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エンゲージ [Engage] #3
Engage, Vol. 3
Mei’s bold confession to Naru leads to a moment of intimacy as the two try to identify the emotions now brewing within the older man. But when Mei discovers that Naru’s protection has always stemmed from a combination of duty and selflessness, a nagging doubt arises. Is it possible Naru’s acceptance of his confession was merely out of obligation and not genuine love?
242 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2025
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September 21, 2025🗣️ LET THEM FUCK 🗣️
July 10, 2025
Otra obra maestra de Minaduki Yuu, porque no solo tenemos una historia de romance slow burn y crecimiento personal con autodescubrimiento, tenemos hasta intrigas familiares y luchas de poder. En este tomo, conocemos mucho más los sentimientos de Naru por Mei.
Una de las cosas que me están encantando de Engage es que no es solamente un romance slow burn, sino que es una obra que nos habla del amor entre familias que no comparte consanguinidad, nos muestra el crecimiento personal y la búsqueda de la identidad, así como nos retrata una intriga familiar en donde sus miembros luchan por el poder. Todos estos elementos, además de hacer que estemos ante una obra compleja y con varias tramas secundarias que se entretejen con la principal, hacen que estemos ante una obra que no es solo romance; algo habitual en los mangas BL de Minaduki Yuu. A su vez, ya desde Love Nest, se puede ver una gran evolución narrativa y en la construcción de personajes e historias por parte de la mangaka.
Siendo mucho más que un romance entre personajes adultos, pero con diferencia de edad, Engage es un Boy'sLove muy completo, con personajes muy humanos, psicológicamente muy bien construidos y que se te meten dentro de la piel. Si amasteis Love Nest, su spinoff Engage es el mejor sucesor que podría haber existido.
Podéis leer la reseña completa en mi blog:
https://unabibliotecaentremundos.blog...
Una de las cosas que me están encantando de Engage es que no es solamente un romance slow burn, sino que es una obra que nos habla del amor entre familias que no comparte consanguinidad, nos muestra el crecimiento personal y la búsqueda de la identidad, así como nos retrata una intriga familiar en donde sus miembros luchan por el poder. Todos estos elementos, además de hacer que estemos ante una obra compleja y con varias tramas secundarias que se entretejen con la principal, hacen que estemos ante una obra que no es solo romance; algo habitual en los mangas BL de Minaduki Yuu. A su vez, ya desde Love Nest, se puede ver una gran evolución narrativa y en la construcción de personajes e historias por parte de la mangaka.
Siendo mucho más que un romance entre personajes adultos, pero con diferencia de edad, Engage es un Boy'sLove muy completo, con personajes muy humanos, psicológicamente muy bien construidos y que se te meten dentro de la piel. Si amasteis Love Nest, su spinoff Engage es el mejor sucesor que podría haber existido.
Podéis leer la reseña completa en mi blog:
https://unabibliotecaentremundos.blog...
November 28, 2025
Can we pleaaaaaase let them get freaky already? I’ve been waiting for like two years, plz 😭
I did like this one a lot. I like that we finally get to see Narus perspective on Mei’s feelings towards him. I also love that we see the characters from Love Nest in here and they’re helping Mei with advice. I think their friendships are so sweet.
The lil cliffhanger with Mei and the other lovers worries me a bit. I hope they don’t take advantage of him or make him uncomfortable or tell him how Naru feels or that he (seemingly?) ended things with them.
Here’s to waiting another 2 years for volume 4! I’ll be patiently waiting ,-,
I did like this one a lot. I like that we finally get to see Narus perspective on Mei’s feelings towards him. I also love that we see the characters from Love Nest in here and they’re helping Mei with advice. I think their friendships are so sweet.
The lil cliffhanger with Mei and the other lovers worries me a bit. I hope they don’t take advantage of him or make him uncomfortable or tell him how Naru feels or that he (seemingly?) ended things with them.
Here’s to waiting another 2 years for volume 4! I’ll be patiently waiting ,-,
September 12, 2025
This volume gave me exactly what I was missing in the previous one, which is a solid focus on Naru's perspective.
It's not surprising that Mei has been struggling to understand or accept Naru's feelings, because it is very difficult to read Naru unless you're firmly placed in situations where you can see scenarios and interactions through his eyes. The only two people who seem to know him at all are his longtime housekeeper, Sawano, who's watched over him since he was young, and Asahi, who's been his best friend for I think a couple decades.
Sawano gives Mei a little bit of insight into how Naru functions, but unfortunately since she doesn't seem to have quite the full picture of their relationship (I wonder if she'll approve?), she unintentionally steers Mei a little in the wrong direction. Or, well, "wrong" depends on perspective again, I suppose. What she tells Mei is the truth: that Naru cherishes him, that he'd do anything to protect him, and that he'd served as the "shield" for Mei's father in his youth, basically setting all of his own feelings aside when he truly cared about another person.
Naru believes that he feels less than other people - he doesn't experience that much pain, physical or emotional - and can take a lot more punishment than others as a result.
