#I'll add a cut if I remember to but I'm rrl tired rn

[the-new-anime-girl]

Buddy Daddies OP analysis

We begin with a city skyline shot as the sun goes down and the city lights turn on. The next shot puts us in the middle of the city;

Rei and Kazuki walk into screen, Rei cold and unflinching while Kazuki looks around quizzically. This could be symbolic of entering the world of hitmen; Rei was born and raised here, while Kazuki was an outsider. This is also why Rei is the one leading the charge, and he is also wearing his mission-suit; a recurring theme in the OP.

Next we see Miri running in the opposite direction of where her papas are walking, she is on collision course with them. Just like in ep 1 she is the one who pusher her way into their lives. Behind her we see a Ferris wheel, the same one I think appears at the end of the OP.

This is also matched to the lyrics “Is it insincere to want to be loved -what should I do”, so the answer to the question is the creation of the family!

The we get her running away from them, just like in the multiple plays of tag she has. I love the title integration here!

Running after (presumably Kazuki) we have Dorothy and Carol (the women from the casino), and following them two people shooting. Is this foreshadowing that the two women will play bigger roles? I don’t think so, but it could be symbolic of what Kazuki and Rei are running from in chasing a family-life with Miri. Rei from the world of hitmen which won’t let him go, and Kazuki from his own demons and bad coping-strategies (gambling).

After that we see some domestic scenes; Kazuki cooking, Rei dazedly waking up in the bath (in his normal hoodie) and Miri on a swing, just like when the family visited the playground. Here I just want to point out the amazing credit integration, I appreciate the extra effort!

Then we have some more credit-integration and cool literal framing with Kazuki and Rei literally carrying a frame along the river as the characters from daycare run behind and through it. If I read into it I’ll say Kazuki and Rei together create the framing in Miri’s life she lacked before, creating opportunities for her to have a normal life with friends and participation in normal society.

Some more domestic scenes of them eating together follows, then some scattered pictures of Rei gaming and Kazuki working on his PC wile earing -how typical of them! Then a picture of Miri sleeping on the couch matched with the lyrics “And then you appeared suddenly..:”

Then the domestical scenes are overtaken by the hitmen-cases thrown over Miri’s picture intruding on their life.

Right after we see who I think is Rei riding his motorcycle. Then my favorite cuts in the OP as a car window rolls down and we see Ogino

With the way Rei is ‘trapped’ and reflected in the window as it rolls down to reveal Ogino it shows who Rei could have become, what his boss wants him to become, someone who likes killing and does it without an afterthought. Someone Rei almost became when he was “like a robot” only moving forward, except Rei never liked killing, he just tried not to think while following orders. There is also a contrast as Rei is inside a bright cityscape, while Ogino is sitting in a dark car.

Ogino turns to look at the viewer, and we get a cut of Miri’s mum, Misaki, singing.

Then we see Kyutaro in the ‘restaurant’ working, before looking up to face Rei’s shitty father. This cut is matched with the lyrics “You shattered my heart” (this is not just the subtitles, the Japanese singing also matched the lyrics to this shot), and since Misaki is shown right before that, she might be part of the meaning too.

So who is breaking who’s heart? Is it about Rei’s father breaking his, Misaki breaking Miri’s and Kyutaro (eventually) breaking Kazuki (since Kazuki seems to be close to him with the nicknames and all that), or is it referring to how the boss will try to split up the family and break all their hearts, or to how shattered they will be if Kyutaro betrays their trust?

The boss is framed with a bloody red sky as it rains, his goons and their cars surrounding him. He strikes an intimidating pose: we can’t see their faces clearly, which adds to the unease and shows his insidious intentions, but it also fits the organization; just like Shigeki (the boss) said, they work in the deepest shadows.

I think these cuts are about the pressure put on Kyutaro to collect information for the boss, and since Kyutaro at first seems reluctant to look up, I suspect its specifically about collecting information about Kazuki and Miri. The boss doesn’t want any ‘bad influence’ on his son, and Kyutaro as of ep. 9 hasn’t been very quick to deliver (it’s been almost 2 months since Rei’s birthday and the initial request by that point).

The shot is replaced with a city-central shot which Kazuki overtakes with his reckless driving as his car screeches into the scene. We’ve seen him driving like this multiple times throughout the anime, always to ‘rescue’ or otherwise reach Miri. This shot is very stylish, but also works to show the desperation Kazuki would feel to keep Miri from harm both in the situations we’ve seen so far and possibly in the future.

