User reviews

I mean it's a four-five year-old living alone, but damn it if it's not the most heartfelt, heartbreaking, sweet and sad thing.

This anime was not on my radar at all. I assumed it was some sort of absurd comedy since it's a small child living alone but that's not it.

Kotaro is the perfect balance of a mature, responsible adult but also a naive child which makes his character so sad. He is such a wonderful soul whose past was filled with tragedy. He affects all the lives around him. We get to see life through his eyes and as an audience understand the tragedy but he at times seems oblivious or sees it through a different lens. It is because of his perspective we get to see a different approach to something that would normally be considered soul-crushingly sad. Kotaro manages to make the best of things. He sees the best in people and means well. He thrives in the friendships he makes. The other characters also reflect off him perfectly. All of them take care of him and they all grow into a family.

The anime is sweet and definitely worth watching. It doesn't make light of certain issues but never focuses depressingly on them. In a way Kotaro simply keeps moving forward and makes friends along the way.

No giant robots, kaiju, epic battles or spaceships here. This is an anime about a young child prodigy who manages to live on his own after his parents disappear. As the episodes pass he makes new friends, changes lives, and encourages all those who meet him.

While the main character is somewhat difficult to believe (might have been easier to swallow if he was a 10 year old instead of a 4 year old), he is well-developed enough throughout the series to become endearing.

A delightful and heart-warming change from over-used anime themes. In place of action-adventure this has story and character development. Each episode is its own plot, developing a theme and leaving the viewer with a moral lesson or special insight to life. Very well done.

I saw this anime without any expectations. I did not think this anime would highlight so many themes of mental illness due to trauma. Important lessons not only from Kotaro but from everyone that later on contributed on his life. Never reviewed anything here before but I just can not stress enough how beautiful this was. I appreciated this anime.

Pressing play on this anime was one of the best decisions I've made..I was pleasantly surprised ..it would touch your soul very closely..it might trigger some tears but It will also warm your heart and make you cherish the little things in life you take for granted.. It portrays the kindness of strangers and the oneness of humanity so beautifully.. The show has dark overtones..but it won't leave you with a sense of hopelessness and I think that's what makes it so endearing<3 I want to give Kotaro the biggest hug Y. Y.

I saw the Trailer and my reaction was meh. The animations looked cheap and it felt like a light comedy with cheap jokes.

So I gave it a shot, I was in the mood for light comedy. The Story is about a 4 year old that lives alone and befriend his neighbours, he acts like a grown up, so far sounds nothing special.

But here comes what surprised me. It's a Drama series, heart warming, serious topics, a boy that is just a boy that had to grow up fast and how he influences all around him.

This series really hit a nerve on me, i was blown away, how the Story was told, i watched every episode with a big fat smile on my face, so many sad and serious topics, seen from different angles that made me almost cry.

Kotaro is such a sweet charackter and would never have thought that i would like this kind of series.

The german dub is perfect, only 10 episodes and I liked it even though my most waited series is The Boys season 3.

It's a slow poison, gets in your heart so slowly and comes out as wet and tears through eyes.

It's so amazing to see how a so simple storytelling can have this much of impact. No big budget animations nor over the top details drawing per frame, just pure emotional journey.

Some kids do really mature faster than others. It is true that it's heartbreaking to see a kid cannot be a kid. But thanks to his neighbors, Kotaro can live a life close to it. Especially thanks to Karino.

This short anime will bring you joy, make you rethink about what matters in life. The drawing and animation can look cheap. However, the music and story aren't. An anime worth watching.

The anime is very good, it has very pleasant characters and the creative things about characters that they are not perfect every character has its own problems and issues and it has fine way to present new characters, the dramatic moments are so sad and emotional, but the comedy moments are also funny and hilarious, this show has shown me a great balance between the drama and comedy and that is one of the wonderful and marvelous strengths at the show. Its deserves and worth watching.

I find several characters very relatable, and well written. Kotaro is a unique and adorable character, overall very likable! The dynamic between everyone and Kotaro is different and adorable in it's own way. You will probably cry a bit, so grab some tissues!

Based on a manga of the same name, Kotaro Lives Alone follows Kotaro, a 4 year old boy who lives alone, renting a small apartment in urban Japan. The short 10 episode introduces us to Kotaro as he stumbles his way through adult life, much like an anime meets I'm Old Enough!, along with his neighbours who quickly befriend the boy to find out who he is and why he is living alone. A different sort of story, it covers topics and hits some emotions I did not ever expect from a show like this, and everything is set up in a way that remains cute, heartfelt, and even tragically adorable. It has comedic elements, and I giggled a bit during it, but ultimately it is a quite sad show thats more meant to tell human stories than it is to get a laugh, and I can only respect it for that. Took me a few episodes to get into but once I did I was hooked. If you like slice of life type anime this one is quite good, I enjoyed it.

A very unique storyline that really captured all different types of emotions. The show is overall adorable with lots of little funny bits, some very sad parts, and some very heartwarming aspects as well. I look forward to seeing more of this series, hopefully there will be a season 2.

Kotaro lives Alone is a solid blend of comedy, drama and emotional moments that will make you laugh at one moment and cry at the other.

The anime follows the rhythm of daily life, its humor deadpan. Each episode is made up of short, sometimes disconnected vignettes that feel like paging through a scrapbook. Equal parts heartwarming, laugh-out-loud funny, a rather nuanced exploration of child abuse, and one of the biggest surprises of the season. This Netflix anime series is not a strong must-watch, but if you are looking for a heartfelt story, then Kotaro will undoubtedly provide you with plenty of heartwarming chapters.

