Kirishima Tooru is the right-hand man of the Sakuragi crime family. For him, the job is a perfect excuse to let his violent instincts run wild, earning him the nickname “the Demon of Sakuragi”. It seems like nothing will stand in the way of his vicious nature.
But then one day, he receives an assignment like never before from the boss—babysitting his daughter!
This is the heartwarming (or is it bloodcurdling?) story of a little girl and her yakuza caretaker!
Kirishima Tooru is a high-up member of the Sakuragi yakuza, and then his boss asks him to babysit and accompany his young daughter.
Kirishima is known for his violent outbursts, so that seems an interesting choice for a chaperone. Kirishima thinks the same, but has no choice to take the assignment.
What I like about the book is that it doesn't entirely go down the expected route - you'd perhaps expect Kirishima to be all annoyed and grumpy, and the girl to be overly sweet or annoying. Their relationship is more exploratory, feeling out who they both are, what they can do for eachother.
The art is nice, sometimes it's a bit too twee for my taste, but sometimes that's what you get with manga.
3.5 stars
(Thanks to Kaiten Books for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
I'm so glad that "yakuza doing non-yakuza things" is a valid manga genre. This is more sweet than funny, but that's far from a bad thing, and it has a lot of potential.
Don’t let the inclusion of the word “Yakuza” in the title deceive you into thinking there’s some hardcore violence and mob gang action in here because there’s not. This was pure fluff and cuteness. And I loved that!
Sure, you could make a fuss about the lack of storyline and the lack of character depth, but really why would you? This was a cute and quick read, just a moment of wholesome content and nothing for your mind to linger on. It excelled at that much and I can’t wait for more wholesome content of this unexpectedly lovely duo.
03.30.2023: there's a certain, SPECIAL sense of satisfaction when one discover's that one's wishes are being fulfilled... xD (looking forward to the library copy!!)
Kirishima, the toughest yakuza in his organization, is handpicked by the boss to babysit his young daughter in the absence of her mother. From mobster to manny! But unlike the other titles I mentioned, this one doesn't go for nearly as much broad and campy action/comedy, preferring to dwell on the warm and fuzzy awwwwwww moments of relationship developments with the sweet little girl and the supposedly hard men around her. It's nice.
I like seeing the translator getting cover credit -- you don't see that often on manga -- but it feels a little odd that her name takes up more space on the cover than the person who wrote and drew the book.
i love how this is just pure fluff! very fast read with adorable characters as well. the dynamic between tooru and yaeka as babysitter and kid is really cute, and i can see friendship blooming between them as they change each other for the better. 10/10 would highly recommend!
Got to read the English version for free through a Bookwalker promotion. Nice! Neither the characters nor the story hooked me particularly — the part I found the most interesting was probably the author’s brief note at the back about how this title was their first success, after they decided to draw what their heart desired and to post it online. Still, a simple and sweet story.
Qu’est-ce qui m’a décidée à lire ce manga qui est une nouvelle série ? Je ne sais pas, sans doute le fait que j’étais curieuse de voir comment un yakuza allait gérer une enfant ?
Tout à fait entre nous, j’avais peur que ce soit un peu trop gnangnan et ennuyeux avec des redondances, mais pas du tout ! De vous à moi, cette lecture fut une très belle surprise ! Déjà, parce que j’aime beaucoup les dessins et ensuite parce que l’histoire une certaine profondeur que j’ai trouvé intéressante.
Kirishima, un yakuza plutôt sanguinaire va se voir confier par son boss le soin de s’occuper de sa fille, Yaeka. Il doit en prendre soin sinon, c’est la mort assurée !
Entre Kirishima et Yaeka, une relation toute douce et vraie va s’installer entre les deux. Parce que sous des dehors pas commodes, Kirishima a bon cœur. Il aime bien la petite et il va tout faire pour qu’elle ait confiance en lui. Si les chapitres tournent autour de leur lien qui s’installe progressivement, on sent que l’enfant n’est pas très heureuse. Si j’avais quelques questions, elles ont vite trouvé des réponses, par exemple, notamment sur la femme du boss, la mère de Yaeka.
