Buddy Daddies is an action-comedy animated by P.A. Works and produced by Aniplex and Nitroplus. The show is directed by Yoshiyuki Asai with Crunchyroll bringing it to the United States.

Kazuki Kurusu (Landon McDonald) and Rei Suwa (David Matranga) are assassins who work for the “organization” taking out targets provided by cafe owner Kyūtarō “Q” Kugi (Austin Tindle). During a hit on a corrupt businessman, they encounter the little girl Miri Unasaka (Emi Lo). She becomes a hostage of their target, so Kazuki distracts her by saying he is her “papa.” After covering her eyes, Rei executes the man. After bringing her home, they discover they killed her father. With the help of Q, they attempt to return her to her mother Misaki Unasaka (Morgan Berry), who rejects her. With no other choice, Kazuki and Rei decide to pose as her fathers, much to her elation.

The animation of this series is incredible. Sure, it repeats a lot of tropes from other anime, but they draw the characters with a lot of heart and it shows. They do a good job down to the details in their face to display what kind of person you, as a viewer, are encountering on the small screen. I commend them for their hard work.

I also enjoyed the story. I was hooked from the pilot episode and it did not see me waiver. Kazuki has a cheerful exterior, but the tragic death of his wife has jaded him. This makes him want to spoil his adopted daughter and gain her love. Rei is hesitant in his new role as a father because of his own. His father was cold and cruel, training him to be the perfect killer from the beginning, making it hard to even smile. However, seeing his adopted daughter find joy in the simplest things opens him up.

Though it has a lot of light-hearted humor, it can get intense at times with Kazuki and Rei trying to balance being dads and working as assassins. It got downright violent, but I also enjoyed seeing these two tough guys become dads and all of the consequences when they make a mistake. I can also say Miri is not an annoying character. She brought a lot of sunshine to the otherwise bleak lives of these two friends.

It is a shame it did not get renewed for a second season. The writers stated that the idea for the show came from discussions among the staff about their kids, which is why the show felt so genuine in its appreciation for fathers and children. I loved that about the show a great deal and am sad to see go.

Check out this clip below:

This review is based on the English dub from Crunchyroll.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Moderate foul language, Some bloody violence, Disturbing topics

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