It was a pretty shoddy attempt to say the least, since Tsukiumi could barely contain her sanity with the thought of another girl being added to the mix, but Minato’s rebuttal about Kagari being a guy and Kazehana calling him “unrefined” for being concerned about gender was just as funny. I also got a really good laugh out of how she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else that Minato should go and “marry” Homura as well, and how she as the “true wife” permits him to pick up a sixth one. The way she finally put two and two together about Kagari being Homura was hilarious, especially seeing Kazehana try to get the hell away before she blew up. However, what absolutely stole the show for me were Tsukiumi’s antics earlier on. The revelation that she was going commando loosened the tension a bit, while the arrival of the other parties of interest set things up nicely for a huge showdown next time, where Shiina may finally run into Kusano.
As for the last tidbit, Homura also revealed that discarded Sekirei such as Akitsu with the crest on her forehead are ridiculously strong even though they can’t form a contract with an Ashikabi, raising questions about exactly why she’s still kicking around with Hayato.Īside from the above, the focus of the episode was the hunt for Homura, with Hayato taking the forefront by sending in Akitsu alone in a one-on-one fight for his own entertainment purposes. Out of the bunch at Izumo, Uzume’s character design is definitely one of the most stylish, so it’s always a treat to see her in action.
Her appearance as an enemy put new meaning on her words last episode about not thinking of her as Uzume anymore, plus gave us a high definition look at her flashy Sekirei outfit and fighting style. The other big twist was the arrival of Uzume, who joined the hunt for Homura as the “Hire” Sekirei ( i.e. While that still holds true for the most part, it changes my perspective of him well before he helped out with Haruka and Kuno’s escape from the city. Back then, I was only under the impression that he was easygoing and didn’t care about the Sekirei Project at all. Miya’s passive involvement wasn’t too surprising, since she’s scary Miya and wants to kill Minaka herself (apparently), but Seo’s help in adding Sekirei to Minato’s collection wasn’t all that obvious. Both Miya and Seo are well aware of that fact since it coincides with Takehito’s wishes when he was still alive, which explains why they’re all gathered at Izumo Inn and why both Kusano and Tsukiumi were winged by Minato back in season one.
The most notable one was the revelation that gathering a lot of Sekirei under Minato is part of some plan that Matsu has to break free of the twisted Sekirei Project game that Minaka’s running. Most of this episode played out much like the previous one set it up for, but did reveal some additional tidbits along the way. I don’t think I’ll ever quite understand the mindset of a female artist who can create such a male-oriented series, but I’d imagine she’d be a pretty cool person in real life!
On that note, I wasn’t even aware that this series was created by a female mangaka for the longest time, so perhaps that’s why we have a hermaphrodite Sekirei to begin with. So here’s to hoping that Sakurako Gokurakuin will humor me as the female mangaka that she is if nothing else. It doesn’t matter how slight it is, as I’d simply like some indication that everyone’s not bisexual here. For everyone else, I’m hoping they would at least react a bit like Minato to the idea, before getting into the whole “love that transcends gender” mentality ( if at all). All Minaka had to do was tell existing Ashikaba that there’s fresh meat out there for the taking to get them to come in droves, but it’s kind of concerning how there’s no regard for what gender Homura is as long as he’s seen as “free goods.” I gather no one really cares when there’s a high chance that the last unwinged Sekirei in northern Shintou is female to begin with, but the only Ashikaba I’d expect to be completely okay with finding out otherwise is Hayato.