Dans l’ensemble, ce premier tome pose les bases d’une série qui a tout pour me plaire avec des personnages forts et attachants. Les intrigues autour de la petite auraient pu être mièvres, mais ce n’est pas le cas. Elle souffre de ne pas avoir sa maman avec elle et l’arrivée de Kirishima dans sa vie va être un bon moyen pour elle de s’exprimer et de s’affranchir de ses craintes. Son père qui est le chef de clan n’est pas en reste. Sous des dehors de grand méchant, il adore sa fille et veut tout faire pour la rendre heureuse même si le milieu dans lequel il évolue est loin d’être simple et stable.
Étrangement, c’est notre héros qui va apporter cette stabilité dont l’enfant a besoin.
Bref, je pense que vous l’avez compris, ce premier tome de The Yakuza’s Guide To Babysitting de Tsukiya m’a bien emballée ! Déjà avec son graphisme qui me plait bien et surtout par ces intrigues bien construites et bienveillantes. On a même droit à un pan du passé de notre héros…
Ne vous fiez pas à sa couverture simplissime qui pourrait vous faire passer votre chemin. Dans mon cas j’ai beaucoup apprécié ce que j’ai lu et je serai là pour lire la suite, c’est une évidence.
Kirishima is told by his boss, who is the the head of a yakuza family, that he is being assigned to be his school-aged daughter's babysitter. While this premise could end up being chaotic, it's actually handled in a gentle and heartwarming way. Kirishima does his job earnestly -- he talks to Yaeka, the daughter, using the same words and tone as he would an adult but he also makes it a point to crouch down and speak to her so that they're on the same eye level.
The last third of the volume also provides detail on a more gut-wrenching backstory than I would've expected; I was expecting hijinks and comedy, but I'm not mad about the dramatic turn either.
I would read the next volume and see where this goes.
I really enjoyed this volume! The art style is great and the story is very cute. I can't wait to see the future adventures of Kirishima and Yaeka. I will definitely be adding this title to my collection.
Thank you to Kaiten Books and Edelweiss for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for my honest review. This in no way impacts my thoughts on this volume.
This is sooooo adorable. Just the kind of manga I love. It makes you laugh but at the same time very heart warming. This gives the same vibe with Way of the House Husband because they're both tough and scary yakuzas with a softie heart. I also love the art style!
Not a lot of content/worldbuilding, mostly slice-of-life (but with a little yakuza spice added). You're sort of thrown into the characters as well, no introductions, so it reads more like individual "skits" as opposed to a larger story. But the premise is cute, and it's very wholesome.
A little slice of life manga between a yakuza henchman and the boss's kid daughter that he is in charge of babysitting. Surprisingly funny and heartwarming.
This review will be for the whole series; read at your own risk.
Read 4 volumes
Super cute series about a yakuza right hand man, known as the demon, who’s new job is to take care of the boss’s daughter. I loved seeing Yaeka come out of her shell with Kirishima. And how she’s changed him! Looking forward for more!
Edit 8/12/23: the story development was interesting. Im glad to see Kirishima learning and growing and discovering he has something precious he wants to protect.
Okay so I thought this would be kinda of like Way of the Househusband, but it’s not. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. It is a bit of slice of life like with the daily goings on of a Yakuza acting as a babysitter for the boss’s daughter. It’s sweet, too. The daughter struggles to warm up to people and slowly opens up to Kirishima who helps her overcome some of her insecurities. Readers also get to see his past and how he became who he is today.
He's the boss's right hand man. And now, he's babysitter to the boss's daughter. A (completely adorable) slice-of-life series about a crime family that cares about their own. Not gonna lie. I love this kind of thing.