Raise wa Tanin ga Ii or better known as Yakuza Fiancé is a romance manga by Asuka Konishi. Kodansha released the first chapter in ‘Monthly Afternoon’ in 2017. They released the first volume in November of the same year.
The critically acclaimed romantic crime manga has gotten recognition from the community. In 2018 they won the Tsugi ni Kuru Manga Award in the print category. In 2019 it ranked eighth in Top 20 manga series for male readers and in 2022 they nominated it for the 46th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category.
Due to its popularity, author Asuka Konishi announced in October 2023 that there will be an anime adaptation.
Studio DEEN will be producing the anime adaptation. They are best known for KonoSuba and most recently are doing Rick and Morty: The Anime.
Toshifume Kawase and Rika Takasugi will be directing it. The main cast will include Akira Ishida, famous for his role as Gaara in the Naruto series. Hitomi Ueda will also join, marking her first major role.
Synopsis
Yoshino Somei is a sheltered Yakuza Princess. The granddaughter of the leader of the Somei Group, a crime family in Osaka. They are affiliated with the largest Yakuza group in the Kansai Region.
One day she gets news about a truce between the Somei and their rival. Her grandfather signed a truce with the Tokyo-based Miyama crime family; as a result he offers Yoshino as a truce bride. She tries to annul the arranged marriage but to no avail.
Yoshino visits Tokyo to meet her fiance, Kirishima Miyama, who is surprisingly nice and has some charm to him. Yoshino can’t let the East-West peace treaty slip away. She gets suckered into it and six months later she now lives with a rival family in Tokyo.
She ends up going to the same school as her fiance. Yoshino learns that Kirishima is popular at school. He is so popular that Yoshino gets shunned and bullied by other girls.
She learns a lot about Kirishima quickly and wonder’s who he truly is.
Why Yakuza Fiancé is a New Take
This cliché of arranged marriages between rival yakuza groups isn’t new in the romance genre. We’ve seen this cliché in the popular romance/harem Nisekoi. However, I think what makes this unique is the characters and their dynamic.
Yoshino is the likable character of the two. She is tough and smart.
She wanted to leave Tokyo not even one month after moving. Yoshino learns early on that Kirishima is a bit extreme but she sticks to the treaty. Despite feeling lonely in Tokyo, she remains in control and keeps her head on her shoulders.
Yoshino (from what I’ve read in the manga so far) does not have any love for Kirishima at all. She suspects he’s hiding something more sinister than what she has already seen.
On the other hand is Kirishima. I think the author intentionally wrote him as an unlikable character He does not have the usual Male Lead ‘characteristics’.
He’s super clingy and obsessive like Zenitsu from Demon Slayer, whom some fans heavily dislike. Instead of having a cool powerhouse side like Zenitsu, Kirishima has a sadomasochist side. Early in the story, we see that he has no problem inflicting pain. Throughout the story you get to see how he loves to receive pain as well, anything from physical to emotional pain, he loves it.
Unlike Yoshino, Kirishima falls for her hard. At first he didn’t find Yoshino interesting at all, but after she did something to spite him, he fell head over heels.
Yakuza Fiancé Anime Release Date
Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii will air in October 2024. You will be able to stream it on Crunchyroll and other free platforms.
Here is the trailer.
The Awaited Arrival
Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii is a unique addition to the romance genre. It blends the cliché trope with an interesting dynamic between the leads. Asuka Konishi’s manga has already made a significant impact.
It has earned accolades such as the Next Manga Award as well as a nomination for the Kodansha Manga Award. Studio DEEN’s upcoming anime adaptation, directed by Toshifume Kawase and Rika Takasugi, aims to captivate a broader audience.
The story of Yoshino Somei and Kirishima Miyama offers more than just a typical romance. Yoshino’s resilience and determination, paired with Kirishima’s unsettling complexity, create a narrative that challenges conventional character archetypes. This blend of strong, unique leads and a plot steeped in the yakuza business promises a compelling viewing experience.
The Yakuza Fiancé anime is poised to make a significant impact in the world of anime. Once it starts streaming in October 2024.
