The Sekirei manga features an extensive cast of characters created by Sakurako Gokurakuin. The story centers on Minato Sahashi, a rōnin (high school graduate trying to get into college), who becomes involved with Musubi, one of 108 Sekirei: super-powered humanoids (predominantly beautiful women) with unique powers who must fight in a battle royal called the Sekirei Plan. He becomes her Ashikabi, a human with special genes that allow him to activate a Sekirei's powers through "winging", which is performed via a mouth-to-mouth kiss. Minato soon leads a team of Sekirei residing at Izumo Inn, a boarding house in the northern district of Teito, and must face opponents in the form of other Sekirei, many of whom have teamed with other Ashikabi and are spread throughout the other districts of Teito. Overseeing the Plan is a corporation called Mid Bio Informatics (MBI). New Sekirei and characters are also introduced in the media adaptations including the anime series and the video game series. Sekirei characters have had mixed reception among the Japanese and international anime communities.
Main characters The protagonists are residents of , a boarding house in the northern sector of Teito built by Takehito Asama and Kaoru Seo or people/Sekirei closely connected with them. Miya Asama is the current owner and landlady.
Minato Sahashi
is a high school graduate who has failed the college entrance exams twice. His known family consists of: his mother Takami, his grandmother (whom Minato's mother stated could live another 100 years) and his younger sister Yukari. After meeting Musubi at the start of the series, he becomes an Ashikabi. Over the course of the story, he "wings" several Sekirei and they share a residence in Izumo Inn where he has his own room. Originally he has a passive and somewhat cowardly personality, but over time, due to the kindness, trust and love of his Sekirei and his desire to protect them, he becomes more confident. He often places himself in danger to protect his Sekirei from harm and avoids situations that pose a high risk of danger to prevent his Sekirei from fighting needlessly. Although many of his Ashikabi peers consider these actions cowardly, Minato finds that these traits endear his Sekirei to him even more. It is later revealed that Hiroto Minaka, MBI's chairman and founder, is Minato's natural father.
Minato has "winged" six Sekirei, each of whom physically reacted to him prior to winging, with the first five actively choosing him as their Ashikabi. Musubi, Kusano and Matsu were winged in the game's "First Stage", and Tsukiumi, Kazehana and Homura were winged in the "Second Stage", earning him recognition as the strongest Ashikabi in the northern part of the city. Because of this (and as a result of his living at the "Northern Hannya"'s location and therefore being seen as "allied" with her), he received the title , with few using his given name as a result of Minato being mistakenly described as an Ashikabi with a "shady" background. Many individuals think that Minato is somehow the key to foiling MBI's ultimate plans for the Sekirei. By the end of the Third Stage, Minato is seen with some advantages against the other remaining contestants as he is the only Ashikabi with two Jinki in his possession, one having been stolen by Matsu and the other won in battle, and for having winged the most single-numbered Sekirei, totaling four (not including Musubi who inherited the powers of Yume, another single number), while receiving guidance from Matsu and Miya (who, despite not participating in the Sekirei Plan, is known as the strongest Sekirei of all). During the final stage, Minato is the Ashikabi representing them in the final match on Kouten to save all Sekirei and their Ashikabi. He and Musubi journey to Kouten to fight Miya for the prize; the rest of his Sekirei join their life-forces with Musubi, enabling Musubi to defeat Miya. After the final battle, Musubi becomes the new Guardian of Kouten and Minato must return without her. In the year that follows, Minato finally passes the entrance examination to the university, has a part-time job at MBI (now run by his mother Takami in Minaka's absence) and is determined to learn as much about Sekirei as he can in order to "destroy this system binding these Sekirei and remove the leash on these girls." In Sekirei - 365 Days Without Her, he states his intention to finish college in possibly two years and one day "take over MBI".Sekirei - 365 Days Without Her, Chapter 5 He continues to live at Izumo Inn with his other Sekirei, finally reuniting with Musubi. In Sekirei - 365 Days Without Hers epilogue, which takes place a few years after Musubi's return, he has become the new Director of "the New Sekirei Project" at MBI and is responsible for Takehito Asama's revival and reunion with Miya.Sekirei - 365 Days Without Her, Chapter 11
Musubi
is the main heroine of the series. She met Minato when she literally fell out of the sky onto him while being chased by Hikari and Hibiki. Musubi specializes in hand-to-hand combat which utilizes her greatly enhanced strength, reinforced by the heavy combat gloves she always wears. Musubi's outfit consists of a short red skirt and upper clothing resembling the robe traditionally worn by mikos (possibly passed on to her from Yume). She is quite naive, often saying things she doesn't understand, and is the most innocent of Minato's Sekirei (even more so than Kusano), yet at times can be insightful (even if she herself doesn't realize it). Musubi is the most "competitive" of Minato's Sekirei, often showing great eagerness to fight other Sekirei, but never fails to be polite, usually introducing herself and then asking for permission first before fighting them. Two running gags in the story are how her clothing always ends up in tatters, and how she seems unable to land on her feet after leaping from a great height but always crash-lands on top of Minato. After hearing Tsukiumi say that she is Minato's wife, she decides that she is his wife too. She eats a lot and is a fairly decent cook (but only curry in large amounts). Because Musubi eats so much food to maintain her energy level, Miya's nickname for Musubi is "Airheaded Glutton". During moments of extreme emotion (such as anger or jealousy), the image of a ferocious black bear appears behind her, causing some (mostly Benitsubasa) to refer to her as "The Bear". Musubi's known attacks are the and and her Norito is "By the fists of my contract, shatter the perils of my Ashikabi!" After all the Ashikabi collapse on Kamikura Island, Musubi is chosen from among Minato's Sekirei to represent them in the final fight on Kouten against Miya in order to save all the Sekirei and their Ashikabi. After accomplishing this, she stays to become the new controller of Kouten in order to restore all of the fallen Sekirei, but her "bear" side still emerges at moments of extreme jealousy whenever any of Minato's adult Sekirei get too close.Sekirei - 365 Days Without Her, Chapter 4 She returns to Minato's side a year later.
