OP Sequence:

OP: “SEKIREI” 「セキレイ 」 by Hayami Saori (早見 沙織), Inoue Marina (井上 麻里奈), Hanazawa Kana (花澤 香菜), Endou Aya (遠藤 綾)
Watch the OP!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Streaming ▼

「セキレイ」 (Sekirei)
“SEKIREI”

Off at some desert base, a group of covert operatives is unable to stop a girl with a katana. After killing most of the soldiers, the girl stops her massacre when she notices another girl named Yume arrive with a small child in her arms.

In Japan, Sahashi Minato is a guy who’s failed his university exams twice, and with his most recent failure, is considering returning home from Tokyo. On his way home after seeing the exam results however, a girl suddenly falls out of the sky on top of him. Minato is immediately attracted to her, but he’s barely able to say anything to her before she pushes him out of the way of an electrical blast. It turns out the girl is being targeted by two other girls in skimpy outfits, but instead of fighting, she runs away with Minato in tow. Minato later wakes up in his apartment and finds the girl sleeping next to him. Minato rushes outside in a hurry to let her change, where he’s reminded of how the girl apologized early for getting him involved and introduced herself as Musubi. She fainted soon after because she was hungry, so Minato had bought her some hamburgers and brought her home. Without a place to stay, Musubi had asked Minato if she can stay with him, to which he agreed, even though his landlord only allows single men to live there. Grateful to him, Musubi wished that someone like him could be her Ashikabi (葦牙) – someone she was born to guide to ascension.

After getting changed, Musubi is starving again, so Minato takes her out to eat and she single-handedly empties his wallet. While on the way to the bank, Minato runs into the two girls from earlier, Hikari and Hibiki, who start attacking Musubi again. Trying to protect her, Minato ends up carrying Musubi and running off, dodging electrical blasts all the way. Shortly afterwards, Musubi starts feeling hot and bothered after having Minato saved her, and eventually surprises him with a kiss. Doing so causes the symbol on Musubi’s back to light up, and she briefly sprouts wings of light. All of this convinces her that Minato is her Ashikabi, but Minato himself still has no idea what’s going on. Still under the attack of Hikari and Hibiki, Musubi now has the strength to chase them off and does just that. As the two attackers leave, they run into Homura, who questions why they’re fighting when they don’t have a master. Unappreciative of the guidance Homura is giving, the two girls express their disgust towards the guardian, before running off in fear of his attack. Shrugging off Musubi as a rookie, Hikari and Hibiki then decide that they can leave her be for now. As for Minato, he gives his jacket to Musubi to cover her up, after which she tells him that they’re Sekirei.

Back at his apartment, Minato calls his younger sister to see if she has some old clothes she doesn’t want, then lets Musubi cook dinner for him. Suddenly, the television turns on on its own and a man starts congratulating Minato for being chosen as Sekirei #88’s partner. This man, who Musubi recognizes as the professor, knows who Minato is and explains that he will be participating in a game called the Sekirei Project. Unable to refuse, they have to keep it a secret as well, because if word gets out, the person who leaked the information will get targeted by the forces of the MBI. Recalling that the MBI is a huge corporation, Minato realizes who he’s talking to, but doesn’t get any answers to his questions because the professor suddenly hangs up. A man in a black suit with a MBI pin then arrives at the door and freaks Minato out, but he simply drops off a box with more clothes for Musubi. With Minato distressed over what he’s just been burdened with, Musubi expresses her willingness to fight for him and to work with him to achieve their goal, which puts some of his worries to rest.

Minato’s landlord then shows up and sees Musubi there, so he kicks Minato out of the apartment. After failing to find another place at thirty different realtors, Minato gets depressed in the rain and questions Musubi why she chose a worthless person such as him to be her Ashikabi. While admiring the full moon, Musubi explains that it’s because she likes him for who he is and that he’s her special person. After kissing him again, she says that she can do anything he wishes for, and then drags him into the sky to bring him closer to the heavens. Meanwhile, professor Minaka Hiroto recites an old story to himself, but says how a legend has just begun, how being the single remaining Sekirei out of 108 will guide one to the heavens, and how this begins a miraculous love story.

