Summer 2022 First Impressions – Engage Kiss

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Original

Episode Summary: Baylon City is ground zero for the mining of the mineral orgonium. Of course, as with the extraction of most natural resources this one comes along with some unintended consequences, one of which is the release of demonic entities who cause destruction around the city. Shu Ogata is a former employee of a private military/security company experienced in dealing with these demons, but after setting out on his own his costs quickly got out of control and it’s become a struggle for him to simply keep the lights on. The only thing keeping him afloat at this point is his relationship with a girl named Kisara, who seems to be attracted to Shu in spite of his many flaws and helps to pay off his debts.

When Shu manages to snag a contract (by severely undercutting his competition), he has to call in some favors simply to prevent himself from getting immediately killed. But the biggest favor is one given to him willingly, because Kisara happens to have incredible power at her disposal. The only issue is that, in order to release that power, she and Shu have to “reinvigorate” their contract on a regular basis via the power of a passionate kiss.

Impressions: There’s always something fun about embarking on a brand new season of anime. There’s so much untapped promise, so many secrets to uncover… it’s also a fact that there are certain things that seem to be perennial issues with the medium, and I think Engage Kiss is a decent exemplar of some of those things.

Something I’ve talked about in the past is how fiction differentiates between internal and external logic, especially as it applies to controversial material. The example I typically use to explain this idea is the Strike Witches franchise (which appears to have a current/recent sequel right now, coincidentally). Within the setting of that franchise, the characters can’t wear pants because, as is explained within the series, this would interfere with the operation of their mechanical flight apparatus. I’ve gotten into a few “discussions” with fans of that series regarding this particular aspect, because I don’t like it – to put it bluntly, I think it’s gross. The arguments I usually get in return generally amount to “they explain within the series why they can’t wear pants” which is correct. But this is where we get into the realm of internal versus external explanations; I don’t take issue with the fact that the pantlessness isn’t addressed, I take issue with the fact that it exists and runs contrary to my personal sensibilities – fanservice that’s justified is still fanservice. Sometimes an underage character’s camel-toed crotch is simply titillation material, rather than something with deeper and heavier meaning to a narrative.

Having said that, the first episode of Engage Kiss is yet another example of this method of world-building. The storytelling logic dictates that Shu and Kisara need to kiss in order for her power to be unleashed, but let’s just be real with one-another here – it’s an excuse for an (apparently) adult man to deeply, slimily tongue-kiss with an (apparently) underage girl (“but she’s really an 800 year old vampire!”). I don’t hold any ill-will toward people who are entertained by this, because obviously most of us are into entertainment that would be bothersome or even upsetting to someone else. But I won’t deny that I almost didn’t finish this particular episode because I found it so personally abhorrent that I needed to take a break – and no amount of justifying the plot details is going to be able to change that kind of deeply visceral reaction.

This series is listed as a comedy/romance many places where one can find anime information, and I’d warn folks that, while from what I’ve seen thus far that might technically be true, the focus is more on (violent) action and a clearly dysfunctional love triangle situation. Those interested in a more straightforward example of the genre might be put off in that regard.

Pros: The staging of this episode’s final confrontation is done well. There are two conflicts happening concurrently here – the one between Shu, his hired hands, and various demons, as well as the interpersonal conflict between Kisara, Shu, and Ayano (a character who I haven’t mentioned until now, but who clearly has a history with Shu). Kisara and Ayano argue with one-another, dispatching demons while the shots are framed to make it appear they’re about to attack each-other instead, which is fun in spite of the tediousness of women fighting over a loser dude.

Cons: This episode devolves into a confrontation between two women who are fighting over a loser dude. This is a trope that I just don’t enjoy. The entire episode makes it clear that Shu doesn’t know how to take care of himself and makes bad decisions, and yet has two women who are both more powerful and interesting than him fighting each-other to get close to him. Ladies, you can do better!

Content Warnings: Violence (including dismemberment and gun violence), sexual content (deep kissing with saliva) which is framed as questionably-consensual.

Would I Watch More? – This one is a hard pass in my book. If I had to describe my own experience with this episode in one word, it would be “uncomfortable,” and while I believe in some cases watching uncomfortable entertainment can be important, this series doesn’t seem to be offering much else beyond a fairly rote love triangle fantasy.