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darling-wendy · 1 year

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they made each other fathers

This has been staring us right in the face the entire time, but it's only just registering to me that Kazuki defaulted to "Rei-papa" when he could've easily just said "Rei-niichan" or "Rei-ojisan" or "Rei-san", some other form of honorific. A four year old is aware of the concept of an uncle, he could've gone with that to begin with. It's very interesting that Kazuki instinctively reached for the one honorific that tacitly implies a relationship between him and Rei. Like, somewhere in the back of his mind he said 'Well, if I'm her pretend dad then Rei, as my partner (and it's also interesting that the first time we first see him use the term, it's the ambiguous English loan word rather than either of the two Japanese equivalents), is obviously also her pretend dad'.

And, honestly, Kazuki doing this seems to kinda low-key incept Miri into viewing Rei as her second papa lol.

She was told by her mother that she had a Papa, singular, and that she was going to meet him at the Varint Hotel. Kazuki presented himself as such, and in the specific context of rescuing her, which is something that Misaki seems to have have told her is what a Papa does.

(The expression on her face and her hand gesture and the way she says this sounds like she's repeating something a trusted adult told her rather than something she came up with herself imo)

So, case closed. But then! her papa tells her to go play with this other guy, who is apparently also her papa? He says he isn't, but the seed has been planted, and it sprouts up later.

Kazuki is berating Rei for not just telling the neighbourhood watch guy that he was her dad, and Miri takes notice. Rei once again denies being her dad, but the idea seems to have stuck for her.

Look at her hurt little face after she heard Rei outright deny being not just her father but also some other sort of family member. She's attached to Rei. She wanted to eat breakfast with him and later wants to sleep next to him. And I'm sure at least some of that is having had him introduced to her as another parent. Fortunately, it works out in the end.

(The voice Kazuki uses here kills me softly. There is genuinely no heterosexual explanation for it lmao.)

('All according to keikaku')

Don't look so smug, Kazuki. Aside from taking Miri into your shared home in the first place, you put the idea of 'Rei-papa' into her head.

So, within Rei's overall arc of changing to become a suitable parent, there's this first mini arc of him accepting identifying as her papa, and it's partially instigated by Kazuki. On Kazuki's end, he doesn't struggle with the label (despite and/or because of his past? Kazuki, you are fascinating), but he has his own unique arc around it.

Part of the reason that Kazuki is so fascinating to me is that he's very straightforward but also he masks as readily as he breathes. Rei isn't as demonstrative or expressive, but he doesn't really hide what he's thinking or how he's feeling. Rei's arc with becoming a father is pretty linear; he first denies then accepts being Miri's papa, he gets a bit involved with raising her, he learns the lesson of how he's not doing enough and needs to step up, then he gets more involved and becomes more confident, culminating in him declaring his desire to be her father in an outright permanent way and he continues growing after the main timeline wraps. His failings are mostly due to having no idea of what a parent is supposed to be like. His father wasn't his father, he was his boss. (Imagine being ~11 years old and having your father hit you in the face and tell you that he's your boss, not your father. This is immediately after he forced you to try to kill a rabid dog, arming you with nothing but a knife, and berating you for not finishing it off. Woof).

Kazuki's failings seem to come from him being too prescriptive or blindly using negative personal experiences as an anchor for what not to do. He also had a terrible childhood, but we lack specific details. He seems to have been abandoned when he was young, so young that he doesn't even remember his parents, and so lacked a real example of how a parent should behave. This undoubtedly would've come up as a stressor when Yuzuko was pregnant. I imagine that he would've gone through the beginner level stages of growth that we saw with Rei, if not exactly in the same way. We come to him at an intermediate level where he knows a lot of basics, but gets tripped up by more higher level concepts.

(Pre-school socialisation isn't about establishing dominance and young kids can have an understanding of right and wrong, Kazuki)

Over the course of the series (and especially in eps 7 and 9), we see Rei look to Kazuki for guidance, and there are also times when Kazuki asserts himself (often erroneously lol) as having the right idea of what to do in a particular situation.

Kazuki's papa arc is more about breaking down the ideas he had built in his head about what good parenting is supposed to look like and holistically feeling it out with respect to what Miri specifically--not some amorphous Child--needs. Rei kind of has the opposite problem, operating purely on vibes rather than structure lol, and that's why they balance each other so well.

Now for the reverse. By the midpoint of ep 3, Miri has been calling Kazuki 'Papa' for days now. It's just hitting me that he didn't try to gently let her down and reveal his lie after they got out of the gunfight. [Rei straight up asked her 'What about your real father?' and got a philosophical answer, so maybe that strategy wouldn't work anyway lol]. I guess he might think of it as easier to just lean into being 'Papa' until they got rid of her, but I'm gonna call it an inverse Freudian slip. Especially since it ties into the first moment I wanna highlight.

Rei is emotionally stunted but also very perceptive. He's read something in Kazuki's actions, tone of voice, body language, etc that indicates that Kazuki doesn't actually want to give Miri up. She's been a little torpedo that imploded two jobs back to back, she gets underfoot, she and makes lots of noise, she and breaks things...and yet. He knows Kazuki well and he saw, perhaps, what Kyu saw when Kazuki was having a moan about them in ep 7.

The rest of the episode plays out and ends with Rei, Miri, and Kazuki going home together for dinner, this time as a quasi family unit. They haven't made any declarations yet, they're just kind of feeling and fumbling their way along. They have some ups and downs as they settle into a dynamic. Then it all blows up in ep 10.

[I could write a whole screed about how ep 10 was a necessary--at least a highly valuable--story beat, but this post is already very long. Some other time, perhaps. ]

Misaki comes back for Miri thanks to Kyu, they are successfully convinced to give her up, and then their little unit falls apart. Another explosion comes in ep 11 with Misaki's death, and now Miri is officially orphaned. Rei, as per usual, asks Kazuki what they should do, and Kazuki reveals that he's in a deep, guilt-induced trough.