 

Next Episode:
「新屋の扉」 (Shin Oku no Tobira)
“Door to a New House”

Impressions:
So for the premiere episode, the fan-service basically pertained to Musubi’s oversized breasts and her being comfortable in the nude. While I’m not sure how much ecchi-er things will become later on, if it’s only going to be some ripped up clothes, censored panty shots, semi-bare breasts, and a Ashikaba-induced orgasm, I would say the level of ecchiness is akin to the anime adaptation of Tenjou Tenge. In other words, not that “bad” (read “inappropriate”) at all. Given how there’s a battle royale with a bunch of Sekirei fighters, I guess the comparison to Tenjou Tenge is also somewhat appropriate. The big distinguishing premise though are the Ashikiba (葦牙), which makes the Sekirei battle royale more along the lines of Fate/stay night‘s Holy Grail War (including the reward). With that said, I enjoyed Fate/stay night, but Tenjou Tenge, not so much. In the latter case, it was pretty much because it followed the manga almost completely and concluded absolutely nothing at all (even after two OVAs). As for which route the anime adaptation of Sekirei will follow (e.g. the manga to no concrete end or an anime original conclusion), I would say that having some sort of closure is definitely better than none at all.

As evident by the screenshots, the anime wasn’t produced in high definition, but looks good enough for the most part. (I’m not sure if another station will be airing an HD version later on though, but there appears to be upscale HD releases now.) Animation production is done by Seven Arcs, whose work includes the Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha franchise and Inukami!. While I can’t speak much about Nanoha as I’ve yet to watch that series in its entirety, it seems like Seven Arcs has experience in the ecchi department with Inukami under their belt.

As for the biggest appeal of this series (for those unfamiliar with the manga), it’s definitely the ridiculously talented group of seiyuus they’ve casted. Tachibana Shinnosuke plays our male protagonist, who’s relatively new, but made his mark last fall starring in Myself; Yourself as Hidaka Sana. In fact, Minato sounds exactly like Sana, which gave me flashbacks of troubled kids slitting their own wrists and spousal arguments over bastard children, which lead to murder and suicide. *Shudder* As for Musubi, she’s played by the up and coming Hayami Saori, who’s somewhat made a name for herself playing Kou in Wagaya no Oinari-sama and singing the ending song for that series as well. Musubi is very unlike the quiet, naive Kou though, so this was actually the first time I heard her use a noticeably different voice, which (I find) works well for the leading heroine in SEKIREI. Aside from those two, we also saw the likes of Paku Romi (Edward Elric in Full Metal Alchemist), Seki Toshihiko (Rau Le Creuset in Gundam SEED), Neya Michiko (Melissa Mao in Full Metal Panic!), and Itou Miki (Shigure Asa in SHUFFLE!) this episode, but Inoue Marina (Yoko in Gurren Lagann), Hanazawa Kana (Kajiwara Sora in Sketchbook ~full color’S~), and Endou Aya (Sheryl Nome in Macross Frontier) are just around the corner as the other main female leads.

A quick check on the Sekirei Japanese Wikipedia page also revealed that Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch Lamperouge in CODE GEASS), Yukana (C.C. in CODE GEASS), Oohara Sayaka (Milly Ashford in CODE GEASS), Nabatame Hitomi (Suou Mikoto in School Rumble), Konishi Katsuyuki (Kamina in Gurren Lagann), and Kobayashi Yuu (Kimura Kaere in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) have also been cast. In a sense, it’s like a seiyuu otaku’s fantasy come true to have this much talent in one show. The anime universe might implode at this rate… >_>

As for the opening song, it’s sung by the four main girls and sounds pretty good. I know Hayami Saori and Inoue Marina can sing from their current/recent performances in Wagaya no Oinari-sama and Minami-ke respectively, plus Hanazawa Kana and Endou Aya just have pleasant voices to listen to, so you can’t really go wrong with these four. There was no ending sequence this week though, as the episode ran right through the credits.

