When the initial promotional materials for the new animeBuddy Daddiesdropped last fall, people immediately compared the show tothe wildly popularSpy X Familyseries. And it’s easy to see why. The promos prominently displayed the central characters of the show: a rag-tag family of three including two adult assassins and a young girl they adopt together. And without knowing much about whereBuddy Daddieswas headed it was easy to draw comparisons between the two shows even before one of them had its debut.Spy X Familyuses the premise of a spy, Twilight/Loid Forger (Takuya Eguchi) forming a fake family, so he can execute his mission and hopefully stop a war between two countries while he slowly comes to love his fraudulent family. Unbeknownst to him though, his new daughter, Anya (Atsumi Tanezaki),is a psychic and his wife, Yor (Saori Hayami), is an assassin.
So seeing another show following a set of ill-equipped parents with occupations outside the law and an adopted young girl who’s too adorable for this world, it was all too easy to simply assumeBuddy Daddieswas making a quick attempt to cash in on another show’s popularity. But with the show comfortably halfway into its first season now it’s abundantly clear that this snap-judgment ofBuddy Daddiescould not be further from the truth.Buddy Daddiesis a far cry from aSpy X Familyrip-off and has already established itself as not just a good anime but perhaps one of the best to come out of the Winter 2023 season.
What Is Buddy Daddies?
While promo materials made it easy to draw comparisons toSpy X Family,once you start engaging withBuddy Daddiesactual episodes it quickly becomes clear that this show is headed in an entirely different direction. The show follows two assassins, Kazuki (Toshiyuki Toyonaga) and Rei (Kouki Uchiyama), who work as a strong (if dysfunctional) unit. Both of them have past family trauma; Kazuki once had a pregnant wife, but that seems to have ended sourly and Rei comes from a family of assassins who physically and emotionally abused him to turn him into the perfect killing machine. They’re both messes in different ways.
During a mission, they happen to run into Miri (Hina Kino), a four-year-old girl who came to Tokyo trying to find her father. Through a series of missteps and shenanigans, the boys manage to kill their target, but end up stuck with Miri after Kazuki claims to be her papa to save her life. In reality, her dad was their target, and now they have to deal with the unexpected aftermath: they kind of just accidentally adopted a child. The show switches back and forth between stories where Miri complicates a mission Kazuki and Rei are on or times when Kazuki and Rei struggle to be normal parents for Miri. The show has a startling amount of heart right from the beginning and as the characters learn to love each other, we come to love them too. Even from this premise it’s easy to seehowBuddy Daddiesdiverges wildly fromSpy X Familybut let’s break it down in even broader strokes.
An Emphasis On Parenting
It’s fair to say that the concept of parenting and learning how to do it successfully is a prevalent theme in bothBuddy DaddiesandSpy X Family. Learning how to watch over a child, make them food, deal with their tantrums, and help them learn to navigate the world are all essential parts of parenting that both shows to explore. ButSpy X Familyis first and foremost a spy show. It has an overarching plot that holds whole nations in the balance and each of Anya’s interpersonal struggles like making friends at school or learning how to navigate social situations also play into this larger plot. Anya’s presence is a necessity for the spy plot to even happen since Loid needs the connection to get close to a government official. The parenting and the spy story are intrinsically tied to and play off of each other.
Buddy Daddies, by contrast, has parenting at the forefront. There are hints of ongoing struggles, but the main plot for the whole season is witnessing Kazuki and Rei as they learn how to be dads and watching this weird group of lonely people learns how to be a family. The missions are often a backdrop through which we can see exaggerated versions of normal parental experiences: an unresolved argument between Kazuki and Miri, Miri needing constant attention, helping Miri make friends at a new school, and even something as simple as Miri needing to use the restroom at an inconvenient time. These are the things that drive conflict both in and out of missions far more than the targets themselves. The assassin stuff is always playing second fiddle to the parenting and that really helps to make the show feel more like a slice of life thanSpy X Familyis.Buddy Daddiesalso puts more emphasis on trying to define what parenting actuallymeans.
Episode 3 showcases Rei struggling with his newfound sense of responsibility for Miri and reflecting on his own traumatic childhood, how he felt his father never cared for him, and through Miri comes to understand that being parent and child involves far more than just blood relation. Miri states that she doesn’t care if Kazuki or Rei aren’t her biological dad because a “real” father is someone who always keeps you safe and that’s what Kazuki and Rei are to her. And that itself could easily serve as a thesis statement for the show.