Mei hates this revelation, and it also makes him start to question what it is that Naru feels for him. Is it just an extension of his selflessness? Accepting Mei's feelings is a way of making Mei happy, and it doesn't particularly matter how strongly Naru does or doesn't feel about it on his own.
That's a frightening concept to Mei, as is the idea he keeps shoving to the back of his mind: the fact that becoming Naru's lover means joining an already very crowded party. He's...not really okay with it, but he's also fully aware that he can't make demands on Naru when they're not even in any sort of relationship yet. Plus, shouldn't he love Naru for exactly who he is, instead of trying to change him?
This makes his actions at the end of this volume incredibly brave, because he truly does think that dealing with Naru's three other lovers is something he's going to have to accept and be okay with in the longterm, if he wants to be a part of Naru's romantic life.
Of course, Naru hasn't told him yet that he's been quietly and methodically breaking up with each of his lovers, or that he's extremely opposed to the idea of sharing Mei with anyone else.
Genuinely didn't really expect Naru's storyline to go this way, but it does make sense as you get to know him better. All three of his relationships are more business deals than anything...literally. He runs businesses with them, sleeps with them, considers them good friends, and doesn't get emotionally involved beyond that.
I don't think I'd call him a polyamorous character, because he's never been in love with anyone prior to Mei, and now that he is realizing he's fallen, he's detaching all of the other partnerships that had always had easily detachable deals. Unless you're Kei, an Italian (?) guy who refuses to let things end that easily, and who's going to stir up as much trouble as he can with Mei, trying to convince him to be the fourth that neither Mei nor Naru had wanted.
Rinko, who mentored Naru and helped him a ton with the initial stages of his career, is probably his most complicated relationship, and is also the one who started it all, by turning casual sex with Naru into his current complicated tangles. She was in love with him; she knew he would never be in love with her; they were both okay with setting things up to be committed yet casual. She also seems okay with ending things now that Naru is ready to move on - to the extent where we didn't even get to see his actual breakup with her or Ruka.
It is interesting to me that Naru had three people like this in his life, but none of them really seem like they're at any sort of confidante level. For that, he turns to Asahi, whose friendship is a really strong point of this volume. That dynamic adds a lot of depth that I think will be interesting in revisiting the Love Nest stories.
Still a ways to go with this complicated relationship, including ongoing drama with the Naruse family, and the mole Naru has put in their ranks. It's interesting, too, that a lot of his difficulties with showing his emotions, or even being in touch with them at all, is due to how ostracized and abused he was as a non-blood-relative living in their ranks. The family simply uses him now as someone who's good at making money, but whom they don't respect in the slightest.
This series really has gone in some wild directions since the original couple...whom I miss...and who aren't even mentioned in this volume...but I am enjoying this storyline way more than I ever would've expected.
It's not surprising that Mei has been struggling to understand or accept Naru's feelings, because it is very difficult to read Naru unless you're firmly placed in situations where you can see scenarios and interactions through his eyes. The only two people who seem to know him at all are his longtime housekeeper, Sawano, who's watched over him since he was young, and Asahi, who's been his best friend for I think a couple decades.
Sawano gives Mei a little bit of insight into how Naru functions, but unfortunately since she doesn't seem to have quite the full picture of their relationship (I wonder if she'll approve?), she unintentionally steers Mei a little in the wrong direction. Or, well, "wrong" depends on perspective again, I suppose. What she tells Mei is the truth: that Naru cherishes him, that he'd do anything to protect him, and that he'd served as the "shield" for Mei's father in his youth, basically setting all of his own feelings aside when he truly cared about another person.
Naru believes that he feels less than other people - he doesn't experience that much pain, physical or emotional - and can take a lot more punishment than others as a result.
Mei hates this revelation, and it also makes him start to question what it is that Naru feels for him. Is it just an extension of his selflessness? Accepting Mei's feelings is a way of making Mei happy, and it doesn't particularly matter how strongly Naru does or doesn't feel about it on his own.
That's a frightening concept to Mei, as is the idea he keeps shoving to the back of his mind: the fact that becoming Naru's lover means joining an already very crowded party. He's...not really okay with it, but he's also fully aware that he can't make demands on Naru when they're not even in any sort of relationship yet. Plus, shouldn't he love Naru for exactly who he is, instead of trying to change him?
This makes his actions at the end of this volume incredibly brave, because he truly does think that dealing with Naru's three other lovers is something he's going to have to accept and be okay with in the longterm, if he wants to be a part of Naru's romantic life.
Of course, Naru hasn't told him yet that he's been quietly and methodically breaking up with each of his lovers, or that he's extremely opposed to the idea of sharing Mei with anyone else.
Genuinely didn't really expect Naru's storyline to go this way, but it does make sense as you get to know him better. All three of his relationships are more business deals than anything...literally. He runs businesses with them, sleeps with them, considers them good friends, and doesn't get emotionally involved beyond that.
I don't think I'd call him a polyamorous character, because he's never been in love with anyone prior to Mei, and now that he is realizing he's fallen, he's detaching all of the other partnerships that had always had easily detachable deals. Unless you're Kei, an Italian (?) guy who refuses to let things end that easily, and who's going to stir up as much trouble as he can with Mei, trying to convince him to be the fourth that neither Mei nor Naru had wanted.
