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Home , Sekirei

Sekirei Review

Okay, I’m gonna be completely honest here. I really enjoy this series, and it’s NOT because of the bouncing titties and the hourglass-figured girls. (Well, okay, that’s 30% of it…) From the characters being quirky, to the action looking rather nice, even to the music being very sweet, I have my reasons for this anime tickling my heartstrings, and not my hormones. Is that just me, or should others take an interest in this show as well? Or should I even be interested? Am I just being mesmerized by boobs? Do I even know what’s good and what’s bad anymore and as a result, have completely lost my touch with reality? Let’s find out.

Minato Sahashi has failed to get into college due to his inability to cope under pressure. Almost immediately after that, he is happened upon an introduction to a girl who fell from the sky, and she lands ass first in his face. Some time, and plenty of fanservice after that, he discovers that the girl, named Musubi is a Sekirei, a sort-of alien individual out of 108 that are basically owned by the conglomerate, MBI to seek a partner, called an Ashikabi, through mucosal contact, I mean kissing (guess how many anime do that time and again) and battle to the death for supremacy all while hiding their identities from the general public, because a bunch of T & A toting girls who control water, fire, or even herculean strength causing all kinds of collateral damage must be SO easy to keep secret. Along his path, Minato is able to “wing” a number of other Sekirei besides Musubi, the strong-man girl I alluded to, including Kusano, a little girl who can control plants (he kisses an 6-year old?), Tsukiumi, Matsu, a hacker/techie extraordinaire, a feminist-warrior who controls water, Kazehana, an alcoholic romanticist who controls wind, and Homura, also called Kagari, a hermaphroditic male Sekirei who can control fire. And together, he hopes to take them to the top and grant them their wish of peace and love and justice. They stay at the Izumo Boarding House, where they kind of seem to turn into a sitcom family.

So, the plot is already stupid as hell, and if anyone reading this has read the in addition to watching this (pretend I just raised my hand and slapped it down), trust me, it only starts to get more and more needlessly complex. And looking at the first two episodes together, fans of Love Hina will notice how similar the introduction to the main hub will be. Basically blend that with Dead or Alive and Pokémon, and congrats, you’ve got a mish-mash of rip-off.

Apart from that, the animation and character designs are somewhat fluent, and when you put them in action scenes, it’s nice to look at, but it’s kinda glitchy at times. The magical element of the battles is a very nice touch, especially with the water and fire.

The music is also very nice, at times being cute, others being epic, and even being goddamn beautiful with its use of orchestral themes, though quite not to Tsubasa Chronicle’s level. The opening theme in the Second season, called Pure Engagement, is another personal favorite Japanese anime theme of mine, not only for that, but for its use of the Seiyus behind four of the main girls providing vocals. And now for the characters. Minato is pretty bland, but enjoyable to get behind. Yea, he’s wimpy, yea he comes around with his resolve to grow stronger, yes the girls love him, but judge him in awkward situations. But, hey, it could’ve been worse. He could’ve been Keitaro Urashima, who I’m sure Love Hina fans know is RELENTLESSLY picked on because of those factors, something I hate in the genre because the character seems kind of nice. But I digress.

Musubi is indeed a very cute protagonist. She’s cheerful, he’s got a nice rack, she’s airheaded, she’s got a nice ass, she’s willing to provide happiness for all if she wins, she’s got nice tits, she’s strong as hell, she’s got huge melons, and her punches could give Donkey Kong a run for his money. Oh, and she’s very pretty. The airhead factor is taken to high levels, almost becoming the Abridged version of Goku. No, copping a feel is not the same thing as listening to one’s heartbeat, dear.

Kusano is adorable without being annoying. She’s basically one of those disgustingly cute girls in anime, and I love her for it. She calls Minato “big brother”, but I don’t think that should be necessary after she was winged. Trust me, she’s a Child Services Social Worker’s aneurism waiting to happen.

Matsu’s fun, although annoying. Oftentimes when she’s on the scene, she expresses the perverted behavior of…any given man, and almost seems like a potential molester most of the time. Her backstory is she’s on the run from MBI because she stole from them, and she hides at the Inn in a secluded secret room with just her computer and satellite network. So, she’s basically That Girl with the Glasses, only without the questions or the shouting, or the CHAAAAANGE.

Tsukiumi is also kind of annoying. Her boasting about how she’s going to be Minato’s wife, and having the same arguments with Musubi and competing with her for his affections gets repetitive and pretty old after a while. But her penchant for speaking in the style of Greek theater is kind of nice. (That’s in the English dub)

The other characters also have their quirks, which at times seems kind of lazily written. There’s the Innkeeper, Miya Asama, who’s the strongest of them all, but doesn’t really seem to have any personality apart from her scary persona, Kazehana, who’s lazy, but also powerful, so she has braf=gging rights, and just shows outbursts of fangasms when love becomes a topic. How much do you wanna bet she likes the Twilight series? Homura, who, being the emo character, is bland as stale toast, and his issues with having girl genes only add to it. Uzume, one of my favorites, who’s nice and perky, but her sickly Ashikabi (Yuri love relationship ahoy!) is a hostage to an evil group, so there’s nothing she can do about doing evil deeds herself, is a very nice character. Many of the others provide their quirks and their setbacks, but all in all, we’ve got an okay cast.

Oh Fanservice, oh fanservice. Why must thou insist on returning to my domain? Actually, in this case, I’m not as cynical, because this is just the type of show this was meant to be. There’s breasts, there’s butts, there’s bouncing, there’s nudity, there’s even a Physical Exam/Beach/Bathhouse episode, and all of that is the coating of a Romantic Action series. But did really have to make that their plug? Their tagline is seriously “Boobies for the Win”. I mean, I enjoy this anime, I really do, and I can get that there is plenty of the stuff I mentioned, but c’mon, guys. Stop dropping yourselves from the market. You might as well be appealing to 18+ audiences. You’re just not that suave or even subtle.

Dub or Sub? Either/or for me. The voice actors in the Japanese version provide their parts well, and the English voice actors were certainly not slouching either. My favorite part is Lydia MacKay as Tsukiumi, because of the aforementioned Theatrical lingo. I also found myself enjoying hearing as Musubi and as Kusano, because they just added so much to the cute factor. And I rather enjoy as Uzume, and any other role that doesn’t make her sound like an annoying valley girl.

All in all, the fanservice basically swallows this show, the plot leaves a lot to be desired, the romance factor is kind of confused, and the fanservice basically sells this show. But, for an enjoyable cast of characters, some good animation, and a GREAT soundtrack, both musical and vocal, it allows its audience to just sit back and enjoy the ride. I love it, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. This anime is basically my Moulin Rouge for the anime genre, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

*Sekirei and Sekirei: Pure Engagement are owned by Funimation, , Chiba TV, Keizo Kusakawa and Sakurako Gokurakuin (that’s a mouthful). Please support the official release by purchasing the DVDs wherever available, or by watching it online on Funimation’s website, YouTube, Hulu, or Netflix.