Sekirei

The Sekirei Crest

Wagtail

Sekirei (セキレイ, lit. "Wagtail") are an extraterrestrial race of super-powered humanoids. They are physically indistinguishable from humans with similar genetic codes. Their name is taken from that of the Japanese wagtail.

History

Long ago, eight Sekirei spaceships (岩舟, Iwafune, lit. "Rock Ship"; the name of the ship used when the gods descend from the heavens to the surface world in Japanese mythology) reached Earth. Each ship contained 108 life-forms described as "One pillar and 107 baby birds". One crash-landed and suffered severe damage; only the "Pillar" and eight Sekirei survived. Another, the one which carried the "modern" Sekirei of the current story, crashed in the sea near Japan. The rest landed in various locations worldwide, and the Sekirei aboard them gave rise to the myths and legends of gods and heroes that have passed down through various cultures over the span of human history.

21 years prior to the current story, in 1999, an island emerged suddenly from the sea near Japan; it was quickly explored by two university students, Minaka Hiroto (future MBI chairman) and Takami Sahashi (future MBI head researcher and Minato's mother). They discovered ruins which were actually the eighth Sekirei spaceship. Onboard the spaceship they found 108 life-forms in suspended animation:

• The first of them, the pillar, shown as #01 was an adult, and was not a Sekirei.
• Eight (later known as #02-09) were embryos.
• Ninety-nine others (later known as #10-108) were fertilized eggs.

Minaka used the high technology discovered on the Sekirei ship to amass the fortune required to found MBI, take possession of the island and have it declared an extraterritoriality. He then began the work that would eventually result in the Sekirei Plan.

Development

The adult and eight embryos are also known as the Single Numbers. It is hinted that unwinged Single Numbers are equal or even more powerful than winged others. All Sekirei have undergone adjustments for the "Sekirei Plan", especially the Single Numbers, some of their adjustments being mischievous. Adjustments to Sekirei are needed to control and stabilize their power. In this process however, MBI fitted all Sekirei with a limiter reducing their strength significantly. Most Sekirei only knew about the world through TV because they were not allowed to leave Kamikura Island. This would leave many Sekirei fairly naive, unprepared, and susceptible to humans with malicious intentions.

The first contact with the outside world they made was when they were sent out to find their Ashikabi. When a Sekirei's wings are released by an Ashikabi, the power of a Sekirei multiplies and he/she can use his/her true potential. Miya stated that Sekirei are interesting beings because ordinary training wouldn't do much for raising their abilities, but according to the state of their heart their soul manifests itself through their ability.

Anger, hatred, joy, sorrow and overall their feelings of love influences their abilities and let them get stronger. This is further indicated by a statement of Musubi's explaining to Toyotama their difference in strength. According to her, she lost the fight simply because the lack of love in her relationship towards her Ashikabi. Thus implying love is a crucial element to gain strength for Sekirei.

Battle, Abilities and Rules

Sekirei have a strong ability called a Norito, which is an incantation recited to provide a boost of power when needed. To utilize this, they need to confirm the bond they share with the Ashikabi through a kiss and recite their prayer. Each Sekirei has their own unique Norito. Multiple Sekirei under the same Ashikabi can also merge their techniques in order to create more powerful ones. This puts most Ashikabi at a disadvantage, as only a few possess more than one Sekirei.

An important rule for every Sekirei is that the winner has to guard the corpse of a Sekirei that is terminated until MBI arrives and recovers the body. In the manga, if a Sekirei does not follow this rule and refuses to show their respect to the loser, other Sekirei might try to punish them. Musubi stated that the reward for the last remaining Sekirei of the game (the Sekirei Plan) is for them to be with their favorite person - their Ashikabi - forever.

Physiology

The physiology of a Sekirei is similar to humans. They have similar requirements such as the need to eat food, drink water, and breathe oxygen. They are also also capable of reproducing with the human species; thousands of years in the past, some Sekirei were able to conceive offspring with their Ashikabi. Due to this, the genes of Sekirei, while recessive, are still carried by nearly half of the world's population.

However, they also have significant differences that set them apart: Sekirei have greater strength, speed, and stamina than is possible for humans. In addition, each Sekirei has a core that is the source of their power and very existence; Sekirei who lose their core cease to function.

There are two ways to terminate a Sekirei: The first is through defeating them in physical combat by inflicting a sufficient amount and severity of damage; the second is for an opponent to touch the crest at the nape of their neck and recite their Norito. The crest then disappears, indicating termination. A Sekirei whose crest has disappeared cannot function. The severity of physical damage to a Sekirei is categorized in five levels of going from one to five, the former being the most benign and five being the most severe; Damage Level Five is effectively the actual death of the Sekirei.

