Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii – Episode 1

Content Warning: Blood, Torture, Sexual Harrassment, Bullying

What’s it about? Yoshino’s engagement is to a prince…of sorts; actually, she’s betrothed to the head of the Miyama Yakuza Clan as part of a truce to bring some sort of peace between them and Yoshino’s own Kansai-centered group. Yet her fiance, Kirishima, is far from a dream come true and hides a dark side beneath his pleasant facade.

---

Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii (hereafter Yakuza Fiancé) is an interesting series. It’s a seinen, not a josei and definitely not a shoujo, yet it brings a Banana Fish-esque vibe to its story: ironic as that series is a shoujo, and often gets misclassified otherwise. I bring this up because, genre-wise, Yakuza Fiancé is a romantic crime drama, though I think erotic thriller fits it much, much better. It also has a prequel episode that you can’t watch, because it only appeared for a few days on a completely different streaming service. What?!

I come to this series with very little knowledge, and I think my watch was all the better for it because I felt like that Michael Jackson eating popcorn gif the entire time. Like, just:

You know?

Why? Well, because every frame of this premiere is a painting unto itself with the most unexpected subtitles (in a good way) on screen. This is truly what I’ve been waiting for this entire season: some good ol’ fashioned garbage of the highest quality. It’s like dumpster diving behind Louis Vouton and Hermes and maybe Trader Joe’s for the snackage. 

So choo choo, y’all ! Time to get on this hot mess express, set for Tokyo and a lot of fuckery. Let’s get into it.

Episode 1, “Ain’t no place for losers here,” opens with Yoshino’s grandfather promising his lovely high school granddaughter to a Tokyo yakuza clan’s high school age son as part of a truce. At 17, it’s time for Yoshino to step into her role—or so her grandfather seems to think, given she’s never had a boyfriend. Enter Kirishima, a charming young man who reveals that Yoshino will not only be marrying him in the future, but living with him as part of their engagement, which really sets up the story for romantic tension.

Quickly, they become involved in one another’s life, including Yoshino transferring into Kirishima’s high school. It brings a surprising sense of normalcy to Yoshino’s life. Perhaps her engagement and subsequent marriage will be peaceful…or maybe it won’t. 

(It, uh, definitely won’t.)

Look, I love trash and gossip more than a group of seasoned citizens at Friday night bridge, but there’s something about Yakuza Fiancé being about teenagers versus twenty-somethings that just rubs me the wrong way, especially with how explicit this series is. It’s certainly compelling, and I really enjoyed it, but there’s this particular gut-wrenching sense of unease that comes from watching two minors conduct it all. Once more, I ask where the safe adults are in these high schools because sheesh begeesh, these kids are gonna go through it!

That said, I do understand that the high school setting builds drama in the way that new adult novels do. There’s tension in every action once the show digs into Kirishima’s actual personality, and having to deal with the everyday drama of high school paired with the scaffolding of cliques and in-groups means that Yoshino gets placed in some pretty intensely awkward situations right off the bat, making her the center of gossip due to her flashier appearance. It’s paralleled against the fact that Yoshino is actually quite normal and somewhat naive, especially in comparison to Kirishima, who feels like a yakuza with a bit of a yandere-ish personality. It makes them good foils to each other and sets up a romantic drama that’s sure to have every kind of twist and turn you desire.

Also, it feels prudent to mention that there’s soft sex in the opening: like, hips thrusting, bodies grinding, sexuality all around. It’s somewhat a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it kind of moment, but once you see it, it really sums up a lot about this series. And like, I don’t think this is bad, I just question the level of explicitness in a story about two kids versus a woman and a man in their twenties. I think the story would make so much more sense and the trashiness would be a lot more palatable and less discomforting in its nature.

That, coupled with Yoshino’s very visible discomfort around Kirishima is really…worrisome. Once the proverbial mask comes off, you start to get intensely worried about her safety. Yoshino is very much in over her head, and Kirishima seems very ready to take advantage of that while simultaneously finding her a pain because he seemingly can’t tame her and she has “absolutely no value” to him as she is. It truly has me convinced that someone typed a “1” instead of literally any other number as the starting age because this is not how real teenager talk, think, or hopefully, act.

Yakuza Fiancé feels like the most decadent box of chocolates, only inside half of them, there’s habanero pepper. This series likes things intense, combining every hot mess express trope you can imagine into one banger of a premiere and for that, I kind of have to give Yakuza Fiancé its flowers. Still, I can’t help but wonder how this story would feel is Yoshino was 27 instead of 17. It would feel a bit more authentic, and in many ways, a whole lot sexier.

Still, that’s not going to stop me from curling up on the couch and indulging in this erotic thriller of a show. It’s the exact kind of messy comphet anime that I actually like when I want something that feels like having cake, pie, and ice cream all at once. Indulgent is the best word here, though don’t think I won’t critique the hell out of this. Yoshino goes through a lot in the premiere, from being the center of gossip to being slut shamed to bullying. Oh yeah, and she sells an organ to one-up Kirishima for a grand total of four million yen. It is a wild way to end this premiere, but you know what they say: is someone gonna match my freak? Guess Yoshino is gonna lean into doing just that.

I don’t expect any feminism from this series, to be honest, but I do think that there’s a fantastically messy story to be found. I genuinely look forward to Yakuza Mondays in my house and to cheering Yoshino as she girlbosses too close to the sun and literally tries to survive the plot and all its messy twists. And her fiance: you literally cannot forget him.

We’re having a giveaway! Starting October 1-5, sign up for a year’s subscription on our Patreon at the $5 tier or donate $50 to our Ko-Fi and choose an item from an AniFem staff member’s collection as a free gift. Missed the deadline to pick for yourself? That’s okay! Subscriptions after October 5th will still get a gift – just we’ll choose for you.