Alternate Title: Mikakunin de Shinkoukei, That New Dogakobo Show
Manga Adaptation by Dogakobo
Simulcast on Crunchyroll

Premise

On her sixteenth birthday, Kobeni (not to be confused with konbini) discovers her grandfather arranged for her to be married to a boy she met as a child. Things get awkward quickly when her new fiancé and his precocious little sister move in with Kobeni, her mother, and her obsessive older sister.

Jel’s Verdict: Identified As Something Good

Dogakobo’s more recent works (YuruYuri, Love Lab) could be considered successes in spite of themselves, taking scraps of tired old premises and molding them into something worthwhile. Engaged to the Unidentified immediately feels different, like they are trying to make something legitimately good without any caveats. The more natural color palette and introspective soundtrack are your first clues, but more importantly the dialogue and characters are given more room to grow and expand in each scene, laying a much stronger foundation than just the “girls in a weird club” setup we see so often. It’s not that the show has abandoned the studio’s comedic instincts, as there are still plenty of big, loud gags and top notch animation. It just feels like there’s more than that now, something with a little substance and weight.

It helps that I am kind of fascinated with the concept of arranged marriage in modern society and some of the more Japanese specific nuances to it. At the very least, it creates a unique backdrop that forces the characters to open up a bit. Her new circumstances paint Kobeni as a very likable, down to Earth heroine that plays well against her stoic but kind fiancé and her obnoxiously adorable new sister-in-law. Really the only part I didn’t think was working was Benio’s obsession with little girls, but I was amused enough by her flip-flopping personality to let that slide. There’s only so much you can say about one episode, but I think the introduction to Engaged to the Identified establishes a lot of great pieces for the story to work with. My expectations have been raised and I’m feeling pretty good that we’re going to be treated to something sweet, funny and satisfying.

Aqua’s Verdict: Engaging Yet All But Unidentified

To us here at the Glorio Blog, Dogakobo has stopped being just another company that makes anime. Ever since Love Lab, we now consider them part of the Shafts, the J.C. Staffs or the Kyoto Animations of this world: animation studios which you cannot help but to start mentioning in your blogs and which you – for better or worse – come to expect certain things from. In Dogakobo’s case, most of these expectations seem to involve them very competently making shows about schoolgirls doing nothing whatsoever, yet the latest evidence of this, Engaged to the Unidentified, falls just a little bit too short in the jokes department to be a truly worthy successor to Love Lab. Nevertheless, the studio’s trademark bright colours and animation quips remain as enjoyable to watch as ever, which in itself already makes Engaged to the Unidentified the nicest comedy I have seen from the new season up to now.

Another thing Dogakobo seems to be quite capable at is weaving together individual gags into a consistent whole. Love Lab stood out because it didn’t lose the essential aspects of storytelling amidst all its chaotic shenanigans, and Engaged to the Unidentified looks to be heading down the same path. Kobeni and co. seem to have a bit more up their sleeves than the usual tin-can collection of one-trick ponies most anime comedies call characters, and a good enough bit of the zaniness is grounded in the cast’s actual idiosyncrasies. It makes Engaged to the Unidentified a far cry from, say, D-Frag‘s unintelligible nonsense for nonsense’s sake, and a strong example of how to create levity without treating your audience like a pack of brain-dead halfwits.

In the same vein, Engaged to the Unidentified is also more than willing enough to put a spin on the paint-by-numbers romance tropes it so often drives home, yet it does so in ways that fail to relieve my fears that this will end the same way every arranged marriage story ends. In other words, if Kobeni doesn’t actually become the perfect wife for her fiancé, I’ll eat my proverbial hat. I have seen enough anime to know that the genre only rarely successfully averts its clichés, and shows like Engaged to the Unidentified simply aren’t clever enough to do more with their tropes than just toy with them a little. That might still make them smarter than ninety percent of the trite hogwash around, but still not quite smart enough for me. A fun enough watch, but sadly enough, not much more.

Lifesong’s Verdict: I’m Engaged

After last summer’s Love Lab, Dogakobo has become a favorite studio for many of us here at the Glorio Blog. I think the one complaint most of us shared towards that anime was how unambitious it was. Well, here we are again and this time, we have a story that is more ambitious. So far I’m impressed with how well they handled a topic that could easily rub western sensibilities the wrong way. In particular I appreciate the way this story is told from the heroine’s perspective. She is, in fact, the main character, which resets any expectations from similar stories of anime past and gives us something that feels unique, fresh and maybe even clever.

I’m not entirely certain whom I should credit but, Dogakobo has some serious talent for animation, directing and the overall timing of tying events together. I am never unsure where I should be looking, and jokes that might not sound so funny on paper have been perfected in their performance. It’s hard to say just how far Dogakobo will go to keep Engaged to the Unidentified interesting, but I’m honestly expecting a good story. After all, I have been nothing but impressed by Dogakobo’s finesse with visual storytelling. If you doubt me, or simply found this episode boring, I have a challenge for you: watch this episode again, only without the subs. Take in all the visual details and let those tell you the story. If you do that, I don’t think you will have a hard time seeing why I’m praising Dogakobo so highly for this premier. As for myself, I just hope they can do this every week. If Love Lab is any indication, they probably will.