Buddy Daddies

On Christmas Eve, four-year-old Miri Unasaka arrives in Tokyo completely alone, in search of her father. The bright lights and merry atmosphere guide Miri to a big hotel and a man with a delicious-looking cake. However, the child has just unknowingly walked into the center of an elaborate, foolproof plan for assassinating a dangerous mafia boss.

Professional assassins Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa live together, fleeing memories of their grim childhoods and avoiding emotional connections. When their mission goes awry and they end up bringing Miri home, there is only one reasonable thing to do: return Miri to her mother. But the girl's innocent laugh and pure worldview quickly enamor her to Kazuki, who secretly enjoys playing a parent, and it is not long before Rei's impenetrable heart makes room for Miri.

Miri's every move is unpredictable, and Kazuki and Rei find raising an energetic child harder than any of their missions. Although it presents a great risk to their careers, Kazuki and Rei—both assuming the affectionate nickname "papa"—decide to provide Miri with a normal childhood despite all the odds stacked against them.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Buddy Daddies was released on Blu-ray and DVD in six volumes from March 22, 2023, to August 23, 2023.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Other:	Shock!
Summary:	Buddy Daddies Intermission: Cherry-Pick

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Suwa, Rei

Main

Uchiyama, Kouki
Japanese

Kurusu, Kazuki

Main

Toyonaga, Toshiyuki
Japanese

Unasaka, Miri

Main

Kino, Hina
Japanese

Kugi, Kyuutarou

Supporting

Morikawa, Toshiyuki
Japanese

Hanyuu, Anna

Supporting

Terui, Haruka
Japanese

Dorothy

Supporting

Sugimura, Chikako
Japanese

Izumi, Karin

Supporting

Hasegawa, Ikumi
Japanese

Kurusu, Yuzuko

Supporting

Itou, Shizuka
Japanese

Taiga

Supporting

Fuchigami, Mai
Japanese

Unasaka, Misaki

Supporting

Mori, Nanako
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Toba, Yousuke

Producer

Tsuji, Mitsuhito

Producer

Higashi, Mao

Assistant Producer

Iwasaki, Noriko

Assistant Producer

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Opening Theme

"SHOCK!" by Ayase

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Ending Theme

	"SHOCK!" by Ayase (eps ep 1)
	"My Plan" by DURDN (eps eps 2-)

Reviews

Mar 31, 2023

KANLen09

Recommended

In a P.A. Works' board meeting:
Producers: Hey, did you know that there is this popular show called Spy X Family making waves recently? It's the story of a family of spies raising an orphan child. I bet we can make an imitation of that!
Mitsuhito Tsuji and Toba Yosuke: Not to worry, if that is your primary concern, we got you covered. For we have a story to tell of the same, but different!

P.A. Works has for almost its lifetime as the designated "original anime" studio, produced some hit-or-miss shows of the last few years, that watch any one of them, you'll know that it's unmistakably ... the studio's signature trait. And this season, together with director Yoshiyuki Asai (of Jun Maeda's Key anime adaptations that went from bad to worse), scriptwriter Vio Shimokura of Nitroplus (of last Winter's haphazard Tokyo 24th Ward) and series composer Yuuko Kakihara, the "shameless copy" that is Buddy Daddies comes to knock the hearts of people the same like in Spy X Family, and in a good way.

At first glance, I bet you can even tell from less than an inch away that Buddy Daddies and Spy X Family feels awfully similar, from the unlikely family nature down to raising the said child herself. But in this show's case, it's down to producers Mitsuhito Tsuji and Toba Yosuke for solely anchoring the show's themes, having the real parenting experience to tell its generic story with a unique plot. The reason being, that the former was at the point of just starting a family himself, and the idea of having assassins, whose paths are normally covered in blood and death, raising children, would make for an interesting story plot. This is aided by the latter mentioning that 'becoming a family is a big theme' in the story, and that he thought it would be interesting as a work to be able to create a sense of comedy with such fine details, using the expertise of their staff to ascertain the intricate levels of parenting, with Tsuji specifically proclaiming "to include a lot of 'parenting'" in the anime.

