Phase Three of the Sekirei Project forces the Sekirei and their Ashikabi to fight for their lives; will Minato be able to survive a simultaneous onslaught by enemy Ashikabi and the Disciplinary Squad?!
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Sakurako Gokurakuin
Translation: Caleb D. Cook
What They Say
Phase Three of the Sekirei Project starts now. The first round? A three-way free-for-all treasure hunt for the most mysterious prize of all – a Jinki.
As Team Minato watches anxiously from the sidelines. Seo and his girls face off against the heavy hitters of the West and South. Nishi Sanada of the West is a rough-riding punk who will do anything for his lovely Sekirei, while Mikagami of the South is his polar opposite: a spoiled rich boy who treats everything like a game – one he plans on winning. Vastly outnumbered, Seo himself enters the fray…! But is a mano-a-mano fight with Sanada really the way to end this?!
And just what are these Jinki anyway…?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Minato may be physically weak, but he is an overall good guy. Being a good guy doesn’t typically get you far in this world, but having six Sekirei and four of them single digits makes him a force to be reckoned with. Because of that, the other Ashikabi with multiple Sekirei are well aware of Minato and his group. That gives them an upper hand since knowledge is power.
Phase Three centers around competitions between Ashikabi to win mysterious items known as Jinki. No one knows what they are, but MBI states that having them all will unlock some kind of power. I greatly question whether that is a good or bad thing for the Sekirei. Since MBI’s goal seems to be the destruction of all the Sekirei until only one remains, bringing all the Jinki together is unlikely to be a good thing for the Ashikabi that love their Sekirei. Unfortunately for Minato, there just doesn’t seem to be any way out of this game. It is unlikely he will be able to keep all his Sekirei alive, especially when many of the Ashikabi with only one Sekirei are being eliminated by the Disciplinary Squad for planning an escape from the city.
Minato manages to avoid getting called to compete in the first couple of rounds of Phase Three. But, his call to battle in the third round is an unlucky draw. Whereas the first two rounds were simple races that didn’t end in the death of any Sekirei, this third round is an all-out death match with only one of three competing Ashikabi walking away with his surviving Sekirei. To make matters even more dangerous, one opponent is the Ashikabi for the Disciplinary Squad and the other is the cheating trickster known as the Eastern Ashikabi. This man not only has multiple Sekirei that he treats like inhuman tools, but he also kidnapped Minato’s little sister!
This battle is by far the most dangerous situation Minato has found himself in. Will he be able to outwit his opponents or will he have to rely solely on the strength of his Sekirei? Will giving his three Sekirei their Norito powers be enough to defeat the ultra-powerful Disciplinary Squad?
In Summary:
The mystery of the Sekirei and MBI’s true goals for the Sekirei Project remain unexplained. Only adding to the mystery is this volume’s reveal of devices called Jinkis. They seem to just be a crystal that were found with the Sekirei by MBI. The rules for Phase Three is that only Ashikabi that win a Jinki can advance to the next phase. Not only that, rumor has it that when all eight Jinki are brought together by one wielder, they will unleash some sort of amazing power.
While this volume has tons of fighting and action, it also has some enjoyable side stories with the girls relaxing and just enjoying life. These slice of life chapters nicely break up the story as it becomes direr for the characters and their chance of surviving MBI’s nefarious schemes. I can’t wait to get into the next volume!
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A+
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: July 24th, 2018
MSRP: $24.00
