Buddy Daddies Review: Is This 12-Episode Anime Worth Watching? - AniWorldTV

Have you ever watched an anime with just 12 episodes that has great animation, great storytelling, a great plot twist, and the perfect mix of entertainment? This anime has all of that — action that can be compared to the biggest action anime out there, comedy that will make you laugh so hard you cry, and episodes that will emotionally destroy you. That’s exactly what happens in Buddy Daddies. What starts as a story about two hitmen doing their job slowly transforms into one of the best anime you can watch with your family.

Quick Review Box

Anime: Buddy Daddies
Genres: Action, Comedy, Slice of Life
Episodes: 12
Studio: P.A. Works
Release: January 7, 2023 – April 1, 2023
Status: Completed
Recommended For: Fans of found-family stories, wholesome parenting moments, comedy, and action anime with emotional character development

What Is This Anime’s Story About?

[anime_poster name=”Buddy Daddies”]

On Christmas Eve, four-year-old Miri Unasaka arrives in Tokyo completely alone, searching for her father. The bright lights and cheerful atmosphere lead Miri to a big hotel and a man holding a delicious-looking cake. Little does she know, she has just walked straight into the middle of a foolproof plan to assassinate a dangerous mafia boss.

Professional assassins Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa live together, fleeing the memories of their grim childhoods and avoiding emotional connections. When their mission goes sideways and they end up bringing Miri home, there’s only one reasonable thing to do: return her to her mother. But Miri’s innocent laugh and pure view of the world quickly win Kazuki over — he secretly loves playing “parent” — and before long, Rei’s guarded heart makes room for her too.

Miri’s every move is unpredictable, and Kazuki and Rei quickly learn that raising an energetic child is harder than any mission they’ve ever taken on. Even though it puts their careers at serious risk, the two — both happily answering to the nickname “papa” — decide to give Miri a normal childhood, no matter the odds stacked against them.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Why This Anime Became Popular

Unique Concept

Unlike most anime, Buddy Daddies stands out by blending comedy and seriousness so smoothly that neither ever feels boring. Watching two men who knew nothing about raising a child slowly learn how to take care of one is exactly the kind of story anime fans fall in love with.

Underrated Gem

Honestly, this anime is very underrated. It’s one of the best 12-episode series you can watch, and I’m still not sure why more fans aren’t giving it the attention it deserves.

Story Review

Pacing

The story starts off slow and steady, but once the main plot twist hits, the pacing speeds up dramatically — and I think that shift is what some fans didn’t love.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The anime’s biggest strength is its humor — it’s genuinely a show you can watch with your family or younger siblings. Its biggest weakness is the length: with only 12 episodes, there was clearly enough material here for two or three full seasons.

Character Development

Main Characters

All three main characters feel tied together by an invisible thread. At first, they seem like they were never meant to be a family — but as the story unfolds, it starts to feel like fate that they ended up together.

Growth Over Time

One of the anime’s biggest strengths is showing how each character changes because of their experiences and hardships along the way.

Emotional Moments

There are plenty of emotional moments in this anime that will make you cry. Even though it’s technically a comedy-action series, its emotional beats hit just as hard as anything from a straight-up drama anime.

Character Development Rating: 9/10

Animation and Art Style

Buddy daddies anime review — Image © KRM’s HOME / Buddy Daddies製作委員会 (Buddy Daddies Production Committee) — Source: https://buddy-animeproject.com/

The animation quality is excellent and stays consistent throughout the entire series — and it actually gets even better during emotional or happy scenes. The fight scenes are well done overall, though the gunplay occasionally looks like it belongs in a more fantasy-style anime.

Animation and Art Style Rating: 8.5/10

Music and Soundtrack

Both the opening and ending songs are great and genuinely mood-lifting. The background music is used perfectly, just like in most great anime — elevating the sad and emotional scenes while still fitting in naturally during the happy and funny moments.

The voice acting is excellent across the board, especially in the Japanese dub. The English dub is solid too, but many fans still say the Japanese sub version delivers the stronger performance.

Music and Voice Acting Rating: 9/10

What We Liked About This Anime

As mentioned earlier, this is an action-comedy at its core, but the emotional scenes are genuinely powerful and might make you cry — especially if you have kids of your own.

This is an anime made for everyone: adults, kids, families, or solo watchers. And the best part? At just 12 episodes, it won’t eat up much of your time.

Conclusion

That’s it for this one, folks. If you’re looking for a light, funny action-comedy you can finish in a single day, Buddy Daddies is the one to watch. We’d recommend watching it with Japanese audio and subtitles — several fans have told us the dub version changes quite a few of the original dialogue lines.

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