According to Ichinomiya Natsuo, as long as terminated Sekirei don't approach their 'Death' as living creatures, they can be put to sleep after special surgery depending on the level of termination. They are then taken to a specialized facility where their body is kept alive. But a living body does not mean the Sekirei isn't dead; the loss of their crest is equivalent to death for a Sekirei. There are two ways to fix these "broken bonds": one involves being the last remaining Ashikabi and using the assembled Jinki. The second is a result of Kusano's Norito being activated and directed at a specified area.

Ashikabi

Ashikabi are the individuals to whom Sekirei become attached to, in both a contractual and emotional sense. Ashikabi can be male or female, and there do exist instances of both partners being the same sex.

There are four main Ashikabi with power above that of others. There is one in each area of the city and are named for the area in which they reside. Originally there were three main Ashikabi: Higa Izumi in the East, Mikogami Hayato in the South, and Sanada Nishi in the West. There was no "Ashikabi of the North" (due to the presence of the "Hannya of the North") until Minato became the Ashikabi of the North after winging his fifth and sixth Sekirei. Most Ashikabi only have a single Sekirei, however, and thus these 'Big Four' are exceptions.

The winging of a Sekirei is done through an exchange of DNA through mucosal contact, usually via a mouth-to-mouth kiss. The main ability of an Ashikabi is empowering their Sekirei, both by the strength of their emotional bonds and assisting in the activation of the Sekirei's Norito. An Ashikabi's powers increase with the number of Sekirei they wing; more powerful Sekirei such as the "single numbers" are more likely to respond to a more powerful Ashikabi. An important consequence of the binding relationship between Ashikabi and Sekirei is that the death of an Ashikabi results in the termination of all of their Sekirei. This is considered classified information by MBI, though most Sekirei and Ashikabi in the story seem to know about it anyway.

One part of the bond between Sekirei and Ashikabi is that they can feel each others' feelings. For example, when Musubi's crest disappeared and Minato mourned her loss, Tsukiumi and Kazehana - the latter of whom was not winged at the time - felt his pain. This even occurs over distances: Kusano, who was far off at Izumo Inn immediately knew what happened; and it is implied that Matsu also can feel Minato's feelings. The feelings of the Sekirei can also be felt in return by the Ashikabi. If their bond is particularly strong, the Sekirei and Ashikabi can communicate fully telepathically. With sufficient experience, this ability can be extended to telepathically communicate with multiple Sekirei simultaneously; this is very useful for coordinating actions in battle.

