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「未解決で大団円」 (Mikaiketsu de Daidanen)
“Unresolved Grand Finale”
Well I guess that’s all there is going to be for Engage Kiss after all. In way it does make sense, this is only the prequel/advertisement for a forthcoming (mobile) game and other mixed media is likely to follow, but ehh, really? That’s all we got for the grand daddy (mommy?) Asmodeus in the end? We’re going from demonic sister to, well, equally demonic sister in the blink of an eye? And seriously, teasing future shenanigans without so much as a hint of something more? Maybe it’s just me liking how well-paced this show wound up being that I’m sad this is the end (among half-hearted Shuu redemption story), but it’s hard finding noticeable satisfaction in an ending which could’ve been so much more. Alright, enough complaining – it’s final impressions time!
Final Impressions
When looking back on Engage Kiss as a whole the word which springs to mind is competence. From the outset this was a show we knew would be derivative and ‘seen it all before’ in some capacity, yet also a show with strong potential courtesy of it coming from the mind of Maruto Fumiaki and being an A-1 Pictures production. In the end such expectations held true, even if the bad arguably balanced out the good.
In terms of positives, without a doubt Engage Kiss’ claim to fame is its characters and character chemistry. Again, likely no surprise given Fumiaki’s writing, but it’s not that easy in practice taking a stereotypical light novel premise and creating complex and interesting characters from it, especially in a harem-lite scenario. Kisara and Ayano are case in point, two harem competitors on the surface, and yet two girls who are both flawed, willing to see and understand the other side, and not wind up hating the other just for the sake of story progression. This yields some frankly hilarious interactions at the start, but it also produces some quite touching moments later on once details are gleaned and conclusions arrived at. Couple it with the likes of Sharon and Mikhail for interaction spice and there’s quite a few slice-of-life shenanigans here to get a kick out of. Even if in the end they only leave you wanting more.
That wanting of more is what directly ties into Engage Kiss’ biggest weakness: Shuu – or shall we say, Shuu’s lack of proper rehabilitation, and by extension the lack of further overall character development. Given how story progression went here, the more viscerally negative aspects of Shuu’s character only came to the fore near the end, leaving little time to both make up for what he did and to give some room to improve his image in the audience’s eyes. It’s not to say Shuu should be absolved or approved of (doubt few would actually argue that), but rather that Engage Kiss seemingly left off right as its story was set to properly begin and further flesh out its cast. Here we are with a slice-of-life setup not unlike an Indexverse arc, only we’re not getting any of those tasty downtime episodes which give the Indexverse and its eclectic characters such staying power. By cutting off now the house making, the harem rivalry, hell even the development of Bayron City itself, all become annoying omissions for something which could’ve certainly been made quite interesting. Again, not to say potential masterpiece material, but a fun popcorn-fuelled romp? Oh most definitely.
Overall while flawed in spots and cutting off too soon for my liking, I cannot say I disliked the time spent watching and covering Engage Kiss. This show was fun, its cast – specifically its female cast – were a blast, and (complaints about lack of second season aside) it featured a well-paced and complete story serving to give reason for all the various character comings and goings. Engage Kiss shows just well how good writing and strong characterization can easily make up for a common premise and ubiquitous tropes, particularly when paired with well-funded animation and production work. Considering how much of a coinflip anime original works are these days, to have one do as well as Engage Kiss is a win I’ll take anytime. And if it does manage to eke out an anime continuation later on, hey I cannot say I’ll hate that either.
I think your review summarizes my own feelings about the show perfectly. The romcom/harem interpersonal part is where Maruto’s strengths lie, and this is what worked the best – even with someone as unpleasant as Shuu around. Seeing the girl vs girl antics was fantastic, up to the very end. Great fun for me.
The rest – it was okayish, but not more than that. If we played a drinking game where you had to drink a shot whenever in the middle of a mortal fight Shuu’s enemy inexplicably stopped to allow another dialogue to happen, I would pass out before the end of the episode. Why? We never know. And why exactly Shuu with his zero abilities would matter in any fight in the first place, we never know either. Alas.
Nevertheless, the anime succeedded in making me care for the girls. Not many animes can make this claim nowadays. So I’ll end up with a 7/10 on my personal scale.
I guess you haven’t seen Gintama? Seriously why is it when you guys praise stuff like this you feel the need to slander much better fucking anime? Most harem suck for 1 reason or another and this is no different. Frankly I found the girls just as unlikeable as the mc (especially blue hair). Only the nun was likeable.
While I am happy to see more original anime I will admit that there are some originals that are just not very good and Engage Kiss is not good.
If this comment was directed at Pancakes or me, I have no clue what you are talking about. Nobody of us was even talking about other anime, least of all Gintama?
@Zemo x2 LOL you liked the Nun Sharon Holygrail? I like Ayano’s mom. 😅
Sharon was only girl to have common sense and let go of Shu. I commend that.
Ayano’s mom has got it going on! Shes like, only sane person amongst the city higher ups. And the poor police chief, too…
Seconding Mentar here, not sure where the issue lies. I have never compared Engage Kiss to Gintama nor would I given how different both series are. Plus last I checked one can enjoy more than one series at a time.
I loved the ending, it would make a great setup for a comedy spinoff. The rest of it was kind of OK, I guess.
lets crowdfund commedic spinoff now!
Daily life with demon gf, demon imouto and jealous ex.
Imouto getting extreme case of gluttony is especially fitting, she was sealed for YEARS with nothing to eat.
I would definitely watch that 🙂
That’s my biggest irk with the show, the ending teases so hard a fun looking harem-esque slice-of-life comedy setup that the lack of continuation hurts. I want my demon love triangle and hopeless male MC dammit!
I am so pissed off that it took Kisara seven strikes to kill of Asmodeus. Why the HELL didn’t Shuu do this right from the gecko? Seeing how Asmodeus was such a bad ass when everyone found out Miles was working for Asmodeus.
Because that would make things easy and we all know you can never have easy in these sorts of stories 😛