Given the above (plus my empty Wednesdays), Sekirei is a series I plan to follow unless something horrid turns me away (which is very unlikely). For now though, I just hope that it turns out less like Tenjou Tenge did and more like how Fate/stay night did.

 

Cast:
– Sahashi Minato (佐橋 皆人) / Tachibana Shinnosuke (立花 慎之介)
– Musubi (結) / Hayami Saori (早見 沙織)
– Karasuba (鴉羽) / Paku Romi (朴 璐美)
– Homura (焔) / Kaida Yuki (甲斐田 ゆき)
– Hikari (光) / Kaida Yuuko (甲斐田 裕子)
– Hibiki (響) / Neya Michiko (根谷 美智子)
– Sahashi Yukari (佐橋 ユカリ) / Asumi Kana (阿澄 佳奈)
– Minaka Hiroto (御中 広人) / Seki Toshihiko (関 俊彦)
– Minato’s mother (皆人の母) / Itou Miki (伊藤 美紀)
– Landlord (大家) / Misono Yukihiro (御園 行洋)
– Real estate agent (不動産屋) / Shinomiya Gou (四宮 豪)
– Covert Op A (工作員A) /
– Covert Op B (工作員B) / Oohara Takashi (大原 崇)
– Covert Op C (工作員C) / Densaka Tsutomu (伝坂 勉)

69 Comments

  1. Even though it’s Hayami Saori doing musubi’s voice i still wanted to hear ayako kawasumi instead. *sigh* oh wells, i guess i’ll eventually get used to it. Other then that i’ve been waiting for this show for awhile XD YAY

    hobli
  2. Well that was something. I was looking forward to this because Musubi looked cute, if you focus mainly on her face and hair (and I have a thing for short cropped hair like that one), and ignore her oversized jugs, and she just screamed MOE with her naive (though at times shameless) personality and those puppy eyes (eg https://randomc.net/image/Sekirei/Sekirei%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2015.jpg ). And it’s a bonus that she’s rather forward with Minato.

    Sailor Enlil
  3. I quite like the manga so I am planning to see how anime goes. If it is enjoyable then I will be a follower.

    Not that this has anything to do with the story. I find it rather amusing that the mangaka normally write yaoi. She seems to have a thing for guy/guy and girls/guy action LOL.

    Kaitune
  4. Dude wait, next ep they already are at the inn? What happened to the stuff between the start with his little sister coming to visit at his apartment? They’re just going to skip that already?

    GP
  5. So, is this a 1 cour series? because i think i’ve got enough shows waiting to be watched at the moment. although all the voice talent does look pretty tempting, along with what will clearly be mountains of fanservice…

    ruffles
  6. “Dude wait, next ep they already are at the inn? What happened to the stuff between the start with his little sister coming to visit at his apartment? They’re just going to skip that already?”

    Why not, they could easily combine the 2 manga visits into one. If they want to use the bridge thing as the first season ending they have to move through the manga quickly. And personally the quicker they get into the other characters like Miya, Matsu and especially Tsukiumi, the better.

    Westlo
  7. Westlo

    Yeah, that’s fine, moving quick is ok, BUT, the sister not being introduced when she is changes things, because she’s got a part to play in everything also.

    GP
  8. Oh, maybe I’m forgetting the 2nd visit though. I suppose they could combine the two like you said. We’ll have to wait and see. We are only talking 12 episodes anyways.

    GP
  9. What’s so good about sekirei?

    My friend, a lolicon btw, kept pestering me to read the manga and I did.

    10 chapters in and i found nothing particularly good about. Since this is a monthly manga, I only read it until that far because usually a manga that i could like would have me interested by the sixth month after its debut chapter. Plot was somewhat typical, characters were dull and battles were boring.

    I don’t see many reasons why my friends like it other than the “art” of course.

    Am I missing something about this series?

    Kagekyuubi
  10. Well, I’ve read the manga till chapter 66 (that’s how far the scanners are) and although there’s a lot of ecchi stuff the overall focus is on the story and characters. The ecchi stuff is just something besides you notice in the beginning, but get used to later.

