Kotaro Lives Alone

[Stark700]

Kotaro Lives Alone anime announced for Netflix and coming Spring 2022.

Plot Premise

Kotarou, a mysterious 4 year old, begins living in an apartment on his own. For some reason, he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself, despite the concerns of his neighbors.

Official site

kotaro-anime.com

https://twitter.com/NetflixJP_Anime/...05743366156289

[Guardian Enzo]

Fully dumped (10 episodes) worldwide. Watched the first two eps tonight - if spring has a better show it will have been a very good season indeed.

[MeoTwister5]

Also saw the first two episodes. TBH it feels like many stories in recent years don't really know how to write precocious kids anymore who don't end up feeling like a 30yo old man in a kids body. Characters like Kotaro are a dime a dozen I haven't seen in a long time.

[HandofFate]

the interactions between kotaro and the neighbors have a lot more heart and emotion than i expected given the kind of gag-like premise of the setting

[zztop]

There's also a live-action Jdrama version of Kotaro as well.
https://mydramalist.com/689327-kotaro-wa-1ri-kurashi

[grecefar]

This was really good, a hidden jewel.

9/10.

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

Fully dumped (10 episodes) worldwide. Watched the first two eps tonight - if spring has a better show it will have been a very good season indeed.

Yeah, spring hasn't even started yet and I can pretty much bet it won't.

[MeoTwister5]

I'm surprised with this show. You usually expect a show starring a precocious kid to be rather kiddy and sanitized, and not tackle issues like child abuse, abandonment, bullying and domestic abuse. Much less handle it with enough simplicity that even a kid could sort of understand it without making it too simple for adults.

[frubam]

Oh, so its good then? I just saw this random preview on Netflix today and wondered what the consensus was on here. Definitely gave me... what's that anime about the adult calligraphy(?) maker and the little girl that always call him sensei with the super cute voice? Can't remember the name, can't find it, but got vibes of that anime instantly; and I loved that anime cause the little girl was SUPER adorable =03. Anyways I'll give this a try, thanks.

[grecefar]

Originally Posted by frubam

Oh, so its good then? I just saw this random preview on Netflix today and wondered what the consensus was on here. Definitely gave me... what's that anime about the adult calligraphy(?) maker and the little girl that always call him sensei with the super cute voice? Can't remember the name, can't find it, but got vibes of that anime instantly; and I loved that anime cause the little girl was SUPER adorable =03. Anyways I'll give this a try, thanks.

Barakamon is the name if you want to see it again.

Enjoy this! Kotarou is a treasure.

[Kanon]

Watched the first three episodes and it's indeed really good. Funny, heartwarming, but also very melancholic.

I was surprised they revealed Kotaro's situation so early. By episode 3 I already have a very good idea what happened

Spoiler for Speculation:

His mother and him fled from his abusive father, his mother ended up dying and his father has been looking for him and he really doesn't want to be found.

That social services would allow a 4 year old to live alone is obviously a giant stretch though. They don't even seem to help him with daily life, they just give him his weekly allowance and that's it.

Shame Netflix got this. Not just because them dumping all episodes at once kills discussion, but also because this is another of their anime adaption with a budget of three thuna sandwiches. It's not like it requires a tremendous budget but it looks super cheap.

[frubam]

Originally Posted by grecefar

Barakamon is the name if you want to see it again.

Enjoy this! Kotarou is a treasure.

Barakamon! That's the one! I was looking up the little girls name as a title is why i couldn't find it. Thanks =03. Might have to go revisit this sometime after watching a few eps of this series.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Watched the first three episodes and it's indeed really good. Funny, heartwarming, but also very melancholic.

Shame Netflix got this. Not just because them dumping all episodes at once kills discussion, but also because this is another of their anime adaption with a budget of three thuna sandwiches. It's not like it requires a tremendous budget but it looks super cheap.

Yeah, it hits you with the funny, then turns around and hits you with the feels. I like how they pretty much lay out the tenants situations right from episode 1. Lets the viewer know that there are serious situations afoot in each chars' lives that'll bring the drama when they are brought to the forefront, rather than assuming its full-on comedy, then hitting a different target audience latter down the line.

Yeah def a shame that we can't discuss it ep by ep; would have made for some nice discussions. However, I actually think the "cheap" designs rather suit the series. Its a beauty in its simplicity for me. And the animation looks pretty close to the source material, so I didn't think it was bad at all.

Originally Posted by Kanon

I was surprised they revealed Kotaro's situation so early. By episode 3 I already have a very good idea what happened

Spoiler for Speculation:

His mother and him fled from his abusive father, his mother ended up dying and his father has been looking for him and he really doesn't want to be found.

That social services would allow a 4 year old to live alone is obviously a giant stretch though. They don't even seem to help him with daily life, they just give him his weekly allowance and that's it.

Spoiler for :

Sounds about right, though I wonder if its more of a official restraint thing than him not wanting to be found.

Far as the social services thing, its not the only unrealistic aspect of the show. I mean, a kid doing all the stuff and saying all the stuff Kotaru does is just as unlikely in itself, but I don't feel like its something that should be taken into consideration, since its not like they are trying to depict reality as accurately as possible. That is to say, it is not as important a characteristic in the grand scheme of what(IMO) the author is trying to achieve.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by frubam

Yeah def a shame that we can't discuss it ep by ep; would have made for some nice discussions. However, I actually think the "cheap" designs rather suit the series. Its a beauty in its simplicity for me. And the animation looks pretty close to the source material, so I didn't think it was bad at all.

The show definitely doesn't look bad, but it doesn't have much animation to speak of. It's very static. As I said, it's not like it requires it, but it would have been a nice bonus.

I finished it yesterday and it really was a great show. I particularly enjoyed how it could get very sad without ever crossing into melodrama. The writing is pretty subtle and clever.

Spoiler for Spoilers up until the last episode:

Some moments left me horrified, like when we found out why Kotaro buys premium tissues. I was aware some people eat paper and the like, but I didn't know kids did it to alleviate their hunger. This of course made me see the first scene of the show where Kotaro offers a box of tissue to his neighbors when he moves in in a whole new light.

I was sad that Misaki was written out of the show, she was a really nice girl. Introducing another female character with a completely different personality was a good move.

The highlight of the show was of course Karino getting closer to Kotaro, culminating in that amazing final scene where he decides to lie to him for the first time to protect his feelings for the time being, knowing Kotaro will hate him for it down the road. Showed how much he cares. And it was the right call. Kotaro has been hanging in there because he has hope he'll be able to live with his parents again, so telling him his mother is dead would devastate him.

Need a second season.

[Dawnstorm]

I tend to miss all those Netflix one-drops until after they're out. Normally this doesn't matter too much, but this one's a treasure. It's not exactly magical realism, but it's got the same kind of feel - like normalised surrealism. And it totally works. All the important scenes hit home.

[Anh_Minh]

I finished it.

Poor Kotaro - a lot happened to him in a few short years.

Spoiler for ep 7:

I don't like how they resolved Mizuki's situation. She lost her home and her job because her ex is crazy. But them's the breaks, I guess.

[SeijiSensei]

I can't watch more than an episode or two at a time. The episode with the balloons was heart-breaking.

[grecefar]

the tissues part hit me hard, then it clicked to me why he gifted the tissues to the neighbors in the first chapter.

[Last Sinner]

I can't say that I found anything in particular bad about it. But I can't say I found anything in particular good about it. This was bland for me. Is this what 4-koma style 'comedy' has become...

[Guardian Enzo]

That ending killed me, just as I expected it to.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I finished it.

Poor Kotaro - a lot happened to him in a few short years.

Spoiler for ep 7:

I don't like how they resolved Mizuki's situation. She lost her home and her job because her ex is crazy. But them's the breaks, I guess.

Sadly, that's often how it works in real life. So if nothing else it's at least pretty accurate.

Looks like this show woke up and choose violence and now both my mouth hurts and my tear ducts are shot.