Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~

is a Japanese manga series by Sakurako Gokurakuin. The manga was serialized in Square Enix's ''seinen'' magazine ''Young Gangan'' between December 2004 and August 2015. A sequel to the manga began serialization in the same magazine in May 2017. An anime adaptation produced by Seven Arcs and directed by Keizō Kusakawa aired in Japan between July and September 2008, and a second season aired between July and September 2010. Both seasons were licensed in North America by Funimation, until their license expired in 2017. The central character of the series is Minato Sahashi, a '' ronin'' who has failed his college entrance examinations two years in a row. His life changes, however, when he meets several girls with special powers called "Sekirei" and is dragged into a battle to possibly decide the fate of the world.

Plot

In Tokyo, known as , in 2020, 19-year-old Minato Sahashi is extremely intelligent, yet due to his major lack of self-confidence has failed the college entrance exam twice.

The same day of his second failure, Minato meets a girl named Musubi, who literally falls out of the sky on top of him. Minato soon learns that she is a "Sekirei", and she chooses him as her "Ashikabi", one of the mysterious set of humans that have the genetic trait and can make a contract by kissing the Sekirei; this binds the Sekirei to the Ashikabi and allows them to use their full power in elimination battles with other Sekirei. Made up of 108 cute girls, attractive buxom women and ''bishōnen'', the Sekirei battle in a competition known as the "Sekirei Plan" organized by Hiroto Minaka, the chairman and founder of the mysterious and powerful MBI Corporation.

Minato quickly learns that being the partner of a Sekirei is not all fun and games, especially when five other Sekirei choose him as their Ashikabi, each also forming a contract/bond with him. Now Minato must find a way to survive both the life-threatening battles of the Sekirei Plan and his partners' fierce competition for him.

Terminology

Sekirei

are superpowered beings with a different genetic code that may react to a human's, and who have been "modified" to be able to exist on Earth. The Sekirei spaceship crashed on Earth in 1999 on , and was found by two students, Hiroto Minaka (future MBI chairman) and Takami Sahashi (future MBI head researcher and Minato's mother). On board, the pair had found 108 life-forms, described as "One pillar and 107 baby birds".
* The first of them (a pillar, shown as #00, later renumbered and known as #01 Miya) was an adult.
* Eight (later known as #02–09) were embryos, also known as the "Single Numbers".
* 99 others (later known as #10–108) were fertilized eggs.
The adult and the eight embryos are also known as the "Single Numbers". It is hinted that unwinged Single Numbers are equal or even more powerful than their winged counterparts. All of the Sekirei had been given adjustments for the Sekirei Plan, especially the Single Numbers. The adjustments had been used not only for enabling them to exist on Earth but also for making them stronger and for controlling and strengthening their power. Each Sekirei has a , a unique ability that allows them to perform powerful attacks. In order to use the Norito, a Sekirei must engage in mucosal contact with (i.e., be kissed by) their Ashikabi prior to reciting it. Sekirei that are under the same Ashikabi can also merge their powers/techniques in order to create more powerful techniques; this puts most Ashikabi at a disadvantage, as only a few Ashikabi possess more than one Sekirei.

Ashikabi

are humans with unique DNA that enable them to empower the Sekirei destined to serve them. Through mucosal contact (kissing) between a Sekirei and its Ashikabi, a Sekirei without wings can become a "winged" or "emerged" Sekirei. Unlike Sekirei, who are mostly buxom women or handsome young men, Ashikabi can be quite innocuous as they can appear in any gender, age and even status. In the series, the power of an Ashikabi can be determined not only by the number of Sekirei he or she has in his or her disposal, but by the bond between them. As the Sekirei battle escalates, five Ashikabi in particular, emerged as the favorites to win the Sekirei Fight, each having winged at least three Sekirei. One of them is Natsuo Ichinomi, an employee of MBI who is also the leader of the Disciplinary Squad, while each one of the other four controls a different area in the city; Minato Sahashi in the North, Hayato Mikogami in the South, Izumi Higa in the East and Nishi Sanada in the West. If an Ashikabi dies or is killed, all Sekirei winged by him or her will also perish.

Jinki

, are eight mysterious artifacts numbered from #1 to #8, also found on the Sekirei spaceship. If all eight of them are gathered, it is possible that they can be used to terminate all Sekirei if the wielder desires. Upon all Sekirei being winged, Minaka puts all Jinki in MBI's possession as prizes for the matches of the Third Stage, and only the Ashikabi with a Jinki are allowed to keep participating in the Sekirei Battle by the end of the stage.

