REVIEW: ‘The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting,’ Episode 5 – “Kirishima’s Day Off”

The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting is a slice-of-life anime produced by Gaina and feel. With Kirishima’s strange experience as a streaming sensation revealed to be only a dream, life goes on for those in the family. But someone seems determined to cause trouble for the Demon of Sakuragi in The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Episode 5.

This week’s story opens with Kirishima and several other family members attending a meeting with other Yakuza clans. As the otherwise please at evening wraps up, Kirishima has the unpleasant privilege of running into Yanagi. An enforcer for one of the other clans, he isn’t impressed by what he sees in Kirishima as he resolves to take our main protagonist down a peg.

The rest of The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Episode 5 bounces between Kirishima’s repeated run-ins with his new rival and friendlier events back home. The home-bound storyline sees Yaeka planning a present to present to Kirishima while he is away on some of his “errands.”

While Kirishima is away, the story takes some time to let Sugihara have a moment in the spotlight. As the man struggles to make a connection with Yaeka, The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Episode 5 delivers a wonderful moment of self-awareness as it acknowledges how bizarre it is that Sugihara is a Yakuza member. I always appreciate when a piece of fiction can call out the weirdness that it sells. It’s always easier to accept when the show knows what it is.

An unexpected element in this episode is the return of a previously met character. While their appearance feels a bit random when they initially show up, the narrative does a great job of making the individual random appearance work well for the emotional side of the episode.

The only complaint I have about this entry’s story comes with yet another tease about the mysterious stranger that has frequently popped up at the end of previous episodes. While I love teases and slow build-ups as much as the next person, I sincerely hope that we start getting some concrete knowledge of who this guy is and what he is doing in the story. At this point, it feels like we have simply been given the same basic teaser of him three different times.

The visuals do their best to bring both sides of the episode’s narrative to life. While the angrier moments are handled well, a couple of spots do feel a bit out of place in this story. The jump from sweetness to violence can be too much for any art style to bridge sometimes.

When all is said and done, The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Episode 5 delivers another entertaining entry into the series. Despite the momentary struggle here and there to reconcile the two halves of its story, the show nevertheless manages to bring plenty of enjoyment to my tv screen.

The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Episode 5 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.