We see how Misaki's death is weighing heavily on his mind, and he's surely thinking that he got yet another woman killed due to his desire for a family. He processes her 'protect Miri' plea as needing to stay away from Miri--that that's what he has to do to prevent her from becoming the second child he has to bury. But Rei surprises him.

Kazuki's response is a bit cruel, though not entirely unfounded. He had to temporarily ghost Rei for him to realise all the work that goes into looking after Miri. And even though Kazuki left a fridge full of meals, Rei still ended up ordering pizza because he couldn't recognise them as such. He has a long way to go as a parent. But he wants to do it, and he beseeches Kazuki to make the jump with him.

Kazuki's talking back to himself just as much as he is to Rei. "It might not be too late. [for] Normal happiness" is what he said to Rei on the Ferris wheel. At that time he genuinely thought there was nothing else for them to do but give Miri back to Misaki. But that was when he, like the rest of them, thought that simply stepping back would be enough for Shigeki to be satisfied. It's different now. They both know that, but Kazuki is too raw with hurt and guilty to let himself be happy. It's that characteristic manner in which he gets in his own way. But Rei breaks through all that.

This is the moment. Rei, for the first time as far as I can recall, is shown to initiate physical contact with Kazuki in a way that's soft and not utilitarian. While he talks, he even gives Kazuki's hand a little squeeze. He is going way further than he ever has in expressing his emotions. Change has been a motif for both of them, and Rei says it's possible for them with such conviction--that they can make Miri happy--that Kazuki stops getting in his own way. He comes around in the most Kazuki way possible: transitioning their serious conversation about taking responsibility for Miri (and the implications of dealing with the organisation) into a comedic moment about Rei doing his share of the household chores and childcare.

And with that, they're over the finish line! There's still a lot for them to do in the final episode, but this is the climax of their respective papa arcs. Storming the Suwa compound, confronting Shigeki, and the 10 years later bit are denouement. The two of them approached fatherhood from completely different backgrounds and stances and levels of experience, but it was a journey they took together and one which was not possible without the other.

#kazurei #kurusuwa family #kurusu kazuki #suwa rei #unasaka miri #buddy daddies #buddy daddies meta #found family #this is my crack lol

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quasarifxxy · 1 year

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What primarily drew me to Kazurei as a pairing isn't the roommate trope, nor the golden retriever and brood cat trope, or the gay spy x family gag, but rather this scene from Episode 8 (that I'm somehow still not over.)

It's the mutual reluctance to love and let themselves heal, with the exception that Kazuki couldn't stand to see Rei in the same position as him, so he offers to take care of him anyway. Both, who had a rough relationship with love, let themselves confide in each other. Rei, who found comfort and experienced what it's like to be taken care of, and Kazuki, who can't help but to extend care because it's something that's just... natural to do in his position. Kazuki, who is hurted by love that is taken from him over and over again, offers what he'd regard as a bare minimum because deep down, he wants his remaining loved ones (and in this timeline just rei) to feel the love he always desired.

Though Kazuki is seemingly full of emotions every time (enough to almost repress his sadness), his actions are always so gentle and full of warmth.

What makes it more beautiful is how Rei adapts Kazuki concept's, or rather, way to express love to Miri (with the most apparent example being Episode 9) considering Kazuki was probably one of if not the first person he'd experienced and therefore actively saw it from. He initially wasn't able to comprehend how to love and be loved, and only through Kazuki's deeds did he learn how comforting and nice it is to be cared for, so he wanted to extend that to Miri after realizing how much his family meant to him.

Going back to the topic, I genuinely adore how Kazurei is a pairing consisting of two people who weren't given the opportunity to love, and during their time before Miri subconsciously fulfilled each other's emotional needs. Though initially distant, they immediately clicked because they fit together like puzzle pieces. Similar desires but difference in approach and seek what the other has.

While there is mutual understanding between them, being able to read each other, neither of the two had the will to step onto each others' boundaries and address it. It was satisfying to see them grow closer emotionally and form the courage to communicate, with great examples being the last few episodes of the series.

Tl;dr the soft aspect of Kazurei made me complerely fall in love with the pairing and I used to be neutral about it

#buddy daddies #kazuki kurusu #rei suwa #kazurei #i did not fuckinf mean to type a long post oh my GOD my apologies for being so obsessed with them #buddy daddies meta #if it even... counts???#idk LMAO #we loving that dash of early codependency 😍#and now they finally stand on equal footing if its to be miri's parents UGH #this probably doesnt make sense and has a lot of errors because im supposed to be doing smth else rn but #kazurei in the brain (they wont get out!!!)#can i be normal about this family for one fucking SECOND

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logicalbookthief · 1 year

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With the return of Misaki and the uncertainty over Miri’s custody, I think it’s time to talk about the cat.

Because the cat is a direct parallel, and the reason why I believe things will go differently this time around, since they’ve both grown a lot over the last year.

The argument over the cat perfectly illustrates the crux of Rei & Kazuki’s issues at the start of the series.

Kazuki tells Rei that buying food for the cat isn't enough, you have to be willing to put in the work — and, given that he was gone for one night and comes home to an apartment filled with smoke, along with a pile of take-out and garbage, he was 100% justified in refusing the stray. Genuinely I don’t get why Kazuki taking this stance got the hate it did, any responsible pet owner would look at the Rei of Ep 1 and agree he was not ready for a cat.

However, this is something that Rei grows to understand when he’s left to care for Miri on his own in Ep 7 and Kazuki isn’t around to shoulder that responsibility. Rei realizes that his actions, or inaction, can negatively affect the people in his care, and it gives him a reason to change. I think it also gives him a new appreciation for everything Kazuki does, hence his attempt at French toast.

