Raise wa Tanin is a bubble series for sure. It’s part of the Patron Pick ballot in fact, though I’d be undecided on it either way. There’s about as much of that really intrigues me as there is I find off-putting, which is one sure-fire pathway to the bubble. I can’t help but feel there’s a fair amount of potential here. But I’m torn about whether the series has the right sort of sensibility to tease it out, and a relatively indifferent adaptation isn’t doing anything to move the needle.
There are a couple of different story tracks being laid here. There’s Kirishima-kun of course – he’s something of a wild card still but the overall vibe is still dangerous nutcase. Yes, I find it disturbing that he’s breaking into Yoshino’s place and doing things to her while she sleeps. But maybe even more disturbing that she’s getting so used to his sociopathic behavior that this doesn’t even bother her that much. Yoshino is, as I noted, tough as a two-dollar steak. But she’s still in dangerous waters here, and seemingly very close to being in over her head..
Then we have the larger yakuza picture, which is developing into quite an interesting tangle. There are a lot of complicated relationships here involving numerous yakuza, most notably Yoshino’s grandfather and Kirishima’s grand-uncle. Yoshino’s friend from the Osaka gang, Shouma (clearly about to be a very important character), implies that there may be warfare soon, despite all the big dogs making noises about peace and cooperation. There are a lot of regional resentments simmering, and I got the vibe that the three-way friendship teased in the photo album is now a lot more strained than anyone is admitting.
I was thinking for a bit there that Kirishima was going to kill Shouma (or at least try to) as a potential rival. But while I wouldn’t put it past him, it would be hard to see Yoshino getting past that if he did. Of course Shouma flat-out volunteered to kill Kirishima and take Yoshino back home (she declined). It’s pretty obvious there’s more to Yoshino’s exile to Tokyo than Renji is letting on. I’m curious to see where all this is headed, and I do like Yoshino (and Ueda Hitomi’s performance) – she’s forceful and smart. But the sale is nowhere near closed, so the three-episode rule is (as usual) out the window in this case.
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