I've just seen Sekirei for the first time, after hearing it's similar to DearS, which is one of my favorite anime despite not being anything groundbreaking. I have to say, the comparison was pretty spot on in a lot of areas. I enjoyed Sekirei a lot to be honest, and I feel bad I had to give it a 7. But I couldn't in good conscience give it an 8, as it has some glaring flaws. Looking at it critically, It's undeserving of a rating that high. That said, a lower rating does not mean I enjoyed it less.
Starting off, the animation for season 1 is incredibly inconsistent in its art style. The female characters are drawn thicker than a Snicker for the first few episodes, then weirdly broad shouldered for the next few, and finally very "hippy" for the last bit (like overly-hourglass shaped). It gets distracting at times, and I found it difficult to overlook. Season 2 doesn't share this issue.
The characters are all enjoyable, and likeable, albeit very much tropes. The only character I didn't like, apart from the main antagonist (for reasons not involving the *quality* of the character itself) was the main character Minato. He is an unbearable pussbag, and has little to no character development. He exists as a dated "viewer avatar" character. More effort was definitely needed in his character, he is the definition of forgettable, and throwaway. Other than that, the only minor irritant I had with the characters was they way overdid the "Scary-Innkeeper" gag.
Alright so spoiler warning:
This series is ultimately incomplete. It ends on a cliffhanger, which assumed there was going to be a season 3 - Which never happened.
Although there are rumors of a third season getting announced soon, it has been 10 years now, so I think it's fair to judge this show based on the assumption it will never be completed.
I wanted to see the main antagonist meet a horrible fate, there are several plotlines that never got a sense of closure. An anime's ending can make or break your overall impression of the whole experience, and this ending was a standard: "Just read the manga if you want to finish the story."
I likely will end up reading the manga, because I do want to finish the story. But this review is for the anime, not the manga. My opinions are based on the anime alone, as someone who has just seen the series for the first time, and never read the manga.
Ultimately this show needs, and frankly deserves a proper ending. It's by no means a masterpiece, or even anything that special. I just genuinely enjoyed watching it, and think it could be a fun series to see continue.
(Note: This is a repost with some updates, because - Like a dumbass - I accidentally reviewed the single episode special and not the show itself.)
