Anime Review - The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting

The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting | Blushing Geek

Episodes: 12
Aired: Jul 7, 2022 to Sep 22, 2022
Genre: Slice of Life
Studio: feel., Gaina
Duration: 23 min. per ep.
Rating: PG-13 – Teens 13 or older
Add to list on MAL
MY RATING: 8 out of 10

Tooru Kirishima’s notoriety is spread far and wide in the underworld. He is most commonly known as “The Demon of Sakuragi”—a man who is not afraid to resort to violence if deemed necessary. After almost jeopardizing a peace treaty, his boss tasks him with the most difficult job he has ever had: taking care of seven-year-old Yaeka Sakuragi—the boss’ precious daughter—so that Tooru understands what it means to be responsible for another life.

At first, the two do not seem to meet eye to eye, as Tooru has no clue on how to communicate with Yaeka, and the young girl is not used to expressing her emotions. However, as time goes on, they come to understand each other despite their differences. The fearsome right-hand man of a yakuza boss and the child he must protect are about to learn that family is not always bound by blood.
via MAL

The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting. I remember seeing a short clip of this anime on my facebook feed last year, and I knew instantly that I would enjoy it. And I sure did!

I’m not sure how it started, but I usually enjoy my slice of life anime and thankfully the record’s not been broken yet, *wink.

Opening & Ending Themes

Cute kids with a very interesting set of characters?! Instant like! There’s just something about slice of life opening that gets me extra excited cuz I know it’s going to be really good. And that’s what this series gave me. Just with its opening alone, you can already see that this is going to be a fun and heartwarming watch.

Ending theme on the other hand is just like in your usual anime series, it was simple with end credits paired with a really good song and art.

Story

You can already guess it based on its name right away, a yazuka babysitter! Exciting eh? Because of his notoriety in the underworld, Kirishima is widely known as the demon of the Sakuragi family. A man who is not afraid to resort to violence tasked by their yakuza boss to look after his 7-year old daughter after almost jeopardizing a peace treaty. Will this work?

The start of this series already gave me the scary side of Kirishima so seeing him flustered because he doesn’t know how to deal with kids makes me really root for him. And he sure didn’t disappoint because we can already see as early as its first episode that he is trying. For someone who is known as a demon, he sure knows how to tug our hearts with his words and actions toward the young Yaeka. Their interactions are just so precious <3

It also makes me so proud seeing how our little Yaeka grows. She used to be a quiet kid so seeing how she interacted with others and finally gained friends makes me so happy. She doesn’t have a mother growing up; she’s in a coma because of an accident when she’s still a baby. And that’s why I think Kirishima’s presence in her life is so important in guiding her. Who would have thought that he’s going to be fit for the job eh.

Overall, it’s really a heartwarming series. Aside from that, it also gave me some laughs. That said, I’m sure everyone will enjoy this anime 🙂

Characters

All the characters in this series are very likable, considering the majority of them are yakuza. Can you see the irony?, hahaha. I think this is what makes slice of life a really good genre because it’s rare to meet characters that you will really hate.

As for the main focus of this series, Kirishima, you will really love seeing how his character grows. He was this very scary character at first, so everytime I see how he acts really kind and sweet to young Yaeka, I can’t help but be proud. He was actually a character that always ran away when things get too overwhelming for him, so I was one proud mama when he finally learned to face it with the help of his family, especially the young Yaeka.

And speaking of Yaeka, she’s such an adorable kid. She struggled on accepting what happened to her mother, and sometimes interacting with others so it’s really nice that she now has Kirishima by her side. He gives Yaeka not just kindness but also courage to push forward.

Another thing I liked about this series is that it didn’t just center on the main character, but it also gave spotlight to other characters as well. So it was really nice learning more about them, and relating to them.

Art & Animation

I love everything that I see in this anime. From the character design to the overall feel of the anime, it was perfect for this series! And the kids are extremely adorable in this series, everytime I see one I keep saying adorable. I think I’ve been chanting that word A LOT while watching this series, lol.

***

It’s nice seeing a good anime these days that provides life lessons in a most relatable way. I didn’t just learn something from Kirishima but from most of the characters in this anime as well. The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting is definitely a great watch. I hope you’ll give it a try! And if you do, get your tissues ready, *wink.