My Rating: 7/10.

Cute, sad, moving and wholesome as well as surprisingly informative about Japanese culture. 10/10 would recommend.

Where to begin, the father and son relationship with the manga artist neighbor, the love-hate relationship with the yakuza neighbor and too many to count wholesome relationships that teach us and make us want to be better people.

I'm a casual anime fan, but I think this is something that anyone who doesn't have a heart made of stone can enjoy. Don't question the realistic aspect of why is a 4 year old living alone.

To anyone that is hesitating to watch it, I really do recommend it. It was a really good anime that made me smile a lot. It makes you feel so many different emotions. The anime was orginal and wholesome.10/10.

The humor is excellent as is the writing, and the theme of abuse and trauma is handled honestly and well. I've already started watching it for the second time.

This Kotaro kid is not who I was expecting. I was expecting the show to be about a kid who lives alone with some kind of special powers. It's not, and it's better for it. He's just some little kid with problems.

Almost binged this in one sitting, and now I gotta catch up on chores. Excited to finish it and then for season 2.

You'll probably be expecting some standard heartwarming comedy, but this show can really throw some curve balls at you. Be ready to cry because it can be pretty emotional.

It's a really fantastic show with a great mix of characters. The perfect way to fill the void of no more Ousama Ranking.

I can not recommend this series enough! It is charming, hilarious, heartwarming, thought provoking and really sad at times. Very, very special and unique.

Heartbreaking yet also heartwarming endearing and hopefull, with lots of morals and lessons along side some great wholesome, yet still freaking hilarious humor! 😆😭🙂

,(NOTE: This show is really good! I don't want to take anything away from any of the experience by explaining too many specific details of the show. So I'll do my best to explain why it's so good while not to giveing anything away.)

Lite hearted full rich engaging plot line with all kinds of twists and turns, full rich charictor and overall story details & story telling! Even if you don't like anime, you don't have to be an anime fan, or even a fan of animation in general to appreciate this show! There's no extreme crazy reactions and behavior like a lot of other anime. Other than the fact that it's a young 4 year old boy living on his own, it feels very lifelike and real. (It's not far off from reality in that sense either, being that children as young as 6 or 7 sometimes live on their own in Japan.) It emphasizes many of the troubles and tribulations children go through when dealing with life as well as the grown-ups that go through it with him and through their own tribulations. It Pertains to all types of children and people, but especially children that have gone or are going through extream hardships in life. (Kids that live on their own in particular.) The scenarios of each episode (as well as the overall story) are all very litteral & often times hard to face realities of oife, but still manages to get the most important points and overall moral accross in a way that highlights the often painfull reality of a situation, without making it too heavy to handle, distastefull, intricate to grasp or being harsh to the point of just being sad. Rather it focuses and offers examples of how the best way to help make yourself better others better and a situation better is often by staying true to yourself and others, driving to be the best genuinely good person you can be, staying strong when things get hard, and that trusting the ones you care for to help you when thing get hard doesn't mean that you're weak and that more often than not they will be happy to help you. There's many great examples in the show of how, even though life may be difficult and hard, it's still worth it to not be so disheartened and lose hope. It shows exactly why things can, no matter how unexpected or unpredictable, still, more often than not, turn out ok!

All the main charictors are really good, but the main charictor Kotaro, more than any others, is an amazing charictor with a big heart & lots of love to share! He's always showing how even when someone may not seem to have have much to offer, that sometimes it's the little gestures of kindness, always being kind, how to be kind even when it's hard, and merely having faith no matter how hard thing get that really matters and is the best way offer the most that can ever be given! He really is an inspireing little guy!

The show is definitely made for everyone of all ages, however, although it has amazing lessons that everyone can learn from, laugh at, cry about and relate to, I very adamantly feel as though the show was mean especially for the younger children who live on their own in Japan, to help everybody better understand their situation, and it does an amazing job doing so! As well as an amazing job relating to everyone as a whole! And is just an amazing show in general! It's an awesome show that demonstates how we can all benifit from striving to be better people, and I can't wait to see more! 😁👍

(NOTE: I don't often give anything a perfect score! But this show is a special exception! I think that if they had tried anything harder, complex, convoluted, overemphasized ect to the show that it actually would have taken away from it. It one of those cases where if you try to make it absolutely perfect you risk missing the whole thing up.)

This series is a masterpiece. It shows the entire range of emotion that any person might encounter in their life from a kid's perspective. And it even does so without talking down to the viewer. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

The trailer for this show makes the anime look dull but let me tell you, I haven't watched an anime this wholesome and somewhat thought provoking since violet Evergarden (huge extreme/difference, I know) As the episodes carry on, you learn all about Kotaro and his proclivities and why he is the way he is but find joy in how he grows as well as influences his friends' growth . Long story short, you'll find yourself feeling more wholesome and wanting inner growth after watching this short but feel-good series.

This show bring the beauty of life to anime. You may say the animation is "cheap" but it fits the show well. This is meant to be a easy watch. Imagine this show with amazing animation would be terrible. You need the choppy animation to really show how the lack of drawing can still show the amazing story that it does. The little details shows really make the show refreshing. The story is split Into sections. Charters develop bit not too fast that it unbelievable. The main child doesn't feel like some kid but also doesn't feel too much like they tried to show an adult into a child character. They mix trauma with child like wonder that allows for a great look Into how a child can really mature in short periods of time allowing for tear jerking moment and childhood bliss to both be awoken. The comedy aspect pulls the show away from the dark nature that could be portrayed. All round Great watch. An unexpected gem of life lessons from a 4 year old.