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Miri And Anya Are Fundamentally Different
Buddy Daddies’Miri andSpy X Family’s Anya are both adorable little girls who endear nearly everyone who comes across them… and that’s basically where their similarities end. While they’re both quite rambunctious they actually behave quite differently. Miri is almost endlessly positive and naive to the point of blindness at times. She throws tantrums, pesters her parents, and causes a racket often. So, she’s like most four-year-olds. And while Anya can be many of these things too, her psychic ability often gives her an edge that tends to keep her on her better behavior (most of the time). Anya is always aware of the situations she’s in whether that means knowing the things her classmates think about her or, on the more extreme side, whenever she or her family are in danger.
Anya often ends up helping out behind the scenes while the adults remain completely unaware not only of what she knows but of how much she’s helped them get to where they are. It’s in stark contrast to Miri who, despite having survived multiple gun fights now, remains completely oblivious to what’s going on with the adults around her. If Anya is an unseen angel, Miri is a very obvious little devil. She’s oftencausingproblems on missions where Anya tends to solve them. Her dads are pulling off a quick and quiet attempt to smoke out a target? Miri wants to play tag in the compound. Miri needs to go to daycare? Now they need to get through multiple interviews and meetings without Miri mentioning anything incriminating they’ve done in front of her. Miri got sick at school? Better cut this interrogation short and go get her immediately.
Miri is oftentimes a nuisance in the face of finishing a mission. Even during downtime when they’re trying to research or relax, she constantly wants attention and affection from her parents. And that’s completely normal. Miri is extremely disruptive and unaware of her own influence, just like a real child would be. Andboth Kazuki and Reiare, usually, excellent at handling these situations. They understand that however disruptive Miri may be, it’s completely unintentional. And we certainly see that to an extent with Anya too, but there’s an understandable pressure that both Loid and Anya (due to her psychic abilities) are aware of because of the mission that encourages her to act in a way that aligns with her adoptive father’s goals. Without the ability to literally know what her parents want from her, Miri is free to be an oblivious and destructive child. It’s a distinction that fundamentally distinguishes how these two young girls operate in their respective shows: Miri is an unexpected complication and Anya is an unexpected solution, both serve to make their individual narratives more interesting by complicating what was originally a straightforward mission.
Two Different Genres
One thing that becomes abundantly clear after seeing both shows is that they occupy completely different niches. Though in broad strokes they have similarities, it’s their genres that help to paint them as completely different stories.Spy X Familywears its inspirations on its sleeve, diving fully into the campier aspects of spy stories. ButBuddy Daddiesis first and foremost a slice-of-life story. This may seem odd given the prevalence of gun fights, recon work, and the existence of a larger network for Rei and Kazuki’s activities, but the show is largely uninterested in exploring the inner workings of whatever organization they may be beholden to. The assassin’s work is largely a backdrop used to contrast and emphasize the plights of parenthood they experience. Every parent has experienced their child needing to use the restroom at an inconvenient time, but not many can say it led to a shootout followed by a daring escape by boat. The show is much more interested in seeing how parenthood affects their preexisting lifestyle.
There’s no overarching plot here (so far) outside of the family itself and this is made clear even in the first sequence of the show–a flash-forward that shows Kazuki and Rei cutting a job short the easy way when they find out Miri is sick at school–it showcases plainly that this is a show that puts the parenting shenanigans above the intriguing assassin jobs. The missions are a vehicle to showcase the struggles of parenting in this extreme situation but also to strengthen the unique bond between these weird characters. This emphasis ona slice-of-life approachalso comes through in a ton of minor ways, the constant attention to Kazuki’s cooking, showing us Rei’s unusual sleeping habits, and seeing how Miri transforms their drab bachelor pad into a place full of laughter. It’s as goofy of a show asSpy X Familyto be sure, but they’re both interested in exploring their premises in dramatically different ways.
Both shows distinguish themselves well despite their similar-at-first-glance premises. Both are an absolute treat to watch and bring plenty to the table.Spy X Familycaters more towards a classic spy adventure style with the family as an invigorating twist whileBuddy Daddiesis a parenting slice-of-life complicated by the parents' roles as assassins. While those distinctions will impact which individuals are more likely to latch onto each narrative, there are plenty of us happily gobbling up everything both stories have to offer. It’s delightful to see two shows tackle unconventional families and the love they’re capable of with their own unique flair. AndBuddy Daddiesespecially puts in the work to make sure it’s not seen as a clone of another wonderful show. Those initial perceptions were based on what little we knew ofBuddy Daddiesahead of time and ultimately any fears that it was a cheap cash-in were rendered dead on arrival when the first episode immediately made clear that Miri can and would be right in the middle of the wild stuff her dads get up to for work. If you’re a fan ofSpy X Family, it’s likely you’ll find something worth enjoying inBuddy Daddies, but both shows are truly able to shine on their own.
