REVIEW: ‘Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii’ Episode 7 — “I’d Rather You Hate Me Than Not Care, Part Two”

Yakuza Fiancé Episode 7 gets the gears moving with the newly introduced characters by showing their true intentions and answering several of the questions presented in the previous episode. Yakuza Fiancé Episode 7 begins with Kirishima (Akira Ishida) and Yoshino (Hitomi Ueda) on a train to a college in Osaka. Yoshino reveals she’ll likely attend a college in Osaka, not Tokyo.

Kirishima asks if saying that was her way of rejecting him, and she aptly responds by saying she’s been trying to do that for a while now. She then hands him a new stuffed animal she mended and attaches it to one of his keys. She claims the one he took from her last episode was too old, and she wasn’t satisfied.

The two arrive at their location, and Kirishima is stunned by her actions. After the opening credits, we see Nao talking to two male students she is convinced will help her with her thesis. They mention her coming home late the night before and the rumor that she was with a guy, which she denies.

On her way from campus, she spots Kirishima dropping Yoshino off at the exact location and decides to stay back. Yoshino spots her and begins asking her questions about the university and for directions. Acting as unsavory as always, Nao notices the nonchalant way Yoshino carries herself and is displeased by it. Nao asks if Yoshino came from far away, and Yoshino tells her she’s originally from Osaka but is staying in Tokyo. Nao then reveals that she saw Yoshino with Kirishima, who she knew was staying in Tokyo, and Yoshino is shocked that she knows who he is.

Nao tells Yoshino that she knew Kirishima in the past, that she got acquainted with him after his big fight in grade school, and that his parents were apparently normal people. The next scene shows Yoshino in her room with Shoma (Kôji Yusa) and reveals that she exchanged contact information with Nao. Yoshino also looked into both Nao and Kirishima’s past in middle school, likely due to her curiosity about Kirishima’s past. While conversing with Shoma, she gets alerted about a location in Kobe, and the two head there.

Afterward, we see Nao, who is approached by her ex, Ozu. The two have a conversation about the rumors established in the previous episode. Ozu criticizes Nao for using guys who are attracted to her to do her school work while drawing a parallel and revealing that he used the women who worked for his father’s agency. They approached him for connections, and he collected a fee from them.

He then reveals that he knows she’s been sleeping with Kirishima and threatens to reveal more unsavory things about her past. He tells her that to avoid this, she’ll have to bring Kirishima and Yoshino to a specific location. To convince her further, he tells her that Kirishima has spread rumors about him and her.

This scene does an excellent job of tying together the mysteries outlined in Episode 6 about Ozu and the rumors regarding the women surrounding him. Though it is evident that Ozu was an unsavory person, it is admirable that the anime lays out all the clues for viewers to piece together about characters and events. The scene also explains why Kirishima is so involved with Nao, as it is now clear that he intended to use her from the start to draw out Ozu, who seems well aware of Kirishima and Yoshino’s families.

However, it’s worth noting that this is the most exciting part of Yakuza Fiancé Episode 7. There are no explosive fights that result in this revelation, and because the mysteries are laid out well, finding the answers to questions from the previous episode is more satisfying than exciting.

The next scene shows Yoshino and Kirishima on a pseudo date in an aquarium, and while Yoshino acknowledges how it looks, she refuses to consider it as such. Yoshino uncharacteristically asks Kirishima about his past and what he likes while revealing things about herself. Kirishima tells Yoshino that his relationship with his first girlfriend, whom he met around the time he was in grade school, was merely transactional for him.

Yoshino suspects the girl in question was, in fact, Nao, which would add up to what we know about both of them. Kirishima understandably asks why she’s asking these questions, to which she responds by saying it’s been a long time coming, and while she doesn’t plan on marrying him, they are still good to know.

Their pseudo date is interrupted by a phone call Kirishima receives, and he decides to end the outing. Yoshino goes home and complains to Shoma about Kirishima’s sudden departure. The two discuss the aforementioned apartment Yoshino found in Kobe and suggest that Kirishima may be heading there and that danger might be involved. Yoshino receives a message from Nao and decides to head there herself.

These scenes show the slow progression of Yoshino and Kirishima’s budding relationship. Yoshino actively shows interest in Kirishima and his past, and she is clearly starting to care for him through her actions and concern. Yakuza Fiancé Episode 7 perfectly depicts this through the intricacies of their conversations.

Meanwhile, we see Kirishima with Nao in another unknown hotel. Nao tells him she’s aware of Yoshino and that they met, and Kirishima tells her that he’s aware of it and even anticipated it happening. This proves that Kirishima intended to draw out Ozu using Nao, and he reveals that the actress who disappeared after doing porn was Ozu’s doing and not his. He claims situations like this happened multiple times, and Nao is Ozu’s next target as he intends to continue blackmailing her to get what he wants.

Kirishima asks Nao where Ozu wants him to go, and Nao tells him she already contacted Yoshino, which surprises him. He looks up her location and calls her, and Yoshino tells him she’s about to meet Ozu. This would mean that Yoshino was already aware of the situation and may suggest that her investigations regarding the Kobe apartment were all for this.

Yakuza Fiancé Episode 7 continues the three-episode streak of building up to what we can assume is another bizarre Yakuza ordeal. However, it noticeably lacks the excitement seen in previous episodes, as its obvious the excitement is being saved for the upcoming episodes. Despite this, Yakuza Fiancé Episode 7 still does an excellent job executing its mysteries and making them enjoyable for viewers. It also keeps the dynamic between the two leads interesting, making for a satisfying viewing experience overall.

Yakuza Fiancé Episode 7 is available now on Crunchyroll.