. While she didn't leave much of an impression on me during the Summer A arc, at least compared with Ango, Koruri and Gengorou, she steadly became a very interesting character to follow. Aramaki relating to Gengorou (and vice versa) due to their love of animals was also great, they helped each other to overcome their similar traumas.
Diogo_Brando Mar 4, 1:48 PM
Just finished 7 Seeds; all 35 volumes plus the Gaiden epilogue. It's incredible how the author was able to make an ending that's both very happy and also satisfying for the reader, especially considering how grim the story was at some points. To me, this ending was totally deserved too: the characters all struggled to improve themselves, to work together and to survive, and they got through the situation without losing anyone (when the dog Dai seemed to fall to its death, my heart almost stopped though, I'm glad it was just the author teasing us because what happened to Fubuki and Mitsuru in that fire was still fresh in my memory).

The conclusion of Aramaki's character arc was amazing, as expected: his dogs' sacrifice, which also made him relive the tragedy of Team Winter, led him to become half-suicidal without him realizing it, but I was glad he was ultimately able to come to terms with all of it. That he's able to now view himself as blessed for having met people (and dogs) that were capable of sacrificing themselves for him, instead of viewing himself as unfortunate that he wasn't able to follow them to their deaths, shows remarkable character development. Similarily, the conclusion of Hana's character arc was great as well; not only did she reunite with her lover, but her feelings toward Ango were made clear: she acknowledges that he's not evil and that he was a victim of his own circumstances, but that she still cannot forgive him for what he almost did to her. One thing that I really liked about 7 Seeds was that it treated the issue of sexual assault very seriously, using it sparingly but effectively, while still avoiding making me hate Ango completely; in the end, his trauma nearly consumed him, but the epilogue left me hopeful that he would one day be able to overcome his past. In the end, he and Ryo could never really live together with the others, but they will still play their own roles in other ways. Watching Natsu go from someone who just gets rescued by others all the time to becoming a heroine of the story in her own right was also very nice, and her evolving relationship with Semimaru, from start to finish, was both wholesome and hilarious.

Perhaps the biggest acomplishment of 7 Seeds is that, despite the surviving character cast being 30 members strong, I actually remembered all of their names throughout the story; never did I need to be reminded of them at the start of each chapter. Every single character has their own story and development; I mean when I first saw Ryusei I thought he was just going to be the typical self-centered, womanizer guy that exists in every shoujo work, but then he has that heart-to-heart scene with Kurumi in the cave. In general, all of Team Autumn was like this; they were all introduced as pretty "meh" characters, but as the volumes progress they become one of the most interesting teams due to the particular bonds they share, showing that the dictatorship-like arrangement they had at the beginning was the result of an attempt to survive in extreme circumstances where they had lost hope for the future; once that hope was revived, they showed their (much nicer) true colors. Even Chimaki, who otherwise was one of the least developed characters in the manga, gets his own chapter in the epilogue.

But the most astonishing thing that had crossed my mind before, but only become fully evident at the end: this was just a tiny fraction of the world, just the Japanese islands. Many different countries would have carried out projects like 7 Seeds, many of whom probably have survivors that experienced similar stories that the Japanese teams did. What we read in this manga is just a portion of a much wider world, showing the amazing scale of the story when you really think about it.

I think the final words of the author sum up the manga really well: "may all of the various experiences you've gone through, both the good and the bad, give you the strength to live and grow". Ultimately, that's what this story was all about: the characters experiencing all sorts of new things that they couldn't have in their previous world, and growing stronger together, struggling to exist in their new environment. It's a work that not only gives you a new perspective on life, but also shows how wonderful nature is, being able to come back from extinction-level events over and over again, given enough time. Overall, it most certainly became my favorite manga so far, and one of my favorite works of all time, it's definitely something that stays with you. It definitely made me interested in reading Basara at some point in the future, hopefully this year still.

