Sekirei

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Sekirei

Sekirei volume 1 cover.
セキレイ
Genre Action, Comedy, Harem
Manga
Author Sakurako Gokurakuin
Publisher Flag of Japan Square Enix
Demographic Seinen
Serialized in Young Gangan
Original run June 2005 – ongoing
Volumes 6
TV anime
Director Keizō Kusakawa
Studio Seven Arcs
Original run July 2008 – ongoing

Sekirei (セキレイ? lit. Wagtail) is a Japanese manga series by Sakurako Gokurakuin. Originally starting serialization in the seinen magazine Young Gangan published by Square Enix in June 2005, Sekirei is an ecchi manga aimed at young men. The manga stars a male named Minato Sahashi, a typical Keitaro-grade loser, and has even failed college examinations twice. His life changes, however, when he meets Musubi. Unknown to him at the time, Musubi is a Sekirei, an artificial life form designed to fight others of her kind. An anime adaptation produced by Seven Arcs and directed by Keizō Kusakawa will start airing in Japan in July 2008.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Minato Sahashi is a total loser. He has failed to make it into college twice, he is unpopular with women, and he is unemployed. Despite these problems, he actually has the potential to be an Ashikabi, one of a mysterious set of "masters" leading in a battle royale of 108 cute girls, buxom women, and bishōnen called "Sekirei".

