First Impressions / SEKIREI

「水ノ鶺鴒」 (Mizu no Sekirei)
“The Water Sekirei”

Episode at a Glance:
After coming home in shambles from dodging satellite lasers, Musubi finds Matsu in the bathroom with Minato. Having taken an interest in him and all his details, Matsu nets Musubi for returning earlier than expected and gets lectured by Miya about illicit sexual relationships in return. One proper introduction later, Minato, Musubi, and a very frightened Ku are shown to her hidden room, which is supposedly for concealing her from the MBI. Miya reminds the others of how her husband never turned anyone away and explains that he used to work at MBI and met Matsu there.

Elsewhere, Mitsuha is wondering what to tell her master after letting a commoner get away from her, when Homura arrives saying a real destined Sekirei/Ashikabi pair knows what the other is thinking, otherwise they’re just being collected by someone in poor taste. Provoked, Mitsuha and Akitsu attack Homura, but are forced to flee as soon as he counters. Meanwhile, Yukari’s wondering what to do with Shiina, who suddenly declares that he must be her Sekirei. Homura on the other hand is having difficulty keeping this powers in check and ends up melting his on phone when he tries to call Tamaki.

Tsukiumi suddenly appears though, dowsing him with water and preventing him from cremating himself. She also says won’t forgive him for giving up so easily, especially before she can defeat him. After peeking at her underwear, Homura wonders why she won’t find her Ashikabi and realize her true powers, but she won’t acknowledge a mere “monkey” in that manner. While she realizes she’s starting to react to someone, she claims she’ll kill him first. Back at Izumo Inn, Minato gets a night visit from Matsu, who kisses him to form a Sekirei contract. Miya bursts in shortly after though and punishes them with no breakfast for sneaking around at night. On top of a clock tower, Takami finds out that Hiroto is planning to use Minato to attract more Sekirei and get his game going.

The next morning, Matsu is looking for a morning kiss from Minato but finds Musubi instead, which unexpectedly peaks her interest. During breakfast, Minato finds out that Uzume’s still sleeping because she’s been coming home late, making him wonder if she has a part-job or something. With Kagari (i.e. Homura) scalded from last night, Miya offers to feed him before practicing with Musubi. Back in his room, Minato dozes off and dreams of Tsukiumi saying she’ll kill him, before getting a mail from Yukari saying something’s come up and she’ll visit another time. He then realizes the Ku woke up at the same moment he did, making him wonder about Sekirei contracts.

Asking Matsu if she knows more, Minato finds out the details of the Sekirei Project and how they’re fighting until one remains. Unable to escape the system, Matsu also reveals that most of the Sekireis will form contracts soon and the battle royale game will really start. While Matsu is overjoyed about the supposed reward, Minato wonders if there’s anything he can do to prevent them from being defeated and taken away. He then recalls his dream, so Matsu tells him that it’s not unusual for Sekirei to react to him as one’s influence increases when he/she has more Sekirei. After confirming that the girl is No.9 Tsukiumi, an Ashikabi hater, Matsu is worried about what to do, but Minato suggests trying to befriend her anyway. Matsu then forms a plan with Minato as bait and Ku as his bodyguard, so the four of them set out.

Out as bait, Minato and Ku run into Kaoru, while Hikari and Hibiki get brushed aside by Tsukiumi for insulting her. Kaoru then notices that Minato has gotten more Sekirei and questions whether it’s Matsu. Surprised that he knows her, Minato then finds out that Kaoru made the hidden door for his friend, Asama Takehito (Miya’s late husband). Hikari and Hibiki then arrive, but so does Tsukiumi, who immediately reacts to Minato. Despite being hot and bothered, Tsukiumi says she’ll crush Minato.

 

Next Episode:
「出雲荘花軍」 (Izumosou Hana Ikusa)
“Izumo Inn Flower Troops”

Impressions:
“Sword catch, MISS!” pretty much sums up my reaction for this scene. It didn’t seem like Musubi got any better on future attempts either, but she’s a tough girl so it’s all good. So as the screenshots indicate, this week mainly revolved around Matsu’s “official” introduction after seeing her sneak around Izumo for a while now. As Sekirei No.2, she’s pretty direct in her approaches and can pull out MBI net guns out of nowhere. Minato’s reactions in these scenes were the funniest parts to me, but I could help but laugh at Musubi’s earnest “things started falling from the sky” line either. You’re getting attacked Musubi! Attacked!

