At long last, the twins prove their worth. It was inevitable that Hifumi and Alpha would join their family on their quest to defeat Asa. What Mission: Yozakura Family didn’t tell its readers is how far these young kids will go to save their parents’, aunts’, and uncles’ lives. As the twenty-fourth volume shows, even without their blooming skills, Hifumi and Alpha are bound to do everything in their power to save them from becoming test tube subjects.

But earning that final stamp from Mutsumi isn’t an easy task. In fact, it takes something far bigger and scarier than a deadly mission for them to obtain it: a sit-down interview. At first, Alpha seems prepared, whilst Hifumi looks ready to cry with even the easiest question asked. However, it’s when the two of them have to choose between saving their mom and dad when even the smartest of the twins can’t answer it properly. The scene is built to be both intense and hilarious, with the sheer idea of four-year-olds conducting a proper interview already a silly-sounding premise.

With the stamps earned, Hifumi reveals her true plan to Alpha. It’s not a bad plan, per se, but when these kids are still barely potty trained, it’s hard to imagine seeing it work. Perhaps it’s why it’s nice to see Alpha play along with her plan, even if it seems like it wouldn’t work. I mean, so long as the two of them are together, they can conquer anything, right? Right?!

That’s when Mission: Yozakura Family splits the family into three groups, with Alpha and Hifumi being separated from each other in their respective teams. Needless to say, Hifumi is devastated, to the point where she’s hallucinating Alpha’s presence in the middle of the jungle. (She at least has a comrade-in-coping with Kyoichiro, who envisions an army of Mutsumis to keep him at bay!) But when they and Futaba infiltrate the area where Asa may be doing his experiments.

Enter Nii, Asa’s cat-eared soldier. It’s a cute sight to see Hifumi befriend her, especially when Futaba can sense her murderous intent. However, the fact that Nii can’t kill Hifumi due to her inability to see past her age is very noble. But when another one of Asa’s soldiers arrives and attempts to cause chaos, it becomes apparent that, no matter the age, these twins aren’t safe from being spared death. Thankfully, something awakens within Hifumi when all of this is revealed!

Mission: Yozakura Family gets the next mission underway in its twenty-fourth volume. With Hifumi and Alpha now in the fold, it will be very interesting to see what sort of roles they will play as the operation continues onward. But with Hifumi’s own plan to take down Asa unknown to the other family members, one may think that some sort of conflict will occur between the youngest and the eldest members of the Yozakuras. In fact, from how Hifumi treats Nii in comparison to the rest of her team, we’re already seeing hints of what the biggest dispute over how to take care of Asa will surely look like.

Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.