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters

[edit] Izumo Inn

Minato Sahashi (佐橋 皆人 Sahashi Minato?)
Voiced by: Shinnosuke Tachibana (drama CD)
The main protagonist. Minato's known family consists of his mother and younger sister. Minato is extremely intelligent, yet due to his inability to cope under pressure has failed the college entrance exam twice. As a result he has been branded an idiot and loser. He met Musubi by a stroke of luck after failing the exam the second time while Musubi was being attacked. As a consequence of their meeting, Minato discovers that he is an 'Ashikabi', a person that can "wing" Sekirei. This binds the Sekirei to him and allows them to use their full power in the elimination battle. So far he has six winged Sekirei. He has a passive personality and is said to have gone along with what ever his mother and sister has said since childhood. Recent events in the story suggest that other Ashikabi consider Minato the strongest Ashikabi in the northern part of the city. Subsequently, Minato is recognized as one of the four strongest Ashikabi and receives the title, Minato of the 'North' (the other three are 'Higa of the East', 'Sanada of the West', and 'Mikogami of the South').
Musubi (結? Sekirei #88)
Voiced by: Ayako Kawasumi (drama CD)
The main heroine. Minato's first Sekirei. She met Minato when she fell out of the sky. After hearing Tsukiumi say that she is Minato's wife she decides that she is going to be his wife too. She is very naive and often says things she does not understand, and is often the most 'childish' of Minato's Sekirei, even more so than Kusano. She also eats a lot (her name means rice ball). At times she has a ferocious bear appear behind her - the reason given is because she is Miya's disciple. Her clothes always end up in tatters after every Sekirei battle. Musubi's ability is "power", which gives her greatly enhanced strength. She is also a close range hand-to-hand fighter and wears sparring gloves.
Yume (結女? Sekirei #8)
This mysterious Sekirei who used to associate with Karasuba was the first member of the punishment unit force and called herself the Sekirei of "fate"; her power is light and in the past she killed herself to save Musubi's life (she was still a kid) by giving Musubi her own "tama" (the core which let Sekireis live and use their powers). From perspective of Karasuba's memories of Yume, it seems she bears an uncanny resemblance to Musubi herself. Only possiblity is that Yume could have been related to Musubi or perhaps a relative, but that is not speculated. She once temporary took over Musubi's body after having been knocked down, because Minato's warm heart somehow woke her up.
Kusano (草野? Sekirei #108)
Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (drama CD)
Often referred to as 'Ku-chan', she is also known as the "Green Girl". She is Minato's second Sekirei. She calls him Onii-chan (Japanese term of endearment for 'older brother'). She does not like fighting or quarrels and she can be seen stopping them when they start. She said that she wishes to be Minato's wife when she grows up. Her ability is "life" or "growth", which she uses to control plants making them grow at accelerated rates and to enormous proportions.
Matsu (松? Sekirei #2)
Voiced by: Yuki Matsuoka (drama CD)
Matsu is a hacker that lives in a secret room of Izumo Inn. She becomes Minato's third Sekirei. Despite her high intellect, she is very perverse and often comes up with schemes related to 'experimenting' with Minato. Matsu has uses a vast network of satellites and spying devices to gather large amounts of information and has even succeeded in hacking the MBI mainframe computer. As a result, she is being chased by MBI and lives in a secret room at the Inn. She refers to herself as the 'Wisdom' Sekirei, however, most call her the 'Shameless' Sekirei for her habit of using her resources to peep on people. It has yet to be revealed if she has any special powers besides intelligence. Her ability is most likely "Mind".
Tsukiumi (月海? Sekirei #9)
Voiced by: Rie Tanaka (drama CD)
Minato's fourth Sekirei. She first contacted him in a dream saying that she would kill him. This was due to her desire to be the strongest, and demonstrate that Ashikabi were not necessary to win. She also initially mistook what "winging" meant. However, when they finally met she was persuaded into becoming his Sekirei. She says that she is Minato's legal wife and is very possessive of Minato. She later tells Miya that her new goal is to get stronger to protect and live together with her Ashikabi forever. Tsukiumi's ability is "water" (derived from her name "umi" which means the sea), giving her the ability to manipulate water into many shapes and forms.
Kazehana (風花? Sekirei #3)
Minato's fifth Sekirei. She first 'meets' Minato at the "Izumo Inn" when she stumbled into his bed in a drunken stupor. She has implied that she knows Minato's father (was possibly in love with him and wanted to be his Sekirei, IF his father happened to be the president). Despite Minato's lack of 'manliness', his concern and love for his Sekirei causes Kazehana to develop feelings for him and eventually becomes his Sekirei. She later addresses herself as Minato's "new wife". Kazehana's ability is "wind" (derived from her name "kaze" which means wind and "hana" which means flower), giving her the ability to manipulate wind and allow her to fly.
Homura (焔? Sekirei #6)
Voiced by: Hiromi Hirata (drama CD)
Minato's sixth Sekirei. At first he was the self-proclaimed 'Sekirei guardian', he often interrupted Hikari and Hibiki's fights to side with the unwinged Sekirei. Homura is said to be a Sekirei prototype (his power and gender are unstable), however he continues to think and act as a male even after his body started becoming female. He lives at Izumo Inn as "Kagari", a popular host club entertainer and no one except Miya, Uzume, Matsu and Kazehana know his secret identity. He's later revealed to be Sekirei #6 and his ability is the basic element, "Fire". By the end of the second stage he was the last unwinged Sekirei. The MBI director sent a message to all Ashikabi that the last unwinged Sekirei was in the north area, and became hunted by them. Homura had been reacting to Minato, which caused 'him' great stress over his potential Ashikabi being male, although Homura almost kissed Minato once. Homura has left Izumo Inn to go after Minaka Takehito (game master and head of the MBI) in order to bring an end to the Sekirei game. After being cornered by other ashikabi who wanted to wing him, Homura decides to commit suicide by igniting his body with his own flames, but is saved in the last time by Minato and his Sekirei crew. Unable to accept Homura's will to sacrifice himself, Minato forcibly kisses him.
Miya Asami (浅間 美哉 Asami Miya?, Sekirei #1)
Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara (drama CD)
The landlady of Izumo Inn. She specializes in swordsmanship. Her supposed husband had worked at MBI as a researcher, but supposedly died of reasons yet to be revealed. She states she never refuses anyone needing shelter; however, she prohibits fighting in her house. She trains both Musubi and Tsukiumi to help them win the Sekirei battle. When she is mad she appears to have a demon behind her. She seems to be one of or maybe even the strongest Sekirei, as she can easily defeat Tsukiumi who held her own against the Red and Blue Sekirei who are regarded as very strong Sekirei. She also seems to be the only person whom Kazehana allows to talk down to her, another statement to her abilities. Not clear if she has been winged.
Uzume (鈿女? Sekirei #10)
Voiced by: Yū Kobayashi (drama CD)
She lives in Izumo Inn and her Ashikabi is a young ill girl whose name is Chiho; actually, she is being held hostage in the hospital and Uzume is then forced to fight against whoever she is told to by her blackmailer (probably one of Higa guys or Izumi himself). She covers herself during the "huntings" so everyone else refers to her as the "hire" Sekirei.

