Bingo 11: Relation-ship
The manga Mission: Yozakura Family is pretty trope-y but still mostly entertaining. In volume 5 a there are a handful or inter-personal relationships that make some progress as well as an actual ship (ok, small fishing vessel and also a submarine makes a brief appearance; that counts). The main mystery of what really happened to Taiyo’s family makes a bit of progress when it turns out there’s a connection that he didn’t know about to his ‘wife’s’ (they’re about 16, so that label gets air quotes) family, the titular Yozakura’s. Taiyo and Mutsumi also get to go on a date afternoon to the aquarium, although naturally there’s complications (largely in the form of the loser classmate who desperately wants to be cool- this is an annoying trope in itself and the Michibata version is about as annoying as it gets). How Taiyo is fitting into the Yozakura family (family acceptance is relationship) gets some more attention, although the tag game is a little dumb, but it’s still mildly entertaining.
The connection between Taiyo and his eldest brother in law seems to have progressed slightly as well, with Kyoichiro actually giving a backhanded compliment after Taiyo succeeds with his part of the mission they’re on together; this is the bit that starts on a fishing boat and Taiyo gets a fish, and then there’s an underwater bit where he and Kyoichiro team up to destroy the submarine that’s been after them.
Lastly, Taiyo also makes a connection with the family member who has gotten the least attention so far, the Yozakura family dog Goliath. No way a dog in this family is totally normal, and we finally get to find out how Goliath fits into the group. He’s dedicated to Mutsumi as the family head, so Tayio’s challenge is to get the dog to accept him as Mutsumi’s partner. The question is, does he succeed in getting the family dog to like him?