List of Sekirei

Sekirei No.	Name	Ashikabi	Status
0/1	Asama Miya	none (wife and formerly the widow of Asama Takehito)	alive, formerly incapacitated after her battle with Musubi
2	Matsu	Sahashi Minato	alive
3	Kazehana	Sahashi Minato	alive
4	Karasuba	Ichinomiya Natsuo	alive (incapacitated after being terminated by Musubi)
5	Mutsu	Mikogami Hayato	alive
6	Homura	Sahashi Minato	alive
7	Akitsu	Mikogami Hayato	alive, formerly self-terminated, then revived
8	Yume	Sahashi Minato (through Musubi)	alive (through Musubi)
9	Tsukiumi	Sahashi Minato	alive
10	Uzume	Hidaka Chiho	terminated by Sai, revived
11	Hikari	Seo Kaoru	alive
12	Hibiki	Seo Kaoru	alive
13	Amebane	Yashiro Itsuki	terminated by Shiina, revived
14	Chiyo	Sanada Nishi	terminated by Akitsu, revived
15	Himeko	Mikogami Hayato	alive
16	Toyotama	Higa Izumi	terminated by Musubi, revived
17	Yūna	Sanada Nishi	terminated by Akitsu, revived
18	Ichiya	Higa Izumi	alive
19	Ikki	unknown	terminated by Karasuba, presumed revived
20	Hatae	Sanada Nishi	terminated by Akitsu, revived
22	Kochō	Kakizaki	alive
27	Nina	Mutou	terminated, revived
28	Natsuka	unknown	terminated, revived
31	Sai	Higa Izumi	terminated by Homura, revived
37	unknown	unknown	terminated, presumed revived
38	Mitsuha	Mikogami Hayato	terminated by Karasuba, presumed revived
39	Mitsuki	Mikogami Hayato	terminated by Yuna, revived
40	Shi	Higa Izumi	terminated by Kazehana, revived
43	Yomi	Mikogami Hayato	terminated by Musubi, presumed revived
44	Yosuga	unknown	terminated, presumed revived
92 (misidentified as 48)	Kujika	Sanada Nishi	alive
54	Kuruse*	Reiji Koya	unknown, presumed alive
55	Saki	none	unknown, presumed alive
57	Yahan*	Reiji Koya	unknown, presumed alive
62	Kaie	Higa Izumi	terminated by Kazehana, revived
65	Taki	Mikogami Hayato	terminated by Hatae, revived
72	Natsu*	unknown	terminated by Uzume, presumed revived
73	Namiji	Takano Kouji	terminated by Shiina, revived
74	Narashino	Tsudanuma Osamu	alive
75	Niwa	unknown	terminated, revived
78	Nanami	Himura Youichi	terminated by Karasuba, presumed revived
79	unknown	Higa Izumi	terminated by Tsukiumi, presumed revived
82	Hari	Kunimitsu Hiroyuki‎	terminated by the Disciplinary Squad, presumed revived
84	Yashima	Tanigawa Junichi	terminated by Shiina, revived
34 (misidentified as 85)	Oshino	Higa Izumi	terminated by Benitsubasa, presumed revived
86	Katsuragi	Higa Izumi	terminated by Musubi, presumed revived
87	Kaho	Oosumi Orihiko	terminated by Karasuba, revived
88	Musubi	Sahashi Minato	alive
95	Kuno	Shigi Haruka	alive
100	Momo	Mikogami Hayato	terminated by Chiyo, Hatae, and Yuna, revived
101	Oriha	Higa Izumi	terminated by Tsukiumi, revived
103	Juusa	Mikogami Hayato	terminated by Chiyo, revived
104	Haihane	Ichinomiya Natsuo	alive
105	Benitsubasa	Ichinomiya Natsuo	alive
106	Shijime	Sanada Nishi	alive
107	Shiina	Sahashi Yukari	alive
108	Kusano	Sahashi Minato	alive
81	unknown	Higa Izumi	terminated by Tsukiumi, presumed revived
21	unknown	unknown	terminated, presumed revived
66	Kaiha	Higa Izumi	alive
93	Kuzuri	Sanada Nishi	alive
94	Kujou	Higa Izumi	terminated by Homura, presumed revived
33	Mimi	Mutou	terminated by Nanami, presumed revived
68	Midorino	unknown	terminated by Hikari and Hibiki, presumed revived
Total: 64	!	Total: 24	!

*A Sekirei using throwing knives to fight, terminated by Uzume. (In episode eight of the anime you can shortly see her data on one of Matsu's screens. Her name is Natsu, No #72. No information about her in the Manga) *Both Kuruse and Yahan are characters within the Japanese only-game Sekirei: Gifts from the Future. As such, their status in the manga's continuity is uncertain.

18 more Sekirei were terminated during the failed mass escape plan.

Trivia

• Sekirei, or wagtails, are important in Japanese mythology and folklore, as well as Shinto. They are held as sacred to the married creator gods Izanagi and Izanami (god of the land of the living and goddess of the realm of the dead respectively), for it was through these birds that these divinities first learned the "art" of love. Yume also refers to this myth in a flashback.
• Like most Japanese nouns, "Sekirei" has no plural form; this is because nouns in Japanese largely do not have them. Therefore, when referring to more than one Sekirei at a time, or the race as a whole, one only needs to say 'Sekirei', the same as they would when referring to a single Sekirei. Therefore an English speaker referring to two or more Sekirei as "Sekireis" would be incorrect from a Japanese perspective.
• It should also be noted that as of the release of the Sekirei Endearment artbook in 2015, several Sekirei numbers are confirmed, including one of Higa's Sekirei, a minor Sekirei from the Third Stage, Kaiha, Momo (#100), Kuzuri, Kujou, Mimi, and Midorino. Kujika's number is confirmed to be #92 (as opposed to #48), and Oshino's #34 (as opposed to #85). Reiji is listed as Kuruse's Ashikabi, not Minato. Himeko's name is rendered as "Hihimeko." Niwa is listed as being Sekirei #28 (the Sekirei with blonde/white hair) and Natsuka Sekirei #75 (the Sekirei with brown/black hair), indicating that they were originally misidentified. Two Sekirei terminated by the Disciplinary Squad are confirmed to be #25 and #56.