REVIEW: ‘The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting,’ Season 1 – Delivers Sweetness, Even When It Tries Too Hard

The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Season 1 is a slice-of-life anime produced by Gaina and feel. Kirishima is an enforcer who is known by many as the Demon of Sakuragi. His brutality when dealing with threats to his adopted family has garnered him a notorious reputation. But now, his boss has a new assignment for him, and one that will test him to the very limit. He wants Kirishima to babysit his young daughter Yaeka.

While this series delivers numerous instances of the fish-out-of-water comedic moments the setup implies, I was surprised to find the 12 episodes that comprise this season are far more interested in pulling on my heartstrings than tickling my funny bone.

The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Season 1 most prominent theme is one of self-exploration for its main protagonist. As Kirishima comes to appreciate Yaeka’s presence in his life and how she views him, he struggles with the contradiction of who he is when taking care of her and being the Demon of Sakuragi when she is no longer in line of sight. This need to reconcile the two halves of his life with each other provides the series with are strong narrative core to run through the show’s predominantly sweet stories.

As Yaeka and Kirishima get to know each other, the series does a good job of growing a supporting cast around them to help further augment the show’s charm. Every member of Kirishima’s yakuza family that steps in to help him with his new duties sports their unique quirks that allow the cast as a whole to coalesce into a charming group. The only struggle one may have with this group of oddballs and misfits is believing that these guys collectively form a yakuza family. Rare moments where the show portrays the characters in action feel so out of place it’s jarring.

While the bulk of The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Season 1 is focused on sweetness and self-discovery, the back stretch of the series gets a bit heavier. When a rival yakuza member with a grudge against the Demon of Sakuragi comes looking for revenge, Yaeka gets caught in the crossfire. This leads to the series’ darkest moments for Kirishima as he struggles with the guilt over what his actions have caused.

These moments dive a bit too deep into the emotional waters of Kirishima’s personality. Not that his struggles don’t make sense, but the series can’t do the depth of his struggles justice in the tone and formatting the show has established by that time. It seeks to contain the pain Kirishima displays in far too neat a package. While I appreciate the need to show Kirishima’s pain over what transpires, I wish the series hadn’t gone so hard in the attempt. It ultimately hurts it far more than it helps.

The visuals utilized to deliver this series are excellent. The character designs and visual flairs that fill each episode lean into the sweetness of the story’s core wonderfully. Yaeka is specially delivered with skill, as her every action oozes the cuteness and charm that could melt even a hardened criminal’s heart.

When all is said and done, The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Season 1 delivers a heartwarming, sweet tale that occasionally struggles with its larger concepts and momentary darkness. While these missteps may hold it back from being the best version of itself if you need a dose of sweetness in your anime watching, getting to know Kirishima and Yaeka will appease that need nicely.

The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting Season 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.