Taking the Plunge

At least with Tsubaki's infatuation with Renji, I can be confident Konishi won't pull an "enemies to lovers" thing with these two. 

It's been about 5 months since we looked at volume 4 of Yakuza Fiance, with Kirishima and Yoshino on Yoshino's home turf around Osaka, dealing with a bunch of goons out for revenge after they got humiliated in volumes 1 and 2. Yoshino tried clearing a path for Kirishima to get at the guy who seemed to be masterminding it, and Kirishima promptly ignored her in favor of his own plan. Which is to lure the goons to a street that's crowded after a fireworks festival, then ambush the idiots one at a time. Simple, time-consuming, but probably ultimately effective.

But while he's doing things the slow way, Yoshino's still following the pretty boy, who confronts the main goon about not following the plan. More critically, Pretty Boy reveals someone is pulling his strings. A guy named Azami, who eventually confronts Kirishima.

Kirishima recognizes him once he gets off the surgical mask Azami wears to cover a facial scar, though how he knows him is not revealed. But Azami's not here for Kirishima. In fact, despite the knife fight with no clear victor, and Kirishima ending up with a bite on his forearm, Azami insists no one except trash like those goons would care about Kirishima. Azami was here to meet Yoshino. Why? Again, unknown, though the guy with the squirrel's nest hairdo fighting Shouma hints there's going to be some big turf war soon.

While the boys are having inconclusive fights, Yoshino manages to bring down the main goon, even if it isn't the prettiest win. He knocks out one of her teeth and bloodies her nose, while she bangs up her knees when she does a bike jump into his face. Still, she makes it work

With Azami and Squirrel Nest receding into the shadows, the goon squad back in the hospital, and Pretty Boy blackmailed into backing off, Yoshino now has to deal with the consequences of her bet with Kirishima. He did wrap things up before midnight, though it would have gone smoother if he just worked with Yoshino. Either way, between that and Yoshino losing at rock-paper-scissors, they are now officially dating.

Of course, Yoshino has no idea what that entails, and there's also the fact she's trying (and failing) to keep her grandfather from finding out what they were up to. . .

So the volume draws a line under a few minor things. I assume after this second ass-kicking these goons will finally get a clue and stay away. Kirishima presumably won't be sleeping with other women if he's dating Yoshino. But it's more about foreshadowing. We see Kirishima and Renji together, and Konishi also fleshes out some more backstory between Renji and Gaku (Kirishima's great-uncle.) Though I don't see the sharp resemblance between Gaku and Kirishima that Renji claims is their. Even the flashbacks to Young Gaku, his eyes are narrower and his forehead rounder.

I think that sequence is mostly to reinforce the idea of Renji as this sort of goofball, who stole his friend's car and wrecked it, then showed up with a bicycle he found abandoned and got his ass kicked. All of which set-ups the reveal he knew all about what Kirishima and Yoshino got up to, and he's not so mellow a guy as he appears. He knows something big is coming, and he may not be able to protect Yoshino from it. Or maybe from himself, as it's heavily implied he knows his son's death was no accident, but held off from going for revenge for some, again unknown, reason. 

Besides all that ominous stuff, we see more of Yoshino and Shouma's relationship, where he wants to look out for her, but also busts her chops when she does something like borrow the family truck for surveillance. The part where Yoshino explains how she figured things out, and Kirishima admits she slipped a couple of things past him was nice. Contrary to what Kirishima says about how he'd do anything to make her like him, he's always the one that seems to have the upper hand. It feels like Yoshino ought to get a win once in a while.

There's also a somewhat random reveal that Shouma and Tsubaki hate each other. I guess Konishi wanted a different kind of friction than between Shouma and Kirishima, since those two are quick to move to violence. And lo and behold, the volume ends with the two of them meeting in an empty park.

Insane Devotion has Its Perks

These were the funniest panels in the entire volume. It's the combination of the phrase, her weird expression, and Renji's reaction.

Volume 3 of Yakuza Fiance starts with Yoshino planning when she'll bring Kirishima to Osaka to meet the folks. Writer/artist Asuka Konishi will circle back around to that at the end of the volume, setting up some of the trainwreck we saw unfold in volume 4, but it's what happens in between Yoshino's planning and the actual finalizing of the schedule that's more entertaining.

Starting with Yoshino getting weird vibes off Kirishima. I mean weird for him, not a regular person. He seems more distant, until the moments where his intensity makes Yoshino feel like he's ready to kill her. Turns out, he really doesn't like her mentioning Shouma, but doesn't even realize it's making him jealous until she points it out.

