Review of The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting

Gokushufudou, Hinamatsuri or even Spy X Family, the wholesome Yakuza family version...but is it all true as the source material implies with the same tropes? This is the first anime adaptation of a Micro Magazine Comic ELMO title, and mangaka Tsukiya's only work that once got its start as a web manga posted on the author's Twitter and pixiv accounts under the title "Gokudou Musume to Sewagakari" (you can see the Gokushufudou semblance here). Regardless, as much as Yakuza families go, there have been some that has made the rounds with their inert similarities with one another, taking one aspect and fusing it with the otherin the author's own ways. Gokushufudou showed how a high-ranking member operates his life by putting both work and private life separate; Hinamatsuri has the same babysitting fare but with comedy that is just oh-so-perfect; and Spy X Family brought the family dynamic to the table.

And Kumichou Musume to Sewagakari a.k.a The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting is just that: a guide for Yakuza members to also be productive members of society while hiding their identities as a secret that's known inside and outside the household. It is by no means a new type of show, but at least it gets the job done about a Yakuza being heralded as the one who's meant not to be trifled with, experience a 180 of a character change with his boss's daughter for babysitting. This is exactly the case for the Yakuza Crusher "Demon" Toru Kirishima, being the right hand-man of the Sakuragi Family under Kazuhiko's control and introducing his 7-year-old daughter Yaeka for a literate babysitting job. That's it. No whimsical plot premises, no over-convoluted setting, just pure familial goodness, and for the most part, it's just "fine" that's nothing amazing, but still, this can be a pretty good time waster (to which I'm kinda regretting a bit on the inside).

Everyone inside and outside of the Sakuragi Family is at least interconnecting to one another, save for some bad apples that have tried to retaliate to the Sakuragi Demon that is Kirishima. Both Kirishima and Yaeka has the aforementioned father figure-cum-daughter feel, which can look wholesome, but this is where the "nothing happens" syndrome really hits the source material like rocks befalling onto a garbage can of a shallow premise, being an echo-chamber to reiterate the same pointers again and again. At least for the other assistants (or minions) under Kirishima rather, I do quite take a liking to his right-hand man and close buddy that is Kei Sugihara. He's such a hilarious idiot that's a sight to behold, unconsciously playing along with Kirishima's antics, and you could feel the difference between his conversations with him, Kirishima and Yaeka. Even rival families (one obnoxious character comes in the form of Yuri Mashiro) and close friends like Aoi Tochiro made their presence feel felt in the face of Kirishima's overall life that's just a matter of unforgivings for his past erratic behaviour. It gets a deserving pass overall for being just OK at best, and that's not saying much.

But otherwise, the show has a pretty consistent production phase along its run thanks to the studio co-collab between feel. and Gaina (formerly Fukushima Gainax), and as you would expect of a light-hearted show, it gets all of its notes right from the get-go. This trickles down to the OST of being a "fine and OK" level, though uplifting, they are not as memorable when the show wraps up.

Yes, while that may not be a bad thing as it could help construct the family dynamic as both the source material and anime now as should, as Gertrude Stein puts it: "Repeating is the whole of living, and by repeating comes understanding, and understanding is to some the most important part of living.", but as Rose Wilder Jane puts it: "Constant repetition dulls receptivity.", and it's a shame that the latter is what I felt while watching the show.

I like shows that have a family-found rhethoric (a la last season's Deaimon), but for some reason, Tsukiya's Kumichou Musume to Sewagakari...really doesn't bring anything new to the table, and that I feel is a mistake to repeat the tried-and-true formula without something that will make it stand out amongst the crowded space of similar works. It can be decent at spots, and that's the lingering on my tongue to say that it's fine, it's OK. Take it or leave it, it's your choice.