Sekirei Plan

The , known to Minaka and others as the "Game", is a competition in which the Sekirei and their Ashikabi must fight for survival until the last one of each remains. The true purpose of the plan is unknown, but it is implied to be sinister to some extent. The second anime season ended with the Second Stage completed, but before the Third Stage matches begin.
*First Stage: The Sekirei are adjusted and released in Tokyo. Thereafter, they must find Ashikabi in order to be winged. This stage ends when 90% of the Sekirei have been winged.
*Second Stage: Teito becomes a closed city and no Sekirei or Ashikabi can leave. The Ashikabi must then wing the remaining unwinged Sekirei, and every Ashikabi and their Sekirei must defeat at least one Sekirei.
*Third Stage: A series of battle royales between Ashikabi for possession of the Jinki. Only the Ashikabi who secure at least one of the Jinki until the end of this stage are eligible to advance.
*Final stage: The remaining Ashikabi are brought with their Sekirei to Kamikura Island and must fight among each other for the right to ascend to the Heavenly Palace Kouten and fight the pillar for the prize awaiting the ultimate winner of the Sekirei Battle.

Media

Manga

''Sekirei'' is a manga series written and illustrated by Sakurako Gokurakuin. It was serialized in Square Enix's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Young Gangan'' between December 3, 2004 and August 21, 2015. Square Enix published 18 ''tankōbon'' volumes between June 25, 2005 and October 24, 2015. A sequel to the manga titled began serialization in ''Young Gangan'' on May 2, 2017. Yen Press licensed the original series in North America and began releasing the series with the first volume digitally in November 2015. They later began releasing the series in print in omnibus volumes combining two volumes into one in July 2017.

Drama CD

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

Anime

The first 12-episode anime series adaptation produced by the animation studio Seven Arcs and directed by Keizō Kusakawa aired in Japan between July 2 and September 17, 2008. The anime is licensed by Aniplex in Japan. The first season is mostly faithful to the overall story structure of the manga series, covering roughly the first fifty-one chapters of the series. The opening theme is and the main ending theme is "Dear sweet heart"; both songs are performed by Saori Hayami (#88 Musubi), Marina Inoue (#9 Tsukiumi), Kana Hanazawa (#108 Kusano) and Aya Endo (#2 Matsu). The ending theme used in episode eleven is by Hayami. Six DVDs of the first season were released between October 22, 2008 and March 25, 2009. The sixth DVD volume was supplemented with an original video animation (OVA) episode, , featuring Kusano participating in the shopping race with Musubi and Tsukiumi. A Blu-ray box set of the first season was released on June 30, 2010 with three Blu-ray discs and one additional CD. At Anime USA 2009, Funimation announced that the anime's first season was licensed and a DVD box set was released on November 23, 2010.

A second season entitled began airing on July 4, 2010 on Tokyo MX and on July 6, 2010 on some other Japanese networks. The first episode of ''Sekirei: Pure Engagement'' was pre-aired on June 13, 2010. The opening theme is and the ending theme is ; both songs are performed by Hayami, Inoue, Hanazawa and Endo, as in the first season. The ending theme for episode 10 is by Hayami. A single containing both songs was released on July 21, 2010. The limited edition of the single came bundled with a special three-minute OVA, classified as episode 0, titled . The full 28-minute version of the OVA was released with the first BD/DVD volume of the second season on August 25, 2010. As with the first season, ''Pure Engagement'' is licensed in North America by Funimation, and released the series on January 3, 2012. Funimation's licenses for both seasons expired on February 9, 2017. Manga Entertainment released ''Pure Engagement'' in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2012.

Video game

A video game for PlayStation 2 entitled was released on October 29, 2009 by Alchemist in limited and regular editions. Two music pieces implemented for the game's music consist of and "Survive Baby Survive!", both of them performed by Saori Hayami, Marina Inoue, Kana Hanazawa and Aya Endo. The limited edition version was bundled with figures of Musubi and Tsukiumi with Kusano in a panda suit, a 40-minute drama CD, and an illustration of Matsu. While Musubi, Tsukiumi, Matsu, Kusano, Miya, Homura, Uzume and Minato reprise their roles from the anime and manga, four new characters were created by Alchemist consisting of two Sekirei, one Ashikabi and a baby as video game-only characters.

The game takes place in the Sekirei timeline, being played as a visual novel. Minato and the Sekirei of Izumo Inn encounter new characters consisting of Sekirei No. 54, (Haruka Tomatsu), Sekirei No. 57, (Ayahi Takagaki), Ashikabi ( Yuichi Nakamura) and a baby referred to as (Haruka Tomatsu). The plot centers around the discovery of said baby, who is being pursued by unknown persons after Minato and the Sekirei find her abandoned in the city.

Reception

Volume eight of the ''Sekirei'' manga made the top 30 manga sold in Japan, holding third place with 103,811 copies sold from February 24 to March 2, 2009. Volume nine placed 17th out of 30 with 65,732 copies sold from December 21–27, 2009. From June 28 to July 4, 2010, volume ten sold 47,019 copies for a total amount of 120,991 in 20th out of 30.

References

External links

Manga official website


Anime official website




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{{Seven Arcs

Aniplex
Extraterrestrials in anime and manga
Harem anime and manga
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Gangan Comics manga
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