Thanks for being my conversation partner during my reading sessions of this manga!
Diogo_Brando Mar 2, 3:02 PM
I'm now 30 volumes in, so relatively close to the end. I have to say, when all the teams were able to communicate through the robots for the first time, I really felt the magnitude and scale of the story - it started out with 5 different teams, then they separated into several groups, some of which encountered each other and then parted ways, and now everything is coming together - they're all near each other. Seeing them talk about their goals for the future once they deal with this situation was great, I feel like they're all contributing in some way or another with their own specific talents, whether that's Ango's physical prowess, Akira's leadership skills or Semimaru's ability to make others relax and stop overthinking things. And I have to say: Ango, Arashi and Aramaki stuck in the same room together was the most awkward yet hilarious part of this arc, it really is a combination that nobody expected to see, and Haru calling it out made it even better. Arashi being torn between respecting and being thankful to Ango, while at the same time despising him for what he did to Hana is very understandable, I actually expected him to lose control of himself once he knew what happened, but he dealt with it in a pretty mature way.

A lot of really great scenes happened before the Sado arc, of course. Most notably, Hana and Aramaki reuniting was amazing. I really like the relationship between these two; not one of love or anything, although it can be easily misunderstood that way, but of an incredible trust where they would put their lives in the other's hands without thinking twice. Relationships like that aren't that commonly explored in fiction compared to romantic ones, so it has been great to follow it. Aramaki's dogs's deaths were devastating to me, considering I'm a dog guy and they're my favorite animals. You could really see how it affected him, as if he was losing his friends from Team Winter (whose names he gave to his first two dogs) all over again. Again, watching Natsu's growth as a character has been great, and I've become very fond of her relationship with Semimaru. While at the start of the manga I admittedly felt a bit irked when the story's perspective moved away from Hana to Natsu, I've come to love her scenes, and her meeting with Hana was amazing, since after almost 30 volumes we finally saw the two female protagonists meeting each other.

As you stated before, the manga's been getting some amazing spreads lately, I loved the ones that showed the ecosystem in Sado Island. It really gives you a great perspective on where they are and what's happening around them. And I find this to be very important, because one of the main messages of the manga, at least to me, is how humans interact with nature, how nature can recover even after an extinction-level event and adapt itself to host a new generation of species, which will be naturally selected as the previous one was. There was one chapter after we see Hana surviving the underwater cave incident, where she appears as a child exploring her surroundings, finding what's edible, how the animals around her work, and just... enjoying life as it is, together with nature. As if she regained something she had lost, a child-like desire to coexist with our ecosystem instead of trying to control and change it.

If you'll excuse my rant, since I dont like coming across as being too preachy, but I think this is something that we modern people have come to forget; for all our technology and advancements, it has always seemed to me that we've abandoned a part of us that was important for how we relate to nature, and what our position in the ecosystem is. I think that's part of the reason why many of us struggle with problems related to the meaning of our lives, some of us close ourselves from reality like Natsu did, and I think most characters in this manga are like that in some way or another, like Hana's insistence on being alone or Ryusei's refusal to commit himself to anything seriously. The modern world, at least to me, feels like it incentivizes these sorts of problems, I read reports of people struggling with issues like these on a daily basis. Ultimately, coming to a world where they have no choice but to face reality in the eyes and work with others to survive is what saved them from leading lives with less meaning; as Natsu herself said, if it wasn't for the 7 Seeds Project, she would have remained a recluse in her room, and wouldn't have made friends with Team Summer B. Granted, with this I'm not trying to say the modern world doesn't have anything good, that would be narrow-minded of course, but it does feel like we've lost something that we can never retrieve unless we experienced something like the characters in this manga do. If anything, it just gives me more appreciation for existing alongside nature. The manga showing how all sorts of creatures were able to survive the disaster and adapt themselves to their new environment was really cool; something I'd read about before in books about the previous extinction-level events, but had never seen portrayed so well in fiction.

Finally, two things that I have learned from the manga: insects are amazing little creatures that I now realize I have always underestimated, with their ability to thrive in the most desperate circumstances; and the importance of always being aware of my surroundings and how I can utilize them. 5 more volumes to go, alongside Gaiden!
Diogo_Brando Feb 28, 11:30 AM
Ah that's good to know, as long as it doesn't bother you then I'll gladly continue to talk about my experience with it.

The end of the arc I just read (with Team Summer A living together with Hana's group) was quite dramatic, with a rape attempt on Hana followed by her being abandoned inside of that cavern. There's no way she's dead of course, but I feel it might be a good idea to not focus on her for a while because she outshines all the other characters when she's in the same scene as them. This will allow the rest of the cast to get some much needed independent development, although I am quite sad that she won't be around for a while. The remaining members of Summer A rejecting Ango and Ryo was quite good to see, as they have all been putting an effort into regaining what they lost during their last test, even Ayu; I'm curious to see how her travels with Aramaki go.

When I finished said arc I was feeling quite angry at both Ango and Ryo for their actions, despite knowing what turned them into such people, but this new arc shows them in a different light, interacting with the foolish, goofy Team Summer B, and while they continue to "test" them with their cruel antics, despite being a team supposedly made up of failures, they are doing a remarkable job at surviving, because they have keen instincts and good teamwork, plus their personalities allow them to be more agreeable and cooperative than other teams. They are also good at thinking positively. I think this might be what is needed for Ango and Ryo to start slowly healing from their trauma, though it does look like it will take a long, long time for any relevant change to happen. Though I have to say, it feels super awkward to watch these semi-wholesome scenes between Ango and Arashi, considering the former tried to rape the latter's girlfriend just a few days before. When it comes out that this happened, alongside Hana's supposed murder by Ryo, things are going to get pretty heated. Natsu has had some amazing character development this arc, too.

I have to say, it's becoming very difficult to stop reading. I wanted to avoid reading more than 3 volumes in a day, but that's not working out; currently I'm on volume 19. I believe the last time I read a manga so fast was Red River about a year ago, coincidentally also an adventure shoujo manga which involves a female protagonist being "teleported" in time, but to the past instead of the future. I guess I just have a thing for these types of stories. As you said, the artwork and the spreads only keep improving with each volume, as well.
Diogo_Brando Feb 27, 11:30 AM
Now that I've reached the part where Hana's group is living together with Team Summer A, I can definitely see the more humane side of its characters, though Ayu and Ango's traumas seem to run so deep that it makes it very hard for them to have any level of proper interaction with the others; this isn't the case for the other members, who seem to be slowly adjusting to outsiders. Or well, at least that's the case for Koruri, Ban and Gengorou. Ryo and Nijiko have always been more on the disagreeable side, but they've at least been able to establish proper interactions with Hana's team. As I expected, Summer A is angry at the other teams for not going through what they did, but I really liked Akira's answer to them: "normal" people also go through a lot while growing up due to the competition that's so pervasive in our modern societies. My opinion of Team Autumn has only been going up with the recent volumes, honestly.

I really liked the volume that focused on Team Summer B, inbetween Hana's perspective of the story. I feel like the more relaxed, goofy nature of the relationship between Arashi, Semimaru and Natsu is very welcome after so many tragic events, this one came right after the ventroloquist's diary arc, which was also quite dramatic (though also hopeful by the end, considering the characters' appreciation for having been able to live those months together made them comfortable with their fate at the end). I'm quite enjoying the slow but steady development of Natsu's character.

And, of course, Hana and Aramaki continue to be the best characters here. I really like that Aramaki contrasts so well with the Summer A members; they both went through similar unspeakable tragedies, but where Aramaki grew up kinder and more mature as a person due to what he experienced, the trauma stagnated the growth of the Summer A members. At least for now; I expect many of them to actually come to terms with what happened as the story progresses. And I really like how Hana is there for the characters that are in need of help or someone to talk to, like Kurumi with her pregnancy; again showing that she's a "swiss armyknife" not just physically, but also emotionally. Ango called her "useless" because she has no special skills, but she really is the heart of whatever group she ends up in, and as shown in Mark's (the ventroloquist) backstory, having someone there to talk to or make you momentarily forget your woes can be more important than any special skill.

By the way, I apologize if I'm sending too many messages regarding the manga; it's just that it's rare for me to find a work that both inspires me to write so much about it, and where I have someone to actually write to about it. Hopefully it's not bothering you too much, but if it is, do tell me.
Diogo_Brando Feb 26, 8:13 AM
I finished the Team Summer A arc. I didn't think the manga would outdo the tragedy that happened to Team Winter so soon, but it did. Oh boy, did it outdo it. I feel like this experiment of theirs might have created the strongest team when it comes to survival skills, but at the expense of their sanity and humanity. I mean that panel that shows the survivors all lined up at the end of the arc is just astonishing. At least five of them are deeply traumatized by what happened (which was just a few days before from their perspective), one of them was probably affected somewhat (Ryo) and the last one seems to be a sociopath (Nijiro). They definitely will have a very different team dynamic than the other ones: not the friendly relationship that Team Spring shares, not the goofy one of Team Summer B, and not the dictatorship of Team Autumn. I am very curious to see what they will be doing in the present day, because it feels like they were completely dehumanized for the sake of survival. That arc was really good, but also admittedly difficult to read due to the type of content. When they meet the other teams, they might feel jealous that they didn't have to go through what they did.

