Buddy Daddies – 01
I’ll keep it short – that did not work for me at all. My overriding impression was a show that was trying desperately to be Great Pretender, and had absolutely none of the wit, charm, authenticity, or sense of style.
I wanted to like Buddy Daddies – it may have been the closest thing I had to a sleeper this season (though not really, I was reaching for anything). That was mainly because Kakihara Yuuku was writing, and she created an original series in Tsuki ga Kirei that was one of my favorites of the last decade. But nothing clicked. I immediately disliked the characters, what was supposed to be funny came across as morbid, and the “message” underlying the premise was laughably absurd given the events on-screen. It’s another PAW hard pass for me, though I’ve got enough history with them that they’ll keep sucking me in for first episodes.
NieR:Automata Ver 1.1a – 01
This season is so bloated with generic series (easily the most I’ve ever seen) that I almost feel like I have to give something like Nier a try, since it doesn’t come from a light novel at least. It’s not as though my track record with game adaptations is all that much better, but so little of the schedule is even in play for me this season that at least for premieres, there are going to have to be some reaches.
NieR:Automata wasn’t awful or anything, but to be honest I found it be incredibly generic to type. Android warriors treated as disposable by humans in a dystopian future, rinse, repeat. I was pretty bored by about the 5-minute mark. And it didn’t help that this was Hanae Natsuki at his most ingratiating. Or that every action sequence was done in mediocre CGI. This one wasn’t really on my radar but it placed quite highly in the poll, so I knew it had a fair bit of anticipation, but it just isn’t for me.
Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken – 01
See above. This one actually is from a light novel, but at least it’s not an isekai. Again, it’s not as though my track record with “romance” LNs is all that much better, but it’s that sort of season and beggars can’t be choosers.
And here’s the truth – that was pretty good. Not great or anything, but nicely understated and relatively natural. It didn’t have Hanae Natsuki and I didn’t hate either of the leads. I thought the banter between Amane and Mahiru was fairly sharp, even if it did have that self-aware singsong quality to it that LN romcom dialogue often does. It’s not like people – much less adolescents – really talk like this, but it was still pleasant to listen to. If that makes any sense…
The interesting element for me is Shiina-san, and how the series views her and Fujimiya’s attitude towards her. I know this is mostly me projecting and the writer probably isn’t worrying over stuff like this, but I nevertheless find this kind of a discourse on misogyny. Which is of course endemic in both LNs and anime generally, but the relevant point here is that I’ve always contended that the idealization of teenage girls in anime is just as damaging as (and more insidious than) the more obvious forms of sexism we see. It’s the sort of attitude that leads to idols and female seiyuu having to apologize publicly and having their careers wrecked if word gets out that they have a boyfriend.
So – where does Otonari no Tenshi-sama stand on Shiina? What we have here is a young girl choosing to look after a young boy in terms of cooking and cleaning, which is kind of obviously sexist in itself. Is this seen as the natural order of things? What about the fact that she’s a school idol, and Fujimiya keeps referring back to that? I am encouraged by the fact that at least she’s allowed to get angry when he keeps referring to her as an angel, and that he seems to realize it’s insulting. But it’s overall still an odd situation. What starts out as returning a favor winds up with her effectively insisting on being his maid (or his mother) because he can’t look after himself. There’s no overt sexual element to it yet, but that would only complicate things further.
As noted, I doubt (though who knows) the LNs are really looking at this all that deeply. But I am at least curious how superficial they are – or aren’t. And to the extent that they’re not, what attitude they take towards this relationship and what it represents. And to be interested in anything about a series after its first episode is at least grounds to build on.
Ben
January 8, 2023 at 5:52 pmNier Automata is an incredible game (I consider it a masterpiece). Just a one of a kind story and experience. Im having a tough time seeing how it can be properly adapted into an anime and that first episode didn’t do anything to ease my concerns.
Guardian Enzo
January 8, 2023 at 6:18 pmI’ll take your word for it. It just proves that what makes a great game doesn’t necessarily make a great anime.
Nurabes
January 8, 2023 at 7:24 pmSame sentiments. Incredible story with a great take on existential themes, but a big part of the experience was in how the game executed the delivery of said story. I still enjoyed the anime simply because I had preexisting attachment to these characters, and I loved hearing the game’s OST which they reused here, but it’s not a show I’d recommend to others unfamiliar with the game.
Joshua
January 8, 2023 at 10:27 pmI got memories of playing that demo of Nier Automata in December of 2016 that depicted the very events of the anime adaptation’s premiere. That was enough for me to be greatly anticipating the full game when it did come out, and when I did, it was probably one of the best games I’ve played. Bar none. Watching this though gave me the concern that it ran the risk of redundancy.
So another PAW miss then? Was seriously hoping that it had a better backbone compared to the shapeless, overhyped mess that was Akiba Maid War. The *one* thing that this had going for it that could keep me on was the surrogate family trope, namely the blonde, womanizing guy seeing the kid they’re caretaking as the child he never had probably due to losing his wife and unborn child in a tragedy. And that these two cold assassin types are gonna melt over the course of the series to genuinely care about her. Only that is muddied by the fact that he’s taking care of this kid whose dad they killed this episode but her mom is still alive. Again, PAW shows though never seem to reach their full potential and keep squandering what they have, so I’m not getting my hopes up.
Guardian Enzo
January 8, 2023 at 10:31 pmIt sure is a miss for me – I truly, genuinely disliked it. I found it really intellectually insulting in a way, and the manner in which these guys’ actions were glossed over pretty offensive. And throw in a straight-up moeblob with no other qualities on top of that? A disaster for me.
