English Dub Review: The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting “Kirishima’s Day Off”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Kirishima accompanies Sakuragi to a meeting with other heads of yakuza families. On their way home, they run into Rei, who is Kirishima’s classmate from middle school. Rei is much more feminine now, and Kirishima doesn’t know how to react. Meanwhile, Yaeka was trying to bake a cake with Kanami. Who could be the lucky person that Yaeka is making the cake for?

Our Take:
This week’s episode has Kirishima taking a day off from babysitting Yaeka. Although, he seems to be doing okay with his new job based on the previous episodes. However, that doesn’t mean his problems are taking a break as well. One, in particular, is that Kirishima taking care of Kazuhiko’s daughter makes himself more friendly than threatening. With news spreading that Kirishima is a babysitter, some of the yakuza members believe that Kirishima’s no longer Sakuragi’s Demon, including Yanagi, a lieutenant from the Kusagami family.
Yanagi serves as the episode’s central conflict because he no longer sees Kirishima as a threat. Additionally, he and the Kusagami family take over the restaurant owned by the Sakuragi as revenge for getting kicked out by Kirishima. Thankfully, Kirishima managed to single-handedly solve the problem by having Kanami bury him and his friend up to their necks.
The episode offers the usual yakuza action we’d expect, with Kirishima being at odds against a member from another yakuza family. However, it never shies away from the charm and endearing nature that accompanies it. The primary example is when Sugihara attempts to hang out with Yaeka while Kirishima’s out. Unfortunately, Yaeka loves talking about Kirishima, making Sugihara concerned that she likes Kirishima more than him. This moment felt inconclusive when considering the other stuff happening, but seeing Sugihara hang out with Yaeka was enough to make me smile.
Another example is Yaeka making a chocolate cake for Kirishima with Kanami and Ayumu. It showcases how much her relationship with Kirishima has grown to the point where she’s making something herself. If that doesn’t make people crack a big grin, I don’t know what will.
“Kirishima’s Day Off” is a brief yet overly charming vacation with a consistent mixture of yakuza action and heartfelt human drama. More importantly, it unravels more of the looming threat that seeks to jeopardize Kirishima’s new job and possibly his entire family. The threat happens to be Yuri Mashiro, a member of the Momoyama Yakuza who’s also the one spying on Kirishima. Assuming that Mashiro killed Yanagi and his friend with a shovel, it looks like Kirishima might need to add him to his list of issues worth dealing with.