[edit] Minor characters

Karasuba (鴉羽? Sekirei #4)
Her nickname is the "Black Sekirei". She is considered MBI's dog and her Ashikabi is Natsuo. She appears to be on bad terms with Miya. Her weapon of choice is a katana, and she probably is as strong as Miya. She made a promise with Musubi that they would be the last two Sekireis standing. She used to pair up with Yume in the past. Her intent is still unclear as of yet.
Mutsu (陸奥? Sekirei #5)
He is one of the few male Sekirei seen other than Shiina. Little is known about him except the fact that he is a swordsman and his Ashikabi is Mikogami Ayato.
Minaka Hiroto (ヒロト ? Hiroto Minaka?)
Voiced by: Seki Toshihiko (drama CD)
The chairman and founder of MBI with complex of size and a little crazy.
Yukari Sahashi (佐橋 ユカリ Sahashi Yukari?)
Minato's younger sister. She has a strong personality and is temperamental. She is Shiina's Ashikabi. She helps Shiina with his search for Kusano.
Takami Sahashi (佐橋 高美 Sahashi Takami?)
Minato's mother and head researcher for MBI; she hid her true identity from Minato for a very long time. She also has a scar on her left eye from when she was attacked by Yomi (Sekirei #43).
Takehito Asama (浅間 建人 Asama Takehito?)
Miya's husband. A researcher with the MBI and also designed the Izumo Inn. He is supposedly dead.
Akitsu (秋津? numberless(atm) Sekirei)
One of Mikogami's Sekirei that has the power of ice. A disused Sekirei with a crimson Sekirei mark on her forehead; she has no Ashikabi because she can't be winged as she is now but she still associates with Mikogami because she doesn't want to be thrown away again. She's supposed to be very strong since she once managed to fight evenly against Homura (Sekirei #6)
Ikki (伊岐? Sekirei #19)
A dual sword user Sekirei defeated by the Black Sekirei in an instant.
Mitsuha (蜜羽? Sekirei #38)
One of Mikogami's Sekirei, she was defeated by the Black Sekirei.
Yomi (夜見? Sekirei #43)
She was defeated by Musubi and lost her Sekirei mark. She was trying to get the "Green Girl" (Kusano) for her Ashikabi, Mikogami Ayato.
Yashima (八嶋? Sekirei #84)
She had a horrible Ashikabi. She summoned a huge hammer.
Kuno (久能? Sekirei #95)
Probably the weakest Sekirei ever seen up to date. Her ability is "voice" or "song," with which she can either confuse their enemy or block (a norito is needed) their source of power. With Minato's help she and her Ashikabi manage to leave the city alive, but with Kuno injured.
Haihane (灰翅? Sekirei #104)
Also known as the 'Indigo Sekirei', she is a part of the Disciplinary Squad. Her power is her gauntlets, that have scythe-like claws for the fingers. She seems to resemble the Grim Reaper, in a way.
Benitsubasa (紅翼? Sekirei #105)
Also known as the 'Crimson Sekirei', she is also a part of the Disciplinary Squad. Her power is very similar to Musubi's. She sticks her tongue out while fighting.
Shiina (椎菜? Sekirei #107)
A male Sekirei whose Ashikabi is Yukari. He is looking for Kusano, who considers him an older brother. He seems to dislike violence. His ability is the opposite of Kusano's and it is most likely "Death" or "Decay". Due to his ability and his strength, he is called the shinigami Sekirei and forms, together with Yukari, the "most evil pair" ever seen in the imperial capital city.
Narashino (習志野? Sekirei #74)
Voiced by: Mikako Takahashi (drama CD)
Her Ashikabi is Osamu Tsudanuma. Her power remains a mystery, since she was blown away by just one attack from Shiina.
Seo Kaoru (서 薫 Kaoru Seo?)
Voiced by: Nakai Kazuya (drama CD)
He is the Ashikabi of Hikari and Hibiki. He works as a freelancer, whose motto is "We solve their problems" with a price. Friend of the late husband of Miya who appears to be in hostel with him.
Hikari (光? Sekirei #11)
Voiced by: Kaida Yuuko (drama CD)
Her Ashikabi is Seo Kaoru along with her sister, Hibiki. Has the power of electricity. Unlike her sister, she seems to have a short-temper.
Hibiki (響? Sekirei #12)
Voiced by: Neya Michiko (drama CD)
Her Ashikabi is Seo Kaoru along with her sister, Hikari. Has the power of electricity. She seems more calm out of the two sisters.
Mikogami Ayato (綾人 神子上 Ayato Mikogami?)
An Ashikabi. He currently reigns over the southern part of the city.
Higa Izumi (泉 比嘉 Izumi Higa?)
An Ashikabi. He currently reigns over the eastern part of the city. He seems to be blackmailing Uzume, forcing her to fight against whoever he tells her to fight.
Sanada (真田 Sanada?)
Little is known about him, but is an Ashikabi who dominates the western part of the city.
Natsuo (夏央 Natsuo?)
Little is known about him, but is the Ashikabi of the Disciplinary Squad members. It is also stated by Haihane that he is homosexual.

[edit] Media

[edit] Manga

Main article: List of Sekirei chapters

Sekirei began as a manga series which started serialization in the seinen manga magazine Young Gangan in June 2005, published by Square Enix. As of July 25, 2007, five bound volumes have been released, and a sixth will follow on March 25, 2008.

[edit] Drama CD

A drama CD entitled Sekirei Original Drama CD was released on July 25, 2007 by Frontier Works.

[edit] Anime

An anime adaptation produced by the animation studio Seven Arcs and directed by Keizō Kusakawa will begin airing in Japan in July 2008.

[edit] External links

Languages