Recap

Benio’s obsession with little sisters continues to rage out of control, but fortunately her vice president is around to keep her in check. Mashiro begins to notice how popular Kobeni is with the boys at school and urges Hakuya to step up his game. Kobeni begins to wonder why Benio is OK with her fiancé and it’s not long before she learns the truth.

Jel’s thoughts

I’m cool with Benio as a wacky side character, but I really hope her schtick doesn’t continue to dominate each episode the way it did this week. Particularly troublesome is the blonde girl hanging around that seems to be more in love with her than the rest of the school. I could see some humor coming out of her inevitable misinformed rivalry with Mashiro, but I really hope we don’t waste too much time on that subplot. That being said, having Nadeshiko around as a straight man really helps. Her abrupt hang ups were the equivalent of a slapstick fan to the face and make the fact that Benio can continue to put up her facade that much more believable.

What I am loving is the slow burn of Kobeni and Hakuya trying to feel each other out. I’m not sure I would call what they have chemistry per se, but I kind of like the combination of his willingness to help and her completely not needing it. It’s kind of hard to put in words, but it makes it really sweet when she concedes duties like fighting for the discount ingredients at the grocery store. Mashiro also continues to be adorable, with her little Sunday morning dance off being one of the cutest things I’ve seen in a good long while. Seeing her finally get her scones was a nice bit of continuity as well, keeping the simple plot a lot more tight and focused than we’re used to seeing in slice of life shows.

Of course the big important moment was Benio’s reveal of how Hakuya and Kobeni know each other, which really wasn’t much of a shock but a necessary step regardless. I had “childhood accident” at #1 on my list of possible connections, so the real question will be how much more there is to the story. It’s probably not much of a stretch to think the accident could be the cause of Benio’s unbalanced obsession with her sister and, as Lifesong will mention in greater detail below, there is some evidence there could be some kind of supernatural element to all of this. To add my two cents, the original title of the series in Japanese translates to “Unconfirmed & In-Progress” while the English title is localized to Engaged to the Unidentified. Coupled with all the talk about aliens and what not, does someone on the translation team know something we don’t? It really could go either way and still make sense, and I love the fact that I just don’t know.

Lifesong’s thoughts

Engaged might have more going on than we can see at a glance. So far we have been given a nice slice of life and I really won’t complain if that is all Mikakunin aspires to be, but I’ve noticed a few patterns that make think something supernatural might be at play. Here is my theory: I think Mashiro may actually be a deity, a fox spirit to be exact. Her brother may or may not be one as well. It seems more likely that he is the son of the priest who worships at Mashiro’s shrine.

Several things clued me in on my supernatural theory. First the OP is suspicious with its alien theme. We already know that Mashiro is afraid of aliens. Why aliens in a universe where real aliens would likely feel out of place? I think aliens could easily become a red herring that clicks with my theory. The fact that they are important enough to include in the OP makes me think they are not simply random or for the sake of comedy, it all feels too intentional for that. In episode 2 Kobeni’s flashback showed us a fox and a shrine from her memories. It went by in a flash, but both of these elements were there. One of the most obvious ties in to my theory is the way Mashiro’s hair comes to life like it has a mind of its own. Note that it looks like a foxes tail when it does. We also got a message on an arrow from “home” in this episode which is a very feudal Japan shrine like thing to do. Also Mashiro intends to respond? To an arrow? Like it’s perfectly normal? I am not willing to buy into the idea that anyone in modern Japan might still be shooting arrows at each other to communicate. I don’t care how far into the woods they live.

It’s not a bullet proof theory, but I’m looking forward to seeing how this show plays out and I would be lying if I said I don’t expect to see something along the lines of what I predicted above. Lately Dogakobo has become a favorite studio of mine. They showed an incredible level of skill with visual storytelling in Love Lab and I find myself expecting even more from Engaged. I don’t think I will be disappointed. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, or maybe I’m spot on. Part of the fun is that I’m not entirely sure about any of this, the ambiguous nature of the storytelling leaves me with faith that something more than the obvious is going on, but I’m also left wondering at what direction it will all take in the end. If anyone else has any theories about Engaged I would love to hear them.

Jel: Thanks Lifesong, one final note from me: