Yakuza Fiancé

 Yakuza Fiancé (来世は他人がいい) is a 12 episode romantic drama based on the manga of the same name by .  It originally aired during the Fall of 2024.

    Somei Yoshino is the grand daughter of the the leader of an Osaka based yakuza clan.  She is forced to finish out her high school career in Tokyo living in the house of another clan, in hopes that she and that heads grandson will get married.  Yoshino hates the situation and plans to only be in Tokyo for a year, to safe face and calm tensions.  At first the grandson, Miyama Kirishima, is cordial and friendly.  But quickly he begins to show his true colors, vicious, unrelenting and blood thirsty.  He tells her that she's better off selling her body.  With her situation spiraling out of control she sees no other choice and sells her kidney, throwing the money in his face to prove she's not a push over.  His perception of her suddenly changes, making him fall in love with her, desiring her to be a companion in his sadistic chaos.

    While she has earned his respect, she understands she isn't safe in this lions den of gangsters.  Its time to take the rough upbringing she had under her grandfather and prove to Kirishima that she's just as ruthless and cunning as he is.  They begin to play a game of cat and mouse, testing each others boundaries and abilities.  Kirishima claims he isn't actually yakuza but he has his hands in their dealings and sports the tattoo work to say otherwise.  He follows Yoshino around like a puppy...a twisted evil one, but a puppy non-the-less.  They end up becoming embroiled in a far reaching plot to destabilize the underworlds order, one that Yoshio appears to be in the middle of.  What is the reality behind Yoshino being sent off to the Miyama Clan in what appears to be prison sentence, similar to when feudal lords in the middle ages would hold children of their rivals as hostages for years.

    I didn't want to like this series.  The artwork and character designs are horrific.  Kirishima is a twisted and pathetically abusive male lead.  It really felt like an exercise in self abuse as a story...like Fruits Basket.  But something about the turn that took place at the end of the first episode sparked an interest into watching the next.  Then it happened again, and again, until I was actually enjoying the story.  I didn't like nor had any interest in the romance aspect.  I was drawn in with the underworld drama that was unfolding.  Kiishima is a terrible character and I have no desire for Yoshino to end up with him in the end.  It is fun seeing the idea that Yoshino probably is the only woman that can be an equal to the psychopath, but she only does so reluctantly, knowing she needs to play his game to survive.

    The artwork is terrible though, these characters are supposed to be high school students...nothing about them says teenager.  The animation is also...less than ideal or fluid.  There are numerous times where a characters orientation is weird while they are in motion.  Kirishima has zero redeeming qualities but Yoshino is enjoyable.  Calling this a romance, while technically correct, is a little misleading.  Its really more of a yakuza drama with hints of the two leads finding common ground through their forced situation.  I'm not sure if the series will continue beyond episode 12, but the story its self is really starting to get going.  There's a whole undercurrent plot centered around Yoshino's grandfather and she as well.  Something about her past that has lead her to being targeted by unknown agents for unknown reasons.  That's the thing I really want to know...and it doesn't seem like that's going to be resolved at all.

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.

The Fable

 The Fable (ザ・ファブル) is a 25 episode yakuza dramady based on the manga of the same name by Minami Kitsuhisa.  The anime originally aired during the Spring and Summer of 2024.

    Legendarily skilled and prolific hit-man The Fable is forced into a years sabbatical by his boss and handler in order to protect their business from too much unwanted attention.  He and his driver are forced to assume fake identities as siblings and spend the time under the protection of a small yakuza clan in Osaka.  The Fable assumes the name Sato Akira and his driver takes on the name of Sato Yoko.  Neither knows the others really identity or anything about their real lives, keeping things as professional and discreet as possible.  But now they must pretend they are life long siblings among a group of strangers, many of whom do not know who they really are.  Akira has one job for the entire year, don't kill anyone and don't attract attention.

    The only people in the yakuza clan who know that Akira is The Fable are the boss and his right hand man Hiroshi.  Hiroshi doesn't like the situation and looks to test Akira, to see if he will be more of a liability than an nuisance.  He harbors a great distaste for professional killers, equating them to nothing less than psychopaths and degenerates.  What  he doesn't understand is how bizarre and unusual The Fable really is, nor is he exactly prepared for what his suspicions will unlock in the sleeping killer.  Akira kills because hes unnaturally good at it, but isn't particularly blood thirsty or insane.  Its just a job to him, one that lets him do what he wants to do and he excels at.  In reality he's detached from normal humanity but not because he's a killer...he's just plain weird and eccentric in unusual and unpredictable ways.  He has to spend the whole year not working, pretending to be a normal human...or getting close to it to attract too much suspicion.

    The initial concept has been intrigued.  Fable is only good at being a cold killer but lacks the ability to function as a 'normal' human being and barely understands his problem.  He freaks out when he bites I to hot food.  He's obsessed with a hack comedian.  He sleeps in a bathtub.  All around it's amusing to see him move through the world.  Those around him are truly a rogues gallery of misfits and criminals.  One of the best characters is his the woman posing as his sister, Yoko.  She's there to keep an eye on him and remind him of his promise to their boss.  She gets bored rather quickly and begins to entertain herself by abusing weak men.

    The story only has one premise on the surface, be normal for a year, after that anything goes.  Without trying he becomes entangled in all sorts of problems, whether it's Yakuza trying to test him, without even knowing who he is.  Or becoming involved in protecting a woman from a crazy stalker.  The characters flow naturally in and out of the story as it builds a well fleshed out underworld the two cast always find themselves swimming in.  The best arc of the story has to be the last one where a botches job resurfaces by chance.  Over all, this was a wholly entertaining and often times amusing crime story.  Definitely something worth checking out if you want a in-depth story that doesn't involve super natural teenagers fighting monsters.

The series was simulcast on Hulu/Disney+.

My Home Hero

 My Home Hero (マイホームヒーロー) is a 12 episode crime drama based on the manga of the same name by Yamakawa Naoki and Asaki Masashi .  The anime originally aired during the Spring of 2023.

    What would you do if your only child was in an abusive relationship that could very well end in her murder?  Tosu Tetsuo, when faced with that very scenario, did what ever he could to protect her and the rest of his family.  He becomes concerned when his daughter Reika arrives for a lunch date with black eyes.  Her avoidance of the situation causes the mild mannered salaryman concern and he heads over to her apartment to talk with her.  He inadvertently encounters her boyfriend, a flamboyant braggart named Nobuto.  He overhears him discussing his abuse with a group of friends but before Tetsuo can learn more a man approaches him.  The man pretends to be scouting for call girl clients but when he gets Testuo in a secluded area he beats and strips him.  The man is looking out for the abuser and takes a photo of Testsuo and his ID for safe keeping, hoping all it takes is a warning to the worried father to keep his nose out of things.

    After spending the night recovering in an internet cafe Tetsuo returns to his daughters apartment, to try and gather clues about her boyfriend.  Before he can formulate a plan, the man enters, oblivious to the scene, belligerently chatting on his cell, visibly intoxicated.   Testuo hides in a closet, overhearing the conversation and becomes convinced that the man will kill Reika once hes been able to extort money from her.  In a moment of panic he sees an opportunity and fatally strikes the larger man with a rice cooker.  At that moment his wife enters the apartment, finding her husband trying to settle his nerves, bloody rice cooker still in his hands.  He does his best to explain the situation to her and she agrees to help him to hide the crime, unwilling to lose the love of her life over protecting their daughter.  Little to either of them understand the difficult task ahead of them.  Nobuto is the son of a man who holds an important position with a dangerous crime syndicate.  He will search the ends of the Earth to find his son and enact any level of retribution he wants.  Testuo, with the help of his wife, must use his lifetime of mystery novel reading to aid him in disposing of the body and preventing the crime from being connected to him.

