DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ComedyKotarou wa Hitorigurashi

REVIEWS

• 

  R2R

  80/100
  "Let them be LITTLE cause they're only that way for a while"

  https://anilist.co/anime/139589/Kotaro-Lives-Alone/

  ---

  This Anime is about this 4 year toddler named "Kotarou", who started to live alone in an apartment. But despite his age, Kotarou acts very mature. He addresses everyone with honorifics, he doesn't cry for every small mistake, he understands everyone easily... To put it simply, he's like the "Perfect Kid" every parent want their child to be. So, he should be happy, right?.. Right?

  At it's core, this show tells how tragic it looks when a toddler tries so hard to be mature for the sake of others, when he should be enjoying the only time he can as a child. Even though, there's a fair amount of light hearted moments blended in every episode, it never looks like he's having fun, when he can & probably should be having fun more than anyone. For me, the most relieving scenes are, when Kotarou tries to imitate Tonosan, a fictional character who fights for justice (and looks a lot similar to Anpaman). They are the only moments I find relieving, cause those were the only times he acts as a kid.

  His neighbors aren't really the best examples you can think of for "adults". One is a lazy manga artist, one is a hostess and one is a Yakuza (There are others too). But they act all childish whenever they're around Kotarou and care for him a lot. It's like they are indirectly trying to tell him that it's OK to be childish, despite having their own trouble on their hands. They all live a broken life, but their encounters with Kotarou helps them to grow and this also applies to Kotarou himself.
  While everyone is growing up to be an adult, Kotarou's growing up to become a kid.

  As for the technical side of things, the art style and animation are bare minimum for an SoL show but the voice acting is really top notch. They really did an excellent job at hiring talented voice actors and they did a really great job. And the music fits the tone of the show pretty well too. The animation could've been a little better tho.

  If there's one complaint for me, it's that it gets a bit repetitive after a certain event in the middle of the show (somewhere around episode 5 or 6). And there are 2 or 3 sexual jokes that are very unnecessary. It had a promising start but goes a little downhill in the middle and picks up at the final episode (The final episode is really good). Kotarou's past is by far the most mysterious thing in the show which drives the entire plot but it wasn't explored much cause the show took it's time to explore the character relationships with Kotarou.

  We spend our childhood wanting to grow up faster. But we spend out whole adult life, wanting to go back to the simplicity of being a kid again.

  ---

  Summary

  Kotarou lives alone is a story that tackles heavy themes like child trauma and loss, with it's simplistic drama and mature cast.

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• 

  Jealousyk

  100/100
  It is such a wonderful story, if you want something that is more along hurt comfort I think this will suit your needs.

  The show is one of the best truly that I have ever seen. I was worried at first because I'm not usually about slice of life anime but this was such an amazing turn of events. Not only were the characters relatable and had great development but the story itself was amazing and each episode gave you more story and I think it was brilliantly done. Not going to lie about it, it is very hurt comfort style, at least in my opinion. It had tears in my eyes but yet was still able to make my heart light and make me smile. Introduces heavy issues but deals with them very well. Going back around to the characters, each one is very different, each with their own problem(s) in life and in this show they are all hit on and gone in more depth to. This makes it even though the characters are so different that we are still able to relate to them in a way and relate them to the others and tie them back into the story. I found this especially with the character who was a Yakuza-like character. The story was a journey and it was honestly executed very nicely and has found its way to a special place in my heart, becoming my favorite anime I have seen to this day. It is very worth watching and if you are on the fence about it I think you should definitely give it a shot. It has some great comedy aspects too; for a show that deals with many heavy topics it is shockingly light,it has an amazing aspect to it that keeps you coming back and gives me at least a sense of satisfaction when watching. I really hope they make another season because I really can't wait to watch it. But if for some reason they decide not to animate another season then I am one-hundred percent switching and the reading the manga. It is an anime that can really get you invested, and take and grasp and keep your attention for a long while and it doesn't feel boring or repetitive in the slightest. It also helps you to better appreciate the things in daily life, as much as it might sound hard to believe, through the episodes is teaches many things but the ones that stuck out to me is that everybody has a different definition of what strong means and what it feels like and looks like to be strong. The story itself is a little heartbreaking, but again there was an amazing feeling that helped cut back the agony and helped show a sunny and brighter side to the lives that were painted within giving the entirety of the anime an amazing freshness I have not felt in a long long while from an anime. It's a great and unique story, I have never seen anything else like it ever. It's such a lovely breath of air especially if you feel like the anime you have been watching lately just feels very repetitive and somewhat annoying. I seriously recommend to watch this anime, I think it would help many people in their own lives.

