I watched this 2nd installment of Sekirei is to see if it improved anything over the first one. Unfortunately, it didn't. In fact, it got worse. The great potential that is there is still unrealized in the author's attempt to hammer out a speedy sequel. It is truly hard to understand, and the series never elucidates, why the characters would be stupid enough to participate in this crazy death experience. Clearly the creators had some sense of the tragic nature of losing someone to this battle, since some of their characters are profoundly disturbed by it and others are even sorry they took the life of one of the Sekireis - but that is never fully explored nor given enough credibility in the storyline. There is much potential there, but it is not developed. The plot should never be for Sekireis to kill other Sekireis, but to kill the game-master.
What is offered in this bevy of buxom babes is a bunch of random situations with the women sort of fighting, sometimes, but not really, and what is there is weak and kind of moronic. We are lacking a good, solid reason for the conflict and killing, more than "it's fun!" which some think, or "I have to." The whole "Game" concept is dumb to the point of irritating! Playing chess is a game, this is simply killing. The fact that it is run by a completely insane individual, who is also supposed to be a brilliant genius, is once more insultingly stupid. And there are other technical problems. To create drama, the author lets his villains not play by the rules that he invented for the series, while the good guys have to. When you watch this, you will easily see what I mean. Like many anime, the villains are superior in many ways to the heroes, who are constrained for the theoretical purpose of plot and drama, and have to work twice as hard by exotic (sometimes Deus ex machina) means to win; and sometimes they don't. There are better ways to accomplish this so that you don't destroy the integrity of the story. The creators appear to love their villains, and that's all I can say about that without spoiling anything.
There are battles that don't quite resolve anything, relationships that are never fully developed, despite the fact that the women are ready to die for their masters. The house lady doesn't want any "illicit" behavior in her boarding house, where 6 Sekireis and their master live - God only knows why - but the women can go out and battle and die for their men. Silly. The storyline is never truly wrapped up, I suppose because the author was going to try to make another one of these, but so far, hasn't. And, again, you have decent graphics with fair animation. There could have been much more, but there wasn't, and all the potential this series had is left in the pen of the author.