But I feel we don't discuss Kazuki's reason for giving up the cat enough, because they’re two sides of the same coin.

What he’s saying is objectively true and you can tell he’s speaking from a place of experience with what happened to Yuzuko. However, he is only focused on how what they do can affect the other people in their lives. No mention of how it would feel to lose someone or any lingering on how lonely this life is.

It’s a contrast to Rei, who brings home the stray without a second thought, simply because he wants to, not considering the impact it would have on the cat. Kazuki takes this to the opposite extreme, only considering what’s best for the cat and completely ignoring his own wants and feelings.

So, as we know, the cat is left where Rei found it. Not an ideal situation, no — much like leaving Miri with her mother would be, considering she did abandon her before — but it is the safer option in both cases.

Watch these scenes and tell me he isn’t fond of the cat. And when he realizes it’s cold and comes back with food for the little guy? Yeah, don’t tell me he wasn’t already attached.

But he comes back to an empty box. Implying to Kazuki, and to us the audience, that the cat was taken in by someone who could give it the normal, loving life that it deserves, which is why Kazuki leaves with a smile.

It is interesting to note that despite his disagreement, Rei went along with Kazuki’s decision over the cat, just as he went along with Kazuki’s decisions regarding Miri, whether that meant taking her back to her mom or committing to being her parents.

I always read this scene as Rei seeing how happy Kazuki is having Miri around. And thus he questions if this is really what Kazuki wants to do, resulting in that startled expression on Kazuki’s face. Like he hadn’t even considered that possibility.

Rei is perceptive, recognizing that Kazuki will be sad to see her go, yet he doesn’t argue when Kazuki firmly negates this as an option while looking upset again.

Kazuki has made strides in moving on from his wife’s death, but the idea that it’s okay to move on doesn’t erase the insecurities and tendency toward self-loathing he’s displayed, which were probably there long before he met Yuzuko. Even when he reconciles with Karin, her words of encouragement are, “I bet you can make her [Miri] happy!”

So if he truly believes that Miri will be happier or safer with her mother, Kazuki will absolutely choose to let her go.

And it will be up to Rei to go against his decision for once, because he knows that remaining a family is what they both want.

Here, Kazuki looks sad and resigned. I was always sort of disappointed we didn’t get a scene of Rei & Kazuki during Ep 7 when he was at his lowest and most self-deprecating. Now, though, I wonder if they were saving such a confrontation for this moment right here. Where Rei will have to convince him that his own happiness is a priority, too, and that their family is worth fighting for.

Now, uh. I do think that Rei’s decision that they stay together as a family will result in tragedy — there is too much foreshadowing to pretend otherwise — and that maybe Miri will have to stay with her mother for a bit out of necessity. But the point of this episode I think will be to highlight how much these two have grown because they wanted to be better for Miri and that it isn’t selfish to want to pursue that happiness for their own sakes, too.

#buddy daddies #kurusu kazuki #suwa rei #kazuki kurusu #rei suwa #unsaka miri #miri unasaka #buddy daddies meta

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wonder-and-wildflowers · 2 months

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Unpopular opinion but I actually like that Kazuki and Rei aren't romantically/sexually involved with eachother.

I know a lot of other people would rather it be a bl, but personally I'm genuinely super happy with them being familial and platonic.

Why? Because its still queer. They just aren't gay. This is clearly a queer platonic relationship 🫶🏾💕

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies spoilers #rei suwa #kazuki kurusu #miri sanaka #qpr coded #queer platonic relationship #queer platonic partners #found family #anime meta #qpr #qpp #it can be queer without being gay #they are in a qpr you cannot change my mind #buddy daddies discourse #buddy daddies meta #meta

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ineffectualdemon · 1 year

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So much to love about this week's Buddy Daddies!

Spoilers under cut but as a treat Rei's reaction to eating chocolate cereal for the first time is beautiful

His happy face is everything

Spoilers:

First of all I'm not surprised Rei has a traumatic childhood but I like that Kazuki even when he's talking about his own traumatic childhood (though in a different way) he's careful to say "hey. Just because I'm sharing doesn't mean I'm going to expect you to share" just by saying "I won't ask"

I also liked Rei slowly like experiencing childhood things through Miri and wanting her to be happy

And now let's talk about her mom. Her mom is a terrible mom. She abandons her child twice and doesn't know or care if the men she sent her off with will harm her or not

However she also clearly never hit her kid even though she expresses wanting to and Miri for better or worse remembers her mother as loving and kind. I think at one point she did want and love her daughter.

It's sad that she grew to resent and hate her daughter but at one point I believe she cared

Is she a good person? Maybe not but she is not an evil caricature either

Also I liked her calling out Kazuki when he was being kinda self righteous

On the thread of calling out Kazuki Rei does that a lot this ep

And in the end Rei says he's Miri's papa and their little acknowledgement that they are parents now is so sweet

I also want to touch on the after credits scene

Rei as we know from earlier in the ep sleeps in the bath after making it look like there is someone in his bed because of "ambush"

Which that and everything about him and the fact that we start off the ep in what appears to be a traumatic dream/memory implies that Rei does not sleep well

And in the end credits when Miri bullies them into all three sleeping together Rei is out like a light

Which implies that for once he feels safe

And that's so much

#buddy daddies #rei suwa #kazuki kurusu #spoilers #buddy daddies meta

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bsd-elle · 1 year

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Thoughts on Buddy Daddies Episode 11

Because damn, what a whiplash of an episode.

This episode, if nothing, is a direct parallel of the first two episodes of the series.

But let's start from the beginning.