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• 

  AfterRain

  91/100
  The Hidden Gem of Hidden Gem that you must watch! (Mild/Heavy Spoilers)

  first of all, I'd like to apologize for any grammar mistakes since English isn't my first language

  Now, this show is probably the hidden gem of hidden gem mainly because of Netflix jail and the somewhat okayish premise that turns a lot of people off. I first found out about the show from the recommendations section on Amaama to Inazuma and Kakushigoto. I read the premise and thought "oh, perhaps it'll be a cute and wholesome show about a 4 yr old living alone."

  WRONG

  That is not what the show really is about. Technically though, yes, it's a story about a 4 yr old living alone but the show itself has some heavy undertone. I promised you that you'll cry like a baby every episode.

  First episode and you can see that something felt wrong with the kid, he's able to live alone, he's able to hold a normal adult conversation with his neighbors and most of all there are no signs of guardian/parents with him. It made you question about the history of Kotarou

  1. "Why does this kid live alone?"
  2. "Where are his parents?"
  3. "Is it some sort of a social experiments?"
  4. "Why does this kid has a wisdom of a middle age man?"

  It's like a puzzle and you find new piece each episode to make the whole story.

  On the first episode
  when he fall the ground while running, he said 'I'm not crying, i don't like crying" It's a little clue and somewhat of a foreshadow on the next scene when he found out about Mizuki hiding the fact that she had been crying, he said "I won't dislike you even if you're crying". Meaning that Kotarou used to cry a lot. That adds another question, "Why did he cry a lot back then?"

  On the second episode
  Kotarou showed to the audience and to Karino, his neighbor, the reason he loves Tonosaman, a cartoon character from a kid show. He had taken the way Tonosaman spoke and incorporated it to his own speech pattern and he always watched Tonosaman at night, everyday. Karino asked about Tonosaman in the bath house, he said that "Tonosaman is special to me" and when a kid his age crying to his dad because he doesn't want to leave the bath house, and doesn't want to go home, Kotarou confronted the kid and said "Even if you said those things, you have someone always by your side, there's nothing to be sad about". The kid promptly stopped crying and went home with his dad. Kotarou continued on and said "That boy is lucky, he probably won't need the help of the tv in the middle of the night". At this point, you realized that the reason he cried a lot and love Tonosaman was probably due to the absence of his parents, be it because of work or worst case, they abandoned him entirely.

  On the third episode
  He encountered a balloon guy that gives away balloon for kids, this story looks wholesome at first, the way they interacted with each other, balloon guy said only 1 balloon per person and this promptly made Kotarou to disguise himself (albeit, a bad disguise) to asked the guy to give him more balloon. It's a cute story where he dressed up as 4 "different" person for 4 balloons. Then he asked Karino to draw the balloons some faces, a boy, a girl, an older man and an older woman. The balloon guy then accidently met Kotarou on the playground playing with 4 balloons with drawn faces attached to his back. He first assumed the worst and thought that he had been scammed by him, the balloons with the face side then turned to the back and revealed a writing in each balloons. It was, SISTER, BROTHER, FATHER, MOTHER. This scene in particular broke me to pieces and you understand why. The whole reason he lived alone was because yes, his parents left him, abandoned him entirely. The next scene showed him playing with these 4 balloons on the playground, alone.
  It's depressing to see that he was all by himself, a mere kid was forced to grow up because of his unfortunate circumstances.

  The same way Naruto is a vessel for the 9 tails, Kotarou is a vessel for a series of episodic stories (all linked by the main story of Kotaro) dealing with abandonment, loss, abuse, deception, and other psychological issues.

  Kotarou Lives Alone is a brutal show, if you loves the undertone that Kakushigoto and Amaama to Inazuma gives then you'll surely love this one but be sure to come in prepared because it will hit you hard.

  An absolute hidden gem that you must watch!

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