Review of The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting

A slice-of-life with a twist. "Kumichou Musume to Sewagakari" blends the everyday of taking care of a 7-year-old with the excitement of being in a Yakuza family. For the most part, I think it does a great job of establishing characters and showing their growth over the course of the 12 episodes. There is an overall familty-centric vibe to the whole thing as the darker yakuza half of the premise often is only present in short increments. This uses the trope of "scary mean character is actually a sweetheart" fairly well. The daughter, Yaeka-chan, is well written and (in my opinion) avoids many of thetropes that can make younger characters annoying. It is heartwarming to watch her grow just as much as the other characters. Say what you will about it, this anime does portray family values really well, including found family.

There was an entire episode I could have done without, however. There isn't really a larger story here, just a rough timeline and several mini-arcs to follow. But the one episode I'd consider silly filler and mostly a time-waister. I skipped most of the way through it. One or two characters could have been excluded (tho I bet they have bigger roles in the manga) as they didn't really add much to the story and felt out-of-place.

A good anime if you're looking for something sweet and simple.