Start watching Engage Kiss for the kiss but instead, I got something else.

Good day to you, my dear readers. How is life? For me, well, I'm still alive and am grateful for it. Anyway, after my blog post on how to get a good night's sleep in the demon king's palace from a princess from a certain anime, it's time for something a bit heavier, Engage Kiss. OK, hear me out. I think that it's actually quite heavy.

I'm here for the kiss!

The wet kind of kiss! BUT WHY?! Why so few of them?!

This anime, Engage Kiss, is an anime that I was looking forward to because of its peculiar name and a certain scene from the anime that I saw on YouTube. Yes, ya, ya, ya, you know what I mean. Anyway, let's go ahead with the rest of the blog post, shall we?

WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT! This post is very likely to contain spoilers for this anime. So...if you are planning to watch the anime without any spoilers, you can either continue to read this post or move on and watch the anime.

P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

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The anime...

Key visual

Engage Kiss is a Japanese mixed-media project created by Aniplex. It consists of a manga series, which began serialization in Manga Up! in July 2022. The anime television series is produced by A-1 Pictures and written by Fumiaki Maruto, with character designs by Tsunako. The anime aired from July to September 2022.

I'm amazed by one thing: it has a mobile game. Hmmm...wait, what?! Yep, it exists, kid you not. The game is an RPG turn-based game. You can check out this gameplay video that I've found on YouTube.

The Wikipedia page mentions that this is a sequel to the anime. I'm not sure about that but I will take it as that. Anyway, this game is developed by Square Enix under the title Engage Kill. Is it a success or not? Well, that's not for me to say but I personally doubt that it would be a success since the mobile game market is already very saturated.

Engage Kill the game

Plot

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What a scene...

The story is set in a fictional city-state, Bayron City, which is built on a new energy source. A young girl, Kisara, is on the way to her partner, Ogata Shuu's house. On reaching the house, she use her power to trespass into the room, since the door was closed and Shuu went out. She starts cooking dinner for him and only finds out that the electricity had been cut off because Shu has not paid its bill. But still, Kisara begins to do so.

Shuu meets Ayano

OK, you might be asking who is Ogata Shuu and Kisara. I will talk about it later. Anyway, Shuu was out meeting with his ex-girlfriend, Ayano Yugiri. From there, he got help from her to pay his bills. After having no job for a really long time, he got one with the help of her ex-girlfriend. That job involves exterminating demons in a casino. There was some complication between Ayano and Kisara because both of them are hopelessly in love with Shuu. Dunno why...Anyway, the job is being done and Shuu continues with his secret pursuit, which caused him to leave his ex-girlfriend and resign from the company that she is in. Well, of course, he and Kisara continue to exterminate demons as usual in the meantime.

Kisara and Shu...

Now, time to talk about Shuu and Kisara. Kisara is a demon girl that he found with the help of a certain member of the Seiten Church, Sharon Holygrail. He drugged her to prevent him from killing Kisara to further his agenda. From there, he and Kisara made a pact that gives her a power boost whenever she needs it, with a price, of course. What price you asked? His memory. Yep, you did not hear me wrongly. His memory. That's why I said that this anime is heavy than it seems. Oh, his agenda, you're asking? Oh, it is about the truth behind Shuu’s past involving his family.

Kana...locked up

To cut a long story short, the story ends with Shuu being able to get his sister back, which happens to be half demon half human because of his demon stepmother. They also managed to defeat the demon stepmother that caused so many problems in the city. Although Shuu's sister, Ogata Kana is imprisoned, she managed to get out frequently because of wanting to see Shuu. Anyway, it did end up as the slapstick briefly. Well, there is no comedy but not exactly to the level that I thought it would be. 

Back to slapstick drama

Anime Rating

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Story (Rating: 8/10)

The story started as a comedy with fantasy in a modern world and then slowly spiralling into darkness. I didn't really expect that from this anime. It is better than I thought. There isn't any issue with its plot, pacing and flow. One thing I wanna say about the plot: Any continuation beyond this season will probably end up in harem anime style. It's really obvious with the final episode of the season.

That moment...when we know it's almost time to fight

Art and Animation (Rating: 8/10)

Good animation. Good fighting animation. It's overall good and consistent. Nothing to complain about.

Time for the final blow!

Sound and Music (Rating: 7/10)

The theme songs (opening and closing) are pretty decent. The background music...also good. Nothing much to complain about.

Slapstick drama in the opening sequence

Characters (Rating: 8/10)

The background of the important characters in the story is well-constructed. The character development mostly surrounds Shu's aim of getting the truth about his father's passing and his sister's whereabouts. There are some about their inner character but again, the focus is on the story and the truth that Shu is searching for. 

O.O...oh no...

Enjoyment (Rating: 8/10)

It's a bit disappointed that it's not exactly that slapstick ecchi anime that I thought it would be but well, not that bad as the plot is pretty good for an original animation. I won't necessarily recommend this to others but I will watch it again if anyone invites me to watch it together with them.

That scene...they so...

Overall Rating: 7.8 (7.75)/10

Screenshots

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The new demon appeared!

Mikami before his...sigh...sad indeed for Shu

Time to fight

Kana being sealed

At the graveyard. What a way to end the story...

...until this scene came.

 

PV/Trailer

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Conclusion

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Well, that's the end. I'm glad that I'm able to continue the blog post publishing spree. Anyway, this anime is a bit disappointing in terms of me seeing more lewd kisses without the dark dynamic but at the same time, really good for its story and plot. It could have flopped like some original animation. Well, it is not like there is no kiss but most of them are unlike the one I showed you at the start of this blog post. That's all I can say. I hope that you enjoy reading and browsing this blog. Goodbye, and God bless you!

Yandere Kisara...not something I like.