The episode starts with Kazurei living their lives, but in a monotonous beat. Kazuki continues his same routine of domestic activities, but as seen by the state of the house and how Rei said, he's definitely not the best.

Rei dedicates his nights to playing video games and sleeping in the morning. And I wonder if it's because of the prior episodes, knowing that Miri was in danger, and now Kazuki would be the next threat, he doesn't allow himself to sleep at night, because he wants to be alert and ready for anything, for Kazuki.

The moment that stood out to me was when they both sat on the couch and watched Miri's favourite show while reading cup ramen.

From what we've seen of the show, every time they have food, they sit at the dining table, but this is one of the first times we've seen both of them on the couch, watching TV.

They probably set an alarm on their phones, to watch the show, because they know that somewhere, out there, Miri is watching the same thing, and they could be connected to her in that sense.

They also both have cereal, the same one that Kazuki was against, at the table with the high chair that they never could find in their hearts to move.

When Kazuki goes through Miri's room, which as we see, most of the stuff has been sent over to her, this is one of the few times we witness Kazuki crying and feeling genuine hurt over the loss of his daughter, and the loss of his family.

Going through the process of losing your family all over again, a concept that he just recently decided to accept and feel happy about, most have sent him reeling.

Kazuki took this as a sign, "yes, I can't be a father, I can't have a family, it's just not in the books for someone like me, so why should I feel bad? I can't feel bad, because it wasn't even possible, so why care now?".

Rei, on the other hand, misses her so desperately, probably to a level he didn't even think he was capable of, holding her rubber duck close to him while he sleeps, because she was his sleep buddy.

Their conversation in the balcony was a turning point for both of them. We see Rei smoking after a long time, which according to him, he stopped because of Miri.

And I love that Miri inspired this good habit, because throughout this conversation, he never actually smoked.

Rei winners if Miri is eating well, and he expresses genuine concern for her, and wishes her the best, whereas Kazuki doesn't even stop to consider the possibility that she isn't being treated well, because that would break his entire heart.

To know that they let her go but she's still not living a good life.

Rei says that he's planning on returning to his father's place, to which Kazuki replies that there's no point in them staying together. Which I'm just going to accept as another coping mechanism.

We've seen from past episodes that Kazuki was really concerned about Rei and the chance that he would return to his father's house, because he knows that it would be detrimental for Rei.

But now, we see him, pretty nonchalantly say that it wouldn't matter.

Kazuki, who just lost his daughter, is losing his partner, someone who has been by his side for so many years, and someone he thinks would be better off without him. Someone who wouldn't be considered his family without Miri.

He doesn't think that he can put up a fight, he doesn't think that he has any right to stop Rei, to stop their family from breaking apart.

Which is why, when Rei offers him his apartment, he declines because 'he'd like something smaller', I attribute to the fact that this apartment contains past memories of his family, one he was unable to keep.

From Rei's perspective, I just love that he offered Kazuki his apartment without a second thought, the same person who referred to Kazuki as 'couch-crasher' in the first episode, has had his apartment, his routine, his life be completely altered with a Kazuki shaped impression (and Miri shaped), with clean floors and full fridges.

I also think it was his way for Kazuki to always remember him. He knows that moving to his father's place would potentially mean that they would never see each other again, especially with Miri's absence. He knows that his father is aware of Kazuki's presence in his life, and it would be, on paper, better for him and safer for him to be away.

But he couldn't resist, throwing him his lighter, a constant reminder that Kazuki decided to take in a child, that both of them grew to love and care for, that both of them decided to give up for her safety, a child for whom Rei decided to stop smoking, and hasn't yet, to this date.

We then move to Kazuki and Kyuu's conversation at the cafe, Kyuu understanding that Kazuki isn't in the best state of mind, and would probably revert back to his old tendencies of gambling, to drown his thoughts. We also see Kazuki talk about how Rei and his father 'rub him the wrong way', and I'm sure that's due to the fact that Rei quite clearly has a strained relationship with his father, and the byproduct of the fierce creature that is Shigeki Suwa is Rei Suwa, who was the perfect assassin, until Kazuki and eventually Miri showed up.

And he is the perfect assassin, because the second Miri is brought into the question, he's willing to become the person he was, to kill anyone just to ensure that Miri would be safe.

Skipping forward to Misaki's untimely death. Tbh, I really hated this plot point, at first. The fact that Kazuki and Rei seemingly had their paths cleared by the death of Miri's father and mother, irked me.

But I also completely understand, given there are only 12 episodes of content, they had to wrap things up quickly, I get why they decided to proceed the way they did.

And I'm glad they gave Misaki her moment to grieve and regret, because it's really unfortunate.

She went through so much throughout her life, finally had the chance to rewrite history and create a new future with her daughter, but her own past mistakes eventually hurt her.

Speaking of Misaki, even though it's clear that she's working really hard on trying to be a better mother, I also think that she's FAR from being a good mother, tbh.

The moment that really set me off, is even Miri is talking about her papas, to which Misaki completely turns the conversation around to be about how she should've never let Miri feel lonely. Which completely invalidates Miri's emotions considering the fact that she was happily talking about spending time with her papas, to hear her own mother say that she wouldn't let her feel lonely... Idk..

I think if Miri heard, 'oh, I'm so sorry I made you feel lonely, I'll try my best not to make you feel that way', she could internalize that as, 'Should I have felt lonely in that moment? Am I a bad person because I felt happy, even though my mom is telling me that I should've felt lonely?'.

And this same feeling is carried over to when Misaki says to Miri that she'll work hard to be a mother Miri can love, and we can see Miri in that moment look upset and cling to get and say that she does love her.

And again, it's very easy as a four year old, to internalised that as your mistake, that you aren't showing your love strong enough to the point that your mother doesn't recognise it.

