English Dub Review: Mission: Yozakura Family “Old Blood”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Taiyo faces Makoto, where he learns a major secret about the Yozakura family.

OUR TAKE

We’re one episode from the end and all of the top bad guys except Makoto have been defeated by the other siblings, so now we’re down to just the final battle, which naturally means Taiyo is the one to confront the man who killed his family and threatens the world. He’s come a long way from the beginning of the series, when he could barely hold a conversation with another human being, and now he’s tackling a guy to the ground to stop him from poisoning the world’s water supply! I guess the real lesson here is that joining the mob can cure your social anxiety, right? I kid, though this set is almost kind of…too obvious? Like it’s as clear a final battle format for a hero’s journey as we can get, but it’s certainly been earned and feels like we did the work necessary to get here. In terms of Taiyo’s part in this, it’s pretty simple what he needs to do. However, for Makoto, things have gotten just a bit more complicated, as we now reveal that he was a secret scientist during the closing days of World War 2, and I don’t know if you remember your history but Japan wasn’t exactly doing awesome stuff around that time.

Apparently he was looking after the first head of the Yozakura Family, Tsubomi, whose only wish was to be a normal human being. Makoto did several experiments but found he simply did not have the technology to help cure her and was then almost killed by Japanese authorities. However, Tsubomi saved him with her blood and tasked him with giving the whole world powers so she wouldn’t feel like such a freak. Or at least that’s how he interpreted her request, and how could someone who wants to poison the world’s water be wrong? This reveal does add some complexity and layers to Makoto’s motives and goals, though even with a sad backstory to go on, he’s still doing terrible things and trying to mutate billions of people against their will, so it’s still pretty evil. Still, his connection to the very first head of the family is an interesting one, and it may explain Momo’s involvement, though it’s certainly worth looking into as to how the family did not know what their very first head wanted. But that just leaves the season finale for next week, so come back then to see how this all wraps up!