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

Akitomo, Mizuki Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Tamaru, Isamu Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi 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

Mar 10, 2022

issa_labshat

Recommended

I've been waiting for this to drop ever since it was announced during the Netflix Festival Japan last November. I stopped what I was doing at the last minute before the show was released on Netflix. I binged all 10 episodes. And here's my review

Story.
In this anime, we are shown the stories surrounding Kotaro and how he goes about his independent life. Along the ride, we get to know his circumstances and have an idea why he is living alone. This alone intrigued me and made me interested. We also meet Karino and the rest of the neighbors.

Art
To be honest, I was a bit ... uncomfortable with Kotaro's eyes. They just look weird. But I do understand that they were staying faithful to the manga's art style. His design just grew on me as I watched until ep 10.

Sound
I like their use of soundtrack here. Tonosoman theme song is amazing. haha

Character
Maybe the reason that I like "Kotaro Lives Alone" is because I always feel sympathy for all of the characters. I could see myself in them. Kotaro's determination to be independent was what struck me the most. He tries so hard to be strong at his age but at the same time, seeks love and warmth. His relationship with Karino is wholesome. They found each other's company and it inspired them to be better and stronger. I love the neighbors too. Their relationship with Kotaro was just inspiring. They care about him and Kotaro cares them back. My favorite is Tamaru. His appearance may look 'hostile" but he has great standards when it comes to being a father. What a great guy.
There are also a bunch of minor characters that have small screen time but all of them left an impression on me. The way their struggles/problems were displayed? hit home. Just. wow

Enjoyment
I enjoy this very much. But it's not for everyone. Serious topics like child abuse, neglect from family, toxic relationships, etc. are conveyed n this show. There were moments that burst me into tears. There were scenes that are just witty and funny. There was suspense and laughter.

I give this show a solid 9. I actually watched the live adaptation of this which I think it's also good. But the live-action series changed some things (which is fine for me i guess) I also recommend watching the live-action. The cast did a great job portraying their characters. The same goes for the anime cast.

Please give this show a shot!

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 9, 2022

PixelB

Mixed Feelings

"Funny how?"
Despite the synopsis of the show saying that it is an "apartment comedy with laughs and tears," it really isn't funny. It doesn't even try to be. What exactly would even make you laugh in this show? Even the tags don't have comedy in it.
I guess the show is definitely Seinen, though. It's about a 4 year old kid that acts as the local therapist. The basic idea is that Satou, the main character, is a very smart, mature child for his age, yet still retains some of his childish demeanors. He can take care of himself and make food for himself, yet also ... wants to be praised. and loves cartoons. The lens of a child that has gone through abuse and has matured, yet also still maintains a child-like perspective is the selling point of this show. The main cast of characters are apartment tenants that have some sort of mental problems or issues, and Satou offers the advice that only a child could say, especially a mind like Satou's. It offers a view into how the person is dealing with life, but also deepens the bond between the tenant and Satou, which results in them wanting to take care of him, like guardians. They in turn, also struggle to better themselves in light of their relationship with Satou.
Uh, it's not that good. Characters are pretty much crappy archetypes and not much really happens. I guess if you somehow got attached to Satou and the other apartment tenants, you would like the show, but how is that possible? They spew out their life story and problems, or really not-so-subtle hints about their lives. How about Satou? Is the gap between his mature side and childish side enough to make him endearing? Still, not really. The show tries to characterize a lot of people, yet manages to not even make Satou that interesting. Also, call me crazy, but introducing a setting straight from a comedy-a four year old kid living by himself in an apartment- and trying to make coming of age and "mental healing" the main aspect of the show is really pushing it.
The show had a shot of making Satou actually a good character, but it botches it by having the focus not entirely on him. The story is told in third person rather than first person. Of course, first person objective narration would have also worked, not knowing Satou's thoughts still. However, regardless, rather than observe Satou and his daily happenings with a slower pace, you're instead having events involved with him usually getting rushed, and as a result, no impact. A good example was when he tripped and fell, and had to put on band-aids and disinfectant. A trying experience, it seemed, yet the show doesn't even bother showing it, and decides to just have Satou say that it was really difficult of him to apply it since he was scared.
Show, don't tell. Yet, this show only tells. The characters spew out their life stories, and much of Satou's feelings is also just told without you caring that much.
Props to Netflix bringing a show that isn't horribly animated, but still, not a great show.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Aug 18, 2022

nostalgiaas

Not Recommended

Oh boy was this irritating to watch.

This show started off as a decent slice of life show but as it went on it just turned into this weird mixture of comedy and as someone already called it, misery porn. That's the biggest problem with this show, it just doesn't know what it wants to be. It's tagged as a comedy, but is it? Well it does have its cute little fun scenes, but I wouldn't call it ~funny~ per se. What IS actually funny though is the ridiculous amount of abuse stories the writers shove in just 10 episodes and how poorly executed they are ... (Mizuki's is always the example, but I would say each and every one of them are dealt with badly) as well as its, and I can't stress it enough: LACK OF SUBTLETY writing and pretentious on the nose dialogue that I just couldn't take seriously.


Wanting to make a comedic show while also covering serious topics such as abuse is a challenge, not an easy one to pull off unless the script is good which in this case it isn't. It tries to do both and ultimately fails at both, a recipe for disaster. Should've just stayed as a simple slice of life before it tried to do things it couldn't achieve.


4/10. If it weren't for the heartwarming scenes that I did enjoy maybe I would've rated it even lower, who knows. The show works best when the kid acts like a kid and is at its worst when he acts like the whole town's shrink.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi Episode 8 Discussion BANJOKAZOOIE143 - Mar 13, 2022	20 replies	by a_mariana »» Nov 24, 3:07 PM
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