Kusano
, commonly referred to as "Kuu-chan" or "Ku", is the youngest of Minato's Sekirei, and is also known as the by other Sekirei due to her having the power to control plants, making them grow at an accelerated rate and to unnaturally large proportions, and typically using them to ensnare or disable her opponents without hurting them. At the beginning of the story, she was hiding in a Arboretum after being traumatized by Mikogami's attempting to forcibly wing her. Kusano communicated with Minato telepathically and led him through the garden until he found her. Kusano refers to Minato as Onii-chan (big brother), and is the most attached to him. She does not like fighting or quarreling and she can be seen stopping them when they start. She is also very impressionable and often copies Musubi, Tsukiumi and Kazehana's mannerisms. She is extremely determined to be Minato's wife when she grows up, and is highly possessive of him at times, even hissing at her fellow Sekirei when they start to get too close to him (and on occasion biting Minato himself when she thinks he is paying more attention to others of his Sekirei). Her Norito is: "By the life of my contract, awaken the stars of my Ashikabi!" In Sekirei: 365 Days Without Her, Matsu states that Kusano grows and ages at a slower rate than other Sekirei and estimates that "her life span will be twice that of a human."
At the Final Match of Stage Three on board the ship Minaka, she becomes good friends with Sanada's Sekirei Kujika, Kuzuri and Shijime and now she is considered their best friend.
Kusano's use of various plants is highly imaginative and extremely effective, but her MBI adjustments were never completed, which is why her powers rage out of control whenever she's sad or upset. She has a sibling-like relationship with #107 Shiina, despite the fact that his power is the natural opposite of hers. When Minato initially brought her to Izumo Inn, Miya, believing that he had kidnapped her, drew and pointed a sword at Minato's face (a detail not used in the anime); however, Kusano's growling stomach and later falling asleep at the dinner table brought out her motherly instincts, and Miya insists that Kusano share her room to ensure (per her wicked sense of humor) that Minato doesn't do anything indecent with Kusano; however, Kusano often sneaks into Minato's room to share his futon with him and any of his other Sekirei who have done likewise. Her name literally means "A Grass Field", and Miya's nickname for Kusano is "Little Foster Daughter". In the epilogue of Sekirei and in Sekirei - 365 Days Without Her, it is shown that she has taken on a large share of the household duties in tandem with Tsukiumi in Miya's place.
Matsu
is a bespectacled Sekirei with long braided red hair wearing a light peach dress that closely resembles a cheongsam. Matsu has the power to access and analyze any electronic device on a telepathic level, but does not yet have the power to control them. Matsu has genius-level computer and hacking skills, and utilizes a vast network of satellites and spying devices to gather large amounts of information, once even succeeding in hacking MBI's mainframe computer; in Episode 10 of the anime's 2nd season after Uzume's "termination", when Minato asks her to force a meeting between himself and Higa (the Eastern Ashikabi), she goes wild on her computer terminal and unleashes a complex viral attack on the Higa Corporation's mainframe and stock market value. Matsu refers to herself as the "Sekirei of Perceptiveness" and addresses everyone using the "-tan" suffix (i.e. Minato→Mina-tan). However, in sharp contrast to her high intellect, Matsu is very perverted, often using her resources to peep on people and often tries to "experiment" (implicit sexual acts) with Minato, with most calling her the "Shameless" Sekirei or "the pervert" as a result. One of her favorite hobbies is watching the daily "soap opera" at Izumo Inn, i.e. the mayhem Minato and his other Sekirei cause every day. Matsu serves as Minato's strategist and tactician, using her vast network of information to aid him but rarely venturing outside of the Inn. Her name literally means "Pine" and Miya's nickname for her is "Perverted Four-Eyes".
Prior to the beginning of the story, Matsu was a member of the first Disciplinary Squad led by Miya. Later, she stole Jinki #8, leading her to live in a secret room at Izumo Inn to avoid being captured by MBI. Her Jinki (numbered #2) was a prize for the winner of the second match of the Third Stage, and ended up in the hands of the Eastern Ashikabi after the winner was attacked.
Tsukiumi