The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting

Episode 4

This sure was an… odd episode of The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting.

To be fair to the show, the creative team did display a disclaimer at the start of the episode that it would be a silly non sequitur. And yeah, they were right. Kirishima and Sugihara running off to start a streaming channel on the random whim of the boss, only for it to spiral into a pop stardom thing for them is certainly a, uh, premise I guess. It's fitting with the comedic tone of the show to be sure. And nothing about it is necessarily poorly done - all the jokes and bits line up pretty well throughout.

Even the culmination is ultimately a good one, having Kirishima realize he should not be doing this. Instead, he should be back taking care of Yaeka because that's where his heart is now. That's a good wrap-up, don't get me wrong.

The problem is that… I don't think it was funny enough or profound enough to make up an entire episode. This had a very meme-y/internet culture feel combined with a sort of absurd comedy sense of escalation. Neither of those comedy themes have really been present in the show up until this point, and honestly I don't think they fit all that well with the cast. The show seems very comfortable in the slice of life with quirky people space it has been operating in, and none of this felt compelling enough to build a full-length episode around.

Furthermore, Kirishima's realization doesn't feel all that profound for him. Pretty much from the get-go he has been invested in Yaeka and all-in on taking care of her, both to please his boss and also because he cares about her. I never really doubted his commitment and his sudden “oh no I should be back with Yaeka” moment doesn't feel all that earned.

Nevertheless, it wasn't exactly a bad episode. But I'll be glad for us to get back to the initial vibe the show had.

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