Seton Academy: Join the Pack!


Seton Academy: Join the Pack! is a Japanese manga series by Bungo Yamashita. It was serialized online via Cygames' Cycomi manga app and website from May 2016 to May 2021 and has been collected in fifteen tankōbon volumes by Kodansha and Shogakukan. An anime television series adaptation by Studio Gokumi aired from January 7 to March 24, 2020.

Synopsis

Premise

Seton Academy: Join the Pack takes place in a world where humans and anthropomorphic animals coexist. Female animals resemble moe girls with animal features such as kemonomimi, tails and horns, while males resemble their original species. Due to a population decline, humanoid animals now outnumber humans.
The story follows Jin Mazama, a teenage human boy who attends Seton Academy as one of only two human students. Jin hates animals, but as luck would have it, he gains the attention of Ranka Ookami, a female Hokkaido wolf who dreams of forming her own pack. Jin also develops feelings for Hitomi Hino, a teenage girl and the only other human student at Seton Academy. As the story progresses, Jin must come to terms with his relationships with Ranka, Hitomi, and his thoughts on animals in general.

Characters

Seton Academy

Seton Academy is the main setting of the series. All the students at Seton Academy are terrestrial animals, and the faculty is made up of extinct animals such as dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. The main cast is part of the academy's Cooking Club, which was started by Jin Mazama and Hitomi Hino as a way to eat properly since their school cafeteria only catered to animals. It also researches and tests recipes designed for the palates and diets of animals.

Seton Academy Cooking Club

;Jin Mazama
;Ranka Ōkami
;Hitomi Hino
;Yukari Komori
;Miyubi Shisho
;Kurumi Nekomai
;Mei Mei
;Chii Suimori
;Hana
;Rimu Urie

Seton Academy Students and Faculty

;Gigasu Terano
;Karorisu Amano
;Chloe Mashima
;King Shishino
;Miki Hadano
;Shiho Ihara
;Iena Madaraba
;Ferrill Ōkami
;Wolf Kuromori
;Teru Anamitsu
;Manako Kagami
;Don Noma
;Kuwano

Sea Academy

Seton Academy's sister school, which is located on the coastline. Most of the students there are aquatic animals, and take their classes entirely or partially in the ocean.
;Kana Shiraumi
;Ruka Bando
;Nia Ooba

Darwin Academy

A rival school of Seton Academy. Most of its students and faculty are animals that are critically endangered or extinct.
;Anne Anetani
;Man Koorimoto
;Washima Komandorski
;Babari Atlas
;Ando Andrew
;Yangyang
;Sameno Tosako

Media

Manga

The series is written and illustrated by Bungo Yamashita. It began serialization in Cygames's Cycomi website in May 2016.

Anime

On October 4, 2019, an anime television series adaptation was announced by Cygames. The series was animated by Studio Gokumi and directed by Hiroshi Ikehata, with Shigeru Murakoshi handling series composition, and Masakatsu Sasaki designing the characters. Yōsuke Yamashita, Yusuke Katō, and Tomoya Kawasaki composed the series' music. It aired from January 7 to March 24, 2020, on Tokyo MX, SUN, KBS, BS11, and Animax. Crunchyroll streamed the series outside Asian territories. In Southeast Asia and South Asia, Medialink streamed the series on its Ani-One YouTube channel. It ran for 12 episodes, with an unaired episode to be bundled with the series' third Blu-ray volume. The series' opening theme is Gakuen Sōkan Zoo by Hina Kino, Haruki Ishiya, Yume Miyamoto, Misaki Kuno, Konomi Kohara, and Sora Tokui as their respective characters, and the ending theme is "Ōkami Blues" by Kino under her character name Ranka Ōkami.

Reception

Both the manga and the anime received mixed reviews from critics, with the writing, lore and characterizations receiving criticism.