REVIEW: ‘Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii’ Episode 11 — “A Pet That Becomes Unruly As It Grows”

Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11 maintains the last episode’s narrative simplicity and focuses on the main characters’ relationships with each other. Boiling frustrations erupt, and the characters address some things they wanted to in prior episodes.

The episode begins with Yoshino (Hitomi Ueda), her grandfather Renji (Yôji Ueda), Shoma (Kôji Yusa),  Kirishima (Akira Ishida), and Tsubaki (Reina Ueda) visiting Yoshino’s father’s grave. In the short opening scene, Renji tells Yoshino how her father disliked alcohol and how he married her mom at 19, a year older than Yoshino.

After the opening credits, Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11 opens with Yoshino conversing with Tsubaki about how she wore makeup to cover the bruises she got from the previous episode and visited the dentist for her injury. Kirishima shows up mid-conversation and starts doting on Yoshino as usual, which she finds annoying. Tsubaki advises Yoshino to be careful of Renji discovering more about what happened to her and Kirishima. Tsubaki then starts to bicker with Shoma, and the two throw insults at each other in a rather humorous manner. It’s revealed that the two have been at odds for a long time, ever since they both walked in on each other in the bathroom in the past.

This scene is perhaps the most entertaining part of Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11. It features harmless bickering and swearing in a way that the anime has never done before. The simple but funny relationship between these two characters is perhaps the best dynamic the anime has had thus far.

While the two bicker, Kirishima walks up to Yoshino and gets an eyelash unstuck from her. This angers Shoma, and he drags her away from him. The next scene sees a gathering of the Somei Yakuza family with all the main characters attending. Renji points out to Kirishima how close he resembles his grandfather and shares some humorous stories about his friendship with his grandfather in the past. Renji then asks Kirishima if he is in love with Yoshino, to which he confidently says yes, while Yoshino acts perturbed.

After their talk, Renji invites Shoma and Kirishima to the basement in Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11. Kirishima arrives after Shoma and discovers Shoma has been given the Yakuza treatment by Renji, who beat him up so severely that some blood trails were left behind. Renji then proceeds to ask Kirishima several questions regarding the injury near his eye and why the events of episode 9 transpired. Kirishima lies and says he got the injury from a fight with Shoma and reassures Renji that his pursuers only had a vendetta against him and it had nothing to do with Yoshino. Renji admits he has no other option but to believe Kirishima and tells him to look after Yoshino.

It’s worth highlighting that this is the first time we’ve seen the characters and Renji visibly involved in Yakuza trends and tradition. This scene in Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11 is executed brilliantly, as the shocking switch in tone from careless banter to serious conversations is executed marvelously and showcases just how seriously the Yakuza characters take duties despite their appearances.

Meanwhile, Yoshino has a conversation with Tsubaki about having to date Kirishima and how she’s new to dating. Tsubaki reassures her that Kirishima won’t do anything to hurt her but warns her to be careful, as Kirishima’s charms are dangerous. Yoshino then tells Tsubaki she has a reason for agreeing to date him. Before she reveals why, the next scene shows Kirishima approaching Shoma and starting a fight with him by making annoying statements. Kirishima claims he doesn’t like how Shoma obeys his Yakuza family like a dog and that he’s no longer needed since he’s dating Yoshino now.

Their short fight begins in Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11, and it’s clear the two are about evenly matched, but Kirishima decides to take things up a notch by bringing knives into the fight. However, as both are about to tear into each other with knives, Yoshino breaks up the fight after tracking Shoma’s location with the tracker she used in the previous episode. She then tells the two to take off their shirts and start sewing each other’s buttons back. She reveals she’s done this many times before and explains that it would make them make up.

While intense and engaging, the fight between Shoma and Kirishima is disappointing. This is the first time the two characters have had a physical altercation, and the fight was disappointingly short, and the animation from Studio DEEN this time was incredibly lackluster. This is mainly because the fight can be distilled into a few still shots of the characters hitting each other and nothing more.

This scene also reflects one negative aspect of Yakuza Fiancé: the fights, at least between the central characters, are always annoyingly inconclusive. As previous episodes have shown, there’s never a clear winner whenever characters fight. This frustrates some viewers, as the scenes feel incomplete, making gauging strength nearly impossible.

Of course, Yoshino’s attempt to make peace between the two men in Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11 doesn’t work. Kirishima reiterates that he doesn’t like Shoma because he is obedient to the family, even at the expense of Yoshino’s well-being. Yoshino then admits that the only reason she accepted being his girlfriend is to separate the two into different roles, a statement that unsurprisingly shocks Kirishima. The two split into two groups, and Kirishma heads back with Tsubaki.

Tsubaki points out that Kirishima only fought Shoma to cover up the beating he received from Renji. She also says he shouldn’t try to cover things up for Yoshino’s sake. Then, she advises him to invite her to his room and have a simple study date with Yoshino if he wants Yoshino to become interested in him.

Meanwhile, Shoma and Yoshino have a conversation. The two discuss Yoshino’s relationship with Kirishima, and Shoma is dissatisfied with the ordeal. He claims the only person he and Yoshino’s family will be satisfied with her marrying is someone who can kill him after he claims he almost killed Kirishima. The episode ends with a wholesome and somewhat romantic moment as they discuss how it would be nice if they ended up together, but Yoshino claims Shoma would have to quit smoking for that to happen.

This is another great scene in Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11. It firmly establishes Shoma as Kirishima’s rival in love despite Kirishima’s new role as her boyfriend. The scene shows this somewhat engagingly, demonstrating how much the two care for each other and how Yoshino prefers the two, at least for now.

Overall, Yakuza Fiancé Episode 11 is another well-rounded episode. While it has its faults, the episode succeeds at entertaining viewers with its main characters alone.