Which is odd because, assuming we take him at his word, he doesn't have a problem with Yoshino cheating on him (even though they aren't officially dating at this point), so as long as he gets to a) watch, and b) kill the guy after. Yowza. He offers to pretend to behave normally, but Yoshino tells him he might as well act like himself, instead of half-assing being "normal." Which does fall in line with her previous comment that she admires how unapologetically himself he is. This seems to settle something in the roiling, deep-sea hydrothermal vent that is Kirishima's mind, and he's back to doting on her.

Just in time, because Yoshino catches a summer cold (normal for her), but it gets really bad. I give Kirishima a lot of grief - because dating him seems roughly as bad an idea as dating Deadpool - but he really does work hard to look after Yoshino. Gets her cold packs, fluids, foods that are easy on the stomach. Checks in regularly via text. When he returns late that evening and she hasn't responded for hours, he at least texts that he's worried and going to pick her lock to check on her before doing it. And he apologizes for taking her to the hospital, because Yoshino hates hospitals for reasons not revealed. Though Konishi also has Yoshino make this absurd noise I think is supposed to be her saying "no" in a groggy or stuffed up state whenever Kirishima suggests it.

The remainder of the volume revolves around Kirishima (and us) meeting Yoshino's friend and cousin(?) Tsubaki. Tsubaki's grandmother was one of Renji's mistresses, with Tsubaki's mother allegedly the result of that affair. Which does not keep Tsubaki from declaring Renji a 'work of art crafted by a god,' and being extremely hot for him.

But Tsubaki might just be saying it to get a rise out of Yoshino. They get along, but Konishi definitely writes Tsubaki as someone who loves drama. If there's none happening organically, she'll stir it up, to the extent of mentioning she thought of sleeping with Kirishima if Yoshino had already done it, so they could be 'lay sisters.' Between Tsubaki saying stuff like that with a coy smile and a giggle, and Kirishima's general, everything, it's amazing Yoshino's hair doesn't go grey from trying to deal with both of them at the same time.

As it turns out, Kirishima came along on this trip specifically to speak with Tsubaki. He figured out she helped arrange the removal of Yoshino's kidney. Except it wasn't actually a kidney, though Yoshino doesn't know it. Kirishima wants some answers, basically.

When I reviewed volume 1, I commented it kind of undercut the power move by Yoshino, but I've reconsidered. Yoshino doesn't know that's what happened, and what she actually lost - 1.5 liters of blood - could have killed her. But as Tsubaki puts it to Kirishima, 'She said she would rather die than let you think she was a joke. So she risked her life. To get even.'  That's pretty intense, and speaks to Yoshino's determination, as well as something Kirishima mentions in a phone conversation with Renji (that Yoshino is unaware of) in this volume. He says, rather than flee a dangerous situation, Yoshino would do her best to adapt and live normally. Of course, Kirishima mentions it as something that compromises her ability to judge risk, which is probably true.

The whole story also gives Tsubaki the opportunity to show her loyalty to Yoshino by threatening Kirishima with the prospect of never seeing Yoshino again. Though it's undercut later by her sending him a photo of Yoshino (slurping ramen while in a swimsuit) in exchange for scans of those photos of young Renji and Gaku that were mentioned in volume 2. That girl is always starting shit.

How to Housebreak Your Crazy Fiance

The "Hanky Panky" sound effect is great.

OK, backtracking to the 2nd volume of Yakuza Fiance. The first volume ended by introducing a subplot about the daughter of the leader of a subgroup in the same larger organization Kirishima's grandfather is part of. I don't really understand the ins and outs of that stuff; the best I can do is think of it as really big rival corporations, each with many smaller companies within them.

Kirishima seems to be looking into it on his own time, but it's Yoshino who catches a glimpse of the "missing" gir, going into a club on the turf of the same group her family is part of. Hence why no one from the Tokusa Clan could find her, because it'd risk a turf war to go there. But Yoshino's family is part of the Kirigaya Faction, so she can go, and bring Kirishima with her.

At that point, the book briefly turns into a detective story, with Kirishima busting into the VIP room and casually explaining everything that's gone on. The girl was running a scam with one her dad's employees in makeshift gambling parlors and ripped off members of the Filipino Mafia, who responded violently. Once three more guys show up and the leader casually backhands Yoshino, it ceases to resemble a Raymond Chandler story, and becomes The Raid, as Kirishima goes HAM on the entire room. I'm pretty sure one guy gets stabbed in the eye with a fork, and Kirishima takes a knife to the thigh like it's nothing.

Yoshino needs a minute to get into the groove, but ends up K.O'ing the leader with a liquor bottle and keeping Kirishima from killing anyone. RIP to that one guy's eye, though. The whole situation is largely resolved, though the guy Yoshino hit and his cronies are the ones out for revenge in volume 4.