Joshua
January 9, 2023 at 2:24 amFunny enough, that’s exactly how I felt as AMW progressed, as the series tried to waive off its body count and “wackiness” with a toxic glib irony that utterly wrecked whatever Yakuza-type story it was attempting to tell, especially when it tried to be more dramatic and heartfelt. It’s possible that this could suffer the same fate, too irony-poisoned to earn any of its heartfelt moments which is fatal for a series that involves caretaking a child.
Lost Link
January 8, 2023 at 11:40 pmIf you don’t plan on playing the game, then I wouldn’t give up on NieR just yet. It’s one of the most incredible stories in a video game. The animation looks pretty bad in this to be honest but it’s the story that will carry it if they adapt it properly.
Tony
January 9, 2023 at 2:18 amJust can’t believe that ‘Tsuki ga Kirei’ writer did ‘Buddy Daddies’ too.
Am I the only one appalled by the sympathetic depiction of murderers here? They could’ve been made detectives or anti-terrorist-whatevers, but they’re just professional assasins, only kawaii ones… And the girl is just a bootleg Anya.
Maybe I’m too old …
Guardian Enzo
January 9, 2023 at 9:29 amI think it should be pretty clear both from my post and the comments that you’re not the only one.
Simone
January 9, 2023 at 4:28 pmI think it’s just a case of trope misfire. Action stories featuring spies or assassins are fairly popular right now (putting aside Jump+’s SpyXFamily, WSJ alone is running two, Yozakura Family and Sakamoto Days, and the former is set to soon get an anime), and mostly they seem an excuse to pull off cool cinematic action. The problem with these characters obviously is how to make them sympathetic despite their actions. SxF skirts the line with Yor by making her so naive and groomed into her profession that she feels more like a victim than a perpetrator; in Sakamoto Days the titular character is a retired killer who promised his wife he wouldn’t kill anymore so now he’s just fighting to defend his family, the Lycoris fight terrorists and are groomed into it as well, and so on. There’s some kind of moral equivalent of suspension of disbelief, but as long as we’re given something to hang on to, it works. Buddy Daddies simply is so busy with other stuff it forgets to give us anything other than “well these guys also take care of a kid (whose dad they killed)”. Doesn’t really work, it might have if the show went purposefully down the route of embracing the fucked upness of the situation but it seems like it wants to be genuinely cute. Guess this is what happens when you try to copy a trend without understanding what makes it tick.
Jen
January 9, 2023 at 3:04 amShame about Nier. I don’t mean to overpraise but all the acclaim really is spot on and more for it’s medium. For an anime, well, I’ll still be watching to see how they adapt it for it’s new medium. As others have said, check out the game or not. Really a rollercoaster of a story.
Princess Usagi
January 9, 2023 at 5:45 amOtonari no Tenshi was a bit painful to watch- the acting was rather stiff on top of the sexism. Though the misogyny isn’t too surprising given the show’s title. The writer probably has to be aware on some level of the sexism and wish fulfillment fantasy of the pretty, helpful girl next door, given that it’s what sells. It irritated me that right from the start, she was portrayed as the docile girl who needs to be helped- Fujimiya’s first words to her being “Can I help you?”, then later on in the episode, Fujimiya says that she would be more charming if she let him carry her stuff. On top of her possessing all the qualities of a stereotypical vanilla domestic goddess. What would be a real turning point for the show is if they revealed parts about her that aren’t so perfect and she has to work through that (without Fujimiya swooping in to save the day), but I don’t know that it will take that direction or not.
Guardian Enzo
January 9, 2023 at 9:20 amWell again, part of the curiosity for me is whether there’s any irony to this or it’s straight wish-fulfillment. The fact that it’s a LN obviously doesn’t fill you with optimism but we’ll see. I did rather like both kids on the whole, though.
I do think there’s a darker side to her story, which will be used to explain why she was just sitting in the rain like that. It could be utter cliche or it could genuinely elevate the character, but I’m pretty certain it exists.
Robert
January 9, 2023 at 9:53 amOut of all the new shows that came out I like the ice blade sorcerer and a angel lives next door.i hope Nier does get better my kids looked forward to seeing that one and that first episode just didn’t grab anybody attention.
Nellie
January 9, 2023 at 1:51 pmIf Otonari no Tenshi is the problematic series that piquing your interest, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is mine.
A lot of people are uncomfortable with how prominent slavery seems to be in the beginning of the story, but- for first episode at least- the writing seems aware that slavery is a bad thing and being a generally nice person- like the female MC is- doesn’t excuse you partaking in something like that in any way.
Guardian Enzo
January 9, 2023 at 2:20 pmWhy are LNs so obsessed with slavery?
Nellie
January 9, 2023 at 3:02 pmDunno, but at least this one doesn’t try to glorify it.
This is from an older LN series, too- started in 2010 ended in 2015. I give it some leeway on that front.
Simone
January 9, 2023 at 4:32 pmMuch like incest, easy excuse to put a completely inept personality-less blob of an MC in a position close enough to a character of the other sex that it becomes possible to imply some kind of sexual relation with zero effort involved.
Though from what I have seen that’s not necessarily the case with Sugar Apple specifically.
Todd Clawson
January 13, 2023 at 11:52 am“NieR:Automata wasn’t awful or anything, but to be honest I found it be incredibly generic to type. Android warriors treated as disposable by humans in a dystopian future, rinse, repeat” It’s a shame if the anime isn’t doing a good job presenting the story as that is definitely not the case with Nier. The story was very well-done and had me hooked the entire way through.
Luna
January 27, 2023 at 4:23 amI enjoyed the hell out of Buddy Daddies, but we can agree to disagree.