Sekirei

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox animanga/Header Template:Infobox animanga/Print Template:Infobox animanga/Video Template:Infobox animanga/Video Template:Infobox animanga/Footer Template:Nihongo is a Japanese manga series by Sakurako Gokurakuin. The manga was serialized in Square Enix's [[Seinen manga|Template:Transliteration manga]] magazine Young 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. 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 Template:Transliteration 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.

Plot

Template:See also In Tokyo, known as Template:Nihongo, 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 member of an extraterrestrial 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 and Template:Transliteration, 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.

Media

Manga

Template:See also Written and illustrated by Sakurako Gokurakuin, Sekirei was serialized in Square Enix's [[Seinen manga|Template:Transliteration manga]] manga magazine Young Gangan between December 3, 2004, and August 21, 2015. Square Enix published 18 Template:Transliteration volumes between June 25, 2005, and October 24, 2015. A sequel to the manga, titled Template:Nihongo began serialization in Young Gangan on May 2, 2017, and finished on March 16, 2018. Its chapters were collected in a single volume (numbered 19th) on April 25, 2018.

Yen Press licensed the series in North America and released the volumes digitally (including 365 Days Without Her) from November 24, 2015, to November 27, 2018. The publisher later released the volumes in ten 2-in-1 omnibus volumes from July 18, 2017, to November 12, 2019.

Drama CD

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

Anime

Template:See also 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 Template:Nihongo 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 Template:Nihongo 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, Template:Nihongo, 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 Template:Nihongo 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 Template:Nihongo and the ending theme is Template:Nihongo; both songs are performed by Hayami, Inoue, Hanazawa and Endo, as in the first season. The ending theme for episode 10 is Template:Nihongo 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 Template:Nihongo. 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

File:Sekirei PS2 cover.jpg

Video game cover of Sekirei: Gifts from the Future, released on October 29, 2009.

A video game for PlayStation 2 entitled Template:Nihongo was released on October 29, 2009 by Alchemist in limited and regular editions. Two music pieces implemented for the game's music consist of Template:Nihongo 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 is a visual novel. Minato and the Sekirei of Izumo Inn encounter new characters consisting of Sekirei No. 54, Template:Nihongo (Haruka Tomatsu), Sekirei No. 57, Template:Nihongo (Ayahi Takagaki), Ashikabi Template:Nihongo (Yuichi Nakamura) and a baby referred to as Template:Nihongo (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.

External links

• Manga official website Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
• Anime official website Template:In lang
• Video game official website Template:In lang
• Template:Anime News Network