REVIEW: ‘Buddy Daddies’ Episode 6 — “Love is Blind”

It’s Friday again, which means it’s time to settle in with anime’s best family in Buddy Daddies. The season has worked to build the foundation of balancing family life with jobs as hitmen. In equal measure, the series has brought action and wholesome moments. With Buddy Daddies Episode 6, “Love is Blind,” the family takes center stage when Kazuki and Rei use their assassin training to infiltrate a zoo to make sure that Miri has her bento before lunchtime.

In Buddy Daddies Episode 6 Kazuki starts to worry that Miri will turn out to be a criminal when he watches a newscast about a robber. After waxing poetic about the necessity of good parents in a kid’s life to keep them from a life of crime (i.e. becoming like him and Rei), Kazuki learns from Miss Anne that Miri was involved in a fight at school. When he asks about the event, Miri says the dreaded words, “I hate you.” Set on undoing his mistake and making Miri love him again, he prepares the bento box to top any and all bento that are packed in a school backpack…and forgets to put it in her bag for the school field trip. So what do the hitman daddies do? What any sane parent would do: infiltrate the zoo in full gear to give her the lunch without being seen.

In true Buddy Daddies fashion, Episode 6 brings comedy, wholesome family development, and some protective papa action. Ultimately, hijinks ensue, the grocery store robber shows up, and Kazuki learns that his little girl is actually the mediator and not the instigator at school.

What sets Buddy Daddies apart from other series is how seriously it takes family and fatherhood without losing a sense of comedy. In every episode, we see Kazuki and Rei grow closer to Miri, choose Miri, and build out their little family the very best they can. In this episode, in particular, Kazuki’s mission is to be a good dad, to protect Miri, and to give her the parental guidance that he didn’t get. Or, to put it more bluntly, keep her from becoming him. Sure, he’s focusing on hypothetical criminal teen Miri and letting it impact his judgment, but he cares. As Rei points out, sometimes you can just do your best even when you mess up. And sometimes that includes, as Kazuki learns in this episode, listening to his child as much as parenting her.

Buddy Daddies is a comedy. Things are absurd, and you laugh, but at the same time, it manages to offer up a direct look at the complexities of parenthood. Each episode has centered on an element of fatherhood, and this one is about trusting your child. While Kazuki is focused on the worst paths that Miri could be taking, the reality is that she’s empathetic and kind and brings her class together in friendship.

While Rei takes a backseat in Buddy Daddies Episode 6, as he has in a lot of the episodes outside of Episode 3, he is still a constant figure along with Kazuki. Rei isn’t the loud parent storming into the school when something goes the least bit wrong, but he is driving the car there. His dynamic with Kazuki is one of balance. He’s the level head, but through small choices, you can see that Rei cares just as much, even with a small note of jealousy, when Miri is excited about Kazuki and not him. Tiny moments amount to a well-rounded family.

Overall, Buddy Daddies Episode 6 is another excellent episode of my favorite series of this anime season. If the series continues to handle fatherhood the way it does and ace the comedy, PA Works is set for one of the best anime of the year, and it’s only February.

Buddy Daddies Episode 6 is available now on Crunchyroll, with new episodes airing every Friday.