Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi

One day, manga author Shin Karino is greeted by four-year-old Kotarou Satou, his new next-door neighbor, who gifts him a box of tissues. In Karino's eyes, Kotarou is an odd kid: he speaks in an extremely formal manner, and he lives alone in his apartment—no parents or relatives in sight. But Kotarou neither seems to mind, nor wants to rely on people.

Feeling sympathetic toward Kotarou's circumstances, Karino decides to follow Kotarou to a bathhouse in case something might happen to him and there he comes to understand the little boy is not so different from him. Little by little, Karino—along with the other residents of the apartment complex—grows fond of Kotarou and his antics. At the same time, Kotarou himself might have found something akin to a family in his unique neighbors.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Satou, Kotarou Main

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Karino, Shin Main

Masuda, Toshiki Japanese

Tamaru, Isamu Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Akitomo, Mizuki Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Fukuno, Ippei Supporting

Sawashiro, Chiharu Japanese

Ryouta Supporting

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Tonosaman Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Takei, Sumire Supporting

Tamura, Mutsumi Japanese

Kobayashi, Ayano Supporting

Hanamori, Yumiri Japanese

Takuya's Mother Supporting

Kubo, Yurika Japanese

Satomi, Tetsurou Producer

Bizenjima, Mikito Producer

Ooyama, Yuuichi Producer

Makino, Tomoe Director

Reviews

Jul 5, 2024

yoong01

Recommended

"Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi" is about a 4-year-old kid living alone and interacting with his community. At first glance, it seems like an ordinary slice-of-life anime, but it actually delves into themes of domestic violence, broken families, and child neglect.

What's special about this work is that the author doesn't depict the domestic violence directly to shock the audience. Instead, the story hints at heartbreaking reasons behind the child's strange behaviors while living alone. This subtle approach is more challenging because the author needs a deep understanding of an abused child's psychology to create convincing plot points. Therefore, I think it's a remarkable piece.

Initially, I dropped the ... anime after the first episode, thinking it was just a funny slice-of-life show and it's not entertaining enough. But then I reconsidered, seeing its high ratings, and found out it discuss more on family issue themes, so I watched it all in one go. Overall, the anime is quite slow-paced. If you're looking for entertaining plots, this might not be for you. The animation isn't great either, possibly to stay true to the manga or due to budget constraints, resulting in odd character proportions and a lack of aesthetic appeal.

However, these minor flaws don't significantly impact the viewing experience. I still think it's worth watching, especially for adults about to start their own families. It's an anime that prompts deep reflection. An unfortunate childhood takes a lifetime to heal. In this story, Kotarou was lucky to have kind neighbors, but what about the kids in the real world who aren’t so lucky?

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 23, 2024

daaphish

Mixed Feelings

*No Spoilers*

Summary:
Kotaro Lives Alone is a story about a four-year-old boy who moves into his own apartment to escape from his father. The story is sweet with some beautiful moments between characters who nurture and teach one another. However, the premise is over-the-top and the art is a weakness. Season 1 is relatively enjoyable looking beyond that. I recommend this to anyone interested in an anime that doesn’t stay true to al sci-fi or fantasy genre. It does teach some lessons about learning to care for others and, although it has a strange premise, it is more or less a "slice of life" genre.

Story: 5/10
The ... story begins with Kotaro, a young child, moving into a new apartment and living on his own. This is jarring and doesn’t make any sense. The problem with the story is that other children are involved with a Depart of Children & Families type service, but he only has a negligent lawyer check in on him weekly. I suppose she happens to be the most incompetent lawyer working in the business. On top of this, the neighbors don’t report the child, even after they recognize that he is in harm’s way: the television alludes to child abductions, someone is hired to find him even though there is a protective order against him, and he’s a four-year-old. Looking beyond this, which is challenging since it’s the premise of the show, the story is interesting because of the side characters. Kotaro gradually grows because he is surrounded by neighbors who nurture him and teach him lessons. They also learn from Kotaro, which is wonderful. Information about his parents is gradually shared, although this season ends without divulging too much about his father. The episodes are typically broken into mini-episodes, like a children's show. Overall, this works well, although the show feels like it tries to teach lessons to children who would not be mature enough to understand the severity of Kotaro’s situation. The storytelling element and general plot are enjoyable, but the initial premise is contradictory.

Art: 3/10
The art style is jarring and creepy. The backgrounds are fairly detailed (and faded) but the eyes are bizarre. It is hard to take the characters seriously when they have vertical pupils with inverted pupils inside. The character designs in general are okay, especially regarding the fashion and story behind Kotaro’s clothes. However, Tamaru’s suit is one of the most annoying visual effects I’ve seen in anime. The design could work, but it doesn’t move properly. It’s like the screen glitches and only his body moves, which is unnecessarily irritating.

Sound: 5/10
The background music is fitting and the voice acting is sufficient, but the opening and ending themes are very annoying to listen to.

Character: 7/10
The supporting characters are well-developed and grow with Kotaro, and the characters, in general, are the biggest strength of the show. They learn to overcome their fears and often learn more lessons from Kotaro than he learns from them. Many of the characters have interesting backstories, but it does become challenging to keep track of the side characters at times and some characters grow nicely and suddenly leave the story, like a revolving door. By the end of the show, the viewer may feel like they were also Kotaro’s neighbors.

Enjoyment: 5/10
Once I got past the ridiculousness of the premise, I enjoyed the story. I work with children who have similar experiences and backgrounds to Kotaro, and I found the lessons in the story to be compelling. This is not my favorite anime genre, but I found it more interesting than I initially anticipated.

Overall: 5.0/10
This is an average-quality anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Sep 11, 2022

neondreamer

Not Recommended

In three words.

Ultra Cringe series.

Nothing makes sense in Kotaro, it's so bad and weird that made me to punch the screen. Everyone acts so normal at a 4 years old living alone and behaving like an adult. Did the creator has ever watched an actual 4 yaer old kid? It cant even go to the toilet alone.

And if it would be a shonen/fantasy themed series i would say its ok, but a slice of life??? Not even a chance, stay away.

I cant believe how it gets that high rating.

There are so many slice of life outthere to watch instead of wasting your time ... on that garbage

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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The official website of the anime adaptation of Mami Tsumura's Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi (Kotarou Lives Alone) manga revealed on Thursday additional cast, staff,...read more

Feb 9, 2022 9:40 PM by DatRandomDude | Discuss (2 comments)

'Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi' Unveils Pair of Additional Cast

The official website of the anime adaptation of Mami Tsumura's Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi (Kotarou Lives Alone) manga revealed on Friday two additional cast membe...read more

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