#engaged to the unidentified

[a-titty-ninja]

[na-na-namine]

Why do all the best shows only come out on Sundays

[cute-girls-from-vns-anime-manga]

[manekinekocake]

[fictionaladoptionpolls]

For those unfamiliar with the children in question: Asuka, Diona, Mafuyu, Mashiro

This poll's theme is: Hiding your true self.

[brionnne]

I found ... another purple eyed messy haired boy that I like. He's mine. I'm collectin' em all. There're at least three of them.

[tlaquetzqui]

Rereading Engaged to the Unidentified.

Had two thoughts.

First is it absolutely crashes and burns the Reverse Bechdel Test, in that neither Hakuya nor Kureha nor Arata (Konoha’s brother and Mashiro and Hakuya’s cousin—the anime doesn’t make it to their intros, I think) ever have a conversation by themselves without the girls around where they don’t talk about the girls. But that’s fine because the story is about the girls, and the boys in their lives are a part of that. A story with the genders swapped that’s about a bunch of guys, and the girls in their lives are a part of that, is fine too, because the Bechdel Test is only slightly more respectable than the Brown Paper Bag one and markedly less useful than the Knee one.

The other is that the werebeasts’ ability to make people just ignore them, or that something is weird, is an actual thing in European folklore. In I think Italian legends it goes for all wolves but especially werewolves, that they can make you look away from them. I think it was Montague Summers or Sabine Baring-Gould who suggested it was based on them more or less using human fear of wolves to bully you into ignoring them. (I would suggest a senior wolf’s ability to make a junior wolf break eye contact, if you wanted to incorporate it in urban fantasy with modern knowledge of wolf behavior.)

[lyrical-lovely]

Anime Review - Engaged to the Unidentified (S1)

I watched this one once when I was younger and growing older definitely changed my perspective on it.

Watch Engaged to the Unidentified if: - You enjoy rom-coms and all the tropes involved - You want something relaxing and relatively low-stress - You like a supernatural element (i.e. Fruits Basket)

Do NOT watch Engaged to the Unidentified if: - You are easily upset by older characters acting strangely towards minors - You don't like "fluff"/non-plot-related content - You're hungry- there's a LOT of cooking in this show!

NO SPOILERS below the cut- continue safely!

Ah, "Engaged to the Unidentified." Or as I call it, the poor man's Fruits Basket. Seriously, the entire plot of this thing is basically just Fruits Basket. And that includes all the weirdness that comes with that show.

Engaged to the Unidentified is about a girl named Kobeni who finds out on her 16th birthday that her grandfather arranged her to marry a young man named Hakuya, who will be living with them (along with his little sister) starting that very day. It's a classic fanfiction trope, except Hakuya isn't your typical dream-boat, which I really like about him. He's not dreamy or romantic, he's just a teenage boy. I have a theory that he's written to be autistic (expresses very little with his words and face, hyper-fixated on building his matchstick houses, difficulty expressing emotions, etc) and I like that about him too since I think he's done well. Anyway, Kobeni finds out that Hakuya and his sister have a secret, and that her past (which she's largely forgotten) is intertwined with theirs.

Now, on to what makes this all suck- Kobeni's sister, Benio. She exists only to cause problems, not just for the main character, but also by creepily preying on ANY young girl in sight. It's even mentioned that Hakuya's sister is 10 years old, and Benio still has creepy feelings for her and does weird things like buying her underwear and following her around. It completely takes me out of what otherwise would have been a perfect plot.

That aside, where this anime really shines is the side characters. I like how Kobeni has a best friend at school who isn't part of the main cast. I like how the other members of the student council (of which Benio is president) are fleshed out and have personalities and interests. Both of the main characters also have moms (but not dads, strangely) that make appearances and have their own personalities. I think in shows like this it's quite easy for the side characters to fall flat, so it was nice to see some dynamic characters happening.

I'd recommend this show to ANYONE who loves rom-coms. It's classic and has all the silly tropes- miscommunication issues, Valentine's day chocolate, tsunderes, etc. I would warn anyone with an ED to be a bit careful with this one and make sure you're in the right frame of mind to enjoy it- there is discussion of Kobeni's body that I don't think all audiences would be prepared for. But if you're willing to overlook its MANY flaws and sit out the slow burn, you'll be rewarded with a relaxing, enjoyable watch. 6/10.

[medea10]

My Review of Engaged to the Unidentified

(a.k.a. Mikakunin de Shinkoukei)

How did I get into this anime? Your guess is as good as mine. I think I saw some memes or heard the opening theme a couple of times that I got curious. Yes, I add animes to my watch-list because of ridiculous reasons like that.

It’s the morning of Kobeni Yonomori’s 16th birthday. She had a feeling that this year was the start of something new because of her age. In this family, she was in for the surprise of her life. Not even 16 for a few hours, her mother drops a bombshell that Kobeni has a fiancé and that he is going to live with them from here on out. This is an arranged marriage brought about by Kobeni’s deceased grandfather. When he was alive, the family was not to go against the grandfather and I guess that’s going to continue now that he’s dead.

