Before I start blogging individual episodes (starting at episode 4), let me take a bit of time to recap the first 3 episodes of Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~. This arc can be called the Kazehana Arc, since it centers around her as she really wants to be Minato’s next Sekirei. With four Sekirei already sleeping with Minato, can he handle adding another wife to his collection? Could any of us really?
The Top 5 Sekirei show their strength
I am also a reader of the Sekirei manga and will be blogging that, so while my anime posts will not spoil things and I’ll be sure to tread very lightly on topics that could lead to me spoiling, I will point out differences from the anime and manga as I see them. I’ll put a post-episode report at the end and discuss the differences that the anime makes. Season 1 was pretty faithful to the source, so I don’t expect to be typing a laundry list on differences with this anime.
Why must we take on the "Team Rocket" role?
The first episode is “Hey, remember us from back in 2008?” kinda deal. The opening tease is the most interesting scene in episode 1, as it shows the Top 5 Sekirei (#1 Miya, #2 Matsu, #3 Kazehana, #4 Karasuba and #5 Mutsu) easily destorying military forces. More on this later, but it’s a pretty interesting kickoff for an ecchi series to trigger in its first episode. After that, things become more of what you’d expect; girls showering, Minato sinking his face in boobage, etc; you know, why I watch and am recommending Sekirei to you in the first place!
Kusano - For All Your Tech Support Needs.
Episode 2 begins with Kazehana attempting to wing herself by kissing Minato while he’s sleeping. Kazehana has referred to Minato as looking similar to “that man” in the past, but we can only speculate just who that is. Episode 2 continues on with the Sahashi siblings Yukari and Minato going to meet up for dinner. Does this mean that Kusano and Shiina are going to finally meet! No. Tsukiumi tags along because she’s jealous that Musubi knows Yukari and she doesn’t, and that becomes a good call once the Disciplinary Squad tries to ambush them. Tsukiumi is very impressive in her fight with Haihane, going all out and finally proving that she’s got the strength of a single-numbered Sekirei. We know she’s strong, but here she shows a bit of swagger and confidence against Haihane. The scenes with Haihane being upset about forgetting to record her TV show and Kusano talking to Benitsubasa on the phone are really funny. I don’t recall having too many laughs watching Season 1, so it’s neat to see some humor mixed in this season.
Kazehana finally gets her wings. +1 Minato.
Episode 3 is the big deal. It’s Kazehana vs. two-thirds of the Disciplinary Squad as she tries to save Minato and become his 5th Bird. Haihane once again pops up as comic relief as she accidentally drives her claws into her head multiple times; randomly funny. Haihane also suffers a fall due to some pretty damn skilled wine bottle throwing by Minato. Before any of the other Sekirei can arrive, Kazehana gets her wings and blasts Beni & Haihane off into the sky once more. We also visit the MBI-sanctioned hospital where we get to meet Minato’s mom. She just happens to be Takami, who is an MBI employee and has been up on the clocktower with Minaka the whole time. And outside the hopsital, Karasuba continues to have an obsessive desire to fight #08 Yume as she is anxiously waiting for her and Musubi to be the last two Sekirei standing in this battle royale known as the Sekirei Plan. Dating back to Season 1, it’s unclear as to how #08 took over Musubi’s body at the end of Season 1, but Karasuba knows that something must be triggered in order for #08 to come out.
Pics like this make me fall in love with Karasuba.
So that’s episode 1-3 of Sekirei in a bit of a nutshell. Kazehana gets her wings and Minato finds out the truth about his mother. I really enjoy Sekirei because, in addition to feeding my ecchi appetite, it’s got a story that is interesting and makes you think without having the plot be overly colluded. I can pretend that Ikkitousen or any series like that is enjoyable while truly knowing it’s truly just a dumb/fun show, but I can genuinely recommend that you check out Sekirei.
Anime vs. Manga Comparison
Alright, so let’s start. Season 1 concluded around chapter 45 of the manga. This whole mini-arc is different. The opening scene with the Top 5 is revealed in the 80-90 chapter range and explained with some details. Kazehana gets winged by Minato after the events of the Sekirei Escape Plan in order to push the escapees, #95 Kunoh and her Ashikabi, Haruka, across a broken bridge. I actually kind of like how they handled her “winging” in the anime.