Rinko, who mentored Naru and helped him a ton with the initial stages of his career, is probably his most complicated relationship, and is also the one who started it all, by turning casual sex with Naru into his current complicated tangles. She was in love with him; she knew he would never be in love with her; they were both okay with setting things up to be committed yet casual. She also seems okay with ending things now that Naru is ready to move on - to the extent where we didn't even get to see his actual breakup with her or Ruka.
It is interesting to me that Naru had three people like this in his life, but none of them really seem like they're at any sort of confidante level. For that, he turns to Asahi, whose friendship is a really strong point of this volume. That dynamic adds a lot of depth that I think will be interesting in revisiting the Love Nest stories.
Still a ways to go with this complicated relationship, including ongoing drama with the Naruse family, and the mole Naru has put in their ranks. It's interesting, too, that a lot of his difficulties with showing his emotions, or even being in touch with them at all, is due to how ostracized and abused he was as a non-blood-relative living in their ranks. The family simply uses him now as someone who's good at making money, but whom they don't respect in the slightest.
This series really has gone in some wild directions since the original couple...whom I miss...and who aren't even mentioned in this volume...but I am enjoying this storyline way more than I ever would've expected.
July 20, 2025
Okay, ignoring the uncle part, this volume has a lot of depth and most things felt like they were done well.
For someone as judicious as Naru, I'm not sure why I didn't think that once he went "all in," he really meant it. Seeing him take the time to "sever ties" was interesting and showed how much he respected his partners and his first love, Mei. This is one of the few poly representations I've seen portrayed in the media that felt reciprocal and respectful (except for the drama at the end).
I totally get the insecurity that Mei was feeling and wanting to gain autonomy and confidence to stand tall in the relationship, but I'm so happy the barkeep and his beau talked him out of it. At a point, he was just using these excuses to hide.
The ending pissed me off but mainly because Mei didn't have the chance to speak with Naru first. It felt rude that his lovers wanted to meet Mei, knowing he only knew bits of the story. Also, the last lover just irked because what do you mean want Mei to hog Naru? Naru legit wants Mei all to himself!
Anyway, I think the next volume is going to have a lot of bombshells dropped. I really hope Naru and Mei make it through though.
Thanks so much to the publisher and Edelweiss for the DRC!
For someone as judicious as Naru, I'm not sure why I didn't think that once he went "all in," he really meant it. Seeing him take the time to "sever ties" was interesting and showed how much he respected his partners and his first love, Mei. This is one of the few poly representations I've seen portrayed in the media that felt reciprocal and respectful (except for the drama at the end).
I totally get the insecurity that Mei was feeling and wanting to gain autonomy and confidence to stand tall in the relationship, but I'm so happy the barkeep and his beau talked him out of it. At a point, he was just using these excuses to hide.
The ending pissed me off but mainly because Mei didn't have the chance to speak with Naru first. It felt rude that his lovers wanted to meet Mei, knowing he only knew bits of the story. Also, the last lover just irked because what do you mean want Mei to hog Naru? Naru legit wants Mei all to himself!
Anyway, I think the next volume is going to have a lot of bombshells dropped. I really hope Naru and Mei make it through though.
Thanks so much to the publisher and Edelweiss for the DRC!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2025
We finally get more of a focus on how Naru feels towards Mei, and how things have begun to change only recently, which makes me feel quite a bit better about where this is all going. They both love each other at this point, but both are scared over what that means in the grand scheme of things. Also, Naru turns out to have not 2 but 3 lovers, which he's decided to end things with, something he had not communicated to Mei who has decided to go have a heart to heart with the weird little group by the end of this volume. I really do want to see where this story goes next, since it has just been so out there most of the time. Looking forward to the drama in volume 4!
September 13, 2025
AAAAND now we wait til volume 4!!!! I'm literally screaming at all of this because part of me hopes that this becomes a polyamorous positive series where Mei learns about this type of love. I mean, his love is already complicated with Uncle Naru and him being just so, so young. Sure he's already an adult, but I just hope it doesn't become a grooming situation or SA when he shows up to meet with Naru’s other lovers. Overall, messy and complicated story with a healthy small amount of fan service panels.
September 14, 2025
I’m going to be that person again. I hated this. I hate the relationship of Mei and Naru and think it’s absolutely disgusting. Yes Naru is not his uncle but he still knew Mei as a child and that is a trope that I despise. I loved Love Nest and Change World but Engage no thank you. I don’t even know if I’ll be continuing with this series if I’m being honest.
July 23, 2025
I was kind of bored with this volume. There were cute moments, but I just don't care about this relationship that much. The ending dragged me back in though so I will be reading the next volume.
October 15, 2025
I like the other series in this universe but struggle to connect with or care about the characters. The intrigue of the understory would, in other circumstances, interest me enough to keep going but it's just not enough to overcome my total apathy towards these two. I'm putting this series on hold for now.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews