In Yakuza Fiancé,Yoshino is less than thrilled that her Yakuza leader grandfather has arranged for her to marry the grandson of a rival gang, Kirishima. While she still has to agree, he wants her to spend time with Kirishima to see if it will be a good fit. Yoshino is acknowledged as pretty, but she has never dated in her entire seventeen-year-old life and seems to have no real friends either. She agrees to go to Tokyo for a year and see what she thinks of it all. Meeting Kirishima, she does think he is attractive and he seems nice enough. But realizing how involved he is with Yakuza changes how she approaches him.
One thing that made the show difficult to get into right away was the fact that I hated Kirishima pretty early on. The good news is I think I was supposed to. The whole situation made me mad on Yoshino’s behalf when she said all the men in her life suck. But what makes it hard to tell where the show is going is Yoshino’s reaction to Kirishima is going to be the start of a lot of the plot, character growth, and humor for the show.
Yoshino herself is an enjoyable character. She reminded me of Risa from Lovely Complex, where she can be quiet and calm but when really pushed, she can explode with extreme emotion at people who have wronged her. Be it anger at her grandfather, or her shocked reaction to Kirishima, she wasn’t expecting when she tells him off. These were also very funny reactions. You feel bad for her and want her to get a great life and if the men in her life need to be hit upside the head more power to her.
Kirishima is harder to define without spoiling anything, but he has a face of genteel niceness with some darkness beneath him that can be violent and vile to some people. Yet he also has some quirks when it comes to his desires, where I think a lot of the humor will come from in the future. Yakuza politics seems to be in play down the road as well as the jealousy the girls at school show toward Yoshino, which might cause issues later, but right now it is unclear.
Aesthetically, I don’t really care for the animation, though it appears very accurate for the manga it is based on. While the characters are able to be expressive, they look very flat to me and visually unappealing. This is just a style choice that I do not see often and, depending on the individual viewer, it could be no problem, but it did stand out for me.
With only one episode, I am unclear what to make of it yet; depending where they take Kirishima will be the big tell. Right now I want Yoshino to torture him and then kick him to the curb. But that might be what he wants. I need to see how he starts to respond to her more, and what she thinks about that. If he starts getting overbearing in liking her that could open up a lot of good humor. Basically I am cautiously optimistic, but they will need to sell it quickly if I am to stick with it.
Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii premieres on Crunchyroll October 7.