*Ahem* Anyway, as suspected, Shiina picked Yukari to be his Sekirei (he is a guy I hope…), but they haven’t yet confirmed it with a formal ritual like in Matsu’s case. Speaking of Matsu, it seems her scientific interest has peaked in the realm of lesbianism thanks to an accidental morning kiss from Musubi, so the fan-service seems to be spreading like an uncontrollable wild fire now. While I doubt this is going to win anyone over who’s on the fence about watching this series, I guess it’s a nice treat for those already on board. However, what’s the deal with an Ashikabi having more of an effect on Sekirei when he has more Sekirei? In our worldly terms, it basically sounds like one can increase his “pimpness factor” by gathering more girls. I mean, it looked like Tsukiumi was going to have an orgasm just for coming in contact with Minato. On a more plot-related note, Hikari and Hibiki have hinted that there’s something special about single-digit Sekireis, so while it’s obvious in Tsukiumi’s case, I can’t help but wonder what Matsu has up her sleeve when she can’t hide behind a computer screen.

Overall though, I found this episode as a pretty entertaining way of introducing Matsu, who we’ll probably see a lot more of now. As for next time, is it just me or does Kaoru look like he’s taking advantage of Tsukiumi here?

 

Cast:
– Sahashi Minato (佐橋 皆人) / Tachibana Shinnosuke (立花 慎之介)
– Musubi (結) / Hayami Saori (早見 沙織)
– Kusano (草野) / Hanazawa Kana (花澤 香菜)
– Matsu (松) / Endou Aya (遠藤 綾)
– Tsukiumi (月海) / Inoue Marina (井上 麻里奈)
– Asama Miya (浅間 美哉) / Oohara Sayaka (大原 さやか)
– Homura (焔) / Kagari (篝) / Kaida Yuki (甲斐田 ゆき)
– Seo Kaoru (瀬尾 香) / Konishi Katsuyuki (小西 克幸)
– 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)
– Shiina (椎菜) / Ishidzuka Sayori (石塚 さより)
– Minaka Hiroto (御中 広人) / Seki Toshihiko (関 俊彦)
– Takami (高美) / Itou Miki (伊藤 美紀)
– Akitsu (秋津) / Kobayashi Yuu (小林 ゆう)
– Mitsuha (蜜羽) / Yahagi Sayuri (矢作 紗友里)

32 Comments

  3. seems like Kaoru wants to get a third Mature women, however we all know it aint gonna happen… man the three girls sleeping on him was funny, it’ll be crazy after the forth lol

    Chimasternmay
    Reply

  20. this show is really stereotype on anime series let me tell you something that will make you understand abit. minato wings a dumb big breasted woman, loli-type character, nerdy woman, big-sister type woman, and sort of a transsexual type person.

    yaho!
    Reply

  22. @yaho! Um yeah that just how it is, its not gonna change… we see those combos in many or the Harem anime… people like it and people will keep getting it, no one really cares anymore…

    Chimasternmay
    Reply

  23. @EvilDevil

    The girl’s name is Yukari, the guy is Shiina.

    To answer Divine’s questions: single-digit sekireis tend to be among the most powerful of the sekirei’s, and also the most unpredictable, I suppose due to their power and experience compared to others. Matsu’s powers are unknown so far, even in the manga, but Tsukiumi is quite strong.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    On the winging more sekireis part, as an ashikabi wings more sekireis his own power as an ashikabi grows, which attracts more and stronger sekireis. He winged Musubi first, then winged Kuu. The power he gained from those two allowed him to wing a single digit, Matsu, whose power in turn allows Minato to attract another single-digit, Tsukiumi.

    Newprimus
    Reply

  25. One interesting note to add to what Newprimus wrote

    Show Spoiler ▼

    nobody important
    Reply

  28. Great post, Divine. And even better episode.

    “However, what’s the deal with an Ashikabi having more of an effect on Sekirei when he has more Sekirei? In our worldly terms, it basically sounds like one can increase his “pimpness factor” by gathering more girls. I mean, it looked like Tsukiumi was going to have an orgasm just for coming in contact with Minato.”

    The entire paragraph made me lol.

    Kai
    Reply

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