English Dub Review: Mission – Yozakura Family “Interrogation; Date”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Taiyo meets the police officer who covers up the Yozakura Family’s murders. Later, Taiyo and Mutsumi go on a date, but also keep on the look out for a dangerous couple.

OUR TAKE

This show continues its now established trend of having perfectly fine episodes that continue to build on the story’s status quo. Last week had two segments giving us the basics on two of the Yozakura family members, so I figured this week would be the same, but instead it’s more focused on building upon Taiyo and Mutsumi’s relationship. Which is fine, since that is the heart of the show after all, and the way it goes about it is pretty cute. Instead of a regular day of school, Taiyo is tested to be able to fight in his sleep when he’s put under sleeping gas. When faced with a chance to rat on the family to the police, Taiyo buckles down and stays loyal. And even what should be a regular date turns into a mission, but both Taiyo and Mutsumi work together to complete it, bonding further and growing together in the process. By this point, we have a clear idea at the flavor of how this story will be handling things. Seemingly normal thing followed by a more deadly and assassin or spy related twist. Which is fine, it’s good to have a consistent gimmick, I just hope they manage to keep it feeling fresh as we get further into the series and start getting to know the deeper aspects of this world.

I guess I wish I had a bit more to talk about regarding this week’s episode, but then again, that may be by design. By the fifth episode of any anime, if you’re still watching, you’re basically locked in for at least a little while longer. I’m not saying that’s where shonen writers tend to go on autopilot or coast on the goodwill they’ve built up, but just that it can be possible there is a bit of a lull here as things gear up for their first major status quo shift. As said, all this time has been focusing on laying the thematic foundation for the series: Taiyo training and building himself up from his depressed and scared self to being a competent spy and assassin who can protect Mutsumi as her husband. Obviously he’s still got a long way to go, but he’s shown that he’s loyal to the family, he’s committed to whatever training they throw at him, and he’s learning to expect the unexpected. Now seems like the time where the story can start adding bigger elements besides just other members of the family and their allies, and I think we’ll start seeing those next week.