Mission: Yozakura Family

Episode 14

After the major reveal of the deadly Tanpopo organization that we got last time, this week's episode of Mission: Yozakura Family sees Taiyo wake up from being knocked unconscious to find himself on a boat, in the middle of the ocean, and the most terrifying predicament imaginable: Kyoichiro is nice to him. I know; I also get shivers just thinking about it. Thankfully, this impromptu fishing trip of brotherly bonding is a ruse to cover up Kyoichiro's much more believable scheme to lure a bunch of assassins out into open waters with a bounty on Taiyo's life.

Of course, this seemingly homicidal prank is meant to cover up Kyoichiro's double-secret desire to give Taiyo some proper combat training and prepare him for the onslaught of resources and deathtraps that Tanpopo is bound to send Taiyo's way. In this case, it makes perfect sense that Kyoichiro would have Taiyo defeat a dozen armed killers before being flung into deep waters to manually deactivate a speeding torpedo and then help Kyoichiro destroy an entire submarine with his bare hands. Honestly, despite the second half of the episode being the mission that gives "Aim for the Suite Room" its namesake, it's this funny and action-packed ocean caper that steals the show this week. Not only does it continue to establish how menacing Tanpopo is, but it also reminds us of how ludicrously overpowered the Yozakura family can be by comparison. It's no wonder that Doctor Kawashita is so hellbent on harnessing the power of the siblings' freaky blood cells.

The second mission, where Taiyo has to infiltrate the appropriately named Dandy Lion Hotel, is also fun but a step down from the torpedo battle of a few minutes prior. It's a shame, too, because infiltrating snazzy hotels is one of those classic spy tropes that M:YF could have a ton of fun with if there was more room to play around, but the show mostly uses the occasion for a few basic gags before setting Taiyo up with the next bad guy he has to fight. Said bad guy is Nohmen, whose defining characteristic is that his head is a bit too small for his massive body, keeping him within the established pattern of villains with vaguely distinguishing but altogether underwhelming character designs. He also seems to be openly gay, which is neat, since it isn't treated as a joke or anything, but really, all I can do is be distracted by how his head is just…just ever so slightly too tiny. It's distracting.

Ah, well. I'm sure the fight with Nohmen in his Hulked-out form will be good fun, especially since it looks like Shinzo will get a chance to do something for the first time in a while. Mission: Yozakura Family has been on a streak of pretty solid episodes lately, and I say, "Keep 'em coming!"

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Mission: Yozakura Family is currently streaming on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ in other regions.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.