The second half of the volume is focused on Kirishima and Yoshino's evolving situation, though it starts with Kirishima and some other woman in a hotel room. While he's eagerly describing how Yoshino won't ever let him take photos of her, and gets angry enough he thinks she'd kill him if he tried anything, the woman points out it sounds like Yoshino hates him. No shit. Kirishima is flummoxed by this notion, and decides he should start sneaking into Yoshino's home and watch her sleep. When caught, he explains it's because she won't look angry when she's asleep.

I don't know, what do you even do with someone like that? He has this particularly wide-eyed and lost expression when he says it, too. It's like dealing with a feral cat. Yoshino is at least getting an idea of how he thinks, so she doesn't waste time phrasing her orders in terms of laws or morality. She also reveals she knows he's got other women on the side, but she doesn't care, because he doesn't mean anything to her. It's funny, because her friends will later criticize her for not keeping closer tabs on Kirishima, or for seeming indifferent to what he gets up to. And I'm sitting here going, yes, she is indifferent. What's your point? She does compliment him on how true to himself he is, so I guess that's something he can cling to, like a barnacle on a whale's jaw.

From there, her old friend Shouma arrives to deliver a photo album she asked for, and based on what Yoshino tells him, offers to kill Kirishima any time she asks. Yoshino's not really prepared for that, but then Kirishima shows up outside Shouma's hotel, and that doesn't do anything to dissolve the tension. Shouma clearly dislikes Kirishima, and Kirishima can't stop trying to egg Shouma on. That'll come to a head later.

Asuka Konishi mentions in a note at the end of the volume that Shouma is sort of a bunch of bad boy characters all averaged together, but I like him better than Kirishima. He's subdued, to the point of seeming apathetic about everything. But he obviously cares about Yoshino, enough to question her desire to stay and try to "win" this thing with Kirishima, but still respect her choice. Konishi's very good at showing how comfortable the two are with each other. Yoshino can yell at him, or Shouma can bust her chops about losing her temper, but it's all good-natured and a sign of people with a long, positive history together.

One other thing worth noting, though I'm not sure how it'll play out. We get a little backstory about Yoshino, as well as about her grandfather and Kirishima's grunkle. One, Yoshino's dad hated Yakuza, moved out as soon as he could, and died in a car accident (which Kirishima's reaction clearly indicates was no accident.) Two, Renji (Yoshino's granddad) and Gaku (Kirishima's grunkle) are longtime friends, but the way it's framed and described - 'it's quite touching to think they were good friends when they were young' - screams there's some underlying tension that's going to explode eventually. And Yoshino's presence in Tokyo is part of that, though whether she's meant to keep a lid on it, or set the whole thing off is unclear.

Inconsiderate Guests are the Worst

It looks more like a squirrel's nest to me. Or maybe a loofah got glued to his skull.

Due to my buying things out of order, we're jumping ahead to volume 4 of Yakuza Fiance. Yoshino returns to Osaka over the summer break. One thing of note, in volume 1, writer/artist Asuka Konishi would show Yoshino's Kansai dialect through words like "youse" that slipped in when she let her polite facade slip. Here, Konishi has Osakan locals use more, well, British or English slang. Some older women at a restaurant where Yoshino finds Shouma say "blokes", and Shouma calls them "gits." A different approach to transcribing regional dialect differences into a different language, I guess.

At any rate, Kirishima tagged along, for reasons other than hanging around Yoshino. An old school acquaintance and hook-up of his, Shiota Nao, is in town as well. Ostensibly there on a school project and networking to boost her career, she's actually being used by some guys Kirishima and Yoshino messed up a couple of volumes ago. The guys want payback, and Nao is supposed to get Kirishima and Yoshino in the same place for that to happen.

Except Kirishima knows this, and is just playing along while trying to keep Yoshino in the dark. Too bad Yoshino is already aware of it. Konishi does a nice job setting that up by casually showing this is Yoshino's home ground and she has lots of connections. Yoshino earlier mentions that if Kirishima wants to take a trip, she knows a lady who can set that up for him easily, and she knows another person who can get him a proper traveling suitcase to deal with cobbled streets if he visits Europe.

So Yoshino's got a plan, but as is repeatedly the case when Konishi shows Yoshino trying to seize the initiative, Kirishima won't play along. Yoshino finds the pretty boy fronting the revenge scheme, with only a few goons to go through, and tells Kirishima to hurry to her location (knowing he's tracking her phone.) Kirishima instead drags in Yoshino's lifelong friend Shouma to look after Nao (by pretending it's Yoshino he needs Shouma to pick up) and goes ahead with his own plan. 

Which is a big problem with this manga. Even setting aside all the creepy stalker shit Kirishima does - there's a brief strip at the end of the book that reveals he paid for an illegal app so his phone can take photos without the shutter sound, letting him photograph Yoshino without her knowledge, and this is apparently supposed to be cute - he doesn't really seem to respect her opinions or knowledge. She's known what he's been up to for awhile and made her own plans without his knowing it. She even met Nao and exchanged contact info in a way Kirishima wouldn't catch, but he won't acknowledge that maybe he ought to follow her lead on this, while still claiming he's the only man who could love her.

I like Yoshino, I like Shouma - who seems like kind of a perpetually sullen guy, but is kind in his own way - I like Yoshino's friend Tsubaki (who doesn't show up in this volume but is in most of the others I own), and Yoshino's grandfather (outwardly goofy guy that he is.) There's just a big, Kirishima-shaped problem right smack in the middle of the book.

On another note, Nao spots Kirishima and Yoshino at one point while Yoshino's checking out a potential college (apparently something Kirishima engineered as part of his plan, but which Yoshino uses to learn more about him, and Konishi uses to set up a flashback we'll see in volume 8.) Nao ends up following Yoshino for a while, and after Yoshino asks for directions (allegedly confusing Nao for a student), Nao dismisses her as a, 'basic bumpkin bitch.' She'd already thought of Yoshino as a bitch once, just watching her walk across the campus (see above image). Yoshino didn't say or do anything, seemingly completely absorbed in something on her phone, so I don't know how Nao drew that conclusion. 

But Nao's portrayed as someone who uses other people for her own gain without hesitation. Being kind to her male classmates so they'll do her schoolwork for nothing, sleeping with Kirishima to try and exploit his connection to the yakuza. Even people who seem to like her describe as just pretending to be nice to get things from people. So my guess is we're meant to see it as Nao projecting herself onto Yoshino. She thinks Yoshino's, 'never had to compare herself against other girls,' I guess because Yoshino seems unaware of the looks she gets from other women, but we know Yoshino's fully aware of the gossip about her being a club hostess, or how much older and mature she looks than her classmates.

A Match Made in a Nightmare

Leave that kind of info on your anonymous tumblr.

Yakuza Fiance is about Yoshino Somei, the granddaughter of the head of a Osakan crime family, and Kirishima Miyama, the grand-nephew of the head of a Tokyo crime family, considering getting engaged, as a sort of peace accord between eastern and western Yakuza.

In the first volume, Yoshino is to spend a year in Tokyo as sort of a "get-to-know-you" thing with Kirishima, even attending the same school, leaving her in an unusual position. On the one hand, people here don't avoid her like they did back home, because none of the students know she's essentially a mafia princess. On the other, it means the girls that swoon over Kirishima feel free to bully and gossip about the new girl everyone apparently thinks has call girl, or 'divorced mom'(?) looks. Yoshino is in enemy territory, so to speak, with no friends or family, no one to rely on but Kirishima. And while he smiles pleasantly a lot, every so often she catches a glimpse of something that makes her wonder.

In those scenes, writer/artist Asuka Konishi typically either shades Kirishima differently, or replaces his typical, closed-eye smile with one where his eyes are narrowed. Or, once he reveals his true colors after saving Yoshino from some creeps, draws him with one eye narrowed more than the other, like he's either in pain or nuts (see the image at the top of the post.)

Shaken by what she's learned and been told - Kirishima explains he's bored of her already, because she's not the vicious bitch he hoped for, and suggests she sell her body to be useful - but ordered by her grandfather to hang in there for a year, Yoshino finally shows her own true colors. Konishi's written her extremely polite with Kirishima and everyone else, but the scenes of her with her grandfather show she's prone to dramatic reactions. Still, with no choice but to meet Kirishima's crazy with her own, Yoshino responds with a move that made me stop and go, "Oh shit." Unfortunately, that only convinces Kirishima she really is the kind of girl he hoped for, and now he's infatuated.

(Konishi will undercut Yoshino's big moment in a couple of volumes, which was disappointing, but probably a wise decision in the long run.)

Yoshino hasn't exactly leveled the playing field; her internal narration and behavior still shows she's extremely nervous around this lunatic masochist, but she's not holding herself back out of fear of disgracing herself. Konishi has her slip into less formal speak - the word "youse", for example - as a sign of her Kansai dialect, or shorten words by leaving off the "g", which is what Kiyohiko Azuma used for Yotsuba's grandmother. (The English dub of Azumanga Daioh gave the character from Osaka a Texas accent to distinguish her speech from the other characters.) Konishi also adds either a dark aura around Yoshino, or covers the background in shadows that seem to bleed down the panel.

The story's concept is interesting, though Kirishima is so off-putting, even after he's smitten, that it's hard to want to see he and Yoshino interact. Putting a tracker in her electronic dictionary is just creepy, and since Yoshino yelling at him doesn't seem to produce any noticeable change in behavior, it's not exactly satisfying. But I do like Yoshino, who seems kind, but with a stubborn and contrary nature that makes her fun to read.