    In contrary to Kanokon, where the ecchi stuff fits into the story it’s some kind of extra here. I hope the producers won’t ruin the show by trying to integrate the ecchi stuff somewhat into the story as that’s exactly the opposite to how the original is designed.

  11. @Kagekyuubi
    Well I think one reason cause people like the series is of course the fanservice.
    Then the story has lots of potential, but agree, the battles aren’t anything special and I’ve seen the scenario in some other form already somewhere else. The series does have some good ideas, but not enough to stand it out so much.

    Well, the best manga for me so far is and stays Claymore~

  12. Nothing is actually original anymore. So knocking a show/series cuz you’ve seen things done in something else before doesn’t hold much weight anymore.

    That said, Sekirei is different in that it’s a harem that makes sense. In other harem shows you always wonder why the girls (normal ones) like/love the main who’s often some idiot and useless. Sekirei answers that with the plot it’s got going.

    And then the fights, seriously what’s wrong with them? I remember the fights in the soul eater manga “aren’t anything special” either, yet animated they’re a thing of wonder. One episode does not a series make, specially something that should be getting more than 2 seasons here. The fights should be even better animated as is always the case unless you want to point out shows that use excessive zoomlines for their fights.

    GP
  13. Yeah gp the second visit at the inn will pretty much serve as her introduction, it seems they skipped the cameo’s for Matsu, Kazehana and Tsukiumi in the first few chapters as well but since they are introducing them sooner it’s fine imo.

    Seven Arcs are sequel happy as well as the 3 Nanoha series show, hopefully they can give it a good ending at the bridge arc (which seems a certain going by the OP) and than animate the rest in a few years time.

    Does anyone know the length of the show?

    Westlo
  14. @Westlo

    It’s going to be 12eps, or so anidb says, ann also. So it looks to be so. As for the cameos for Matsu,Kazehana and Tsukiumi, those both take place the same time the 1st sister visit takes place, chapter 3. But I suppose they can work them in later on since they take place outside at some point.

    As for sequels, this show for sure should be long, the manga seems to have just now hit close to it’s middle point, though I don’t actually remember how many stages it has left. So maybe I’m just wrong. We’ll see how it goes though.

    GP
  15. well the manga is so far so good. so i guess we can expect something i guess…

    i hope the fighting scenes would live up to my expectations~
    i’m atkaing a peek at the raws later~

    jeffng9
  16. +
    _
    $

    What a fucking big mistake. I could’ve sword this story was just on the brink of double penetration; the art is a pleasure, other than that, story’s a nightmare. The STUDIO must’ve been idiots to attempt such ludicrous. I can see them using their aptitude to work on something more far fetch than waste it on a “panty-i-can-see-hairs-beneath-bikini” animes.

    Rest assure, I am in no way doubting the chances this MAY be quite better than what I read of the latest volume out in japan. I just see this as another jaw-dropping, pheromone-filled, lust-driven, voracious strawberry panty exploring young pubescent teens’ genre. Bash me if you will, it just further proves my point in the matter. Pathetic….

    andynai
  17. Wow. Another ecchi anime.. how useless. 😛 If you want to watch ecchi, might as well watch hentai, because the majority of comments on these ecchi series is ‘OMG SHOW ME BOOB, STOP CENSORING IT!!!1’ As AznLegacy has demonstrated. T_T

    Xylona
  18. @GP
    Sorry but that’s a totaly pointless comment. Sure it’s important if I’ve seen things somewhere else or not. Especialy this magic/girl/fanservice genre is totaly overrun.
    Of course you can take this as argument to watch another pointless show – when you have the time, I don’t have it. I’ve watched over 150 series so far and I still find regulary really new and intersting stuff.

    I don’t say it’s not a reason to watch this show, but atm I neither have the time nor do I think that it’s worth watching a main stream show.