    I was never able to get past season one of Breaking Bad.  The continuously building tension of a situation spiraling more and more out of the control of the main characters got incredibly exhausting to endure.  My Home Hero is not unlike Breaking Bad in that regard.  The entire plot is 'will Tetsuo be able to get away with this one murder'.  Almost immediately that situation becomes impossible as the criminal syndicate his victim is a part of knows full well that he walked into Tetsuo's daughters apartment and never left.  The person Nobuto was on the phone with before Tetsuo killed him was a man named Kyoichi, who was nearby.  Kyoichi, sensing something wasn't right with the situation, begins to investigate the apartment.  He fully suspects Reika's unassuming father knows what happened to the disliked gang member and wants to use him as a stepping stone to more authority in the syndicate.  The course of the anime roughly follows a week in time as Tetsuo is quickly rounded up by Kyoichi and is given a week's deadline to either be blamed for the murder or find the lost man.  Testuo spends all of his time, being heavily monitored by the gang, working out ways to cover up any last traces of the crime and to manufacture evidence that would exonerate him in any way possible.  Every moment of his life is filled with uncertainty and terror as the malicious criminals he becomes surrounded by offer little sympathy for his situation.

    Aside from the constant stress of the events that transpire from beginning to end leasing to mental fatigue, there are numerous points through out the story where Testuo's successes are aided by deus ex machina.  The story tries hard to remain within the realm of realism but there are a few points where that becomes absurd.  The weakest thing in the story over all is how the audience is supposed to accept Testuo's cunning and knowledge come from his avid interest in crime mystery novels.  Using this knowledge he's able to craft masterful plans to further his artificial innocence.  Aside from the idea that plot points used in fiction are largely realistic and beneficial in Testuo's situation are hard to believe, the idea that he is able to remain as level headed his is being chocked up to his carer as a salesman is absurd.  Its crazy that he has some of the knowledge he does and the means to utilize it in a real world situation.  That and there are a few key moments where he is able to 'perfectly' seize on an opportunity for maximum effect.  There is way too much in the way of plot armor to make the story as satisfying as it could be.  But thats not to say it isn't a finely crafted story with a lot of twists and turns.  It dips its toes into the morality of the characters situations and shows them coming face to face with the reality of whats going on, but that is largely swept away in favor of the continually complicated problems.  Death Note was easier to digest due to the super natural nature of the story, but My Home Hero tries really hard to make us think it exists in the real world that it ignores the unrealistic ways some of the problems resolve.  That said...I may have to pick up the manga as there appears to be a lot more story than was done in the anime...but we shall see.

 

The anime is available in dub and sub format on Crunchyroll.

The Yakuza's Guide To Babysitting

 The Yakuza's Guide To Babysitting (組長娘と世話係) is a 12 episode slice of life anime based on the manga of the same name by Tsukiya.  The anime originally aired during the Summer of 2022.

     Kirishima Touru is a hot headed lieutenant in a small yakuza family.  Over the years, due to his violent and dangerous nature he has earned himself the reputation of a demon who doesn't hesitate to kill anyone.  The head of his family is tired of his shoot first mentality and after scheduled negotiations turned into a blood bath Kirishima is given a job that might help to teach him some patience.The head of the families daughter, Yaeka, is a quiet and reserved girl.  Her mother has been in a coma for a number of years and Yaeka has been living with her aunt since then, only able to see her father when he is not busy.  He has decided that she needs to be closer to him and has her move into the family house instead, entrusting Kirishima to look after her.

    Unwilling to refuse the boss and recognizing it as a painless way to atone for his transgressions, Kirishima accepts his new responsibilities.  Taking care of an elementary school aged child requires far more tact and patience compared to the work he used to doing for the family.  The young miss is respected as an extension of her father, meaning everyone in the family does everything they can to keep her safe and secure.  This shift means that Kirishima must act with deliberation and kindness, working hard to keep the violence and deprivation of their world from tarnishing Yaeka's daily life.  While Kirishima may be growing as a person by taking care of this small life, others in the underworld as disturbed by the demons softer nature.  Elements of that dissatisfaction begin to poke and prod at him to see if his reputation is still deserved.

