The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting isn’t your average slice of life anime.
Welcome back to the AJnet Anime Club!
This month’s series: The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting.
One of the things I like the most about Crunchyroll is that it has a tendency to recommend lesser-known anime from all kinds of genres. Whereas other streaming services like Netflix or Hulu will constantly try to cram trending and popular shows down your throat, Crunchyroll doesn’t seem to have a method behind how it recommends shows, leading me to discover all kinds of fun new shows. I’m sure there’s an explanation out there somewhere, but I’ve never been bothered to go looking for it.
The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting was one of those animes that I put on because Crunchyroll recommended it. Going by the summary, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going in. I assumed it would be kind of like Way of the Househusband, a goofy lighthearted slice of life series about a serious Yakuza guy trying to adjust to a peaceful lifestyle.
I was wrong.
The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting is a slice of life series, but calling it lighthearted or goofy would be a stretch.
The series focuses mostly around Tōru Kirishima, an enforcer for the Sakuragi Yakuza family originally nicknamed “the Demon of Sakuragi” due to his tendency to be extremely violent and ruthless. Kirishima is tasked with being the babysitter for the boss’s seven year old daughter Yaeka. Kirishima has known Yaeka ever since she was a baby, but being a child Yaeka doesn’t really know Kirishima’s bloody history.
Throughout the series, Kirishima is forced to tone himself down in front of Yaeka so she’s not exposed to the violence and bloodshed that typically comes with the world of the Yakuza. Being the daughter of a Yakuza oyabun (boss), Yaeka is a potential target for rival families, so Kirishima has to not only protect Yaeka, but he has to do it discreetly at times. In one instance two guys from a rival family attempt to follow while Kirishima walks Yaeka to school. Kirishima tells Yaeka they’re going to play Red Light Green Light, and takes advantage of the brief moments when Yaeka closes her eyes to beat the crap out of the stalkers.
Kirishima is also forced to learn how to handle problems that can’t be solved through that violence and bloodshed, like Yaeka’s mother being in a coma and the emotional distress a seven year old might go through because of this. The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting is filled with tender and wholesome moments between Kirishima and Yaeka, like Yaeka drawing pictures of the two or them falling asleep curled up together. Ultimately, by the end of the series Kirishima has grown as a person and shed his “Demon” persona. The series portrays a sense of closeness not only between Kirishima and Yaeka, but between the various members living at the Sakuragi house. After all, Yakuza groups are considered families. Most of the interactions between the characters feel like family members caring for each other in between their petty squabbles, and at times you almost forget that these are seasoned criminals and that this family is a criminal organization (even though I think the Yakuza are still better than most American criminal organizations).
While the series is kind of laid back and has lighthearted and comedic moments, it has dark moments. Despite the familial interactions between the characters, this is still very much the Yakuza, and things do end up getting bloody sometimes. Like I said before, this isn’t some humorous series like Way of the Househusband. In The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting people get shot, people get stabbed, people die. While Kirishima may have toned himself down, he’s still not above kicking someone’s ass when it’s warranted. Various Yakuza from other families make the mistake of thinking that the legendary Demon of Sakuragi has gone soft just because he’s been seemingly relegated to being a babysitter, only to wind up on the receiving end of a non-lethal but still brutal beating. The final story arc sees Kirishima make a brief but bloody return to his role as the Demon of Sakuragi, as he mercilessly butchers former members of a rival family that kidnapped Yaeka in retaliation for Kirishima taking their families down.
From what I’ve read, this 12 episode series covered pretty much everything from its source manga, so there most likely won’t be a second season. If you’re looking for a short slice of life anime series that isn’t too lighthearted but still has an appreciable amount of wholesomeness then The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting won’t disappoint you. I give this series a 7/10.