Nothing Seek, Nothing Find
Episode 8 of Buddy Daddies begins with Rei leaving the apartment to head to his father’s home. Meanwhile, Kazuki and Miri discuss something they have planned for Rei when he returns.
The next day, Rei meets his father. His father belittles Kazuki and says it’s time for Rei to stay with him. Simultaneously, Miri asks Kazuki questions about Rei’s dad. Kazuki explains that Rei’s dad was super strict and expected more from Rei. When Kazuki first met Rei, he looked like a mindless drone. Kazuki argues Rei left home to rebel against his father’s principles. Kazuki wonders if Rei makes up with his father and if he’ll consider staying with him. As for Rei, his father continues lecturing him about the family name. He tells Rei he must live by their principles and take over as head of the family organization.
Rei asks his father for more time to think. His father hands him an assassination task that he wants Rei to complete and sends him away. Rei receives a phone call from Kazuki and tells him he’ll be late coming home. Kazuki hangs up and continues planning Rei’s party with Miri. Rei meets a driver his father hired to help him with the assassination task. He enters the vehicle and confirms the man he must kill was the same person who taught him how to wield a weapon. The driver tells Rei that the reason his target betrayed his father is none of his concern.
It turns out Rei’s target had put more effort into spending time with his spouse than living up to his father’s expectations. It’s inferred that Rei’s father had men kill the target’s spouse and lie about her safety. The driver discusses the concept behind killing with Rei, but Rei finds his view on killing distasteful. They arrive at the location, and the driver asks Rei to report the man’s final words for documentation. Rei meets his target, who asks him about his spouse. The target realizes she’s long gone and engages in a shootout with Rei. Meanwhile, Miri and Kazuki discuss Rei’s outer and inner sadness.
Miri hopes that when Rei returns and sees the party they whipped up for him, he’ll be happy. Rei and his target engage in a knife fight. The target tells Rei he turned out to be the perfect assassin and wishes he’d found something better to care about than his father’s organization. On the ground, Rei tells the man he has something worth protecting. The target dies by falling to his demise. The driver asks Rei for the target’s last words. Rei says he didn’t hear them and asks the driver to leave him there. Alone, Rei contemplates his life of killing and living by his father’s expectations.
Suddenly, Kazuki shows up and tells him to hop in the car. Kazuki reminds Rei he set up his phone, so he tracked his location that way. Kazuki tells Rei, Miri couldn’t stop worrying about him. They discuss their early beginnings with each other. Kazuki and Rei arrive home, and Rei sees all the birthday party stuff. Miri wakes up and sings happy birthday to Rei, and he smiles. The driver arrives at Kyutarou’s place and hands Kyutarou a photograph. The episode concludes with the driver telling Kyutarou to inform him about Kazuki and Miri.
The Episode Review
This was a great chapter of Buddy Daddies. Where the last episode felt more Kazuki-driven, this one gives more spotlight to his partner, Rei. Based on prior episodes, we’ve known Rei had issues with his father. While it doesn’t hold as much impact as the prior episode, this one was saddening. However, it was satisfying to see Rei endure some hardship.
He has a great personality but was never explored as much as Kazuki and Miri. Therefore, many fans will adore seeing a Rei-focused chapter. Even though the fight scenes between Rei and his target touched upon heavy themes, they didn’t carry much weight. The episode doesn’t flesh out Rei’s target as much as many would like.
It follows the “tell and not show” approach to storytelling, which many aren’t a fan of. It would’ve been better if the episode had given us a scene or two of Rei and the man’s relationship. It would’ve made their shootout, knife fight on the rooftop, and final interactions feel more dramatic if the episode had fleshed out Rei’s target a bit more.
Overall, Buddy Daddies continues to charm and surprise viewers with its fantastic balance of lighthearted and dark content. Based on the cliffhanger, it appears Rei’s father may want to remove Kazuki and Miri from Rei’s life. Even though this will instill fear in viewers’ hearts for Kazuki and Miri’s safety, this is a great opportunity to have Rei stand up to his father. As long as they handle it properly, I can see the next episode becoming one of the best ones yet.
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Episode Rating -
(4)