Is Mission: Yozakura Family Inspired By This Early 2000s…

Summary

Spring 2024 brings the anime adaptation of Mission: Yozakura Family, blending daily life with elite spies and secret missions.
Following Taiyo's discovery of Mutsumi's espionage background, the series takes a comedic, lighthearted approach to high-stakes stories.
Mission: Yozakura Family draws similarities to Reborn! With normal characters thrust into extraordinary worlds of crime and family traditions.

Mission: Yozakura Family is available for streaming on Hulu. The original manga can be read on Shonen Jump's digital platform.

Spring 2024 saw the premiere of the anime adaptation of another popular Shōnen Jump manga title, one that appears to have come at just the right time to capitalize on the wave of titles which juxtapose the regular daily life of a normal person with some kind of high-octane, high-risk secret occupation. This is by no means a new trend, as re-imaginings of daily life under various unusual circumstances is exactly the kind of thing we have seen in slice of life titles since the inception of the genre. This season's Mission: Yozakura Family is a story following Taiyо̄'s discovery of his childhood best friend, Mutsumi's true identity – she is the head of a family of elite spies.

The series follows Taiyо̄'s training after circumstances have him become part of the Yozakura family and embarking on missions to protect Mutsumi from the dangers that come with prominence in the criminal underworld, and given the comedic and occasionally lighthearted approach to the plot, Mission: Yozakura Family seems to have taken a few pages from a 2000s classic known as Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and here's how.

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By Mark Sammut

Plot and Background

Yozakura-san Chi no Daisakusen

High school student Taiyо̄ Asano has been depressed and a social non-participant after he was the sole survivor of a car crash that killed his entire family. Throughout his grief, his only source of support was his childhood best friend, Mutsumi, whom he didn't know was the head of a highly influential family of spies. Her eldest brother, Kyо̄ichiro, is the Yozakura family's very best; however, he grew obsessive and overprotective of Mutsumi after she sustained a terrible injury in her childhood, developing a habit of using lethal force and threats to prevent anyone from getting too close to her.

To prevent further attempts on his life by Mutsumi's brother, Taiyо̄ has to become a member of the Yozakura family, and the only way to do so is to marry her and abandon any chance of living a normal life ever again. The manga, created by Hitsuji Gondaira, is currently serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and has been running for 23 volumes since its debut in August 2009. In 2020, Mission: Yozakura Family was nominated for the sixth Next Manga Awards, and in December 2022, the manga had 1.5 million copies in circulation.

The anime series is directed by Mirai Minato at SILVER LINK (Hokkaido Girls Are Super Adorable), with character designs by Mizuki Takahashi, who also serves as Chief Art Director; art direction by Hideto Nakahara; music by Osamu Sasaki and Koji Fujimoto. The series opening theme is "Unmei-chan (Fate)" by Ikimono-gakari, while the ending theme song is "fam!" By CHiCO. Cast members include Kaede Hondo (Ix Elizabetta, Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun!) as Mutsumi Yozakura; Katsuyuki Konishi (Tengen Uzui, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba) as Kyōichirō Yozakura and Reiji Kawashima (Finn Aimes, Mashle: Magic and Muscles) as Taiyō Asano-Yozakura.

What Is Reborn!?

A 2000s Shōnen Classic

One of Shōnen Jump's best-selling series is Katekyō Hitman Reborn!, known to American audiences simply as "Reborn!" or "Hitman Reborn", a 2004 supernatural adventure comedy created by Akira Amano (character designs, Suicide Squad ISEKAI) that followed a young boy named Tsunayoshi Sawada, who learns that he's actually the next in line to become head of the Vongola family, a powerful Italian mafia, with their most talented hitman, a gun-toting baby named Reborn set to prepare Tsuna for the role. The manga ran for 42 volumes from May 2004 to November 2012, with an anime produced by Artland and directed by Kenichi Imaizumi running for 203 episodes from October 2006 to September 2010.

The series is reported to have one of the highest numbers of cosplayers of any series, and it was consistently one of the best-selling titles in Jump for the duration of its run, with over 30 million copies in circulation as of 2016. Much of the praise for Reborn! Is for its artwork and humour; however, it did have a somewhat clumsy start before developing into a great shōnen carried by its story, artwork and fight scenes. While it started off fairly light-hearted, Reborn! Becomes more violent over the course of its run as it develops into a typical battle shōnen.

How Are Reborn! And Mission: Yozakura Family Similar?

"Do It As If It's Your Dying Wish!"

mission yozakura family episode 1 taiyou reaching for ring while mutsumi and kyouichirou watch

One of the most glaring similarities between Mission: Yozakura Family and Reborn! Is the placement of normal characters into extraordinary family situations related to some kind of underworld. Unbeknownst to the protagonists of both shows are thriving criminal underworlds that they have no way of knowing they are related to in some way. Taiyo's spiky hair and bright colour scheme is reminiscent of that of Tsuna's, and like Tsuna is the 10th Vongola head, Mutsumi is the 10th head of the Yozakura family.

Interestingly, both Tsuna and Taiyo must undergo rough home training in order to prepare them for the kind of world that they have entered, with the infant hitman Reborn making use of special tool known as the "Dying Will Bullet", which enables those it hits to be "reborn" stronger with an insurmountable will to fulfill their dying wish; while Kyoichiro has outright told Taiyo that he must protect Mutsumi with his life.

Both instructors are always dressed in black suits and, in Japanese, Reborn's catchphrase is "Shinu-ki de tatakae" ("Fight as if it is your dying wish"), while in the second episode of Mission: Yozakura Family, Kyoichiro shows Taiyo first-hand the kind of world he is entering, telling him, "Shinu-ki de Mutsumi wo mamore" (can be "Protect Mutsumi as if it is your dying wish", but is much better translated as "Protect Mutsumi with your life"), which may or may not have been a nod at Reborn!.

There's also the fact that both protagonists gradually get stronger as they face more challenging situations as a result of their new home life. Both families are the most powerful in their respective universes, and in both series, the most important member of the family wears a ring. Both series lean heavily on comedy and a cartoonish set of character designs that create a contrast with the dark and gritty underworld of which they form part, giving both a very light-hearted feel at first. That being said; however, the inspiration for Mission: Yozakura Family with regard to character designs is thought to be the bizarre and unique designs seen in Charles Addams' The Addams Family.