     I went into this series expecting it to be a goofy comedy akin to Way of the House Husband.  I was pleasantly surprised that there is more drama than comedy and greatly enjoyed the experience.  This story could have gone a lot of different ways, the path it took feels like the right choice.  The path of serenity and reflection.  For the most part the characters are calm and subdued, choosing to move through their world with thought and consideration.  Yaeka, who hasn't had the easiest of lives, is timid and reserved.  She grows attached to the man watching over her and starts to be more open to children around her.  Kirishima becomes more tolerant of things that may be perceived as attacks on himself.  He begins to consider if his actions are something he would want the young miss to see him do, choosing instead to ignore things or deal with them verbally.  The bosses plan seems to be working as his demon begins to be subdued by the little girl.

    What feels off with the anime are the characters who are within the inner orbit of the criminal group but are not actually a part of it and their complete acceptance of the families niche.  Most notable is Yaeka's aunt, who has zeri hesitation for interacting with the hardened criminals, often cooking meals for them at the family house.  In the flashbacks that you see Yaeka's mother, she too only portrays a doting wife and mother, instead of the tensions of a woman married to a crime boss.  The premise of the story wouldn't work any other way, but its interesting that they all approach their existence as if it wasn't a world filled with danger and secrecy...mostly.  There are times where that portion of their world is apparent and reflected upon, but much of the perspective is done from a position of shielding the young girl from their true nature.  No one really understands what their parents do for work when they are that young, all she knows is the house is filled with a bunch of guys in suits that respect her family a great deal and are always kind to her.  Professionals.  The story it's self really does not have a defined plot trajectory, instead it follows the main characters as they grow closer, peppering flashbacks to build depth of the characters and their circumstance.  In the end it just concludes the view into their lives and we move on to something else.  No great catharsis or plot resolution, just a quid pro quo and a good bye.

    The anime was in part produced by Crunchyroll and is available in sub and dub formats on their platform.  

Hinamatsuri

Hinamatsuri (ヒナまつり) is a slice of life comedy series based on the manga of the same name by Otake Masai.  The series aired on 12 episodes over the Spring of 2018.

   Yoshifume Nitta is yakuza who suddenly finds himself as a sort of foster dad to a strange middle school aged girl named Hina.  Hina arrived one day in his apartment, encased an a large egg, no reason or explanation.  Hina is quiet and calculating, hiding enormous physical prowess.  Nitta ends up using his strange house guest to rough up a rival gang.  The end result wins him respect within his own gang and a sudden daughter who threatens him with extreme violence.

    Hina's past is unknown, but where ever she came from, she wasn't the only one.  Another incredibly powerful middle school girl, Hayashi Anzu, is soon sent to bring her back 'home'.  Anzu fails to subdue Hina and instead chooses to stay in the area...homeless.  Nitta forces Hina to go to school in an attempt at some semblance of normalcy.  Can these social misfits achieve some form of normal existence?

 

 

    Hinamatsuri starts out with the potential to be a show about discovering the machinations behind Hina and Anzu's existence and the unknown organization that controls them.  Instead we get a weird slice of life comedy that is pretty heartwarming at times.  The character I enjoyed the most was Hina's classmate Hitomi who ends up getting trapped in a job as a bartender...of which faculty members of her school patronize...and completely ignore her identity.  Anzu's story is amusing and heartwarming.  Failing in her mission she ends up staying around, living in an unhoused encampment in the neighborhood, where she is taught the value of hard work and companionship.  Anzu and Hina are polar opposites in both personality and world view.

    The show was enjoyable but doesn't really resolve anything.  What you get is a series of events that make the strange girls more human, with a strong eye on setting up comedic situations.  You don't really find out where they come from or what their purpose is.  The series just sort of ends with nothing really being changed or resolved.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and was released on disc by FUNimation.

Kurenai

Kurenai ( 紅) is a 12 episode drama based on the light novel series of the same name by Katayama Kentaro.  The anime originally aired in Japan in early 2008.

