Mission: Yozakura Family Foregoes a Slow Burn With Cute Premiere

Mission: Yozakura Family doesn't start out with a typical slow burn romance!

Mission: Yozakura Family has made its premiere as part of the now airing Spring 2024 anime schedule, and the first episode has taken fans by surprise by how fast its central romance is moving on! Mission: Yozakura Family is one of the standout releases currently in the pages of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, but Hitsuji Gondaira's original manga is set to reach a whole new audience with the debut of its anime adaptation. But as the anime kicked off with a bang, the first episode is a good indicator of the kinds of twists and turns fans can expect from this one. 

Mission: Yozakura Family seems like it's going to be like many others when fans are introduced to Taiyo Asano and his childhood friend, Mutsumi Yozakura. One of the teachers turns out to be a little creepily attached to Mutsumi, and has been pushing men away from her in secret. But it's soon revealed that this teacher is actually her older brother (who is creepily obsessed with her), and Mutsumi is actually part of a highly skilled spy family. And to protect Mutsumi, Taiyo needed to set their romance in stone and marry her. Which he does by the end of the premiere. 

Mission: Yozakura Family's Series Premiere Twist

Mission: Yozakura Family Episode 1 reveals that Mutsumi's older brother, Kyoichiro, is so obsessed with her that he violently pushes away any male that's gotten close to her while at school. He left Taiyo alone because he didn't seem threatening as just her childhood friend, but the premiere sees him making a turn and deciding to eliminate Taiyo because it's clear Mutsumi has an interest in him. The only way to keep Kyoichiro from killing Taiyo, however, is to make Taiyo a part of the Yozakura Family (as they have a rule that family members can't kill one another).

While it seems dangerous, Taiyo realizes he cares for Mutsumi so much that he agrees to marry her and become a member of the family. She's been with him through his worst times (like losing his family to an accident), and now Taiyo wants to be there for her. But as he'll soon learn, this is only the start of a much rougher road he needs to be on as Mutsumi's husband. You can check out the Mission: Yozakura Family premiere on Hulu! 

What did you think of Mission: Yozakura Family's first episode? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on X (formerly known as Twitter)!