KANLen09

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 unmistakablythe 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.

SpRayquaza11

Finally, a child who acts like a child, not a moeblob who only exists to fan the meme engines and churn out popularity. It may be a lesser-known fact (Due to everyone hating on my spy fam review since it was a negative one), but I really did not like Spyx family after the first 6 episodes, They did everything ideally, just like buddy daddies over here, by first introducing some badass and sabotage specialists, helping us get used to the action then dropping the Kid who is actually adorable, behaves like a kid, makes mistakes like one and is essentially the reason for changing hertwo daddies for the better. In spy family however, Even after going through two Cours we are effectively stuck in a forever loop, the main character's parents are the same as when they have introduced no development, no interesting arcs nada, only the same gags which use the same formula and only when Anya is on screen does watch anything make sense. Buddy daddies help us taste gag humor, adorableness, and character growth all in a neat small package while actually giving us good tips and insights on childcare, In spyfam it's completely natural for a kid see you practice extreme violence while also reading your most obscene thoughts XD. Plot 8/10 Kazuki and REi were initially hitmen with no regard for anyone or anything The whole procedure of them initially thinking of miri as a pain, to eventually getting attached to her and also growing to genuinely care for her shows us the journey of these two hitmen who slowly get changed by their daughter, the kids usually are molded by their parents but it was nice to see like in real life , children do tend to bring out the best in their parents., Some of the Rei Hitman arcs were rushed over and Kazuki eventually was kind of the main focus (I guess since his story is a little more vanilla).I liked the fact that unlike generic anime hypocrisy, the mother too got a second chance just like Kazuki and rei. Characters 9/10 Small but neat package of characters, the side characters other than kyuu chan are relatively uninteresting and the main villain is a classic cliche type of guy. The character development arcs were quite nice .... it was rushed but they managed to get the point across and the growth was made apparent. Sound and VA 8/10 I liked the OP{ and ED both , they are quite the bangers and have clearly gotten the highest budget , the ED is full of MIRI DRIP and helps its rewatcha ability , the Voice Acting is amazing especially Miri and most of the Gags are able to land because of the VA s. OST is average. Animation and art 7/10 generic PA works art style, the animation can climb a few points depending on the importance of scenes , but is otherwise pretty standard. Although it does not have the budget of spy family I feel is a much better childcare anime , spyfam may slightly edge it out as a comedy anime , but buddy daddies is still an amazing show which manages to stay in the realm of reality and yet still be an interesting watch. I can easily recommend it to everyone.