Recap

Mashiro and Konoha try to feel each other out after learning each other’s secret. With her newfound discovery, Konoha chooses a new target for her affection.

Jel’s Thoughts

Much like last week I found the bulk of this episode to be pretty tiresome. The focus on Benio’s neurosis continues to the be the series’ Achilles’ Heel as her scenes dragged on way past their relevancy. The scene where she was shocked at the very thought of Kobeni keeping a secret from her felt particularly grating, not because it was a bad joke but because it took up way too much time. Between that and some of Konoha’s own obsessive tendencies getting entire scenes, I think that might be Engaged showing it’s 4-koma roots. I haven’t read the manga but typically that means a steady stream of small, equal length scenes, and if there’s one thing the show stumbles on sometimes I would say it’s patching those together.

Fortunately this episode also followed last week’s pattern by bailing itself out in the final third or so. The jokes, drama, and dialogue in general all got much tighter in the second half, particularly when Konoha and Mashiro have their confrontation. Seeing them flash a small bit of their powers and feel each other out changed the tone considerably, with just the right amount of tension broken up by some choice humor. The ultimate payoff of course is validating Konoha’s attraction to Hakuya, validating all her screen time despite how frustrating I’ve found most of the past two episodes. I was a little curious to see how they would get her to switch sides so quickly considering how strongly she feels about Benio, but by putting her in the same situation as the Mitsumine family it all made sense.

Even more importantly, Konoha’s new role will shake things up for Kobeni who until now has been allowed to peacefully develop her relationship with Hakuya at her own pace. It’s hard to imagine Konoha putting the slightest dent in Hakuya’s loyalty, but she does have the trump card of being the same type of mythical creature thing as he is. I’m fairly certain things will pan out in Kobeni’s favor –especially since that supports the theme of being able to love anyone – but one of the great things about watching Engaged every week is the surprises. With Konoha’s role now established let’s just hope we can keep the focus of the remaining episodes where it belongs.