Now, am I saying all this because I think Misaki deserves everything that happened to her?

Absolutely not.

She was genuinely trying her best to be a better parent, and was doing with what she had and the knowledge she possessed, and isn't that what both Kazuki and Rei are trying to do too?

Even with her dying breath, all she wanted was for Miri to be safe and be protected, that's all she ever wanted, and it's really unfortunate that her story had to the in this manner.

But, I do want to highlight that even though Misaki was trying her best, she's definitely not the perfect mother, and neither are Kazuki and Rei.

But what's interesting is that, the one time Kazuki teared up, he made sure to hide his face from Miri, and I think that comes from years of having to see pain upfront, that conditioned him like this, but it is interesting to point out, the contrast in the two.

Further along, we see that Misaki's dying wish was ingrained in Kazuki to the point that he's already formulated a plan to put Miri into an orphanage.

However, as my initial point at the start of this post, a parallel to the first few episodes, Rei is the one who wants to take care of Miri, Rei adamantly fights for them to take care of her.

When Kazuki, rightfully, asks him what he can do, we see Rei actually introspect, the decisions that had led to this moment, every single little thing, that brought his little girl into her life, and changed him inside and out.

He was comfortable with business transactions, cold bodies with no pulses, glove cladded, professional handshakes, but for the first time, he sees value in life, he sees value in people, he feels warmth.

He sees life in people, connections he's made and the impacts that they have had on him.

Both of them.

It's fascinating because I think Kazuki and Rei processes things in such different manners.

When Miri was in danger, Kazuki's reaction to shut down and logically try to distance himself from her, because he doesn't think that he deserves her, whereas Rei's reaction is to pull closer to her, to try and be there for her even more, to not let her out of his sight for a second (and how could he do that without his partner?).

And it's so interesting that he's the one who's thinking emotionally in this moment, wanting to preserve every essence of Miri, and recreate it.

Whereas, Kazuki, in his mind, is thinking in the most logical manner.

And I think Rei understood that, unfortunately Kazuki has closed off his walls, put up his mask again, and thinks that they can never be a family again.

So he switches strategies and asks Kazuki the most logical question, wouldn't it be unfair to leave Miri after killing both her parents and then abandoning her?

And I think Kazuki was able to see that point, which is why he got so angry, because it's painful.

It's painful to bring his family back up again, so he's trying every single thing to stop it from happening, because he thinks that Miri would be safer in orphanages, than without him, that he's just a curse for everything around him.

So when Rei adamantly tells him, we can change.

It hits him.

And UGGHH.. The writing is so flawless, because the first time Rei asked Kazuki if they could change in Episode 8, when they were in the car, Kazuki replies quite cheerfully, who knows.

Because he had hope, he had belief that they could change, and it would happen.

But in episode 10, when they're brought back to reality, out of the haze, he says to Rei that, guess they weren't able to change.

Because in that moment, they weren't able to keep their family together, HE wasn't able to protect all of them, and like last time, he lost them.

So, his immediate response is to go back to the start, back to 'normal', back to a reality where he didn't change, he didn't accept happiness, and he didn't think he COULD be happy.

So this time, seeing his partner, someone he's spent years with, someone who raised his child with him, someone who would never fight passionately or emotionally, someone who was the 'perfect assassin', tell him, point blank,

We can change.

He sees hope, he sees a future, he sees happiness, he sees SOMETHING in Rei and Miri, and their time together, and if his partner is telling him that he can change, well? Who's Kazuki to stop him.

And Kazuki confirms to Miri that they're back together again (looking so Godamn pretty, OMG).

And the episode ends with Kazuki and Rei declaring that they're both leaving the assassin world, to be an actual family, to be fathers for Miri.

A wonderful episode that I desperately wished could've been expanded even more, but sigh, we only have 12 episodes.

I hope the last episode either deals with them being a family on paper, with a timeskip to the future after they've successfully gotten away, OR, the better one, where we get badass kazurei beating everyone in the organization.

(I desperately hope for the second option, but tbh, since it's only one episode, I wouldn't mind either way♥️).

#buddy daddies #rei buddy daddies #miri buddy daddies #kazuki buddy daddies #buddy daddy spoilers #bd #bsd anime #kazurei #kazuki kurusu #rei suwa #miri unasaka #misaki unasaka #buddy daddies miri #buddy daddies meta #buddy daddies kazuki #buddy daddies rei #such a long post #but I was thinking too much

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night-heron-writes · 1 year

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Buddy Daddies & Music: Recap Episode

So the recap episode didn’t bring anything new plotwise, but it did give me plenty to dig into with the music.

Most of Kazuki’s first narration section, up to the title card, has background music that feels almost reminicsent of a circus or an arcade game, probably to highlight exactly how unprepared he and Rei were to look after a kid. The bright chords and fast tempo also serve to highlight the feeling of being rushed and overwhelmed. The failed hit job from episode 2 is accompanied by the usual action jazz, not really anything new there. Kazuki’s meeting with Miri’s mom keeps it’s soundtrack from episode 3, with Misaki singing her song, and a melancholy piano version playing during their conversation. Interestingly enough, the clarinet and piano theme I identified earlier in the series, “Miri’s Family”, doesn’t play once during Kazuki’s first narration section, not even in places where it plays in the original episodes, like the “For three?” “For three.” dialogue.

However, “Miri’s Family” does play in Rei’s narration section, right after he decides that yes, he can be a Papa to Miri. This is exactly where it plays in Episode 3, but I find it interesting that Rei’s section keeps it and Kazuki’s doesn’t. I suppose it’s meant to highlight how significant this is for Rei and how much this will change their family dynamic. This time, it continues through the scene of all three of them having a sleepover.

