Mission: Yozakura Family

Note that Mutsumi isn't the youngest child of her generation. She's the second youngest.

So clearly her parents weren't just having kids for the purpose of producing an heir. I guess those two were just really horny or something.

Yeah, they had kids every year until Momo's disappearance.

Where is Ai, anyway? I want to see the twins interact with their big sister.

Ai is a sort of foster child, so maybe she went with Hinagiku to do stuff? It is odd that she and Ayaka are nowhere in sight.

Last chapter there was a table in the wall saying they were out shopping, so I'm sure they will reappear in a couple chapters.

Edited by Shadow-Whisperer on Mar 31st 2023 at 8:21:35 AM

Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean the twins are actually 4 years and 6 months old? Because, either the timeskip was a little longer than previously mention (which would be bad, since they have a deadline, specially for Kyoichiro) or that Mutsumi was pregnant before the timeskip began by 3 months, in which they were still knee deep with the whole Momo bussiness, making her the 2nd pregnant heroine during the main story from the Jump I know of, the other being Anna from Shaman King.

I mean, there is the possibility of premature birth, but that is very specific, and even if you say the twins were born in the 6th month (which is very early and risky, and why would you do that to your character), and even then, that proves the previous idea that Taiyo and Mutsumi got busy immediatly after being left alone. Man, I just wanted to talk about this topic once, as a joke, but the author decided to give more precise numbers, and that just made me do the math, and I'm just having flashbacks to the end of Shaman King. Argh.

In more calm news, the series got serious power creep post the time-skip, I mean how would the people taking the silver-rank test with Taiyo (and including Taiyo himself) feel if they knew a four year old girl and her yo-yo is way stronger than them. That and having an ex-gold rank enemy so quick, will probably make the title less impressive. Good thing I prefer this series when its a goofy comedy, than when it's an action series, because if I didn't find the spoiled part of this paragraph funny, I how I would feel abbout it.

Finally, its a bit weird that Taiyo and Mutsumi hid the existance of the rest of the family from Alpha and Hifumi. While the chapter shows, Hifumi would immediatly get interested and would want to find them, making it somewhat reasonable; does that mean they have half the mansion locked away? or did they empty every room from having any evidence of the other sibling? Again, funny ideas, but somewhat odd.

Eh... not really about the power creep? The Yozakura siblings were going on missions since they were six and were already in the silver-gold rank due to their abilities. Alpha and Hifumi being similarly talented isn't at all power creep and they're thoroughly trounced by someone with actual spy training and far more experience. If there's one thing the story has been good at, it's establishing that the Yozakura siblings are in fact at the top of the world. While there are forces that can rival and threaten them, the Yozakuras are hardly ever completely outgunned except by threats from within their own family.

Even Taiyo, the protagonist, has yet to surpass any of the Yozakuras in their specialties and his own unique powerup gets overpowered in turn by Kyoichiro.

The Taiyo and Mutsumi keeping the twins in the dark about the rest of the Yozakuras is a bit of an odd choice, but it probably has to do with the training arc. In all likelihood, Taiyo and Mutsumi are going to give an explanation now that everything is out in the open.

Edited by reppuzan on Apr 2nd 2023 at 10:02:21 AM

Dang, it looks like Taiyo's Super-Toughness Blooming has been upgraded to Nigh-Invulnerability after the Time Skip. Just walked through all of Hydra's attacks as a straight up Implacable Man.

And in typical Kyoichiro fashion, he's still be quietly stalking Taiyo and Mutsumi to keep them safe like the world's most annoying guardian angel. Can't wait to see what the rest of the family has been up to as we move into a school arc!

Edited by reppuzan on Apr 9th 2023 at 11:56:36 AM

I really didn't expect the timeskip to stick, but here we are. I guess Taiyo and Mutsumi looking identical to how they did as high schoolers masks it well anyway.

What do you mean? How do you make a Time Skip "not stick" without time travel shenanigans?

Fakeout, mainly. Talking about the first chapter that it was shown, mind you, with Alpha and Hifumi as the big twist. Could've ended up being one of Kyoichiro's delusions or something.

Uh... considering that Kyoichiro continues to go My Sister Is Off-Limits and tells Taiyo to quit acting like Mutsumi's husband even though Taiyo is Mutsumi's husband, I don't think Kyoichiro would delude himself ihto believing that Taiyo had kids with Mutsumi.

Edited by reppuzan on Apr 9th 2023 at 8:05:29 AM

Especially since Hydra was an ex-Gold Rank Spy. Five years of operating solo have made Taiyo able to handle even the top ranks of operatives with ease.

I think it's a pretty neat way to show Taiyo's growth without needing an overly complex or dynamic fight scene. His whole thing is protection and his willingness to take the bullet for others. He's gone from being a big brother to a father and his Papa Wolf instincts are on full display with how quickly he curb-stomps Hydra while rendering this guy utterly incapable of fighting back.

Edited by reppuzan on Apr 9th 2023 at 8:35:26 AM

Yeah, becoming The Juggernaut is a nice direction for the tough-and-not-much-else protagonist to move into. Yae is a cool choice for a Signature Weapon too.

So, as predicted, Kyoichiro is an instant Cool Uncle to the twins likely because they're Mutsumi's kids. Still, I didn't expect him to be the principal, though it makes sense given his former cover as Mutsumi's homeroom teacher.

I don't even recall what the last chapter with Taiyo and Mutsumi going to school was, Kyoichiro being the vice-principal feels forever ago.

The last one was when Taiyo was suffering Power Incontinence and was wrecking everything around him with his Blooming by accident. It's honestly kind of amazing that Taiyo was able to finish and presumably graduate high school given his responsibilities and spy missions.

Edited by reppuzan on Apr 16th 2023 at 4:23:15 AM

Chapter 175:

Yeah, that was more or less how I expected things to turn out.

Pretty much. Kyoichiro went from doting to predictably creepy in a heartbeat. Meanwhile, Hifumi is getting along with the uncle she's all too alike and Alpha is acting like his father in how rationally creeped out he is.

Kyoichiro's first interaction with Taiyo in five years was also rather predictable.

It'd be neat if he had some character development and begrudgingly accepts Taiyo being married to Mutsumi if only because he produced Mutsumi's two adorable children.

But poor Taiyo has to be the Butt-Monkey I suppose...

One thing I didn't expect and found amusing was how Mutsumi acted.

Deliberately acting fond towards Kyoichiro to make him faint was pretty hilarious.

It's also slightly sad to see Mutsumi act so grown-up. Most of the series took place throughout one year with most of the siblings as teenagers, but Mutsumi has been a mom for almost five years now. She was always the Team Mom, but now she really feels like she's aged a decade despite looking much the same. (Not helped by Taiyo being pretty much entirely unchanged.)

She and Taiyo carried the burden of the Yozakura anime alone for five years. She's been groomed to become the leader of the Yozakuras for some time, but this is the first time she's done it without her siblings to support her directly.

Still, I do kinda wish that Taiyo and Mutsumi were a little more visibly mature, given how their character designs are almost entirely unchanged despite the five-year time skip.