  19. @ andynai

    The reason why you will be bashed is because all you are pretty much doing is bashing everyone who likes a show you don’t. If you don’t have anything constructive to say, don’t say it because no one really cares. I for one found the manga amusing and will continue it. As long as I am amused, then I will continue a series.

    Som1
  20. @ andynai

    You sound like those movie critics who bash everything cause it makes you feel mentally superior and gives you some semblance of self-esteem. 😀

    To give my two cents, I approve of this first ep. The sudden switch to the morning after was slightly jarring but it’s alright. I also noticed that they’re skipping out on the part where Yukari visits the two at their apartment, but considering the 12-episode limit and for the sake of getting quickly to the meat of the action I think this is forgivable.

    BEWB REVOLUTION COMMENCE!!

    Newprimus
  21. Oh right, Homura. I think he’s still decidedly a guy for now, judging from the preview….. maybe. I don’t know what they’ll try to accomplish by making him female right off the bat. We’ll see.

    But if that’s a guy, that’s some serious curves for a guy. :p

    Newprimus
  22. having read the manga, there are several “big battles” which would make for a decent series end which could give satisfactory closure yet leave it open to continue the story without changing much. Like the bridge battle.

    Given that Yukana is playing Kazehana, they have to get at least that far…

    But it doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to watch this show purely for Tsukiumi!! Though the choice of her VA doesn’t quite fit what I had in mind…

  23. Hey, if you can still manage to find something “original” in other shows that’s good, I personally don’t see it anymore. Everything is along the same lines as past shows, that’s why we have genres like shounen/shoujo and so on. I know what i’m getting myself into when I hear a show is a shounen and so on.

    The fanservice in this is nothing like kanokon, when you get right down to it. Yes it’s there, but it’s not over the top either. The thing is that each girl is different enough that when you mix them together, as you see later, it makes for some really nice stuff. And the fights get bigger with each next one. The thing is that the manga hasn’t gotten that far along, so I always felt it was too early to do an anime right now.

    GP
  24. It have better animation and character design than i expected.

    But i still can’t get used to Misubi’s voice. She was supposed to sound a naive girl but she sounds so much like a normal girl. XD

    banzemanga
  25. “For now though, I just hope that it turns out less like Tenjou Tenge did and more like how Fate/stay night did.”

    @divine
    Ouch, be prepared to be disappointed then. The show is more like Tenjou Tenge (or Ikkitousen) than Fate/Stay Night. It’s your usual ecchi/action/harem manga with busted heroines fighting each other, nothing more nothing less. It’s not a bad thing (I’m reading the manga and I do like it) but I’d keep my expectations low if I were in your shoes, and most of all I would avoid comparing to “deeper” action/shounen shows, or you really might end up disappointed. 😉

  26. I think the F/SN comparison came from the battle royale theme, and master/servant relationship thing. Nice thing though about Sekerei is that a master can have more than one partner so we are not stuck with just cheering for Musubi like we were with Saber. Gotta catch ’em all! Tsukiumi I choose you! 😀

    nobody important
  27. kinda disappointed that the OP pretty much shows all 66chapters of development…

    and look at the size of those …. you can pretty much pierce the heavens with her drill(s) … oh wait… she did that already :]

    suvy
  28. Read the manga up to volume 3 so far. I’m so behind this series, but it’s pretty good. First episode was good after watching it subtitled.

    @ Xylona
    Just want to say, there are bishounens in this series beside ecchi. ^^; Screenshot 32 is one of the them and I like him, beside the main character a lot.

    strawberryheaven
  29. Story’s kinda uninteresting (to me) and seems a bit rushed (like, recent episode of Spongebob kinda rushed), so I’ll probably drop this; but everyone should stop complaining about what they think is over-ecchiness. Frequently-bashed ecchi shows like Kanokon focus mostly on ecchi and the presence of ecchi, with probably not too much other plot. Looks like Sekirei focuses mostly on it’s story, and it just so happens that ecchi-like things happen for no reason — things that the characters don’t even respond to that well (or at least the character(s) that SHOULD respond). Don’t take the giant boobs so seriously.

