I very rarely give out ratings, but if I did, Seedsow Lullaby gets a perfect 10/10 score from me, and a perfect score is something I would very rarely give out. Seedsow Lullaby is an incredibly well made visual novel with an absolutely beautiful story and theme. From the synopsis, one may look at it and assume it's a simple isekai story. But this is more than a simple isekai, and in fact, I would argue that the isekai aspect is not even the most important part of this story, or what this story is truly about. At its core, what this story is truly about is a story about family. Specifically, the story is about a mother (Yoko), daughter (Misuzu), and granddaughter (Tsumugi), and the boy Hiruga who bonds together and learns what it means to be a family, and they use this isekai journey to seek that answer Family can be a beautiful concept, yet it can also be a scary concept. With your family, you will experience hardship and growing pains, but that process is worth it because that's what it truly means to be a family. This story demonstrates that concept, and it conveys this message it in a beautiful way via this adventure. The iseaki world is very well crafted, from the writings explaining how the culture and seedsow ceremony works, to even having a full map of each regions, yet the most important part of this story is again, the bond the family grow and share through this journey. I think the way writers use this journey to forge the family bond, as well as using encounters throughout the journey as a metaphor of family is beautifully integrated. It's all connected, so as a result one will find aspects they can relate to in the fantasy isekai world. I can't stress enough just how well the writing in this story is, it's so beautifully crafted. The setting is carefully crafted, and the characters are extremely well developed. I really love how much care the writers took into developing the world, yet at the same time managed to develop the characters beautifully. No parts are underdeveloped, the writers took the extra mile to make sure no stones are unturned and everything is perfectly crafted. The end result is a highly believable setting and cast that makes you feel like you are there experiencing the journey with them. Regarding the characters, all of the four main casts are outstanding characters with even more outstanding development. Throughout their journey, you will experience their respective growths, and it all feels so real. You have our protagonist, Misuzu, who at a glance is a reserved girl who tends to crack funny puns now and then, but she's way more than that. Throughout the journey, you will see so many aspects of Misuzu, from her happy moments to sad moments. And at the end of the journey, I became surprised just how oddly realistic Misuzu and the other characters felt. There is a tone of realism in their characters that I cannot help but be amazed by the writers. Calling a fictional character 'realistic' may seem odd, but there was just so many depths to these characters that I feel that they are as close to real as any of us. While all the four main casts had so many depths, I personally felt that Misuzu in particular had the strongest development, which is helped by the fact that we see the story in her perspective. Despite that, Yoko, Tsumugi, and Hiruga all have their time to shine and their stories told, and they are just as amazing as Misuzu's. Characters that you may not be fond of at first, you will end up rooting for them, feel for these characters as the journey goes on. The side characters are just as great. From the sweet parents and grandparents in the real world, to the isekai characters. Some of the side characters surprisingly get a decent amount of screentime and development, and throughout the journey, you will end up wanting to root for these characters as well. At any rate, I am positive one's emotions will be invoked if they read this VN. In my case, I experienced so many highs and lows emotionally throughout their journey. I laughed, I cried, I felt anger, I smiled, and most importantly, I had fun. This VN's art style is rather unique in that unlike most VNs, this VN uses flat tint shading for the art which makes the entire VN similar to an animation (Japanese anime mainly, which is fitting since this story honestly reminds me of a Miyazaki or Ghibli movie). For some, it may take some time to get used to, but honestly, the art is very good. The background is very well drawn, the characters look so vibrant, and the animations are so good as well, as some scenes and backgrounds have very fluid animations, it makes you wish this was a movie instead of a VN where animations and movemets are so limited. The soundtrack is good as well, very fitting for the world and story. Some of the vocal tracks are so wonderful, it does a good job of invoking an emotion in you. This is one of the few VNs where I simply want to praise it endlessly and recommend it to everyone, and to be honest it is hard to find a point to criticize. If I had to nitpick, it's the fact that this story is kind of lacking in the technical aspects. Specifically, the story does not delve too deeply on how the isekai / world hopping works, or how the time traveling works, or Yoko's side of the story in how her journey began. In some stories, this would nag at me and I would use it as the factor for knocking down a score or two. But in my opinion, those technical aspects does not matter for this story, as I said, the most important part of this VN is the family relationship, using the isekai journey as a method to teach us the value of family love. In fact, I may even argue that spending too much time on explaining those technical aspects may have made the pacing slower, but for this VN, I think that the pacing was absolutely perfect. No moments dragged or felt slow, on the contrary, the story flowed so smoothly. In the end, Seedsow Lullaby is a phenomenal story that at its core, it's about the beauty and complications of family relationship, and it is about one's growth in becoming a family and learning the value of a family, and the journey the cast goes on in an isekai world is used as a method to convey that message. And that journey is so magical that you will find yourself hooked and feel as if you are part of the cast journeying with them, a cast full of characters with so much depth I am positive everyone will end up loving one or all the characters by the end of the journey. I think one's opinions on the VN will depend on just how much you value family relationships, and I fully admit that I adore stories with family relationships, and I equally value my own family's relationship in real life, so there may be a tinge of bias in this review. Despite that, I am fully confident that anyone will find this story beautiful whether you value family relationship or not. This is a story I think everyone should try if given the chance, it's just so beautifully crafted, from the setting to characters, down the moral of the value of family relationship, so I strongly recommend this if you are curious. Please give Seedsow Lullaby a try, you will not regret it.
Expand the review