MINEO ENOMOTO
Visual Novel: Collar x Malice
Age: 23
Hobbies: Reading books about Toshizou Hijikata and “100 Heart-jerking Love Confessions”
Likes: Sengoku Period, Field Work, Pudding♥
VA: Soma Saito
Click for his walkthrough here.
Click for Collar x Malice game review here.
Character Background
Mineo is the comical relief of the bunch. He’s often seen butting heads with Sazasuka and is sometimes treated as an errand boy for both Aiji and Takeru. He may be considered to have the weakest aptitude when it comes to the X-Day investigations but he has the knack for pursuing cases until the end, once he’s made up his mind about it. Before he quit his job as a police officer, he was previously assigned in Shinjuku ‘s Field Operations Team and was considered one of the best in their department due to his speed and audacity. A promotion was in line in his career prior to his resignation.
His Trademark: He wears an eye patch to resemble his Sengoku warlord idol, Date Masamune.
Personality
Mineo tends to be very shy and unsociable when it comes to women. He is honest to a fault and is able to charm and befriend people very quickly. He demonstrates his likability when he befriends Hanako Kobayashi “Hana” (in his route) and Kazuki Hoshino, Ichika’s brother (both in his route and Shiraishi’s). Mineo can also get a little clumsy when it comes to his social cues as he has the tendency to blurt out his thoughts without meaning to and sometimes ends up saying too much.
Relationship with the Heroine
His romantic exchange with Ichika is as light-hearted as his route. Mineo’s story was filled with a couple of adorable instances where we see him blush because of Ichika’s straightforwardness. It’s very cute. He felt like a high school sweetheart.♥
It was also because of Ichika that he was finally able to pursue the April and May X-Day cases. This guy needs a little push for motivation.
ENOMOTO’S ROUTE
Mineo is the perfect first route to take in Collar x Malice for the reason that his story offers very few spoilers of the game’s underlying plot line. There were very few revealed information regarding the X-Day cases as a whole in his story, that it almost felt like it was literally shrugged off at the end (this cliffhanger however, was explained in Aiji’s route). His story pacing was also very slow when comparing it to others.
Although, I personally enjoyed Enomoto’s route as a whole, there were a few pros and cons that were notable during his events.
Positive Points ＼(＾▽＾)／
- The fact that Enomoto knows and accepts that he’s the least useful guy around in the group when it comes to the X-Day investigations.
- The sibling relationship between Ichika and her brother Kazuki in this route was very pragmatic that it felt so real. One of my favorite highlights in Enomoto’s route was the ups and downs of Ichika’s bonding with her little brother.
- Mineo greatly respects his superiors and always have this genuine faith in them no matter the circumstances.
- Enomoto is a true gentleman for offering Ichika a piggyback ride when she twisted her ankle running after him.
- He has the strongest bond and is the closest to Kazuki, the protagonist’s little brother compared to the other guys (in their routes).
- Mineo profoundly appreciates and respects Yanagi as his “senpai“. He also praises him all the time for Aiji’s exemplary cooking skills.
- His love for pudding and how he gets excited to have some is just too adorable for words.
- Him losing it, when the thugs attempted to make Ichika strip in public. I find it sweet when~He wanted to beat them up to a pulp.
- His unconventional sense of style~ He’s the only one who wears a printed shirt inside. He wears an eyepatch and carries a paper fan as his trademark. He also wears a standard yukata in his (extra) story.
Negative Points ┐(︶▽︶)┌
- It took him a while to put his trust on Ichika that half of his route was spent on the heroine stubbornly pursuing to become partners with him.
- He easily loses his temper when provoked, humiliating himself in the end.
- If it wasn’t for Ichika’s determination, Mineo would’ve never pursued the X-Day Investigations seriously.
- He can’t say ‘NO’ when his masculinity is in question. Because of this, Okazaki ended up tagging along on his supposed-to-be lunch date with Ichika.
- Dwells a lot on self-loathing.
- Why is he living at Aiji’s apartment/office, doesn’t he have a place of his own?
Some Thoughts
I kinda feel that Mineo was a well fit match for Ichika since they are very alike in personality. He also doesn’t have too many issues, he’s not a jerk to her and he already has Kazuki’s approval. Both their tenacity and unwavering sense of determination is a perfect common ground. It’s a cute relationship, one that can last long as I see it.
Character Song
I think Mineo’s character song is as jolly as his personality, don’t you think? It’s so fitting! ^^
For this route’s sexy meter, I’ll give it an overall 7/10 score. Although it was the least appealing/sexy route compared to others in Collar x Malice, I still enjoyed his story to the fullest. Mineo is a very sweet and loving character. His honesty was his winning factor, but he needs improvement (not to mention, will power) when it comes to making women swoon. Perhaps he really needed his “100 Heart-jerking Love Confessions” book after all. 