Oh, and I loved the mention of Hana at the end of the arc. Now her jumbled memories of her father make sense, and the man that saved her when she was suicidal was almost certainly him, being a part of Team Summer B. With this arc, I could already notice an improvement in the art, too.
Diogo_Brando Feb 24, 11:51 PM
Right, while I dislike H-scenes in general, I always read VNs with restoration patches applied, because I am aware that localizations tend to change more than just the H-scenes, and I know that Cyanotype Daydream was a particularly offensive example in that regard due to what people were saying in the review section of Steam. It's better to just skip H-scenes with the CTRL key than to risk reading a mediocre localization that changes the authors' intended vision for the work, after all.

I am kind of slow at reading in Spanish, mostly because I've never had any education on the language. It's just that Spanish is the sister language of Portuguese, and so if you know one, you can at least sort of understand the other, but with many limitations. I do read news articles from some Spanish/Latin American news outlets though, so I'm at least a bit used to it, but I'm not fluent in it like I am with Portuguese or English. VNs are indeed huge time sinks, in my case it's not so much due to being busy, since I can usually dedicate at least 2-3 hours to my hobbies on weekdays and more on weekends, it's rather that it's always been hard for me to start one, I guess motivation being the key factor here. Once I do start one, I can consistently dedicate those 2-3 hours per day to it, rather than to my other hobbies. But I am trying to get past that so I can actually experience a lot of those widely-praised VNs, as the medium definitely has the potential to create some of the best stories there are.
Diogo_Brando Feb 24, 8:42 AM
Some of the VNs I have planned are indeed long, such as White Album 2 CC/Coda. Some of the other priority ones include Witch on the Holy Night, Cyanotype Daydream, Summer Pockets and a re-read of Fruit of Grisaia, so I can read the two sequel VNs that were not translated at the time I first read Fruit, 10 whole years ago (time really flies, man). Once I feel confident, I'd also like to read Sakura no Uta, by the same author as SubaHibi (which I really loved), though I'll have to put my (admittedly mediocre) Spanish skills to the test, as there is no translation in English as of yet. There's a bunch of other VNs in my backlog though, the result of many years of not reading any VN (the last one I read was Higurashi back in 2020).

What you said about what's in store in the latter volumes of 7 Seeds makes me even more excited for them. I'll keep you updated as I read it, for sure.
Diogo_Brando Feb 24, 12:07 AM
I've been well too, I decided as my "New Year's Resolution" that I would try my best to finally get through my backlog of VNs, and Eustia was the first one this year. It also helps that I finally have a laptop I can read them in; it's a much better experience than reading them on a desktop, I can just lie on the couch and read them.

I absolutely agree with the romance criticism in Eustia, Caim was a character that would have a hard time having romantic chemistry with anyone, given his personality and trauma, and neither of the heroine routes convinced me otherwise. The authors were probably aware of this too, and this is why the routes themselves are so short, consisting of only a couple of H-scenes for each heroine and maybe 10-20 minutes of extra normal scenes with the heroine. The focus was on the chapters themselves and not on the romance with the heroines, which made me question why this couldn't just be a linear work with only Tia as the love interest, instead of a "ladder structure" one. Of course, it was done because as we know, sex sells and so they wanted to give every heroine their own H-scenes.

Regarding the final chapter, while it wasn't bad at all and the story continued to be exciting, the pacing (Caim repeatedly trying to convince himself that sacrificing Tia is the right thing to do, over and over again), the actual ending (I felt that the chapter was building up to an ending where Caim dies alongside Tia and is together with her in death, to serve as a contrast to the way the first Angel was sacrificed alone, instead all we get is a 20 minute side story that shows a dream where Caim and Tia live together in the countyside) and the lack of an epilogue that gives any closure were all issues that I felt could have been avoided. Of course, that doesn't take away from the good aspects of the chapter, such as Lucius (an actual, proper antagonist with good intentions but an extreme way of accomplishing them, unlike the previous antagonists that were all pretty evil) and the whole uprising affair. I also liked that they gave every heroine a chance to shine in this final chapter. Overall, as you said, this was one of the rare times when a low-fantasy story was pulled off really well.

