I was watching Buddy Daddies, one of my favorite anime series currently this season and thought to myself, ‘Wow, I am loving these stories about assassins and kids and the families they make up”. Then I looked at my bookshelf and saw some of the manga that I had been devouring and made a connection in my head. So what manga should you read if you like PA Works’ Buddy Daddies? Well, ones from one of my all-time favorite tropes ever, ‘found family’ does well with these series that combine children in these unique families that include an assassin and make readers ponder on the meaning of family and togetherness. Here’s a short list of manga I’d recommend for fans of Buddy Daddies for readers who want all of that more!
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Spy x Family
Publisher: Viz
Volumes: Ten Volumes, On-going
In Spy x Family — THE story about a fake family that includes a spy, an assassin, and a telepath — we trust. Starting off this list manga for fans of Buddy Daddies list of recommendations with a heavy hitter, Tatsuya Endo’s series has captured the hearts of fans worldwide with its inane blend of action, espionage and wholesome adventures. Twilight is the type of spy that comes once a generation, there’s no mission he won’t accept for the sake of world peace. In order to infiltrate an elite private school to gain access to his target he needs a wife and child. He ends up with one of the cutest child characters in animation that has hit our television screens in a very long time who secretly can read minds: Anya. Yor, a socially awkward city hall worker who moonlights as an assassin, joins our rag-tail family.
Spy x Family best illustrates found family in the most hilarious and heartwarming way in a formula that just plain works–and continues to do so. Every day is a mission for the family: some successful outings are as simple as spending time on a weekend to keep up appearances as a fake family for family man and top spy Loid. Some complicated multi-step missions for little Anya is to survive her elite school and stand out as a likable student. Yor’s missions at both jobs bring hilarious results: from her coworkers at her day job being suspicious of her marriage to trying to be more mindful of injuries at her night job, assassinating dudes. I love the focus on the different types of families in the series like the inclusion of Yor’s brother Yuri, who seriously has a sister complex and the stark difference of one of Anya’s classmates Damian’s distant family. Pick up this series for a solid recommendation as we await the second season (and movie) of this fan favorite that continues to shine and remains a top choice in the Shonen Jump app when new chapters drop and new volumes are released.
Suzuki Just Wants A Quiet Life
Publisher: Coamix Inc
Volumes: Three Volumes, On-going
The next manga for fans of Buddy Daddies is Suzuki Just Wants A Quiet Life. This one leans more on the mature spectrum for manga readers who want a story with a more psychological lean. I’m working my way through this series as it is a darker tale with not a whole lot of comedic parts throughout. Jinsuke is just a ten year old kid who should be worried about his homework or after-school activities with friends. Instead, he’s on the run with his mother: they never stay in one place too long. Corrupt cops killed Jinsuke’s father after witnessing something he shouldn’t have saw. All the little family can do is live quietly until one day a hired gun shoots Jinsuke’s remaining parent down in front of him, and the person to come to his rescue is the antisocial neighbor he’s always been wary of. Suzuki, a young woman who this kid has never been able to get on her good side, is a gun for hire, and this event becomes the catalyst in their living and traveling together.
Hiroshi Sato’s short manga series is a layered, fast-paced, action-filled story about revenge and taking chances. Suzuki just wants a lowkey, quiet life. She’s lived by herself and looked out for herself for so long, the introduction of another person to be responsible for is a jarring experience. Jinsuke is a child learning that bad things happen to good people (like his parents). He is also coming to grips that he doesn’t have much agency–not like adults who have turned his life upside down. Together this duo makes up a pseudo-family that eventually choose each other and vengeance. At only three volumes that I am slowly working my way through, I think this one is a winner for Senien genre lovers who do not mind a little more darkness in their stories and incredible artwork to boot. I would definitely recommend Suzuki Just Wants A Quiet Life for manga readers who want gritty manga that has a more realistic feel and edge to the way families can endanger us and make our lives more meaningful.
Candy & Cigarettes
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Volumes: Three Volumes, On-going
Candy & Cigarettes changes up the formula: Suzukaze Miharu is an 11-year-old master assassin–and her partner is the recently retired Hiraga Raizou. Raizou is a retired cop who gave his best years to work and now is trying to figure out what’s next for him in this new chapter of his life. When his precious grandchild is in need of life saving but expensive medical care that amounts to one million yen per month, he’s forced to start looking for work that pays out more. When he stumbles upon a lucrative gig working for what is revealed as a shadowy government organization he learns that he’s a “cleaner” for a child assassin who is great at her job. Conflicted about his new partner’s age and the morality of the jobs, he soon learns there’s more to meets to eye about his career change and the child he’s partnered with.
In this neo-noir revenge thriller, the arrangement is simple: the child kills, he cleans up and hides any evidence. Sure, the pay is a great boon to provide for his grandchild, but how much blood is Raizou willing to get on his hands? Just how complicit is he in this totally-not-normal childhood of this young girl? Covering the action crime and mystery genres, this newish manga series by Tomonori Inoue forges forward with a family made by an old man in his twilight years and a preteen girl seeking justice. There’s enough commentary in the story pointing to children that get left in the cracks of society, and those in authority figures who do the worst,like crooked cops who destroy families. Together the two start tearing through Japan’s criminal underworld! I would recommend Candy & Cigarettes to those who enjoy a layered story on the mortality of youth and trying to protect new family connections with an interesting twist with the child character in the lime light.
Assassination Classroom
Publisher: Viz
Volumes: 21 Volumes, Completed
Assassination Classroom follows the oddball yet heartwarming misadventures of a class of rejects and the tentacled alien criminal who becomes their teacher. Still with me? So there is a talking alien who loves Mapo Tofu, destroyed half the moon, is near invincible and moves at a speed of Mach 20. This said alien flexes his teaching skills with a class of middle school students everyone has given up on. His request: they have a year to kill him and if they do not succeed he’ll blow up the Earth. A caveat: he can’t harm them and they are even given weapons engineered to be fatal to him but safe to them. But what’s more: there’s ten billion in cold hard cash to the students who do assassinate him and save the world! First running in Shonen Jump Magazine, this genre blurring manga series blends science fiction, action and comedy into a series about how the found family trope trope transcends…species?
Koro Sensei, the criminal element later named by his students, baffles his students, Class 3-E a bunch of kids assumed to be lost causes who are even taught in a separate building at their school. He’s freakishly strong on a superpower level, bizarrely keeps a smiley face on and actively encourages his demise with notes on the kids’ failed assassination attempts. Yusei Matsui’s series works perfectly for this list as Koro Sensei finds ways to empower his ostracized students–a whole cast of personalities and backstories–to be the best versions of themselves and believe in them when no one else will.
Assassination Classroom has a lot of heart and features enough dark humor that balances out the humorous bits. Pick up this series for a long running series (21 volumes) for a engaging story that will keep you invested with a whole cast of characters that readers will get to know that help color the story. Featuring one of my favorite cover designs: simple designs of Koro Sensei’s face in different colors and designs are mini Easter eggs that point to his different moods and different training events are fun to see with each new volume to read. I would recommend Assassination Classroom for the Shonen lovers who are here for a (good) long time and want to laugh while they are moving through a well loved series that spawned an anime adaption, some video games and even a live film adaption.
And there you have it. Four series to pick up for those who love the found family trope found in manga when kids and assassins are involved. I Read these recommendations now with our ComiXology affiliate link!
