Engage Kiss – 12

「彼を信じて」 (Kare o Shinjite)
“Believe in Him”

Well that’s certainly one way of prepping for the final showdown. While room always remains for a surprise or two in the close (mama Asmodeus says hi), for Engage Kiss right now it’s all about crafting that happy ever after between Shuu and friends. Fighting will be had, blood shall be shed, and one sister is definitely positioned for a rescue. I’m not exactly saying we know what’s coming next week – but we know what’s coming next week.

After the shock and a half of learning about Kisara’s past and how she used Shuu’s memories, this episode decided to one-up that discovery by revealing Kisara’s powers also came from her own memories. There’s no way to react this revelation than by throwing more mud Shuu’s way, because goddamn it takes one selfish individual to not only force another into your veritable suicide plan, but to also have it come on the back of that unwilling participant. Although it’s technically true Shuu had no idea how Kisara was operating on the terms of their contract, it sure as hell doesn’t make me like what the kid has done to date or endear me to his newfound revelation. Shuu has quite a bit to make up for when it comes to Kisara, and at minimum the girl deserves everything and then some for still sticking by him at the moment of crisis.

And as for that crisis at hand? I think the picture speaks louder than words. While Shuu’s sister deserves a bit of sympathy for her unwanted tribulations, for me right now the main interest is just how she will be dealt with and whether Ayano, Sharon, and (now) Kisara can keep her alive in the process. Kisara after all is no longer bound by contract and seemingly lacking all her previous memories; can she even power up in her current form, and if so which memories will be used to fuel her? Likewise what about Asmodeus, there’s no way mama dearest is going to remain in the background while her intended demonic conduit gets beaten back into cute and thoroughly jealous imouto status. For only one episode left there’s quite a few threads left to wrap up, and while it can technically be done, I really wonder if this season’s finale will leave off with a second season in the not-too-distant future.

We’ll just have to wait and see what next week has in store.

Preview