Regarding 7 Seeds, Hana and Takumi are my favorite characters so far too. The chapters that showed Team Winter's fate were pretty damn tragic, with Takumi being the sole survivor, but fortunately he managed to not only keep himself alive for so many years, but also keep his sanity thanks to his canine companions. His survivor guilt must be really bad though. I was really glad when he met Hana (my favorite scene so far), especially after the awful way Team Summer B treated him, and he was allowed into the Team Spring group. Hana herself is just a really good character all around, and I like that in just 6 volumes, not all of them focused on Team Spring and Hana's story, we have already seen so much of her character, from her acting as the "swiss army knife" of the group thanks to her knowledge and physical prowess, to her emotional weakness over the possibility of Arashi being dead, to her suicidal ideations when she gets infected by the purple disease. To me, she is the de facto female lead of the story, and pretty much every scene she's in ends up being really good. The only team I have left to see is Team Summer A, at this point.

I agree with the early artwork criticism, it does feel rough around the edges compared to some of the other manga I've been reading. But this is a tendency of really long mangas: the artwork tends to start out mediocre, and then becomes much better as it goes, with Attack on Titan being a prime example of this. To me, the strong premise and the author's ability to show and develop the characters have more than made up for the poor early artwork, so it's a minor concern.

I will keep 7 Seeds Gaiden in mind for when I finish the main story, and Basara is also on my radar.

Oh I wasn't aware Moribito had a J-drama, thanks for letting me know! I actually wanted to read the novels at some point to find out what happens after Balsa starts her journey to her homeland, which the anime ends with. I might watch the drama at some point.
Diogo_Brando Feb 23, 4:20 PM
Hey there Abhi, hope you've been doing well these past months.

A few months ago, a leak of Aiyoku no Eustia's english translation was made available online, being perfectly readable from start to finish, with a only a handful of badly translated lines. I finished reading it recently; this was one work I've wanted to read for a long while, because both you and Ray held it in very high regard. My opinion of it is that it was a great low-fantasy story with an amazingly developed setting, a strong character cast and some very interesting themes about one's purpose in life. I particularly enjoyed chapters 3 and 4, focusing on Colette/Lavie and Licia, with the former pair being my absolute favorite part of the story. While I had a few gripes with the final chapter and the overall pacing of the story, they're minor issues that are easily overshadowed by the qualities that the visual novel had; I'm really glad I finally got to experience it, and I was most certainly not disappointed at all. It had really good production values, especially for 2011, and the side stories were also pretty good for the most part.

Also, I started reading 7 Seeds the other day, as it was a manga you seemed to hold in high regard and I was intrigued by the premise. I've read 6 of the 35 volumes so far, and I can tell you it's one of the best starts I've seen in a long time. Almost as soon as Team Spring was introduced, I've been loving every scene that Hana is in, and I like how it explores the different ways that characters react to the reality around them. While it's still too early for me to say anything final regarding this manga, it's certainly making me think that it will become one of my favorite works of all time, if this level of quality is maintained in the remaining volumes.
Dashiawia Jan 1, 4:49 PM
Thanks buddy! Same to you. :)
Diogo_Brando Jan 1, 1:54 AM
Thank you Abhi, Happy New Year for you and your family as well!
Dashiawia Dec 31, 2023 10:42 AM
Happy New Year to you and your family, Abhi! Wish you all the best in 2024. :)
Diogo_Brando Dec 28, 2023 4:41 PM
Ah I see, that makes sense. I am also someone who prefers character centric stories, which is the reason why the SoL genre has appealed to me for many years now. I'd definitely like to give Chinese/Korean dramas a try in the future, once I get my manga/VN backlog out of the way. Hopefully 2024 will be a productive year for me in that regard.

Thank you! I always try to reserve time for my hobbies even if I'm working and studying, it's always good for my mental health.
Diogo_Brando Dec 26, 2023 1:05 AM
Good to hear it!

150 titles in 3 months, now that's something! I don't think I've ever watched Korean or Chinese Dramas, but I have heard good things about them in the past.

I've been fine too, a bit busy since October due to taking my History PhD, but still with enough time to play some games, read some manga and watch a couple of seasonal anime.
It’s time to ditch the text file.
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