Miri’s disaster montage keeps its original music. We get light jazz playing throughout the scenes where Rei and Kazuki are getting Miri ready for daycare. The arrival at Aozora daycare keeps its original music as well. The scenes with Miri and her friends sharing lunch as well as the fight with disguised!KazuRei and the criminal also keep their original music. Miri and Kazuki’s resolution also keeps its original trumpet- and flute-heavy soundtrack.

What almost sounds like a lullaby played on a celesta (music-box sounding instrument, also sometimes called a bell piano) plays while Rei and Miri discover Kazuki’s note, maybe to emphasize how childishly they’ve been behaving lately? Or perhaps to indicate a kind of wake-up call for Rei?

Kazuki’s flashback to Yuzuko’s death also retains its soundtrack, and so does his conversation with Karin.

Unsurprisingly, we keep the basson for Rei’s conversation with his boss. That man is creepy as hell and they’ve already got a good instrument for him, so why change it?

Most surprising to me was that “Miri’s Family” starts playing right after Rei kills his mentor, while he’s thinking on the dock, and continues until Kazuki picks him up. That was not what played there during Episode 8, and that seems pretty significant. It means that Rei thinks that what just happened means something for their family, and he’s just come to some sort of big revelation about it. Sadly we don’t get to find out what he thinks is important or why, since the show cuts him off right then in the form of Kazuki.

Can’t wait to see what the next episode brings and if my predictions still hold true, since this recap hasn’t really shown us much new in terms of plot. See you when the trailer drops!

#buddy daddies #music analysis #lea over analyzes fictional stuff again #how can i get this many words out of analyzing an episode with no new footage?#buddy daddies spoilers #buddy daddies meta

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westgateoh · 1 year

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The Mother Problem and “Buddy Daddies”

SPOILERS AHEAD “Buddy Daddies” was a surprisingly wonderful little anime! They did a fantastic job of creating three lovable main characters and a couple of also-lovable side characters, and I got very invested in the story right away. It was also darker than expected, in a good way that gave the show depth and stakes. However, it had the Mother Problem, which so many media have.

Mother characters always seem to baffle writers (almost as if they’re not sure how to write them as real people), and writers often blunder when trying to solve the Mother Problem. People are accusing “Buddy Daddies” of this same blunder.

In short, the Mother Problem is that our culture assumes that mothers are magical creatures who would never let something bad happen to their child and, more importantly, that if they do let something bad happen to their child then they are bad mothers, and maybe even more importantly, we can’t possibly depict bad mothers. (Bad fathers are fair, rich game, of course.) When media does depict bad mothers, which absolutely do exist in the real world, it’s a risky endeavor, so they often use the Standard Mother Problem Solution: get rid of the mothers entirely, early, so they’re out of the picture and our narrative doesn’t have to worry about them. Mothers die offscreen a LOT in media.

A story about two men who find a four year-old child (after killing her father) and decide to raise her (causing beautiful character growth for both of them) definitely is going to have the Mother Problem, and it appears that the writers knew this and didn’t want to go the easy way out. They didn’t want to kill the mother character at the beginning, the easy route, because they wanted her to be able to come back later and decide to step up and take Miri back to raise her and be a Good Mother. The coming back arc was the way to show that our beloved dad characters have Actually Grown, and they are both devastated to lose Miri. We needed that arc, especially with Rei’s character, who had been reluctant so far about being a dad. Mom had to come back for a short time. Makes sense.

What do with her, after, though? We need our dads to be able to be dads again! We need the mother out of the picture! The Internet is abuzz this week about how they solved the problem. I would argue that the only way they could have solved the problem differently was to keep Misaki alive and have the three of them co-parent, like a divorced household, with Miri spending time at both places throughout her childhood. HOWEVER, this would not have our beloved dads the center of attention, and was not really a good option, narratively. It would have been clunky to set up, and we would have lost the found-family focus that the story sets up.

They maybe could have had Misaki decide that parenting wasn’t for her after all (which is where I expected them to go), but two things would have happened there, very importantly. One, Misaki would have been a Bad Mother and, honestly, it would have been tough for people not to see her as a kind of villain – but we didn’t want that because she was clearly the victim of domestic violence and in a tough situation. She wasn’t ever a villain. Two, if they had made her a Bad Mother, people would have cried misogyny, likely. I think we need to see that reality more often, but the show runners wouldn’t have wanted to deal with those accusations, I imagine.

Some might argue that they could have had her willingly give Miri up because she didn’t have much money, but there’s a lot to unpack around that, including the fact that our boys were about to leave their only known profession and be done with Rei’s family money, so they weren’t very well-off, either. Also, a lot to unpack around that in general around poverty and single motherhood, as well as how hard it would be for her to do that and leave the picture entirely. They also would have had to do that in a single episode, cutting short the other emotional beats the show was aiming for.

The narrative kind of demanded that Misaki got killed, really, even though it sucks, of course. The boys needed the jarring reality that they couldn’t stay in the hitman business with a kid because the stakes were too high and the possibility too real that Miri could also get killed. They needed the push to call everything off and get out. Misaki was that push, to say nothing of how the narrative didn’t have the time or space for a three-parent situation.

In the end, when they set up the premise for the show, they had to deal with both of Miri’s bio parents, and the choices they made were difficult. I wish the Mother Problem didn’t get dealt with this way so very, very often, but for me, it played out in a necessary way here (at least it wasn’t offscreen), and didn’t feel like an easy out or misogyny, just the way the story traveled.

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies spoilers #mothers #misaki unasaka #rei suwa #kazuki kurusu #buddy daddies meta

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lilyginnyblackv2 · 1 year

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Some long, big thoughts on Kazuki, Rei, and being “Fathers.” - SPOILERS!

I really think this episode is when Kazuki and Rei really face the reality that they are Miri’s FATHERS. Like, it finally sunk in.

