Seven Senses of the Reunion
Seven Senses of the Reunion is a Japanese light novel series written by Noritake Tao and illustrated by Booota. The series was published by Shogakukan under their Gagaga Bunko imprint between August 18, 2015 and September 19, 2018 with eight compiled volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Lerche aired from July to September 2018.
Plot
In 2034, in the globally popular MMORPG Union, there was once a top group of legends named Subaru, made of six elementary school friends. However, once one of their members died of a heart attack presumably brought on from dying in the game, Union shut down the game. In 2040, a new game called Re'Union is launched, with similar mechanics, and when Haruto, one of Subaru's original members, meets Asahi, his partner who died six years before, the members of Subaru gather once again to uncover the mystery behind it.
Characters
Member of Subaru Guild
;Haruto Amō
;Asahi Kuga
;Satsuki Usui
;Takanori Mikado
;Clive Vivali
;Nozomi Kusaka
;Elicia
Media
Light novels
The light novel series is written by Noritake Tao and illustrated by Booota. It is being published by Shogakukan under their Gagaga Bunko imprint. The first volume was published on August 18, 2015. As of September 19, 2018, eight volumes have been released.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation by Lerche aired from July 6 to September 21, 2018, on TBS. The anime is directed by Yoshihito Nishōji, with Takao Yoshioka in charge of series composition and Yumiko Yamamoto as the character designer. The opening theme is 360° Hoshi no Orchestra" by petit milady, and the ending theme is "Starlight" by Erii Yamazaki. The series ran for 12 episodes.
Reception
Previews
The anime adaptation's first episode garnered mixed reviews from Anime News Network's staff during the Summer 2018 season previews. Theron Martin praised the execution of the story's familiar gimmick being "handled convincingly" and the overall artwork and animation being "above par" and "above-average" respectively. Paul Jensen was critical of the slow pacing due to the over-explanation of its in-game mechanics but was optimistic of the plot getting better after Asahi's death with a focus on serious topics and character development amongst its cast. Rebecca Silverman commended the tonal whiplashes of the story's "light and dark elements" to show that the characters are playing a fun game but did found it "off-kilter" towards the end as it sets up its overarching plot, concluding with: "I like the designs and the use of color in the art and animation, and the plot is intriguing enough that I'll be giving this a few more episodes to see where it goes." James Beckett felt the cast didn't leave much of an impression to care about them and the Union game itself "coming off as a poor-man's SAO" but was interested in "the core mystery of Asahi's reappearance", saying that: "nciting a modicum of curiosity is a low bar for a premiere to pass, but given how subdued this summer season has felt so far, I'll take what I can get." Nick Creamer was initially unimpressed by the first half's basic illustration of the team's relationships and the battle scenes lacking in excitement but got hooked by the second half's world-building, compelling twist and the "reasonably sharp" production quality being upscaled in the character art and dramatic sequences, concluding that: "If Seven Senses premise falls within your wheelhouse, I'd definitely give it a shot."
Series
Martin reviewed the complete anime series and gave it a C+ grade. He commended it for attempting to merge the premises of Anohana and .hack//Sign together for their central mystery and give the cast some relationship problems that culminate in "some respectable drama and good character moments" but criticized the needless inclusion of an unfinished secondary storyline to ramp up tension and the "underwhelming action scenes" not living up to the overall production, concluding that: "Overall, Seven Senses of the Re'Union is a decent series that might have been better if it had kept a narrower focus At least this series does bring its most immediate plot thread to a satisfactory resolution." Allen Moody of THEM Anime Reviews criticized the series for blatantly ripping off Anohanas character archetypes and giving them "insufferable jerkishness " or "cliched personalities ", concluding that: "I gather that the series here is the bare opening to a longer saga. But, given that Satsuki is the only person I had much positive feeling toward at all, even if another season appears, I do not expect to visit THIS game’s world again."