Seraphim Call

Seraphim Call
セラフィムコール (Seraphim Call)
Genre	Bishōjo, Yuri
TV anime
Director	Tomomi Mochizuki
Studio	Sunrise
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	6 October 1999 – 22 December 1999
Episodes	12

Seraphim Call (セラフィムコール, Seraphim Call^?) is a Japanese anime series by Sunrise from 1999. Seraphim Call may be considered avant-garde in several respects. For example: it is an anthology 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, 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 2010 in a city named Neo-Acropolis on a man-made island in Japan. Among the city's residents are 11 girls, each facing a different dilemma.

Characters

Yukina Kurimoto (栗本 雪菜, Kurimoto Yukina^?)

Yukina is no ordinary girl, she's a teenage, technological genius. Now one of her inventions has been stolen and is being used for evil purposes and Yukina is the only one with the DNA pass-code who can stop it. But she has a strange reaction to a phobia, and a way around her greatest fear must be found before time runs out.

Tanpopo Teramoto (寺本 たんぽぽ, Teramoto Tanpopo^?)

This entire episode is seen through the "eyes" of a plush toy [actually, at the end, it is revealed that a video camera was hidden in it] recently given to a girl named Tanpopo, whom she names Prince Margarine von Half-Calorie. Tanpopo is an imaginative teenager who considers each of her many plush toys as personal friends and gives them backstories. But as she gets older she's saddened that everyone around her has changed and given up their childhood dreams.

Ohse Chinami (桜瀬 ちなみ, Chinami Ōse^?)

Chinami is devoted to her family, who are friendly towards each other even though her parents are divorced. She has already decided sacrifice her future as a talented pastry chef to take care of the father she adores. But soon she will learn her family will never return to the way it once was.

Kusunoki Hatsumi (楠 初摘, Hatsumi Kusunoki^?)

Hatsumi has been an athletic tomboy all her life and has no desire to be feminine. Then she meets a young artist named Miyabi Sakakibara, who wants to show Hatsumi and the whole world how beautiful she is by making Hatsumi her artist's model.

Shion Murasame (村雨 紫苑, Murasame Shion^?)

Identical twin sisters, with very different personalities have twin episodes, the first being from the perspective of Shion. A love letter arrives at the girls' home but the name of the one it is addressed to is no longer readable. Events unfold that leave the girls confused about themselves, their relationship with each other and reality itself until they put it all to a dramatic test.

Sakura Murasame (村雨 桜, Murasame Sakura^?)

Identical twin sisters, with very different personalities have twin episodes, the second being from the perspective of Sakura. A love letter arrives at the girls' home but the name of the one it is addressed to is no longer readable. Events unfold that leave the girls confused about themselves, their relationship with each other and reality itself until they put it all to a dramatic test. In this episode we see the contrast in the way the girls see themselves and each other as well as discover who the letter was intended for.

Saeno Hiiragi (柊 彩乃, Hiiragi Saeno^?)

Saeno, now a high school English teacher, returns to the college where she studied mathematics with a beloved teacher, Professor Rosencrantz. All his life the professor longed for a way to draw a square the same size as a circle, knowing it is a mathematical impossibility (see Pi). But a strange clock and a book of π share a mysterious secret.

Ayaka Rindoh (凛堂 あやか, Rindō Ayaka^?)

Ayaka is the kind-hearted daughter of a fabulously wealthy man, unfortunately she spends his fortune too frivolously and dreams of protecting world peace. So to teach her practicality and the value of money, Ayaka's father has her take a job in a ramen shop, a decision that almost immediately backfires.

Kurenai Kasumi (紅 かすみ, Kasumi Kurenai^?)

Lulu Sanjyo is a true believer in the romantic legend of a girl named Kasumi Kurenai. A TV station has asked Lulu to be a guest reporter on the legend which has captured the hearts of nearly every girl in the city. But she is stubbornly blinded by her romantic ideals and fails to see the mundane truth, even when it is all around her.

Kurumi Matsumoto (松本 くるみ, Matsumoto Kurumi^?)

Using the pen name Subaru Kurumigawa, a shy girl whose real name is Kurumi has secretly become the author of a manga that is so popular it is been made into an anime. One morning she finds a note addressed to her saying that her parents are going to take in a house guest. Soon Kurumi's life begins imitating her art.

Urara Tachibana (橘 うらら, Tachibana Urara^?)

Urara, the only character seen, is the daughter of the man who designed Neo-Acropolis then died while Urara was still very young. She loves nature and sits in a park feeding a squirrel while she leans against a strange but comforting door that never opens. Urara's devotion to her dead father never wavers even when it comes in conflict with everything in her life and her mother's illness takes a turn for the worse.

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".

Controversies

Though none of the stories are about romance between two females, there is one scene where two of the girls confess their love for each other (though this seems to be a misunderstanding on both their parts) and another, shown twice, where two of the girls share a passionate kiss, causing some to consider the series shōjo-ai.

References

• Sunrise data card (Japanese)

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