| Sekirei | |
 First volume cover, featuring Musubi | |
| セキレイ | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Sakurako Gokurakuin |
| Published by | Square Enix |
| English publisher | |
| Magazine | Young Gangan |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Original run | December 3, 2004 –March 16, 2018 |
| Volumes | 19(List of volumes) |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Keizō Kusakawa |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Takao Yoshioka |
| Music by | Hiroaki Sano |
| Studio | Seven Arcs |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | Chiba TV,KBS Kyoto,Nagoya Broadcasting Network,Sun TV,Tokyo MX,TV Hokkaido,TV Kanagawa,TV Saitama,AT-X,TVQ |
| English network | |
| Original run | July 2, 2008 – September 17, 2008 |
| Episodes | 12 + OVA(List of episodes) |
| Anime television series | |
| Sekirei: Pure Engagement | |
| Directed by | Keizō Kusakawa |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Takao Yoshioka |
| Music by | Hiroaki Sano |
| Studio | Seven Arcs |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | AT-X, KBS Kyoto, Nagoya Broadcasting Network, Sun TV, Tokyo MX, TV Hokkaido, TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting |
| English network |
|
| Original run | July 4, 2010 – September 26, 2010 |
| Episodes | 13 + OVA(List of episodes) |
Sekirei (セキレイ,lit. 'Wagtail') is a Japanesemanga series bySakurako Gokurakuin. The manga was serialized inSquare Enix'sseinen manga magazineYoung Gangan between December 2004 and August 2015. A special epilogue volume to the manga was serialization in the same magazine from May 2017 to March 2018. Ananime adaptation produced bySeven Arcs and directed byKeizō 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 byFunimation, until their license expired in 2017. The central character of the series is Minato Sahashi, aronin who has failed his college entrance examinations two years in a row. His life changes, however, when he meets several women with special powers called "Sekirei" and is dragged into a battle to possibly decide the fate of the world.
In Tokyo, known as Shinto Teito (新東帝都,Shintō Teito, "New Eastern Imperial Capital"), in 2020, 19-year-oldMinato 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 namedMusubi, who literally falls out of the sky on top of him. Minato soon learns that she is a member of anextraterrestrial race known as the "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 andbishōnen, the Sekirei battle in a competition known as the "Sekirei Plan" organized byHiroto Minaka, thechairman 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.
Written and illustrated bySakurako Gokurakuin,Sekirei was serialized inSquare Enix'sseinen mangamanga magazineYoung Gangan between December 3, 2004,[5] and August 21, 2015.[6] Square Enix published 18tankōbon volumes between June 25, 2005, and October 24, 2015.[7][8] A sequel to the manga, titledSekirei: 365 Days Without Her (セキレイ 彼女のいない365日のこと,Sekirei: Kanojo no Inai 365-nichi no Koto) began serialization inYoung Gangan on May 2, 2017,[3] and finished on March 16, 2018.[9] Its chapters were collected in a single volume (numbered 19th) on April 25, 2018.[10]
Yen Press licensed the series in North America and released the volumes digitally (including365 Days Without Her) from November 24, 2015, to November 27, 2018.[11][12][13] The publisher later released the volumes in ten 2-in-1omnibus volumes from July 18, 2017, to November 12, 2019.[14][15][16]
A drama CD entitledSekirei Original Drama CD was released on July 25, 2007 byFrontier Works.[17]
The first 12-episodeanime series adaptation produced by the animation studioSeven Arcs and directed byKeizō Kusakawa aired in Japan between July 2 and September 17, 2008. The anime is licensed byAniplex 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 "Sekirei" (セキレイ) and the main ending theme is "Dear sweet heart"; both songs are performed bySaori Hayami (#88 Musubi),Marina Inoue (#9 Tsukiumi),Kana Hanazawa (#108 Kusano) andAya Endo (#2 Matsu). The ending theme used in episode eleven is "Kimi o Omou Toki" (きみを想うとき, "When I Think of You") by Hayami. Six DVDs of the first season were released between October 22, 2008[18] and March 25, 2009.[19] The sixth DVD volume was supplemented with anoriginal video animation (OVA) episode, "Kusano's First Shopping Trip" (初メテノオツカイ,Hajimete no Otsukai, "The First Errand"), featuring Kusano participating in the shopping race with Musubi and Tsukiumi. ABlu-ray box set of the first season was released on June 30, 2010 with three Blu-ray discs and one additional CD.[20] AtAnime USA 2009,Funimation announced that the anime's first season was licensed and a DVD box set was released on November 23, 2010.[21][22]
A second season entitledSekirei: Pure Engagement (セキレイ～Pure Engagement～) began airing on July 4, 2010[23] onTokyo MX and on July 6, 2010 on some other Japanese networks.[24] The first episode ofSekirei: Pure Engagement was pre-aired on June 13, 2010. The opening theme is "Hakuyoku no Seiyaku (Pure Engagement)" (白翼ノ誓約〜Pure Engagement〜) and the ending theme is "Onnaji Kimochi" (おんなじきもち, "Same Feeling"); both songs are performed by Hayami, Inoue, Hanazawa and Endo, as in the first season. The ending theme for episode 10 is "Oboeteiru kara" (おぼえているから, "Remembering You") 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 "Two-Topic Gossip" (閑話弐題,Kanwa Ni Dai). 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 byFunimation,[25] and released the series on January 3, 2012. Funimation's licenses for both seasons expired on February 9, 2017.[26] Manga Entertainment releasedPure Engagement in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2012.
A video game for PlayStation 2 entitledSekirei: Gifts from the Future (セキレイ ～未来からのおくりもの～,Sekirei ~Mirai kara no Okurimono~) was released on October 29, 2009 byAlchemist in limited and regular editions.[27][28] Two music pieces implemented for the game's music consist of "Yakusoku I'm with You" (約束 I'm with You, "Promise I'm with You") and "Survive Baby Survive!", both of them performed bySaori Hayami,Marina Inoue,Kana Hanazawa andAya Endo.[29] 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.[30] While Musubi, Tsukiumi, Matsu, Kusano, Miya, Homura, Uzume and Minato reprise their roles from the anime and manga,[31] four new characters were created by Alchemist consisting of two Sekirei, one Ashikabi and a baby as video game-only characters.
The game is avisual novel. Minato and the Sekirei of Izumo Inn encounter new characters consisting of Sekirei No. 54, Kuruse (来瀬) (Haruka Tomatsu), Sekirei No. 57, Yahan (夜半) (Ayahi Takagaki), Ashikabi Reiji Koya (甲屋 玲治,Koya Reiji) (Yuichi Nakamura) and a baby referred to as Aka-chan (赤ちゃん) (Haruka Tomatsu).[32] 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.[33]
Volume eight of theSekirei manga made the top 30 manga sold in Japan, holding third place with 103,811 copies sold from February 24 to March 2, 2009.[34] Volume nine placed 17th out of 30 with 65,732 copies sold from December 21–27, 2009.[35] 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.[36]
