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「望んでなかった真実」 (Nozonde Nakatta Shinjitsu)
“The Unwanted Truth”
Now that escalated pretty fast. And not because of certain twists and turns courtesy of close friends and secretively smart (yet still dumb) blondies seeking understanding. Nawh I’m referring to what comes next for Engage Kiss, because if you thought the end was a major reveal, just wait until we find out who the actual mastermind of it all is.
One of things I really have to commend Engage Kiss on this week is the level of suspense it evoked and how much it got me doubting my predictions. I thought Miles might be the one who was doing the killing given the early hints dropped (particularly one sultry nun), but damn if the show didn’t slyly suggest otherwise at times with the various possibilities brought up. Hell for one I thought it could’ve been Shuu’s father (but more on that shortly). This setup made for a very nice bit of engagement, showing that for all Engage Kiss is offering up the same tried and true “light novel” story, it’s doing so with a clear plan in mind and a focus on execution. After all, always a nice touch when some scenes can be interpreted in multiple ways. Oh and as for Mikhail and that definitely didn’t see coming second role? I think the results speak for themselves.
Outside of comedic relief proving to be anything but, however, the real unknown of the moment is who is pulling Miles’ strings. Unlike Mikhail this mystery is arguably easier to work through because it’s both Miles being the culprit – i.e. a close friend of Shuu’s family – and Miles having shown to have contact with Shuu’s sister. These facts point to our puppeteer being intimately familiar with Shuu’s circumstances, which for me is enough to indicate dear daddy-kins is the one responsible for everything. Could I be wrong? Without a doubt, but hints now being dropped, the links now being shown, and Sharon going as far to point out the intricate links between supposedly compartmentalized memories is enough to point to some serious upcoming Ogata family tragedy. For example, I wouldn’t now be surprised if Kisara knows what’s coming in terms of reveals because I bet her memory feeding has unveiled just who is responsible for Shuu’s predicament and doesn’t want that truth to take away from her girlfriend larping.
With the way this story is playing out there’s a lot of room for some serious catharsis in the near future as battlelines are drawn and enemies finally revealed. The only question is who – or how many – of this motley crew get to play the tragic victim.
Preview
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Well, for once I did not exclude Mikhail being the deep throat – since Obfuscating stupidity is tried and true trope since times of Ancient Romans at least (Claudius…)
But Miles being actual demon’s agent surprised me too. Though with hindsight we could have seen this coming…
Because, we assumed wrongly that the informant – demons agent, as did our bumbling detectives… Wait wasn’t this suggested first by Miles? This would be way to draw the attention away from himself…
Anyway this is going to be crunch time. Lines are drawn, allies and enemies have been shown (with possible exception of Battle Sister…), and soon we will be nearing end battle. Is it me or Miles was gathering sacrifices to summon the archdemon – and maybe involving Shu’s sister as a vessel/final sacrifice?
Honestly, this was the first episode I didn’t like. And it’s mostly due to the fact that the focus was forcibly shifted away from those parts which work (Kisara/Ayano) on to those which I really don’t care much about (Shuu and the support cast). I don’t like Shuu much – and there is very little reason to. And I really don’t care about the secondary cast. Well, MAYBE Ayano’s mom, but the rest of the support cast is blander than vanilla pudding, and there has been no real reason to like or dislike them.
Enough exposition. Let’s get back to our heroines.