Sometimes a synopsis leads you down one direction and slaps you in a completely different one. That is the case with Engage Kiss and… well… oh hell, let’s just look at it together.
Let’s Go!
First Episode Synopsis
From the synopsis, Shuu runs his own company but he hasn’t found work in some time. He can’t afford to pay his bills and two different girls, Kisara and Ayano, are worried about him. Kisasa stops by his house to make sure he’s eating properly while Ayano takes Shuu out to dinner while offering him some sort of job… a job that he had previously quit.
So, this paints a picture of a slice-of-life romance triangle as two girls want to help out Shuu who seems to be down on his luck. All the while, Shuu swears that he has work coming. This is important because Kiasara is using her savings to help pay some of Shuu’s bills. Just when things look their bleakest, Shuu gets a call about a job!
Then the demon shows up.
Wait.
What?
They live in a place called Bayron City (The synopsis says Veyron… translation error?) A mega-floating metropolis created from the discovery of new energy sources. Apparently, they also have a demon infestation problem, too, and Shuu’s job is to kill them for bounties; however, he’s not the only company doing so. Others are bidding on these jobs and Shuu has a reputation of stealing all the work. Plus, we learn that Kisara isn’t exactly human either. She’s in a “contract” with Shuu where she receives her power from… guess where? (HINT: IT’S IN THE TITLE OF THE SHOW)
Once she receives her kiss (a really sloppy, face-eating one too), Kisara powers up immensely. Ayano also tags along to help due to their past business relationship. Well… her mother actually set it up more than anything as Ayano swears that she’s done with Shuu but the impromptu fight between Kisara and Ayano says otherwise.
They kill the demon and we end our first episode with Kisara destroying falling debris from the building caused by all of the damage they did during the fight.
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – I picked this show because it looked like another slice-of-life romantic comedy but instead, we have a bit of a sci-fi futuristic action show on our hands… wrapped around a romantic comedy. We’re definitely in the future where AR and virtual meetings take place. We don’t yet know about this new energy source outside of the fact that it’s called Orgonium.
The premise took a hard left turn and left me with Seikon no Qwaser vibes in the fact that you swap some bodily fluids for power. (In this case, it’s a kiss rather than breast milk). The difference between Engage Kiss and Seikon no Qwaser is that Engage Kiss actually looks interesting to watch. My expectations were shattered (not in a good way) and then built back up after I got into what this show was selling.
The only leery part I have about this is that series like this tend to be generic. It feels like it will focus on the squabbling between Kisara and Ayano all while wrapping a monster of the week around it before they eventually have to put their differences aside to fend off some big bad. Maybe the show can circumvent this by having some of the companies win a few bids and showcase some sort of rivalry but with 13 episodes, will it have the time to do that?
I wish I could judge how good this is based on the light novel or manga but the truth is… there is no source material. This is an original anime so anything and everything is fair game. I’ll keep watching it as long as it can keep itself interesting. First episodes are meant to hook you and then episode 2 and beyond usually fall off. Let’s hope this show doesn’t do just that.
