The final battle against Asa enters a decisive phase in Mission: Yozakura Family chapter 252 as Taiyo finally manages to break free from the villain’s Blooming. He couldn’t have done it alone, however: several characters pool their power together here, functioning as something of a final hurrah.

It was never going to take long for Taiyo to turn back from the bad side, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an exciting development. Even if it was all part of the plan, Taiyo’s transformation forced both Kyoichiro and the twins to undertake covert missions away from the main action, as well as pushed some long-since dormant characters back into the spotlight. The fact that Momo and Tsubomi are still out here contributing to the plot is a real testament to the strong cast of characters that Hitsuji Gondaira has created, really helping to solidify the “family” atmosphere.

Speaking of strong characters, Mission: Yozakura Family chapter 252 is really Taiyo’s story. Although it does take the combined efforts of Momo, Tsubomi, Kyoichiro, Alpha and Hifumi to start the process, it’s ultimately Taiyo’s powerful will to protect his loved ones that provides the final push. More specifically, he uses the single bullet that was foreshadowed a couple of weeks ago to shoot himself in the heart and break Asa’s Blooming: the irony is that while the villain viewed our protagonist as the “perfect body” to take over, Taiyo uses his own weaknesses to thwart that very aim.

If you’d have told me several years ago that Taiyo Yozakura, neé Asano, would be one of my favorite protagonists in Weekly Shonen Jump right now, I don’t think I would’ve believed you. Much like the series itself, he started out as a fairly generic high school boy with a tragic backstory, but Hitsuji Gondaira’s hard work in promoting character development in tandem with new story arcs has borne fruit here. The decision to do a timeskip, in particular, has made him that much cooler as a loving dad who’ll stop at nothing to protect his kids. Hell hath no fury like a father scorned.

That being said, the main upshot of Mission: Yozakura Family chapter 252 is that Taiyo is good again and that Asa is now open to attack. Over the coming weeks, the final battle of the final arc is quite clearly going to take place, but just how it’ll get resolved is another question: will Taiyo be the one to deal the final blow as the original protagonist? Or will Alpha and Hifumi step up to the plate in order to solidify the theme of passing the torch to the next generation?

Finally, a brief word is needed about this chapter’s art. Alongside strong characters and exciting story arcs, illustration has long since been one of Hitsuji Gondaira’s hidden talents: my infatuation with his art style started all the way back when Futaba showed off her Blooming ability many years ago, so it’s good to see that the series has managed to keep up the same level of quality for all of this time. I particularly enjoyed the scratchy linework this week, which really helps to sell the intensity of Taiyo’s struggle against Asa.

Let’s just hope that things don’t dip towards the end.

You can read Mission: Yozakura Family chapter 252 for free via VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump.