Anime has its own vocabulary -- not just words that aren't native to English (e.g., hentai), but English words that have been given a new meaning through anime.
Consider the term harem. Most of us know the general meaning, but in anime it describes a specific subgenre of show -- where one man finds himself in a social situation where he's surrounded (not always willingly) by a bevy of different women. Do you pity him, envy him, laugh at him, laugh with him -- or maybe just do all of the above in turn?
Such is the situation Minato Sahashi faces after he flunks his college entrance exams for the second time in a row. Without warning he's thrust into the middle of a struggle that involves a subspecies of humanity called "Sekirei", each one sporting special powers. Almost all of them are female ... and a whole, uh, harem's worth of them have latched onto him as their "Ashikabi", or the one who can unlock their powers.
That's the setup for Sekirei, the original season of which was released by FUNimation to U.S. audiences the other year. Now comes Sekirei: Pure Engagement, the second season, which actually requires little direct familiarity with the first season (there's a quick recap in the first episodes) but continues the story of Minato and his harem of buxom brawlers. This time around, the stakes have been raised: they're not just fighting each other for dominance, but struggling to save the life of one of their own.
Note that a harem situation isn't exclusively one-guy-many-girls. The reverse can happen as well, where one woman finds herself surrounded by multiple men -- e.g., Ouran High School Host Club. But the traditional single-male-many-female formula is what's proven most popular (e.g., again, Rosario + Vampire).
How does Sekirei: Pure Engagement hold up compared to its original series, and other shows of its kind? Read our review and find out.
Image: Sekirei: Pure Engagement © Sakurako Gokurakuin / SQUARE ENIX, Sekirei Project. Image courtesy FUNimation Productions, Ltd.
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