Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii

Episode 3

Episode 3 of Yakuza Fiancé opens with Kirishima's face planted firmly in a girl's vagina, which was a bit awkward considering I was on a bus. You'd think I'd know by now not to watch spicy series like this on public transportation, but I can't seem to learn my lesson. The allure of putting that time to good use was too much, and now here I am, feeling like I've committed a sex crime.

That made me wonder – has there ever been on-screen cunnilingus in a TV anime? I've seen plenty of fan service shows where the hapless protagonist falls face-first into a girl's crotch, and of course, the extremely unsubtle use of metaphorical imagery in Yuri Kuma Arashi, but have TV audiences ever seen an unabashed image of a guy chowing down on some pussy? Some investigation (asking people on social media) revealed that no, Gainax's raunchy comedy Ebichu beat it to the punch by 25 years, and Ikkitousen followed that a few years later. Still, it's a rarity and a testament to Yakuza Fiancé's fearlessness. Even more, it's startling to see a dude pleasuring a woman than stabbing a guy's eye out with a fork. Makes you think.

But what matters is that the muff Kirishima is so happily diving into is not Yoshino's, but a random girl's. Oh, he wishes it were, which he happily expresses to the girl he's in bed with, much to her confusion and frustration. This leads to him breaking into Yoshino's apartment to watch her sleep, and to see her when she isn't mad. This elicits another confused and frustrated conversation. Yoshino insists she doesn't hate Kirishima; she just doesn't understand him. He's capricious and willful, unwilling to do anything that doesn't interest him. What does interest him tends to be strange or violent.

And indeed, Kirishima is an interesting character. Despite his innocent act in the first episode until he expressed his true masochistic wishes, he's usually as guileless as a child. His sense of right and wrong is completely warped, based entirely on his likes and desires rather than any consideration for the humanity of others or society's rules. His sense of empathy is warped to the point of psychopathy, but he's not aware enough of others to be manipulative. There is something truly, deeply wrong with him.

Meanwhile, it's becoming clear that this is building up to being a yakuza story, rather than a relationship drama with yakuza as the backdrop. As the clan bosses meet for a quarterly social gathering, something's percolating that may end up with our disaster leads being drawn into a conflict, whether they want to be or not. In the meantime, though, it does feel like a gathering of old friends. The story balances showing that these old men, dangerous criminals though they may be, are still human in their relationships and old friendships. Their old photos look like guys hanging out, and they greet each other with fondness and... uh… gifts. Sure, those gifts are hard drugs, but it's the thought that counts, right? Still, as human as their relationships are, they operate on a completely different axis of morality than most of society.

Nothing underlines this more than the arrival of Shoma Toriashi, Yoshino's childhood friend, Somei clan member, and the other guy in the OP and ED. I know I said that Akira Ishida had no business voicing a teenager but he sounds youthful compared to Kōji Yusa, who plays Shoma with the gravelly gravitas of a 50-year-old. Shoma was inducted into the family at just 13 years old after attacking the boss while drunk and/or high, so he and Yoshino have known each other since childhood. Yoshino naturally vents her frustrations about Kirishima to him, as one would to a longtime friend, and he offers to kill Kirishima for her. Because in his world, that's what you do if someone is a nuisance.

Before I go, I do want to note that between Yakuza Fiancé and DAN DA DAN, this is a landmark season for grandparent lovers. No longer are your only options Ristorante Paradiso and the Stardust Crusaders season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Y'all are eating well this season. Happy for you.

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Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.