Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii

Episode 5

Why is it that I kept having “Meet Rebecca,” the final theme song to the criminally underappreciated TV musical series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend playing in my head throughout “Princess Tsubaki”? Meet Tsubaki! She's the coolest girl in the world!

Except, not really. Tsubaki is Yoshino's cousin, the daughter of one of Renji's undetermined quantity of illegitimate children. She's a born and bred Kyotoite, and Yoshino is shocked to learn about her plan to move to Yokohama. She and Kirishima go to meet up with her for a day trip to the suburb's famous Chinatown and surprise, surprise, he and Tsubaki get along famously.

Not a surprise though, because much like Kirishima, Tsubaki is... a lot. Far more than Yoshino realizes. Yoshino knows Tsubaki is borderline incestuously obsessed with their grandfather and by extension Yoshino herself, because she takes after him. Tsubaki is also promiscuous, with three current boyfriends. It's unclear whether or not they know each other. The three of them play off each other well in these scenes, the long-suffering Yoshino groaning as her two companions bond over their commonalities. Do you like to sleep around? Me too! Wouldn't it be fun to sleep together?

The mood shifts when Yoshino has to run off to take care of a convenient excuse… uh, turn in some math homework she forgot. Tsubaki and Kirishima take a decidedly un-romantic Ferris wheel ride. This isn't about seeing the sights – it's talking about matters they probably don't want to be overheard. For example, the fact that Tsubaki is the connection that made it possible for Yoshino to get her kidney out. And that they didn't take Yoshino's kidney, but they did drain her of a significant quantity of blood, which is now in Tsubaki's possession. If Kirishima ever wrongs her, Tsubaki will ensure he never finds her, including forcing Yoshino to change her name and face.

Like Shoma before her, Tsubaki acts as a reminder that the yakuza operate on a different moral paradigm. While a normal person may have the love language of physical touch or gifts, the yakuza love language is more akin to “offering to commit murder,” or “stealing your blood.” Or maybe those count as acts of service? While Tsubaki, as a woman, may not be able to become an official yakuza member, she moves comfortably through their world and makes no pretense of feeling otherwise, while also being a model of Kyoto's feminine grace and elegance on the surface.

In a way, she's the Kyoto to Tsubaki's Osaka. The two cities are geographically close, only about an hour from one another by train, and have similar dialects, but are culturally distinct. Kyoto is stereotyped as elegant and cultured, but also passive-aggressive to a degree that people from other parts of Japan find intimidating, even in a high-context culture. Tsubaki looks and acts highly feminine, but she's indirectly dangerous. Osakans, meanwhile, are seen as urban and plain-spoken, and Yoshino is pretty much guaranteed to say what's on her mind. She may be encultured in the yakuza, but she's as straightforward as they come.

One thing is for certain: Yoshino is well-loved. And unlike in most cases, when the people who love her say they'll do anything for Yoshino, they mean anything.

Not a lot happened in this episode, other than introducing a new character and the dynamics they bring with them. It feels like more setup for all the tensions simmering under the surface. We got some fun dialogue, but not a lot of thrills.

Rating:

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