The lady here uses otou-sama, which is a very formal way to address the two of them, very stuffy. But also very...Japanese. In Japan, it is very commonplace nowadays for little kids to use papa and mama when addressing their parents, but those are still seen as loanwords. They don’t carry the same weight as being referred to, and seen as, FATHERS.

That question and how they would be perceived by others really hit them here. They aren’t just playing house at home anymore, they are out in society and are going to be perceived as this Miri’s fathers. That may also come with the assumption that they are a couple or in a relationship with each other.

They both look uncomfortable here at that realization, but neither one really denies it either. Of course, this daycare is very unwelcoming and the lady far more judgmental than Anna. So that also likely plays a part in how they feel and react here too. The first daycare they go to focused more on the business side of things.

The room is huge, but empty, the walls are colorful, but not bright. Miri is sent off to play with blocks and the lady never directly addresses her or asks for her thoughts on things. Everything about this daycare is unwelcoming and uninviting and unaccepting, so Rei and Kazuki act coldly to this initial realization and the usage of the word FATHER here, seems very fitting.

It’s not a happy, bubbly, childlike, and even fantastical like the word “Papa” is. And the lady interviewing them, was definitely judging them, even before Miri started mentioning some more...suspicious stuff, lol.

Now, when they go to Aozora Daycare, Anna also addresses them using the word father in Japanese, but she goes with otou-san, still formal, but not stuffy and far more common and approachable. It’s still not “Papa” though. She only uses “Papa” when she talks to Miri about Rei and Kazuki.

(In the Japanese she directly addresses Kazuki first by calling him otou-san and then stating that she was asking Miri, not him, haha).

We are met with understanding here, though. Not judgement. The walls of Aozora are filled with children’s art projects, a piano that indicates singing and dancing time as a group, and warm smiles and comfy clothes. Everything that indicates a child-first daycare center.

The whole interview process ends successfully. The daycare views them as suitable parents and Miri got accepted into the school.

And while Rei looks disinterested during this entire interview. He was paying just as close attention to everything as Kazuki was, and if watch the high-five scene with a good eye, you can see that Rei actually has his hand up and waiting for Miri’s high-five before Kazuki.He understands her and her flow so well.

The rest is going under a Read More due to length.

Next we see them navigating all the prep work. And even though Rei did fall asleep at one point, we see that they both put in as much effort and energy as they can to get everything right for Miri and her first day of daycare. They both read through the handbook, write her names on things, even Rei did some sewing too. They exhaust themselves out.

They think they make a great first impression on that first day:

But they make a lot of faux pas in the world of Japanese parenthood (specifically in a space that tends to be dominated by motherhood).

Arriving by car = ✘

Wearing suits that aren’t black = ✘

Having Miri wearing clothes that look expensive = ✘

Arriving by car is equated to wealth and money, and even to showing off, as opposed to riding a bike.

Wearing suits that aren’t black is associated with the underbelly side of Japan, men that work in the red light district or with the yakuza. An exception to this would be like, in many places, the entertainment business.

Dressing Miri up in clothes that look expensive plays into the whole “yakuza daughter” vibes, but also makes it so that she stands apart from the other children. It can also make it so that Miri has a difficult time putting the clothes on and off herself, which could take up class time when coming in from play time, getting ready to go home, and etc.

I worked at a juku (cram school) with a daycare. Most of the students I cared for there were native Japanese kids between 2 - 4 years old whose parents were working in America. My boss would often get annoyed when parents would bring their (usually daughters) in wearing fancy shoes that looked pretty, but hurt the child’s feet and were hard for the child to take on and off themself.

Kids around Miri’s age are also shown to be aware of economic and social class on some level as well.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Rich, poor, middle class. Parents often believe it’s their responsibility to shield their children from economic differences and social class.

But new research shows children as young as five years old are not economically blind. In fact, by the time they reach prekindergarten, kids know the difference.

This group of primary school kids already knows what money can buy.

Combine that with the (thirsty though they were) mothers who probably advised their children to not get on Miri’s bad side because of her dad’s, and her outfits that set her apart, and scenes like this one:

Don’t seem so out-of-place.

When Kazuki and Rei pick Miri up at school, her answer to “How was your first day? Have fun?” being “I dunno yet.’ Set’s off alarm bells - even with Rei.

His brows are furrowed. He knows that something is off and wrong with that statement. They don’t know what they did wrong, and they don’t know how to fix it. Miri gets quieter and sadder and this is the first time they’ve had to actually deal with Miri on a deeper, emotional level.

That feeling like you are failing a child (whether your own, one of your students, or just a child in your care) is such a devasting feeling. This episode expresses it well by having these scenes all take place on the way home from the daycare, when the sun is setting.

Thankfully, Kazuki is open to listening to what Miss Anna has to tell him, and she is so supportive. She doesn’t judge them or treat them like they are incompetent or incapable. She just gives them the push in the right direction, with “insider info” in a way, to get them and Miri acclimated correctly. And Rei and Kazuki jump on it. They love that they’ve found this place with a bunch of good quality cheap shit that can help them and make their lives easier.

And after this, Miri goes to school in regular clothes. Kazuki goes to the play area in the regular clothes, and he is just genuine and authentic with the kids. He doesn’t dress Miri up in a way that sets her apart anymore (on a class level, in a way that makes the other kids think she is “saying” “don’t play with me.”).

Kazuki, especially, isn’t trying to “fake it until he makes it anymore.” He isn’t trying to give the impression that they are rich. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he also felt a bit more pressure to get everything right because he and Rei are two guys raising a kid together - two FATHERS.

But then he realizes letting Miri and him and Rei just be themselves is enough.

