is a Japanese
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
series by
Sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
from 1999. Seraphim Call may be considered
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
in several respects. For example: it is an
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
of individual stories while most other anime is
serialized. Other examples include a surprise ending that comes at the beginning of one of the stories, an episode seen entirely through the eyes of a plush toy, one is largely a ''
Thunderbirds''
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
, and two nearly identical episodes from individual twin perspectives. The experimentation in plot structure can be very subtle often requiring the viewer to watch each episode twice before noticing it.
Plot
Each story takes place in the year 2010, in a futuristic city named Neo-Acropolis on an artificial island in Japan. Among the city's residents are 11 girls, each facing a different dilemma.
Characters
;
:Yukina is a high-school girl who possesses a high level of skill in science and engineering. She also has androphobia, and travels around in a
giant robot
In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...
in order to avoid being around men.
;
:Despite her age, Tanpopo still enjoys picture books, stuffed toys and colouring. She always wears a bright (usually orange) hair ribbon.
;
:Chinami lives with her divorced father and two young siblings, and spends most of her time doing housework. She enjoys baking sweets, and has a wish to study pastry-making in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
;
:Hatsumi has been an athletic
tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
all her life and has no desire to be
feminine
Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...
; she believes that if she is not feminine, she cannot be beautiful, either. However, after she is chosen to model for a painting, her outlook begins to change.
;
:Out of the Murasame family's twin daughters, Shion is the one intended to inherit her father's company. Her personality is methodical, sharp, and cold, but she has a very strong bond with Sakura.
;
:Sakura, the younger of the Murasame twins, will apparently inherit her mother's company when she comes of age. She is quiet and tries to watch over Shion.
;
:Saeno has a deep love for
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
of all types, but chose to become an English teacher, as she thinks of math as being something precious that she cannot teach to someone who does not love it.
;
:Ayaka is the kind-hearted daughter of a fabulously wealthy man, but she spends his fortune too frivolously (often without making it clear how much the items cost beforehand) and dreams of protecting world peace.
;
:Kasumi is practical and rarely speaks. She is unimpressed that her actions at a park fountain have transformed into a ritual for good luck amongst young girls, and actually finds it irritating that people all over the city are attributing completely unrelated messages and ideas to her. She works on a camera crew for a news station, and likes to ride her motorcycle.
;
:Using the
pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
Subaru Kurumigawa, shy high-schooler Kurumi has secretly become the author of a
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
that is so popular it has been made into an anime. She works hard on her manga, to the point of falling asleep on the drawing table, but keeps her identity secret from those who know her in real life. Due to the masculine nature of Kurumi's pen name, most of her audience assumes that she is male (including Tanpopo, who later concludes that Kurumi is a
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
man).
;
:Urara is the daughter of the late architect who designed Neo-Acropolis. She describes herself as "quiet and indecisive", and loves both nature and architecture (particularly that of the city her father built). Since the death of her father, Urara has been the caretaker of her sick mother.
Episodes
Ending themes
Each episode has a different ending theme performed by the voice actress of the main character. The closing theme to the final episode is "I miss you" written and performed by "ancy".
References
Official Site(Accessed through the
Wayback Machine
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...
)
Sunrise data card
External links
The Seraphim Call Publication Catalogue*
{{Sunrise
1999 anime television series debuts
Fiction set in 2010
Dengeki G's Magazine
Japanese LGBT-related television shows
LGBT in anime and manga
Sunrise (company)
TV Tokyo original programming
Yuri (genre) anime and manga