Kotarou wa Hitorigurashi

One day, manga author Shin Karino is greeted by four-year-old Kotarou Satou, his new next-door neighbor, who gifts him a box of tissues. In Karino's eyes, Kotarou is an odd kid: he speaks in an extremely formal manner, and he lives alone in his apartment—no parents or relatives in sight. But Kotarou neither seems to mind, nor wants to rely on people.

Feeling sympathetic toward Kotarou's circumstances, Karino decides to follow Kotarou to a bathhouse in case something might happen to him and there he comes to understand the little boy is not so different from him. Little by little, Karino—along with the other residents of the apartment complex—grows fond of Kotarou and his antics. At the same time, Kotarou himself might have found something akin to a family in his unique neighbors.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Satou, Kotarou Main

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Karino, Shin Main

Masuda, Toshiki Japanese

Tamaru, Isamu Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Akitomo, Mizuki Supporting

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Fukuno, Ippei Supporting

Sawashiro, Chiharu Japanese

Ryouta Supporting

Ishikawa, Kaito Japanese

Takei, Sumire Supporting

Tamura, Mutsumi Japanese

Tonosaman Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Kobayashi, Ayano Supporting

Hanamori, Yumiri Japanese

Tamamori Supporting

Nishiyama, Koutarou Japanese

Satomi, Tetsurou Producer

Bizenjima, Mikito Producer

Ooyama, Yuuichi Producer

Makino, Tomoe Director

Reviews

Mar 10, 2022

issa_labshat

Recommended

I've been waiting for this to drop ever since it was announced during the Netflix Festival Japan last November. I stopped what I was doing at the last minute before the show was released on Netflix. I binged all 10 episodes. And here's my review

Story.
In this anime, we are shown the stories surrounding Kotaro and how he goes about his independent life. Along the ride, we get to know his circumstances and have an idea why he is living alone. This alone intrigued me and made me interested. We also meet Karino and the rest of the neighbors.

Art
To be honest, I was a bit ... uncomfortable with Kotaro's eyes. They just look weird. But I do understand that they were staying faithful to the manga's art style. His design just grew on me as I watched until ep 10.

Sound
I like their use of soundtrack here. Tonosoman theme song is amazing. haha

Character
Maybe the reason that I like "Kotaro Lives Alone" is because I always feel sympathy for all of the characters. I could see myself in them. Kotaro's determination to be independent was what struck me the most. He tries so hard to be strong at his age but at the same time, seeks love and warmth. His relationship with Karino is wholesome. They found each other's company and it inspired them to be better and stronger. I love the neighbors too. Their relationship with Kotaro was just inspiring. They care about him and Kotaro cares them back. My favorite is Tamaru. His appearance may look 'hostile" but he has great standards when it comes to being a father. What a great guy.
There are also a bunch of minor characters that have small screen time but all of them left an impression on me. The way their struggles/problems were displayed? hit home. Just. wow

Enjoyment
I enjoy this very much. But it's not for everyone. Serious topics like child abuse, neglect from family, toxic relationships, etc. are conveyed n this show. There were moments that burst me into tears. There were scenes that are just witty and funny. There was suspense and laughter.

I give this show a solid 9. I actually watched the live adaptation of this which I think it's also good. But the live-action series changed some things (which is fine for me i guess) I also recommend watching the live-action. The cast did a great job portraying their characters. The same goes for the anime cast.

Please give this show a shot!

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Aug 19, 2024

daaphish

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

*No Spoilers*

Summary:
Kotaro Lives Alone is a story about a four-year-old boy who moves into his own apartment to escape from his father. The story is sweet with some beautiful moments between characters who nurture and teach one another. However, the premise is over-the-top and the art is a weakness, leading to mixed feelings about the show. Season 1 is relatively enjoyable looking beyond the flaws, so I recommend this to anyone interested in an anime that teaches some lessons about learning to care for others. Although it has a strange premise, it is more or less a "slice of life" genre.

Story: 5/10
The story begins with ... Kotaro, a young child, moving into a new apartment and living on his own. This is jarring and doesn’t make any sense. One problem with the story is that other children are involved with a Department of Children & Families type service, but he only has a negligent lawyer check in on him weekly. I suppose she happens to be the most incompetent lawyer working in the business. On top of this, the neighbors don’t report the child, even after they recognize that he is in harm’s way: the television alludes to child abductions, someone is hired to find him even though there is a protective order against him, and he’s a four-year-old. Looking beyond this, which is challenging since it’s the premise of the show, the story is interesting because of the interactions between Kotaro and the side characters. Kotaro gradually grows because he is surrounded by neighbors who nurture him and teach him lessons. They also learn from Kotaro, which is wonderful. Information about his parents is gradually shared, although this season ends without divulging too much about his father. The episodes are typically broken into mini-episodes, like a children's show. Overall, this works well, although the show feels like it tries to teach lessons to children who would not be mature enough to understand the severity of Kotaro’s situation. The storytelling element and general plot are enjoyable, but the initial premise is contradictory.

Art: 3/10
The art style is jarring and creepy. The backgrounds are fairly detailed (and faded) but the eyes are bizarre. It is hard to take the characters seriously when they have vertical pupils with inverted pupils inside. The character designs in general are okay, especially regarding the fashion and story behind Kotaro’s clothes. However, Tamaru’s suit is one of the most annoying visual effects I’ve seen in anime. The design could work, but it doesn’t move properly. It’s like the screen glitches and only his body moves, which is unnecessarily irritating.

Sound: 5/10
The background music is fitting and the voice acting is sufficient, but the opening and ending themes are very annoying to listen to.

Character: 7/10
The supporting characters are well-developed and grow with Kotaro, and the characters, in general, are the biggest strength of the show. They learn to overcome their fears and often learn more lessons from Kotaro than he learns from them. Many of the characters have interesting backstories, but it does become challenging to keep track of the side characters at times and some characters grow nicely and suddenly leave the story, like a revolving door. By the end of the show, the viewer may feel like they were also Kotaro’s neighbors.

Enjoyment: 5/10
Once I got past the ridiculousness of the premise, I enjoyed the story. I work with children who have similar experiences and backgrounds to Kotaro, and I found the lessons in the story to be compelling. This is not my favorite anime genre, but I found it more interesting than I initially anticipated. Again, I would say I experienced mixed feelings for this show.

Overall: 5.0/10
This is an average-quality anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Feb 26, 2025

Fujiwara_Chika04

Not Recommended

It's boring. It's cringe. It's just bad. Worst and the most boring anime I've ever watched.
It's supposed to have comedy and it's supposed to be sad. Guess what? It's neither. The mc is boring and really ungrateful to the people around him. He makes me cringe. Wasted my time watching this. ...
It's supposed to be sad because he is all alone and his parents don't care about him and he wants to live alone and be independent. His way of trying to be independent is cringe. I saw this rating and went in expecting something good but all I got was a bs show.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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