The car brings with it the next rolling shot of Rei stoically shooting. He is back in his suit, and I read this as also representing Shigeki’s goal; an emotionless killing machine.

Throughout the whole next part Miri is acting like any hyper 4 year old, running through the different squares while Kazuki searches for her.

Meanwhile Rei is resolutely walking forwards in the bottom row staying on his path, while Kazuki switches to the top row.  

It’s been some time in the OP since the domestic scenes; the further away Rei is from a normal life, the more he is a tool who only follows commands and doesn’t stray from his path. While Kazuki and Miri are free to dress colorfully however they like, Rei is wearing the same suit he wears on missions.  (Side note: When Miri enrolled in kindergarten Kazuki picked out a new suit for Rei despite the old one working just fine, because the old one symbolizes conformity to his father’s expectations).

In the other squares wee see named characters like Miri’s friends running, but also this man:

Who tf is that? Will he be important, or is this just filler? If anyone knows who this is, please share!

Continuing the search Kazuki is still running on the streets, and he looks distressed. This is probably an homage to when Miri got lost and they both went looking for her -Kazuki much more frantically.

But when the family is together again its turned into a fun game of tag where Kazuki is genuinely smiling (while Rei looks his normal self).

They catch up to her and walk along the same river they carried the frame in. this is the first time Miri is in physical contact with either of her papas in the OP; Kazuki pics her up and she wraps herself around him -precious!!! Rei hunches over and walks a little behind then, but he seems to be the one to start a conversation and suggesting or asking something (“Dinner for three?”)

Then we see a stuffed teddy bear and a cake being destroyed by a bullet (among other stuff the family owns like the bicycle with the child-seat); the epitome of the threat the organization poses. Destroying their domestic bliss with violence.

Its fitting then that the next shot is a somber and devastated Kazuki in the rain; he can’t even meet the camera’s eyes. This being placed right after the family’s stuff being destroyed could show Kazuki’s fear of losing his family again.

As we enter into his core through his back, we see what’s behind the happy façade; the deep sadness of losing his fiancé and child. Kazuki stands in the same rainy weather he both met and lost Yuzuko in. In the image Yuzuko is facing away from him, holding the umbrella she had when first meeting him, and when dying, framed by the flowers from the garden she loved where they first met. The shot is beautiful, with the flowers almost blooming around her. The image expands, like how a raindrop’s moisture expands on paper. The rain, the tears and sadness is inside Kazuki’s heart as well. 

The reason Kazuki is so emotional about the family and invested in taking care of Miri is because that’s what he would have had with Yuzuko, but never got. Miri is like his unborn child, and that’s why he so quickly became so attached to her, as she can kind of ‘fill the hole in his heart’. And Miri is exactly what fills the next three shorts as she looks around. The last one with her looking up, and the following shot of Kazuki and Rei looking down and meeting her gaze.

Wrapped around her finger indeed.

Then multiple scenes fly across the screen; the dichotomy of their hitman jobs with goons shooting and the domestic life they’re leading with chores and Miri playing. It ends with a goon falling down and losing his machine gun.

In quick succession we see Rei zipping up his hitman bodysuit, Kazuki looking distressed, a zoom up of Misaki’s crying eye and then this shot of Miri grabbing onto Rei’s fingers.

Multiple people have pointed out that this is the same as in ep. 9 when Miri grabs Rei to join in the daycare-contest. Amid the sudden despair it’s a very tender moment as Rei, but this also symbolically applies to Kazuki, is pulled back to their apartment home.

The shot of the apartment goes from dark night to daytime, mirroring the beginning of the OP when the city went from day to night.

Then the dark night is over, and the sun shines on the family as Rei and Kazuki look at a Ferris wheel while Miri faces the viewer. Her stance is confident, and almost triumphant. We can’t see Rei or Kazuki’s reactions, but Miri who is looking away, as always obvious to the danger around her, is smiling. It makes sense she would be optimistic about the outcome (and gosh, do I want to believe like her).

Considering this is the second time the Ferris wheel appears in the OP, we might see the story’s climax here (I’m calling it!)

The last shot is of a common breakfast in their household; French toast. And Kazuki just couldn’t stop himself from adding some fruit to make it more balanced.

If the end of the OP is to be believed, everything will work out alright for the family (Or maybe that’s just my wishful thinking).

(Thank you for reading, I ended up with around 1800 words, apparently I had more to say about this than I thought. We’ll see of some of my predictions come true. I bet there are some grammatical mistakes here (and squished pictures courtesy of Tumblr) but I’m too tired rn to check…)