Good morning, my friends! Today, I have a wonderful anime to share with you: Buddy Daddies! I’ve been putting off watching it for no real reason, but now that I’ve seen it, I’d like to provide my thoughts on it.

As with all of my reviews, I have a personal scoring system for each series or film I review (it has been recently updated):

• Plot / Story. Out of 10 points.  Describes how well-thought out the plot was, and how the story arcs build into the series as a whole.
• CD (short for Character Development).  Out of 10.  Rates how well the characters and their relationships with each other build over the course of the season / movie.
• Art / Acting / Music.  Out of 10.  Based around the flourish of the art style(s) and acting; character design, clothing, environment, and how well-placed little details (easter eggs or Chekhov’s Gun moments, or acting details like choking voices during crying scenes) are done.  It also includes musical direction in media where BGM or insert songs have an effect on the flow and atmosphere of scenes.
• Rewatch Value: Out of 10.  This is my opinion on how often I would watch it given a clear schedule, or in some cases, how many times I recommend rewatching to catch all of the small details.  It is also affected by how much of an impact it leaves (A Silent Voice, for instance, leaves a heavy impact for me, but I wouldn’t watch it for a while afterward because it’s a little depressing for me).
• Overall Rating: Out of 10.  This is my final opinion of the show as a whole, and is based on all of the above elements, as well as any other feelings I need to mention going into or coming out of a watch session.

At the end of the scoring, I will give an X/50 score with a letter grade from F, D, C, B, A, or S (S being a perfect 50).

Synopsis: Rei and Kazuki are hired killers that work in the underbelly of Japan.  When one of their jobs gets interrupted by a small child looking for her father, Kazuki decides to take her in until they’re able to return her to her parents, but they soon discover that taking care of a child along with their regular work is not as easy as they thought.

From here on out, there will be spoilers.

Plot / Story: 8.5/10

The story is very intriguing: two assassins of different specialties in their home life taking in a small child after killing her (scumbag) father and learning how to take care of her is fun to watch, especially since Kazuki had wanted a family life, and discovers very quickly how hard it is.  Rei on the other hand is very hands-off for a while, but both of them face a good amount of challenges that help build their relationship – with the child and with each other.  I’m not ashamed to admit that this series is wholesome and heartbreaking, and it still manages to throw in a good amount of comedy.  On top of that, while the storyline is generally straightforward and a little cookie-cutter, it manages to be fresh with a concept that I haven’t seen tried in another series, anime or not.

The series is definitely more focused on the characters’ development than an actual end goal, with the dynamics between Rei, Kazuki, and Miri being a heavy focus of the series, but there is also a clear movement of events from the first episode where the two kill Miri’ father, to the third where they go to find her mother (who is also kind of morally questionable), to them putting their heart into taking care of their new household gremlin.

There is an obvious tone-shift in certain scenes, including in the last few episodes where Rei and Kazuki are forced to either betray the organization or get rid of Miri (give her back to her mother, who has supposedly turned over a new leaf after contracting cancer), but this kind of emotional gut punch can be seen coming if you look for it.  It still hits and hurts, though.  There’s even a brief conversation between the two about a line said in the first episode that has a stronger impact in episode 10.

Luckily, the series ends on a (mostly) high note, and my favorite character, Kyu, does not die.

Character Development: 9.5/10

As I stated in the last paragraph, the story is heavily reliant on the character development.  It doesn’t detract from the action or comedy, but it provides a sense of realism to the story.  Kazuki has more focus as a main character than Rei, in my opinion, but they both have dedicated arcs in this season.

Kazuki, for instance, has a dead wife driving his emotions, which leads him to “adopting” Miri, though he is still tortured by her death through the 8th episode.  He clearly has the parental instinct within him straight into the first episode, and it becomes more and more prominent as the series goes on – from his cooking and cleaning for the other two, to his careful attitude caring for them.

Rei is more complex than Kazuki, in my opinion: he is always low-energy, and prefers to go into his jobs loud, but as the show goes on, he learns to take some time to respect Kazuki’s dedication to the jobs and Miri, and takes on a proper fatherly role about halfway through.  A big part of the second half is Rei deciding between his new family and his father (their family is sort of like “underworld nobility”, using the father’s words).

Episodes 10 and 11 really bring home the emotional connections between the three, with 11 showing in the first few minutes how much Rei and Kazuki were and are still affected by Miri leaving – there’s a talk about how they’ll be moving on, with Rei wanting to go back to his dad, and Kazuki switching to a smaller apartment when he leaves.

But everything comes back around to a clean close with most of the relationships: Kazuki and Rei have a well-deserved final scene with Miri at the end that is wholesome and cute.

Art / Acting / Music: 7/10

The art in this show is nothing really noteworthy; there are a couple scenes that are a little more intense than others, such as the shipyard fight and the fight in the first episode, but there’s not a hugely noticeable increase in quality in any of the scenes that I can think of.  This isn’t to say the artstyle is  bad, it’s just nothing groundbreaking.

Acting-wise, I enjoyed many of the interactions throughout the show; Rei’s dry and tired voice meshes well with Kazuki’s upbeat and caring attitude and Miri’s exceptional gremlin child personality.  Even the more minor characters, like Kyu and Ogino, have very pronounced cadences that compliment the character design well, not to mention the well-known actors they got to play some of the major characters (Kouki Uchiyama, anyone?)

When shit starts going south at the end of episode 11, there’s a very well-directed tragedy scene involving Kazuki and Ogino, ending with clear emotions of exhaustion, relief, sadness, and regret.  Rei’s normally-emotionless character has a very powerful speech regarding his past decisions.

Each character has a very unique personality, and the actors chosen play their roles extremely well, and the cadences in each voice are understandable and matches the personalities – Ogino, Miri, and Rei in particular have done well in their roles.

I had no real opinions on the music choice for this show – the OP and ED were above average, but otherwise, the BGM was pretty forgettable.  I remember that there was music accurate for the scenes, but I can’t say I really enjoyed any of it more than the art or acting.

Rewatch Value: 8/10

Good god, I remember watching the first two episodes when I was trying out some series in 2022, right after watching Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting – which has an almost similar premise).  This past month was the first time I saw the entire season, and I have to say that I would definitely rewatch it… after a few months or so.  It doesn’t leave a bad taste like some more depressing series (looking at you, Tokyo Ghoul), and the overall message of patchwork family bonds is calming and stressless.

The series as a whole may need a little time to cool off my mind, but I enjoyed Buddy Daddies a lot, and I think I will watch it again in a couple months.  It’s not bad (in fact, it’s really good!), but these more wholesome / emotion-tugging series are hard to rewatch immediately.

I will say that we took a week-long break after watching episodes 1 through 9, and I was excited the entire week to watch the final three episodes (partially because my friend hyped it up, but it was well worth it).

Overall Rating: 9/10

I was trepidatious going into this series when I first started it, but the series is definitely worth watching.  It seems highly unlikely that there will be a second season (apart from maybe a spinoff or a movie, but even that seems wishful), but with 12 actual episodes and a mid-season recap, Buddy Daddies is easily digestible and not too filling (haha, food puns).

I believe that this show is a great experience, and if you’re entering it with medium expectations, you’ll be satisfied – if you’re going in with high expectations, I don’t think you’ll hate the show, but it’s probably not for you.

This show does have some suggestive themes that might not be ideal for small children, such as violence, blood, death, language, and a few characters that are a bit… off putting, but otherwise the show is pretty feel-good.

Buddy Daddies is available for streaming on Crunchyroll, so please watch it!

Total Score: 42.0/50.0

Grade: B