REVIEW: ‘Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii’ Episode 5 — “Princess Tsubaki”

Yakuza Fiancé Episode 5 takes things slower and is more casual than previous episodes, but also introduces a brand new character and an interesting revelation. The episode begins with Yoshino (Hitomi Ueda), recovering from her flu thanks to the help of Kirishima (Akira Ishida), who has been looking after her in her sleep after taking her to the hospital. He tells Yoshino that he moved her to a specific room in order to protect her from potential invaders who would kill her to get to him.

He then explains how he did not sleep and that he struggles to sleep around other people, probably due to the trauma of being a yakuza member. Yoshino offers to let him sleep on her futon and offers him food after a bath, but Kirishima insists, and claims Yoshino could kill him in his sleep due to her intense love for him. Yoshino retorts by saying she doesn’t love him even a little bit and that it would never happen, which surprises him but not in a way that displeases him. The next scene shows Yoshino providing Kirishima with a meal and even insisting he eat some protein for his health.

The opening scenes show that Yoshino and Kirishima, despite their odd relationship, clearly care for each other. While he is obligated to protect Yoshino, Kirishima always goes above and beyond for her because he is clearly infatuated with her. Yoshino, on the other hand, is not obligated to be nice to Kirishima and often isn’t, but this episode proves that she is at least grateful to him and tries to make up for his kindness without outwardly saying it. This proves that they may be getting closer or that their relationship has a strong potential to evolve. The slow but clear evolution in their relationship is executed quite well, and this episode showcases it excellently.

After the opening scene, Yoshino complains to Kirishima that she struggles in math, especially after being ill, and is worried about her exams. He offers to help because he is really good at studying, but she refuses. She then tells him that she will soon have to hang out with her cousin in Yokohama.

In the next scene, the two of them head to pick her up, and Yoshino reveals that her cousin is actually her half-cousin because her grandfather had a mistress who had a daughter who then had Yoshino’s cousin. She explains that complexities like this in families are commonplace for Yakuza members. Kirishima then reveals that he already looked into her cousin, which wasn’t a surprise to Yoshino or attentive viewers.

He reveals that he knows that she is a rich college student who attended an international school. Yoshino then responds that her cousin is very much his type. They meet her, and she introduces herself as Akashigata Tsubaki (Reina Ueda), whom Yoshino describes as a princess-like prim and proper lady with an appearance that makes other women jealous, which is why she is Kirishima’s type.

The three spend the whole afternoon together discussing various things, and Kirishima and Tsubaki learn about each other during the process. Tsubaki learns that Kirishima is always attentive to Yoshino’s needs and makes her feel comfortable every time, which he does several times throughout the outing. Kirishima learns that Tsubaki is a player who has multiple boyfriends in rotation and acts toward relationships the same way as Kirishima does.

She also asks if he and Yoshino have made love and makes the wild claim that she would make love to the same person who takes Yoshino’s virginity as a form of “sisterhood.” Finally, we learn that she is obsessed with her grandfather, the Somei patriarch, who she believes is the near-perfect human.

All these prove that Tsubaki is far from the normal character in the cast, which is already filled with peculiar characters. Yakuza Fiance has an excellent way of introducing characters that all fit the narrative quite well, and this is especially evident in this episode. However, Tsubaki’s persona is a little disappointing as she would’ve served as an excellent contrast to the other crazy characters in the anime. While she is far from the levels of insanity of other characters, she is certainly not normal either.

Near the end of the episode, Yoshino gets a call to fix a school issue, and she leaves. This leaves Tsubaki and Kirishima alone, and they begin a serious conversation. Kirishima reveals that he is aware that Tsubaki’s father is the director of a Kyoto Doesikai hospital, which is part of the larger Deseikai group that’s rumored to deal in illegal organ trading and transplants.

He alleges that she had something to do with Yoshino’s kidney removal, which he reveals he’s been searching for. He concludes that Yoshino never actually sold her kidney as the scar he discovered while taking care of her was too shallow to be a real surgery scar. Tsubaki then reveals that she only took a liter and a half of her blood in exchange for the four million yen Yoshino requested for the kidney. This would explain why Yoshino experienced side effects and believed she had lost a kidney in earlier episodes.

Kirishima hints that he’s been crazy about Yoshino before they even met, and Tsubaki tells him that if he turns out to be an actual scumbag, she will make sure that he never finds Yoshino again, “even if it takes plastic surgery.” This proves, yet again, that she is as mentally capable as every other intense character in the anime thus far. The episode ends with Kirishima and Yoshino talking to each other about Tsubaki and how much Yoshino trusts her, and Kirishima reveals that he exchanged contact info with Tsubaki.

Production-wise, Yakuza Fiancé Episode 5 doesn’t give Studio DEEN much to flex, except for Tsubaki’s intricately designed elegant eyes, which match the character well. Every character has incredibly intricate and expressive eyes, but Tsubaki’s cold, dark, and dull eyes match the character’s personality quite well, especially towards Kirishima.

All in all, Yakuza Fiancé Episode 5 is much slower and less eventful than previous episodes. However, the episode has its fair share of engaging revelations that are somewhat important to the overall plot. It also does an excellent job introducing another odd character that fits the anime’s themes quite well, making it another entertaining episode.

Yakuza Fiancé Episode 5 is available now on Crunchyroll.