On paper, there’s a lot to like with Raise wa Tanin ga Ii. It’s a seinen and a pretty well-regarded one at that. My podcast cohost Samu is a huge fan of the manga and while our tastes don’t always overlap (that’s the point of the show, basically) that at least gets my attention. Deen has put a very experienced director, Kawase Toshifume, in charge. He directed a personal fave of mine from way, way back in Pita Ten. It’s a crowded schedule but Yakuza Fiancé at least has the look of something interesting.
I do have a healthy skepticism of yakuza anime, it’s true (The Fable notwithstanding). But this one at last looks not to be a sanitized take on the trope. It follows Somei Yoshino, a 16 year-old from Osaka who’s the granddaughter of the local mafioso chief. Yoshino is brash, haughty, and off-putting to the point that no one ever speaks to her at school, and no boy has even tried to ask her out, Her grandpa packs her off to Tokyo to be the fiancé of the head of a rival gang. He has ulterior motives, but we aren’t told that until later.
As it turns out the fiancé is quite a piece of work. Miyama Kirishima is in high school and initially declaims any role in the yakuza. But that’s a front – he embraces the lifestyle, from the tats to the brutality. And to gild the lily, he’s a hard-core sadomasochist who hoped Yoshino would be a spoiled princess who would entertain him. She seems pretty normal at first, which leaves Kirishima rather disappointed. But her response to his suggestion that she become an escort for the family’s business and hopefully start a gang war reveals that there’s rather more to Yoshino.
Having Ishida Akira play a teenaged yakuza S&M freak is an interesting choice. He’s obviously way too old but he can certainly do twisted, and Kirishima is that. So is Grandpa, who tells Yoshino to suck it up for a year before he’ll allow her back to Osaka. Make the guy fall for her and then break his heart, he says. As for Yoshino, I don’t know whether she actually disappeared for two weeks because she was selling a kidney, but whether it’s true or she’s just a good bullshitter it certainly caught Kirishima’s attention.
This kind of worked for me, but only to a point. I had the feeling everything was moving too fast – the plot was driving the characters if you like – and I have no idea if that’s the case with the manga. The adaptation itself seems pretty neutral – mediocre production quality is the norm rather than the exception for Deen, but nothing really jumps out stylistically either. I don’t need to like the characters in a series like this – fortunately, because I don’t – but they do have to be interesting. Yoshino and Kirishima are, sort of. Not what I would call relatable but at least distinctive. Stories like this can take a little bit to ramp up, and I’ll give Yakuza Fiancé a bit of time to establish itself before I decide whether it’s for me.
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