As for what Buddy Daddies is all about, as opposed to Spy X Family of a spy husband and an assassin wife with the obnoxious and playful child, it's the idea of same-sex assassins taking care of the exact same obnoxious and playful child. 28-year-old Kazuki Kurusu and 25-year-old Rei Suwa, both are buddy assassins who serve and complement one another in the areas that they are well-versed in: Kazuki on intel and execution from his good communication, with the slight negative on his gambling that is a deterring factor on his overall luck; Rei on combat agility and style of coolness, though he lives like a NEET who plays his video games all night, leaving household duties to Kazuki, who gets annoyed easily at his incompetence when it comes to cooperation in the house. And no thanks to the typical assassination mission that they have been entrusted to take care of their targets, they are left with the clueless addition of a child: 4-year-old Miri Unasaka, wandering alone without her parents, only to unknowingly step into the prohibited line of "guns and smokes ablazing" that eventually, is taken in by both assassins to take care of her, thinking that both Kazuki and Rei are her quote "biological" fathers. The perfect gangster househusband like Gokushufudou a.k.a The Way of the househusband's Tatsu, with the perfect Yazuka caretaker like Kumichou Musume to Sewagakari a.k.a The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting's Toru Kirishima, along with Spy X Family's Anya Forger, makes for a combination that is the definition of "same same, but different".

The "unlikely parents raise a child together" trope is quite old, it's even shown in Western media as early as the late 1980s with the 1987 film "Three Men and a Baby", which only proves that this trope has been used as a basic structure in TV and film for decades. How Buddy Daddies used this generic story structure to wield into this plot, producer Toba Yosuke mentions that the idea of having assassins, whose paths are normally covered in blood and death, raise children was interesting. Furthermore, two men raising children who aren't related by blood is a modern story where values are diversifying, he thought that a 'family not related by blood' and 'two people of the same sex raising a child' are both great themes. This is exemplified by producer Mitsuhito Tsuji exclaiming that both Kazuki and Rei have either "lost love in the past" or are the kind "who doesn't know love," that has their self-humanly examination changed, slowly but surely, thanks to Miri. Adding to that, the Buddy Daddies are basically new to raising children, so he thought it would be interesting to see how they would deal with her with the challenges further compounded due to their occupations, which Yosuke clarifies that "they are in the shadows and can't talk to anyone about their position." But still, things like childcare and such, both Kazuki and Rei embraced Miri to the max, no matter how obnoxious she can be, acting just like kids of her age to give her the world at large.

This is so, because both Kazuki and Rei lived very different lives before becoming buddy assassins: Kazuki was expecting a child with his wife (Yuzuko), until tragedy struck of his hidden job profession that caused his pregnant wife's death, and he has the survivor's guilt since then. For Rei, he is the son of his own family assassin organization, led by his father Shigeki, whom the cafe owner Kyutaro "Kyu-chan" Kugi is the organization's covert mission's center handler to due out missions for both him and Kazuki. Anything that doesn't satisfy his father's standards of a professional assassin, Shigeki would strike after his own son, and he got so annoyed and overburdened, that he left the organization, which is where he met Kazuki in the first place. That, with Miri's arrival from the unfortunate circumstance of being the buddy assassin's target, and her mother Misaki earning her life as a prostitute and despising the fact that her unplanned pregnancy with Miri was a mistake, lunging the overly enthusiastic 4-year-old towards the buddy assassins, thereby converting them into Buddy Daddies.

