While anime fans may have a perception of romance series being filled with wholesome moments and heart-pounding drama showcasing the lead couple’s ability to grow and understand one another, Studio DEEN’s adaptation of Asuka Konishi’s Yakuza Fiance showcases a couple that brings out the absolute worst in one another, and it’s addictive rollercoaster that every anime fan should be watching this fall.
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Yakuza Fiance follows Yoshino Somei, the granddaughter of the Somei Group, a yakuza family, located in Osaka. Despite her upbringing, Yoshino has lived a relatively average life until her grandfather, the fourth-gen head of the Shomei Group, tells her that she’s being sent to Tokyo to live with the heir of another yakuza family, who she’s been arranged to marry. When she arrives, she’s thrust into a whirlwind of almost immediately being rejected by Kirishima for being too boring, and after he insults her, Yoshino resolves herself to toughen up, survive, and ultimately dump Kirishima and return home to Osaka. By the end of the show’s first episode, Yoshino proves her resolve by selling her kidney and presenting the money to Kirishima out of spite, only for him to declare his lover for her.
Yoshino and Kirishima are Terrible For Each Other, and That Makes Them Perfect
The relationship between Yoshino and Kirishima, while arranged by their respective families, is turbulent from the very beginning. Yoshino especially isn’t afraid to voice her disdain for Kirishima and his shady activities, but, when presented with an opportunity to help him, she often falls into the very same yakuza activities she speaks out against. In Episode 2, Kirishima is trying to track down the daughter of another family who’s allegedly gone missing. Yoshino spots her while shopping for a new hair dryer, and reports back to Kirishima. The two end up teaming up and hunting the woman down.
It’s revealed that the reason Kirishima was looking for the young woman because she had swindled members of the Filipino mafia out of 500 million yen, and ends up in an all-out brawl with her bodyguards. Despite getting hit by one of the bodyguards, Yoshino ends up stepping in to help, and the pair take down the bodyguards with a fork, their fists, and that brand-new hair dryer. Once everything is said and done, the episode skips to the following day, and a bandaged Kirishima presents Yoshino with her “cut” of the money they got back from the young woman they tracked down. Yoshino declares that she doesn’t want the money – nor that she has any use of Kirishima’s counter offer of selling his corneas – and instead demands that he goes with her to buy another new hair dryer.
Yakuza Fiance Might Not Be the Romance Some Fans Need, But the Love Story They Secretly Want
With only three episodes available as of writing, Yakuza Fiance has proven itself week after week to be a nonstop rollercoaster ride where, while audiences might not want to root for Kirishima to win Yoshino over, they can’t help but slowly fall for his surprisingly charming demeanor. Similarly, there’s something about watching Yoshino’s nefarious descent into yakuza activities to keep up with her fiance’s criminal activity is infectiously entertaining. Yakuza Fiance‘s ability to lure in its audience with its gorgeous, colorful artstyle and striking characters while delivering on the constant drama between two people that absolutely shouldn’t be together makes it an absolute must-watch for seasonal anime fans.
Plus, the series’ toxic couple breaks away from all the typical romance anime tropes that fans have become accustomed to seeing. Yakuza Fiance doesn’t shy away from pointing out at every turn just how problematic Yoshino and Kirishima are as a couple, and always reminds the audience that Yoshino is playing along with everything that’s going on for her survival, and for her grandfather. It’s an incredible subversion from usual romance anime, and makes it incredibly unique when pit against other anime in the same genre.
