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7 Seeds Stage Review
Note: Spoilers ahead for both the manga and stage!
Background
When I learnt that Nakada Hiroki was going to be involved in the 7Seeds Stage: Spring Chapter in the role of Mozu, I began searching for information online. (I always make it a point to find out as much as I can about his roles prior to the stage.) There were a few resources, but they seemed rather vague to me, so I decided that the best course of action would be to read the manga itself. As a person who is not (gasp!) an avid manga reader, 178 chapters certainly was a daunting prospect to me, and the art style wasn’t the easiest to decipher, but the storyline after the first arc was compelling enough to keep me going after I got through the initial Summer B arc and reached the Spring chapters, which is where the bulk of this play is premised upon.
I actually enjoyed the manga for its complexities - the huge cast of characters across the five teams was confusing at first, but as I followed the different viewpoints, I came to appreciate the subtleties woven into every character’s motivations. I read the manga over the course of two or three weeks, and it is definitely worth a re-read just to properly appreciate the development of both the characters and the worldview created by Tamura-sensei. Since I read the manga at a relatively fast pace in order to complete it in time for watching the stage, I watched the anime too in order to refresh my memory of several key scenes. I can certainly understand the disappointment the manga fans felt at the subpar quality of the anime, but it was helpful in the sense that it covered most of the key action sequences (minus the subtleties of character motivations, unfortunately.)
Impressions of Mozu (pre-butai)
This man is a hard character, in every sense of the word. He exists very much in the background across all the arcs in the manga, but his hand in the way the events play out is very much present. He is a character that doesn’t give leeway to anyone, himself most of all. He sees it as a necessity for survival in a world that doesn’t give way to anything that doesn’t pass the test. He has lived his entire life upon a knife’s edge, and has a mastery over his skills and surroundings alike. For him, trials are routine, and his stoic demeanour arises from his ability to completely detach himself from any situation so as to view it from its most objective angle. This is consistent with a character for whom survival has become an everyday necessity.
To be honest, I was very surprised at the casting decision for Nakada Hiroki to play him. Hiroki-kun has a wide repertoire as an actor, but most times, he is given roles that induce sympathy from the audience. Having read the manga in its entirety, I felt that he would have been much better suited to play Aramaki-san, a beautiful and relatively mature character who has known many losses in his life, and a shoo-in for audience sympathy. On the other hand, Mozu-san is a character that is as far from sympathetic as we can get, so I was very curious about what Nishida-san’s vision for this stage was, and why he picked Hiroki-kun to portray Mozu. Hiroki-kun also said during one of his monthly livestreams that Nishida-san is a director whom he likes a lot, so I was naturally very intrigued by their collaboration this time. As much as I had my doubts, I felt that it was safe to trust in Nishida-san’s vision, and that he probably could see something that wasn’t immediately apparent to me as an average member of the audience.
The stage
The stage has a minimalist set, with movable steps and ramps that the cast members interact with and set up as they progress through the scenes. To some degree, it is fitting for a post-apocalyptic setting - the new world is what the characters on stage make of it, and for the most part, the audience’s imagination fills in the gaps. The story follows the initial journey of the Spring team quite closely, extending some scenes and stretching out the action in a way that still feels true to the manga. Mozu-san, however, makes his appearance relatively quickly after the initial scene, establishing himself and two other researchers as the key personnel behind the 7Seeds project, and together, they provide much of the exposition for the sake of the audience. Their conversations inform us of the existence of other plans such as the building of shelters in the hope that one (or more) of these plans will work when D-Day arrives. The revelation of Mozu as the shinigami of the group also takes place relatively quickly. It takes away the suspense and mystery that was originally found in the manga with regards to his character arc, but it does make things easier to follow for the first-time viewer. There are also other iykyk references (energy bars, for example) that would appeal to fans of the series, but these are not so obscure as to completely alienate an audience member who may not be familiar with the work.
My only gripe is that the costuming looks cheap and the portrayal of the dogs, beasts and insects resembles that of a low-budget school play. It is understandable that these would be very difficult to achieve in a stage setting, but I wish they had been able to create more realistic costumes and action sequences. It took away from an otherwise very well-crafted and directed play.
Mozu-san’s portrayal
While I have every confidence that Hiroki-kun can pull off any role he’s cast in, I had some serious doubts about how he would be able to portray Mozu-san, especially when footage of the photoshoot was first released. The images then, which looked soft and sensual, did not match up with my mental impression of the stoic and hardened Mozu-san. Still, I had to believe that Nishida-san had a vision of Mozu-san’s stage portrayal that only Hiroki-kun could match.
When I finally got to watch the stage performance, I was relieved to see that his portrayal matched the expectations I had of this character, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that he exceeded my expectations. His Mozu-san is still a hardened survivalist, but the paternal aspect of him which exhibits care for Hana is also presented onstage. It is easy to see why, in the later chapters of the manga, Hana refers to him as Me-chan – the -chan suffix denotes closeness in their relationship. He also reveals an unexpectedly compassionate side of Mozu-san in one of the final exposition scenes, when he gives the researcher he has worked closely with and his family a chance to go into one of the shelters. Hiroki-kun negotiates a fine balance well, between the objective and pragmatic genius visionary and a person who deep down inside does have a heart for his fellow researchers. He casts Mozu-san in a more human light, and that is something I have always appreciated about Hiroki-kun’s acting.
Final thoughts
I’m happy to report that the play stayed faithful to many aspects of the manga, and it met my expectations for the most part. The costuming and action sequences are somewhat regrettable in some parts, but if you are able to look past these, it is a well-crafted and well-balanced play. The anime glossed over many details in its rush to move from one action scene to another, but the play took its time to develop the characters and explore their interactions with one another. Even Yanagi-san was sympathetically portrayed, and I believe that most manga fans would appreciate the care that has gone into the making of this stage.
Overall, I think that the stage is worth watching, perhaps twice over just to fully appreciate all the nuances and subtleties it includes. It’s not an outstanding play by any means, but it makes a good beginning, and there is a strong chance that we can look forward to the future productions featuring the Summer and Autumn teams as well. Nishida-san has created quite a beautiful worldview, and things can only look up from here.
If you would like to catch the stage (no subs available, sorry!), viewing tickets for the archive can still be purchased at https://l-tike.zaiko.io/e/7seeds. It is available for viewing up till Sunday, 05 January, 2359h JST.
If you are interested to know more about Mozu-san's actor, Nakada Hiroki, please click on the hyperlink of his name.