But once the "Family Story of Two Killers and a Girl" converge together, it becomes a story of how to juggle jobs with parenting, though this is of the extreme approach being of assassins and fathers. The one negative sentiment would be that it focuses more on the comedy than on the actual parenting, its strongest selling point being glossing over what would otherwise be a generic comedy. Playing up the fish-out-of-water angle, delving into the hijinks of two guys who are vastly out of their depth, but rarely touches on their unexpected career, despite the clear potential of such a unique premise. From there, these two contract killers have to take on their most harrowing assignment yet: parenting, which is rare and lack any sense of real danger. No doubt that they are entirely unequipped for fatherhood, struggling to learn the ins and outs of basic childcare -- understandable, considering the nature of their professional experience. Miri, their charge, can be irritating on occasion, but this adds a certain level of realism and charm to her character. The result is a series that, while serviceable as a comedy, fails to meet its full potential. But, if you don't necessarily care about the intricate details in-between, this show is truly yet another P.A. Works' care and thought put at 110% of the heartwarming and comedic elements (especially with Miri's bonds together with the Buddy Daddies) that will make one feel the "aww" feels, coupled with happiness and sadness when the assassin angle takes over, threatening to derail the trio's unkempt family life. It's full of action, drama and comedy enough to keep viewers interested from start to finish, and it's all a good and refreshing time, especially in this kinda mild Winter 2023 season of not a lot of standouts.

As usual, you can always count on P.A. Works to deliver the best of their production caliber, and not once did I ever feel disappointed at the studio continuing to be experimental with their many ideas, even if it does work or not. Great action and impressive visuals round out the animation side of the show.

The music is yet another highlight of the show. The OST by Katsutoshi Kitagawa of Round Table, it's one of the most unique this season, combining funk with Western-like inspirations. If you're wondering why the OP song "Shock" is THAT good and catchy, it's composed and sung by Ayase of Yoasobi fame. The Vocaloid songwriter has always been tasked together with singer Ikura as the famed duo group producing theme songs for shows like Beastars, the most recent being Gundam: Suisei no Majo a.k.a The Witch of Mercury, and already set on next season's Oshi no Ko, for his breakout title to be this OP song, it's just the perfect song for such a show like this. This, like the ED song "My Plan" by DURDN, I love the city-pop-like feeling that this emits, especially when this couples with Miri's easy-going nature that's of her plan. And honestly, both songs are not just great, but there for a reason, which is to showcase the heart pangs of the Buddy Daddies and Miri in their respective perspectives.

A clone/carbon-copy of Spy X Family, that Buddy Daddies is not, even if it's that close of a comparison to call it the "Dad" version of it. Really, we're only just starting 2023, and this show is more than just one of the best shows of the season. It's fun, it's endearing, it'll make you feel like you're a parent (even if you are or not), and above all, it's just a great anime to watch with kids, if you have any.

P.A. Works, I humbly welcome you into 2023 with a shotgun's bang, right out of the gate. Give Buddy Daddies a watch, you will DEFINITELY NOT be disappointed.

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Apr 4, 2023

SomeApplePie

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

“Wholesome”, “spoiler-free” (vague) review for those with short attention span:

Buddy Daddies has great emotional beats and some good character dynamics. There are also a few things that it delivers quite well given its non-traditional family setting and its more grounded approach to child raising. However, the series also drastically fails to fully commit to its setup and often reverts to convenient plotlines for emotional impact. Restricted to only 12 episodes to show its full take on the recently popular crime-childcare genre, it still managed to somehow stick the landing but also ended with a lot of missed potential. Perhaps, it could be so ...

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Apr 10, 2023

cablaz

Not Recommended

This show is like if Spy x Family cut out everything interesting in the plot.

The fact that this show got tagged as 'Action' is equivalent to if Death Note got tagged 'Slice of Life' because Light talks to his family sometimes. This show is purely a slice of life anime with a complication that the two Dad's are assassins. The hook of the show was supposed to be the balancing act of cool action assassin and the facade of a happy family raising an unknowing daughter.

Instead it is a show about a whiny ass little kid that is unbearable and is constantly crying and ...

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Poll: Buddy Daddies Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Mar 31, 2023	289 replies	by renzospark »» Apr 20, 10:18 AM
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