    Verdana
  30. I read some of the Sekirei manga, and I wasn’t overly impressed. I watched the 1st episode, and it was “eh”

    If Sekirei manages to get Fate-Stay night interesting, I for one will be very surprised.

    jho
  31. So this is this season’s 13-year-old-attitude-to-breasts-show huh?

    I’m afraid that is so.

    Akemi Takada had stated in one of her interview with ANN and it appears to be the truth. In the 21st century, talented artists are bound by this unwritten law to competitively go against one another for fame, and it takes away a person’s self-expression. They try their best to cater to the needs of their audiences, whilst at best, they are decaying. If what they create are only aimed at a specific need in individuals, such as, the result of flashy bikinis and bouncing breasts, then where does the self-projection come into play? The main point is, do we become creative if we serve and not think for ourselves? Unlikely.

    “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for life.” —???

    “Give a man a set of commands and he will learn nothing at the end of the day. Teach a man to see, and he’ll think for life.”

    This may sound like a mere stipulation of my own complete biased thought, but perhaps you will come to understand a little once the libido in you ceases to control your actions.

    You sound like those movie critics who bash everything cause it makes you feel mentally superior and gives you some semblance of self-esteem.

    Your accusation is controversial. I indeed might sound like that, but you have to understand where I’m coming from before lashing out. Did you stop to think why I commented in such way? Or maybe you’re basing an opinion on previous experiences? I don’t know, nor do you about me.

    Myself? Let’s get to the point. I encountered anime since the arising of Skiwawa’s Samurai Pizza Cat. It was quite popular for young children back then as I recall. A show that I had to catch early in the morning before sunrise. Then I grew and found a new genre that opened up new ways for exploration. I discovered Hentai and before, it was your average genre ranging from the memorable antics to the more alluring romantic scenes. All the stories I had wanted was in a nutshell, animated, the perfect nirvana. I didn’t care as long as the story was preferably relative to my preference. And then hentai came along, it was like shining light that approached me from a distant land, illuminating its holiness. I was overwhelmed as like all growing young adults. =)

    It was then that I had unraveled the mystery of “OMFG,” I found sex. Following those days until now, I am still consumed by that blank-point debauchery. I always have chosen mature content (adult, ecchi, hentai, etc ….) over plots. And I still do. So understand when I denounce my affection for an anime. I don’t find it repulsive, I still love the art, the nude, the desirable female characters, and their figures. I WORSHIP it all, nothing can stand between me and my moe-oneechans. ^&$%! NO! No one will stop me from loving what I enjoy.

    You see? I love it all. It’s just finding a series that carries both entities: art and plot. Feel free to judge me as you wish, I’m just one of the majority of animals living within the bushels of the interweb. I am the few that actually admits it. I am the worst scum of all. I’m what you would call in anime term: “BAKA, baka, baka!!!” xD

    >Just please don’t judge my grammar, I am conscious of it. Don’t make me cry. =(

    andynai
  32. I am not perfect and you know it well enough to not bukkake my pride without first thinking of it.

    I have not mention anything about sekirei before so now I will. I don’t watch the whole episode but I skim through it, only cutting out naughty scenes. I then use it as clips for avatar, banner, collection, and indulgement. I am sick. You are too. I know you’ve thought about licking your own brownies beforedon’t lie. lol

    andynai
  33. Almost forgot. You guessed right! I loved it so much, I even dedicated this beautiful site:
    http://www.geocities.com/skiwawa/

    skiwawa = my favorite studio who brought us S.P.C.

    …idiot, you should have known. Do some research, don’t take things to heart without consideration. BAKAKAKAKAKAKAK!!!! SPAMSPAMSPAM!!!!

    You know, my spamming brings in more spam, which brings in more traffice, in turn brings in visitors that finds the content lifesaving, and so becomes devotes as frequent fans of omni’s good ass whooping writing. lalala lala lalal lala lala la.

    ANIME. LOVE. PEACE! ANIMATION.COM JLIST.COM RIGHTSTUFF.COM ANIMEDL.NOTLONG.COM VEOH.COM AND ….

    andynai

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