The official website for the TV-adapted series of Yumi Tamura’s 7SEEDS manga announced last week that the production staff will be pulling and completely remaking the series’ ending animation. This was due to a notice received by the production team that the ending animation was similar to an already existing work. The official statement acknowledged that the similarities between the ending and the work were “impossible to deny”. So, they decided that taking down the ending to avoid any accusations of plagiarism was the best course of action.
The main point of contention comes from the ending sequence of Kyoto Animation’s 2013 anime series Beyond the Boundary. The original ending of 7SEEDS has many layouts and shots that bear similarity to the Kyoto anime’s ending.
The second season of 7SEEDS debuted as a Netflix exclusive in March 2020. The whole season is shipping out on Blu-ray volumes in two releases in Japan on January 27th and April 28th of this year. The first season of the series also debuted as a Netflix exclusive back in June 2019, a delayed release of its planned April 2019 premiere date due to the coronavirus pandemic. The first season premiered on television channels later in Japan in January 2020.
Netflix described the plot of the 7SEEDS series as follows:
In the immediate future, a giant meteorite has collided with earth. All living organisms, including mankind, have been wiped off the face of the planet. The government, who had foreseen this outcome, took measures to counter the worst-case scenario called Project 7SEEDS, in which five sets of seven young men and women were carefully selected and placed into teams. Each participant sought ways to survive on a deserted island.
The series is being directed by Yukio Takahashi, who is known for his work on Dog & Scissors; Team Gonzo is producing the series; and Youko Satou, who lent his talents to Dog & Scissors, Saiyuki Reload Blast, and Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits is leading character design for the series. Additionally, Touko Machida, best known for his work on The IDOLM@STER, Chaika the Coffin Princess, and Harukana Receive, is the head of the series’ composition.
Anime studios lifting other shots and compositions is nothing new. Back in 2019, the staff for The Stars Align had to apologize when they used a dance choreography shot without the original dancers’ permission. However, both dancers ended up working with the anime production team after that incident and were appropriately credited in the anime’s ending sequence.
An even more recent incident was the Tokyo Babylon 2021 television anime team posting a statement last month, apologizing for referencing a costume design for two of their characters in the series without permission from the original costume designers. The anime was then unfortunately delayed due to the incident. Its planned April release has now been pushed back, with no revised premiere date being set as of yet.
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