    Kurenai Shinkuro is an orphan high school student who moonlights as a dispute mediator.  Mediator is code term for beating someone up if they don't agree to the terms of the resolution to the dispute.  Usually he is assigned to jobs helping people who are being harassed by the local yakuza or stalkers.  He feels he has the ability to do more important work for his employer, the incredibly well connected and shrewd Benika.  She decides to test him with a bodyguard assignment that will test his limits.  Previous to her career as a woman to come to to resolve sensitive issues, Benika was the head of security for a powerful and secretive plutocratic family.  She and her lieutenant break into the family compound and kidnap the family heads only daughter.  Benika then entrusts the girls safety to Shinkuro as both a test of his abilities and an answer to his requests.  However he is unprepared to take care of the incredibly mature seven year old Murasaki.  The girl has been raised in a fashion similar to the members of the ancient imperial court and has no experience outside of her cloistered world.  The shock on her is just as severe when she is taken from her pampered servant filled world to live in a dingy run down one room apartment.  As Shinkuro struggles to guard the headstrong girl they both change for the better.  Unfortunately for everyone, her family is searching for her with all of their far flung power.  Its only a matter of time before they are discovered and Shinkuro must face his doubts about his abilities.

    The story for the series is rather good once it all unfolds.  In the beginning its hard to pin down what type of series its supposed to be.  At first there seem to be some super natural aspects, which turn out to be incorrect.  At other times it seems like it might turn into a harem, with Shinkuro surrounded by a variety of female characters, but it doesn't turn into that either.  The action is minimal and when it does show up the animation is unfortunately not very fluid.  Shinkuro doesn't take any sort of journey to become stronger as if he were the lead of a shonen battle manga.  Instead the focus of the story is really the interpersonal relationships between a handful of characters, mostly Shinkuro and Murasaki.  The show details how these two lonely individuals grow as caring and perceptive human beings.  While it has some action and other categorical elements the series is really a drama focusing on human development.

    While the artwork during the fight scenes is jerky and unpleasant the rest of the series is well animated with quality character designs and background details.  The characters have very definable traits and body language that is well done.  There is zero fan-service, which is surprising, since the series is ripe to exploit that.  One unfortunate thing is the lack of expansion on  some of the more prominent side characters.  It would have been nice to find out more of Benika's past or her lieutenants.  Some of Shinkuro's school friends pasts would have done better if expanded upon as well.  But all in all the series was pretty good and worth the time.  Although the middle of the series has a relatively useless episode that's only designed for some heart string tugging at the end.  What would be really cool would be to revisit the characters 10 years later as a way to conclude the story line.  I wonder if the light novels did that?

    The series was licensed for distribution in North America by Sentai Filmworks and is somewhat available on DVD.

Mokuyobi Post - Sanctuary

Sanctuary is a one-shot OAV based on the manga of the same name by Ryoichi Ikegami and Sho Fumimura.  The OAV was released in Japan in 1996.

    Friends, Akira Hojo and Chiaki Asami make a vow to each other that they will rise to the top of their chosen path in life and join forces to change the world.  Akira joins the world of the yakuza while Chiaki joins the world of politics.  As they rise through the ranks they face deadly challenges  and occasionally have to rely on each others positions to push forward.

    This is actually a really cool anime.  I need to read the manga one of these years.  It's a great portrait of the seedy underbelly in the world of the movers and shakers of Japan.  Political corruption, extortion and all the nastiness in-between.  The animation is similar to that of Crying Freeman, as Ikegami did the art for both manga.  While dated, it is still enjoyable if for nothing more than the excellent story.  Although, given they crammed part of a long running manga into this short OAV the story does seem a bit thin.  None-the-less, its a good anime and I highly recommend it.  They also released a pretty decent live action variant that is also worth checking out.

    The anime, live action and manga have all been released in North America and have been available since almost the beginning.  So check any/all of them out and enjoy this nice tale of crime and law.