While anime fans may have a perception that romance series are filled with wholesome moments and heart-pounding drama that showcase the main couple’s ability to grow and understand each other, Studio DEEN’s adaptation of Asuka Konishi’s Yakuza fiance shows off a couple that bring out the absolute worst in each other, and it’s an addictive roller coaster ride that all anime fans should check out this fall.

Yakuza fiance follows Yoshino Someithe grandson of the Somei Group, a yakuza family, located in Osaka. Despite her upbringing, Yoshino has lived a relatively average life until her grandfather, the fourth-generation head of the Shomei Group, tells her that she is being sent to Tokyo to live with the heir to another yakuza family, whom she has been arranged to marry. When she arrives, she finds herself in a whirlwind of being almost immediately rejected by Kirishima for being too boring, and after he insults her, Yoshino decides to toughen up, survive, and finally dump Kirishima and return home to Osaka. At the end of the show’s first episode, Yoshino proves her resolve by selling her kidney and defiantly presenting the money to Kirishima, only for him to declare his lover to her.

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Yoshino and Kirishima are terrible for each other, and that makes them perfect

The relationship between Yoshino and Kirishima, although arranged by their respective families, is turbulent from the outset. Yoshino is especially not afraid to express her disdain for Kirishima and his shady activities, but when given an opportunity to help him, she often falls into the same yakuza activities she speaks out against. In episode 2, Kirishima tries to track down the daughter of another family who is said to have disappeared. Yoshino sees her while shopping for a new hair dryer and reports back to Kirishima. The two end up teaming up and chasing the woman.

It is revealed that the reason why Kirishima was looking for the young woman was because she had defrauded members of the Philippine Mafia out of ¥500 million and ends up in an all out fight with her bodyguards. Despite getting hit by one of the bodyguards, Yoshino ends up stepping in to help, and the pair take down the bodyguards with a pitchfork, fists, and that brand new hair dryer. When all is said and done, the episode skips to the following day, and a bandaged Kirishima gives Yoshino his “cut” of the money they got back from the young woman they tracked down. Yoshino explains that she doesn’t want the money—nor that she has any use for Kirishima’s counteroffer to sell his corneas—and instead demands that he come with her to buy a new hair dryer.

Yakuza Fiancé may not be the romance some fans need, but the love story they secretly want

With only three episodes available at the time of writing, Yakuza fiance has proven itself week after week to be a non-stop rollercoaster where the audience might not want to root for Kirishima to win Yoshino, but they can’t help but slowly fall for his surprisingly charming demeanor. Likewise, watching Yoshino’s nefarious descent into yakuza activities to keep up with her fiance’s criminal activity is infectiously entertaining. Yakuza fiances ability to draw in its audience with its gorgeous, colorful art style and striking characters while delivering the constant drama between two people who absolutely shouldn’t be together makes it an absolute must-watch for seasonal anime fans.

Additionally, the show’s toxic couple breaks away from all the typical romantic anime tropes that fans have become accustomed to seeing. Yakuza fiance doesn’t shy away from pointing out at every turn how problematic Yoshino and Kirishima are as a couple, always reminding the audience that Yoshino is playing along with everything going on for her survival and for her grandfather. It’s an incredible subversion from mainstream romance anime and makes it incredibly unique when pitted against other anime in the same genre.

H/T goboee