Kiss Me First centers around Leila, a girl slightly obsessed with playing a virtual reality game. It helps take her to a completely different world and she uses it to do things she can’t in real life. In actuality, she is a very shy girl but in Azana she can be who she wants. She soon meets other players who are in similar situations at home. She becomes entranced with a player called Mania, who befriends her in real life. Things quickly escalate for Leila from there. 

Simona Brown, who plays Mania/Tess, stole the show in my opinion. I think her character was written to be the focus, because Leila becomes preoccupied with helping her. Regardless of the plot, Simona really played this role well. I truly enjoyed seeing her bring out the confidence in Leila and then we realize that Tess isn’t as bold as she seems. It’s a compelling shift in personas, with my favorite moments being Tess’ seemingly “manic” episodes. 

The premise of this show seems realistic but also a little futuristic, which makes it entertaining. I can see someone being able to manipulate others through an online game and hack into their computers. Another intriguing aspect of this show was the scenery. Even in Azana, the imagery is spectacular. All of the waterfalls and planetary scenes were so beautiful. Lastly, a remarkable note about this show is its constant play with the unknown. We never find out who Adrian, the main antagonist, is and we often do not know what he is truly up to. At times, it seems we are close to knowing him, however in the end we only know a little of his story. Occasionally, we also don’t know what Leila is up to. There are time when we don’t even know where we are in the story, whether it’s real life or in the game. It is exciting but it happens so often that the story can become muddled. It was a little upsetting.  

Off the Rails, episode 3, is my favorite episode of the season. It is the beginning of everything spiraling out of control. Leila begins to find the courage to speak out and help others but it gets out of hand quickly. It seems like this is where the storyline really picks up and I could not look away. Even the smaller characters are very captivating, especially the other players in Azana. This ties in to the most unexpected moment in the show, when Ben/Denier, a boy who is clearly being abused by his foster parent, blows the two of them up with a homemade suicide bomb. Leila tried reassuring him moments before and he gave her a foreshadowing response that everything will be over soon. Even after this, it was a surprising scene. 

Kiss Me First has some gorgeous landscapes, great acting, riveting smaller characters, and an engrossing plot. However, the confusion of what is occurring sometimes overwhelms me. For these reasons, I give this show a 7.