This was very much so a Kazuki issue that ended up negatively impacting Miri. A situation I’m sure every parent (or even teacher, like I’ve been before) has experienced on some level. It’s one of the harsher parts of being a parent and trying to help your child and do what’s right.

And now, he and Rei have one foot further into parenthood, since they know about this new shop and:

Gave Miri her own room.

That is such a big deal. Similar in a way to how people say not to name an animal unless you plan on keeping it as a pet. Not because Miri can be compared to a pet or an animal in any way like that, but because of what it implies on both an emotional attachment level and a “she is now a permanent part of our household” level.

That's a fully decorated room, filled with toys and plush dolls and games, a bed, books, a rug, even a desk. A desk filled with stationary supplies for her to learn and something which is viewed as a necessity for children to have at home when they are in elementary and junior high school (especially).

Rei and Kazuki have gone from being Miri’s “Papas” on a sort of imaginary, “playing house” level, with very limited outside and real-world/societal interactions to being her fathers. They have integrated her and themselves as her parents and fathers into society on a large level now.

By investing in that room, they are investing in Miri, and are openly choosing to be viewed as her fathers - as partners. Even if they don’t necessarily view each other in that way, it doesn’t matter to them in the end, because Miri is what’s most important.

(Note: I will link to the news article and report that stated that information about children and economic class recognition in the comments).

#Buddy Daddies #KazuRei #Kazuki Kurusu #Rei Suwa #Miri Unasaka #Anna Hanyu #Buddy Daddies spoilers #BD spoilers #long post #image heavy post #meta post #thought post #feel free to add your thoughts to this as well!

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neo--queen--serenity · 1 year

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Guys. Guys it’s SO poetic and cathartic and such GOOD FUCKING KARMA that not only was Ogino unable to utter any last words of his own, but the fire Kazuki & Rei set off made his gross trophy kill book go up in flames.

That book was filled to the brim with stolen, private, final moments that Ogino had no right to catalogue in the first place. Many were full of fear and terror at the fact that their lives were being violently taken from them. Ogino’s whole trophy system reeked of sociopathy and serial killer behavior, because it was his compulsion, his need, his chosen souvenir from his victims, because he didn’t see it as a job; murder was an act that brought him pleasure and fulfillment.

This compulsion was deeply dehumanizing of his victims, and the existence of this book was directly framed as a dishonor to their memories. Who he was killing (or whether they deserved it) didn’t matter; it was his predatory need to collect these last words that made him so unsettling and vile in his role as a rival hitman.

It was SO satisfying, then, to see him go out the way he did, with no final words to leave to the world, and all traces of his collection destroyed. Rot in hell, bitch

#buddy daddies #ryou ogino #kazuki kurusu #rei suwa #ryo ogino #ogino ryo #ogino ryou #kurusu kazuki #suwa rei #bd spoilers #buddy daddies spoilers #buddy daddy spoilers #kazuki buddy daddies #rei buddy daddies #buddy daddies episode 12 #neo queen serenity’s posts #kazurei #buddy daddies meta

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darling-wendy · 1 year

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kazurei clues part 1 (ep 7)

Now that the content of Mitsuhito Tsuji's twitter likes have been going around, I'm gonna start going through the occasions where I feel the writers were doing their best to throw out clues about what their intentions were with Rei and Kazuki. First up, because I've got the episode queued up to re-watch and because it's both (imo) obvious and subtle, are the ones I see in episode 7.

To start with, we hadn't seen Kazuki go back to Fairy Lips after episode 1, but this gives concrete confirmation that he stopped going. Of course, raising a young child is busy work, especially when you fell into it with no preparation or experience, but once Miri starts attending daycare, that opens time for him that he could've used with quick trips. Incidentally, we saw what his first choice was for relaxation.

He just wanted to hang out with Rei some more, how quaint lol. (There are several hours in-between them dropping off Miri and them going back to pick her up. I really, really reeeeeaallly wanna know if they seriously just sat in Kyu's restaurant for the whole day lmao.)

And this takes me to what Dorothy says next.

I can't quite make out the exact word she uses in Japanese, but let's assume it is indeed something gender neutral like 'sweetheart'. In the moment, Kazuki is focused on fleeing before Karin can see him, but once he's away and alone with his thoughts, this is what he zeroes in on:

That's what he dwells on for hours, all throughout the rest of his walk home, while doing household chores, at dinner, even during his talk with Kyu. His struggle is the way he's determinedly holding himself in the past because he thinks it's the only way to keep Yuzuko from slipping out of his memories. Being happy, being fulfilled by something else, would mean she's getting shoved out. But in that vein, the mention of having a sweetheart could (and should?) set him in a similar way. Yet they don't overtly go back to that. But they very much tossed that breadcrumb out there.

I'd argue that Rei is functionally filling that role (hell, the preview for this very episode had a back and forth between Kazuki and Kyu where Kazuki obliquely compares Rei to his mom friends' husbands 😭). Miri is the catalyst for the big changes in their household, but it's pretty notable that once he and Rei start raising her together, he loses the inclination to flirt and party with women, and is only shown to do it again while he's in the middle of a breakdown. He hollowed himself inside so as to keep Yuzuko tethered to him. The rush of gambling and partying at Fairy Lips only briefly and shallowly filled the void. But once he and Rei outright form a family unit with Miri, he starts to heal.

Also, look at this face and try to tell me that he doesn't "ironically" refer to Rei as 'hubby' in his head!

The shot preceding this had a POV gaze at Rei's hand over Miri's, followed by a pan over to Rei himself, asleep. The shot of Kazuki smiling all fondly lasts 3 seconds. That's a good amount of time there. I can't help but think the animators were drawing attention to Kazkui having a moment over Rei.

#kazurei #buddy daddies #buddy daddies meta #kurusu kazuki #suwa rei #kurusuwa family

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