Kobeni’s fiancé is named Hakuya Mitsumine. He’s a space-cadet. He’s also NOT a main focus in this show despite all that I just said. That’s because along with Hakuya, his baby sister Mashiro is going to live with the Yonomroi family and attend school with Kobeni and her sister Benio. Who the hell thought of the genius idea of having this nine-year-old attend high school? Anyways, Mashiro is the show-stealer despite this sudden fiancé storyline. Let’s watch the wacky misadventures of two families uniting as one under the pretense of an arranged marriage. And watch Mashiro do cute things that steal the scene.

Oh yeah and Hakuya is some entity that can’t be explained. The entire family is.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Oh thank God, no dub. Sorry, as of recent I’ve been on the bad end of some pretty abysmal dubs brought on by Sentai Filmworks. Okay, I guess that’s a little mean. I just cringe when I hear noticeably 50-year-olds voicing teenagers. But that’s my gripe for another review. The sub contains quite a few people that I’m not too familiar with. I was totally dumbfounded when I learned that Emiri Katou didn’t voice Mashiro. I swear to God every time that chibi monster opened her trap that was Mayoi from Monogatari. I cannot be the only one who thinks like that. Anyways, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Kobeni is played by Haruka Terui (known for Mei on Yashahime, Momoka on Idolm@ster: CG, and Chihaya on Persona 5)

*Benio is played by Eriko Matsui (known for Nao on Idolm@ster: CG)

*Mashiro is played by Yuuri Yoshida (known for Tomomi on FLCL: Alternative and Lactic Acid on Cells at Work)

*Hakuya is played by Wataru Hatano (known for Gajeel on Fairy Tail, Shinsou on My Hero Academia, Kasanoda on Ouran HSHC, Harvar on Soul Eater, and Spartos on Magi)

SHIPPING: Ooh boy, an arranged marriage. On the plus side, it doesn’t look like this anime is a harem despite the amount of cutesy anime girls. Hakuya seems to recall knowing Kobeni in the past because they played together as children. Kobeni however doesn’t remember. This probably has to do with an accident from childhood that prevents her from remembering long-term or something along those lines. Oh yeah and the fact that Hakuya is some kind of dog creature. Of course, Kobeni wasn’t going to remember. Hakuya seems very loyal to Kobeni and let his feelings out early on that he likes Kobeni. At least this guy likes her for more than just her big bust and child-bearing hips. That little Mashiro is such an imp! But let’s move onto the other part of this.

Sister love! Benio loves her sister Kobeni. She really loves her. It’s almost on a level I haven’t seen since Yuru Yuri. I’ll get to that suspicion soon enough. And when Hakuya and Mashiro moved in, her sights are set on the tiny Mashiro. Mashiro doesn’t like Benio. Kobeni doesn’t care for a lot of Benio’s lovey-dovey onto her either. So, who likes Benio? Fellow classmate and student council member Konoha does. Benio’s underclassmen love her too, but Konoha loves Benio more than life itself.

Konoha loves Benio so much that she even feels threatened by Kobeni. Benio’s own freakin’ sister. Okay, when talking about Benio, that is very understandable. But Konoha eventually set her hatred onto Mashiro. Oh, and she also might be a special entity from the mountains too.

That’s why she decided to be bold and demand that Hakuya marry her.

This series is something else.

SETTLE SOMETHING FOR ME: Indulge me a little, will you? I can’t be the only one thinking the same thing here. Is there some kind of correlation between this anime and Yuru Yuri? Something other than the fact that they are animated by the same company! I know that they are both created by two different people. But I feel like they’re connected. Or not! Maybe it’s just my crazed-mind working again. Benio acts like Akari’s sister on Yuru Yuri. I mean, not as dark and twisted as Akari’s sister, but…no, they’re both pretty depraved on their sister-love. Give Benio some credit. She has never worn her sister’s underwear over her head while spooning a body pillow with her sister on it. Also, have you seen Mayuru? She looks like Chitose from Yuru Yuri! Kobeni also has a bit of a resemblance to Akari. It can’t just be that they’re both animated by Doga Kobo studios. It just can’t!

Doga Kobo, thank God you guys are doing Oshi no Ko right now. Because I’ve been ready to judge you guys intensely after watching this.

OVAS: The first OVA has Kobeni and everyone else go to a hot spring. It’s 12 minutes long. Nothing affecting the plot happens here. The second OVA has Kobeni and Mashiro talk about their youth. It’s 12 minutes long. Nothing affecting the plot happens here...

...Although Kobeni wanted to grow up to be a sexual deviant. We can blame Benio for that.

