REVIEW: ‘Buddy Daddies’ Episode 1 — “Piece of Cake”

The Winter 2023 anime season on Crunchyroll is off to a giant start this week and the one title I’ve been looking forward to the most is Buddy Daddies. A take on two men and a baby in a way, the series is animated by P.A. Studios and directed by Yoshiyuki Asai. Buddy Daddies Episode 1 establishes the basics behind the premise. Kazuki Kurusu is a criminal contractor/coordinator who lives with his best friend, Rei Suwa, a professional assassin who has been raised from childhood to be a contract killer. Miri on the other hand is a four-year-old girl whose father is a mafia boss, and as if that’s not bad enough she wanders into the pair’s firefight leading them to start their own little family.

Okay, so Buddy Daddies isn’t a BL. But man, does it have all of the tropes for one, especially looking at the character descriptions for the buddies in particular. Rei is a “man who has never known love,” and Kazuki is a “man running away from love.” Come on, it writes itself. That said, the series goes out of its way to show Kazuki in bed with a woman in a way that looks to dispel any assumptions that come with pairing and the voice actors behind them (Kazuki’s seiyuu Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Rei’s seiyuu Kouki Uchiyama, both played a Yuri in Yuri on Ice with Toyonaga as Yuuri and Uchiyama as Yuri). It’s frustrating, given the expansion of BL anime on Crunchyroll and the great successes of shows like Given and Sasaki and Miyano. While being with a woman, of course, doesn’t mean that Kazuki and Rei can’t be together, the visual shorthand of being naked in bed with a woman and having conversations with call girls about when they last time had sex feels like a hard “we promise they’re not gay” moment from studio P.A. Works.

Kazuki is a playboy first, and that element isn’t necessary to the story, if removed, the story remains the same. In short, Kazuki’s playboy bit is nothing more than an attempt to remove any hint of romance between the two roommates. And while romance is not the central part of the story, building a family together is. I mean, some of the most iconic same-sex couples in anime didn’t come from explicit moments, they came from working within the confines of censorship. That said, the blatant focus on Kazuki’s sex life makes it clear that P.A. Works didn’t want there to be any “confusion” and that doesn’t feel great. 

Beyond that though, Buddy Daddies is truly set to be one of the season’s best. It brings comedy, action, friendship, and wholesome moments. But the best thing about the series is how different the characters are in terms of personality from what their visual design on the key art would tell you. Rei looks like the most professional of assassins, dressed in a suit with a hot and intimidating undercut, while Kazuki looks goofy in baggy clothes holding Miri. But in reality, Kazuki is the one who handles all of the assignments, the planning, the execution, and the housework. On the other hand, Rei may be an effective action assassin, but he is also a shut-in who would rather be playing video games than anything else. And then there is Miri who we don’t know much about as of this episode; other than that, the buddy daddies have murdered her dad and taken her as their own.

While the opening sequence shows the audience their family dynamic after a barrage of gunfire, Buddy Daddies Episode 1 is essentially laying the foundation for the series and not jumping right into it. Outside of the opening, we see how the family came to be and are left with the question: “what next?” after the credits roll. And all of that works. This episode has enough action packed in to make the exposition worth it, and now I’m just ready to see more.

Buddy Daddies isn’t just well-animated with intriguing characters, though. In particular, the series’s use of music by Katsutoshi Kitagawa is perfect. The use of jazz throughout Buddy Daddies is one of its biggest strengths. Beginning immediately with a car chase action sequence, jazz scores the scene by adding intensity, and pace and accentuating big moments in the fight. The easiest way to describe it to a new viewer is to compare it to the expert use of jazz throughout Shinichiro Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop. The score will work perfectly for the clear “case of the week” format that Buddy Daddies is going for, and I can’t wait to see more.

From the character dynamics and design to the extremely dynamic action sequences fit with a stellar score, Buddy Daddies truly has everything it takes to be seen in line with Spy x Family and also become an instant classic if you give it the chance. As an original anime with no manga, the door is wide open for a story to be told and expanded on as the family grows together. Buddy Daddies has all the makings of the “next big thing” and all the endearing qualities of being an original story. Despite my sincerest wishes that it was at least a little gay, this series is going to be one to watch.

Buddy Daddies Episode 1 is available now on Crunchyroll with new episodes airing every Friday.