Weirdly Compelling

This manga series is so weirdly messed up, yet I found it too compelling to put down. I read volumes one and two in a single sitting, immediately picking up book two after finishing the first. It had a stranglehold on me, and I loved it because I felt like I wasn’t supposed to! Such a unique reading experience.

Yoshino is a woman growing up in Osaka and is part of a prominent crime family. She’s smart and doesn’t worry about much in life until she is offered as a truce bride by her grandfather, who runs the family and is well respected within the yakuza. Yoshino is to be married off to Kirishima Miyama, the grandson of the Miyama Tokyo crime family, who is considered charming and handsome.

However, after arriving in Tokyo, Yoshino realizes Kirishima is anything but easy-going and charming. He’s a sadomasochist with violent tendencies who is excited by her treating him like dirt. He is a wacko but is weirdly attractive and exciting, despite being clearly off his rocker. Yoshino has to survive in Tokyo, so she wisens up, gets more brutal (whether she wants to), and finds a way to earn Kirishima’s respect while building her confidence. The two are a messed up pair; you shouldn’t be cheering for them to murder and for Yoshino to come into her own in such a violent life, but you find yourself behind them every step of the way. Also, Kirishima is a total simp loser who is head over heels for Yoshino after a while, and their dynamic is a fascinating character study. This is what I’d recommend to fans of Colleen Hoover who want a book that is actually good. I can’t wait for volume three.

Title: Yakuza Fiancé (Vols 1 & 2)
Author: Asuka Konishi
Format: Paperback
Pages: 158 / 192
ISBN:  9781685793371 / 9781685793432

Three Descriptors: Dark, Toxic, Compelling