English Dub Review: The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting “A Bad Person”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

A few yakuza members try to get revenge against Kirishima by using Yaeka as bait.

Our Take:

I’ve always feared that someone or something terrible would occur to ruin the Sakuragi family’s happiness. Even during the sentimental moments between the members, evil lurks around, waiting for an opportunity to raise hell upon them. In this week’s shocking episode, my fear finally came to fruition as a group of men arrived to settle the score with Kirishima.

The three men, led by former Amaya Yakuza Shinmoto, kidnap the young Yaeka to get revenge on Kirishima for his past actions against them. But, of course, their plan suddenly backfired when Shinmoto accidentally hits Yaeka. As a result, Kirishima immediately goes into beast mode and beats Shinmoto senselessly, including breaking his arm. Honestly, if the same thing happened to me, I would be pretty pissed too. Yaeka is such an adorable character to witness throughout the season, and I would beat anyone who lays a finger on her. Not literally, though, because I’m a nice person.

After several heartwarming slice-of-life altercations between the characters, including a hilarious day at the park, “A Bad Person” takes a turn for the worse, with Kirishima unleashing his fury on those responsible. After witnessing Shinmoto knocking Yaeka unconscious, Kirishima’s dark side has reawakened, reverting himself back to his “Sakuragi’s Demon” self. Even though Kazuhiko’s responsible for finding the people who harmed his daughter, that doesn’t stop Kirishima from taking matters into his own hands, especially since he has grown attached to Yaeka.

One of the elements that piqued my interest in The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting was Kirishima walking the line between a good human being and a violent demon. Amid his babysitting job, Kirishima has occasionally struggled to be a great babysitter to Yaeka and the family while controlling his temper. We’ve seen a few people push Kirishima’s buttons to revert him to his brutal ways, including Masaya, who attempted and failed to get Kirishima to fight him again. Now, it looks like the former Demon has finally reached his breaking point, thanks to Shinmoto and Mashiro, who orchestrated Yaeka’s kidnapping to see Sakuragi’s Demon being unleashed again. That’s how you know how much of a prick Mashiro is.

If you’ve been enjoying the previous episodes for their heartfelt moments involving the Sakuragi family, then this one will definitely break your heart in half. Not just because of what happened to Yaeka, but also because Kirishima is fueled by pain and anger due to the former yakuza members harming the child. That’s how I would describe my feelings toward “A Bad Person”, a compelling climax that sets the stage for a potential confrontation between the Sakuragi and the other yakuza members, including Mashiro. It’s faced with the task of combining light-hearted comedy with its grim yakuza drama, and it accomplished that goal effectively. Now the big question for the remaining episodes is whether Kazuhiko can stop Kirishima’s vengeful rampage before it’s too late.