Overview:
After killing his daughter’s abusive yakuza boyfriend to save her, ordinary salaryman Tetsuo Tosu becomes embroiled in the dark criminal underworld. The wish for a simple life he and his wife Kasen had for their daughter has been reduced to a wish for survival. Though middle-aged and weak, he’ll put his life on the line using only his wits in order to protect his family.
Our Take:
Almost every week of this show I was wondering if I had a heart condition because I was stressed out watching this. I suppose you could take that as a bad thing but it also depends on what you’re looking for. Yes it was stressful but it took me back to when television was at it’s best in my opinion during the peak Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad days. You never know what’s going to happen and it definitely keeps you on your toes.
Honestly, I would say the biggest negative I have to say for this show is that it doesn’t really resolve much. Kyoichi, who isn’t a bad guy per se but is definitely acting against Tetsuo, is still out there and now know’s he was framed. Tetsuo killed another person and the season ends with a typhoon seemingly causing the body to be discovered. This anime doesn’t seem like it will get a second season anytime soon so that’s a disappointment.
Other than that though it was a solid anime that I really looked forward to week after week. The animation was well done, though it didn’t need to do anything too crazy given the setting. I want to say that the ending song was an absolute banger. If you’re like me and have an anime song playlist you’ll want to add “Decided” by Dizzy Sunfist as soon as possible.
The characters were great, I really loved how Kasen and Tetsuo were a positive example of a married couple (Well, besides the murder) that you don’t see often in media. They’re supportive and help each other no questions asked. Reika, their daughter, was kind of annoying given everything they were going through to keep her safe. To be fair she does get better as a character and she also had no way of knowing what was happening. It was really nice that I didn’t necessarily feel like anyone was “evil” you could understand most characters motivations.
My Home Hero was the crime drama anime I didn’t know I needed. There are a few out there like 91 Days and Banana Fish but most of those focus on crime in America. In fact, a lot of anime I’ve watched on the Yakuza tend to show them in a funny light so this is one of the first I’ve seen that shows them in a more grounded fashion. If you’re like me and enjoy this sort of show then you can’t go wrong with My Home Hero.