ENDING: There were a lot of dilemmas going down with the characters. Hakuya was trying to think of a good White Day gift for Kobeni. Kobeni has been dealing with her feelings towards Hakuya and if she really likes him. The recent stuff with Konoha wanting to marry Hakuya has really gotten her. There was also a little guilt between the two potential love birds as Kobeni has seen a scar that Hakuya keeps hidden. He got it the day Kobeni got hurt as a child. Kobeni feels guilty that she caused this and Hakuya is just guilty over not being able to protect Kobeni in the first place.

Meanwhile, Benio has gotten a little more territorial with Kobeni (especially when Hakuya was around). And as for Mashiro, she decided to do some roof-hopping since it was dusk one day. But someone at her school (the school gossip of all people) might have caught a glimpse of her. Regular humans aren’t supposed to know of the mountain entities. This incident could have been the driving factor in both Hakuya and Mashiro disappearing at the end of episode 11. They’re gone. All their shit is gone too. Even the mother and sister are worried.

Turns out Hakuya and Mashiro went back home for a bit. They took their clothes and books back to change out since a new session of school was starting soon. But it wasn’t found out until Kobeni made the trek up to the mountains in search of the brother and sister. And then falls ill with a fever! You know, all of this could have been prevented if Hakuya just left a note or text message. And not a cryptic message he left on Kobeni’s phone. This boy is seriously the winner of spaciest cadet in all of anime history.

In her feverish haze, Kobeni ends up wandering off on her own while Mashiro and Hakuya were searching for items for her fever. This turn of events turned into an almost déjà vu moment as Kobeni almost ended up falling off a cliff. Hakuya saved her in time. The last time this happened, Kobeni was horribly injured and Hakuya gave her half of his own powers. After being saved, we do get this sweet scene between Hakuya and Kobeni. They don’t fully say “I love you” or anything like that. But they do want to be there for each other and not hide anything. Kobeni is safe. Everyone goes home.

My first impression of this show was that I was in for a moe anime where cute anime girls do cute things. I remember thinking that when I would see clips of the opening theme. Most of that opening is very misleading. But then I saw a male in the main cast and thought, “Shit, it’s a harem”. It was not. Although, there is no other romance to speak of with the rest of the cast. And then we add this supernatural crap of Hakuya and Mashiro being special entities that live in the mountains. I’m throwing up my hands and calling it a day. I was not expecting any of this and I am okay with that. What I got was better than what I was expecting. Keep in mind, I was not expecting much to begin with.

I think this is an okay story to watch if you’re looking for a short series to occupy your mind before you go onto bigger animes. It’s just that if you’re not a fan of precocious little girls with an attitude, you might have a disdain for one of the main characters. In my case, yeah, Mashiro did get on my nerves. But it was tolerable.

If you would like to watch Engaged to the Unidentified, Hidive has every episode available for streaming.

[lidiacervos]

I am going to be an elderly woman by the time the official translations of Honey Lemon Soda catch up to where the fan translations stopped. Need to know what’s happening with my bbs Uka and Kai

[dr-lizortecho]

jeanine meason gay or is it just bait?

Dude- she’s an actress playing a character???

[b0rtney]

LISTEN!!!!! I love HOUSEPLANT bfs!!!!! Get u a man who just STANDS there, LOVINGLY!!!

[cute-girls-from-vns-anime-manga]

Please go watch engaged to the unidentified. In terms of anime I think it is wholly underrated!

[manekinekocake]

[fictionaladoptionpolls]

Mashiro Mitsumine

Age: 9

Home: Unnamed mountain village (Engaged to the Unidentified)

Blood type: DEA

Likes: Mild curry, sweets, family, cryptids

Dislikes: Sundays, Benio, sticky food, UFOs

Good things in this anime: 1

Mashiro is one of the kids I added without anyone submitting them, for personal reasons.

This one chess YouTuber I watch has a clip of Mashiro dancing in his outro, and I decided to investigate. Mashiro is pretty adorable dancing, the premise sounded…potentially worth watching, so I gave it a shot. It was not good, but Mashiro was adorable as advertised. Shame that the central couple is two cardboard cutouts, there's no plot beyond watching them fall in “love,” and Benio exists.

Anyways. Mashiro Mitsumine.

Mashiro is one of those kids who wants to act like they're mature grown-ups. Thanks to hypnosis(?), Mashiro even attends a high school. (…where she gets bad grades, because unlike some of the 9-year-olds in this bracket, she doesn't have seven doctorates.) In reality, she's a normal kid; she barges into her big brother's room all the time, is easily bribed with sweets, is terrified of things that probably don't exist, etc.

Mashiro isn't super generic, but she's also far from the most unique kid in the bracket. But she is a good execution of her type of kid. She has a good seiyuu, her animators draw out her cuteness, and she has a lot of it, because of her cute character design. I'm especially fond of her in her obviously oversized high school uniform—it both symbolizes her shoddy attempts at seeming mature and has these big sleeves that fall over her hands and flap all around when Mashiro flails. Which happens a lot at school, mostly because of Benio. Ugh.

Anyways, what does Tumblr have to say about Mashiro? Not much, it's mostly gifs; I'll show you a few of those.