Netflix’s addition of Kotaro Lives Alone to its catalog adds another way of processing and understanding trauma to the streamer’s Anime catalog.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Kotaro Lives Alone, now streaming on Netflix.
The trauma narrative is one of the oldest in storytelling. From the Bible to Saga, trauma is discussed and negotiated throughout the story as humans try to cope with the cruelty of the world around them. Anime is no exception, with Kotaro lives alone serving as the last to jump into the character’s exploration through his trauma.
Debuting last week on Netflix, the series follows 4-year-old Kotaro, who has determined that it is better for him to live alone than with his father. It also focuses on his new neighbors, who care for the boy and become his found family, and act as the voice of the viewer throughout the series.
Kotaro slowly gains immense complexity
the plot of Kotaro lives alone is both simple and silly. A boy who believes himself to be a feudal lord after watching too much television moves into an apartment. The eccentric people who live around him influence his life as he influences theirs. The first few episodes feel like a sitcom of life with meaningful messages of being kind to others and looking at the world through the eyes of a child. But then the show takes a difficult turn.
Although there are many early hints, Kotaro’s trauma is first really revealed in regards to a relatively minor aspect of his character: tissues. The boy was introduced while buying tissues in boxes to give to his neighbors. As viewers, this can seem both outlandish and silly. Naturally, this 4-year-old would think the tissues would make an appropriate moving gift for his neighbors. He also bought various sets from them throughout the show until, one night, one of the other characters watched a random show that mentioned that children left alone often resort to eating tissues to survive. As in grave of the firefliesKotaro starved to death once, and was afraid of starving to death again.
Kotaro suddenly transformed from a carefree boy, who turns out to be overly mature, into a tragic figure. He is no longer simply obsessed with high quality fabrics; rather, it is a sign of his trauma. Suddenly, every aspect of his character is called into question. Kotaro’s lack of childish antics is no longer entertaining. Suddenly, the story shows Kotaro as something beyond what he seems.
Kotaro’s companions serve as foils of trauma and hearing
Like Kotaro, his roommates at the apartment complex serve as foils for trauma, but in a different way. Isamu, who is heavily involved in the Yakuza, is a divorced father who gives Kotaro the love he cannot give his own son. Near the end of the anime’s first season, Isamu showed a steadfast side of Kotaro that the boy and the audience had never seen, as the character has to push his own son away from him. Mizuki, another neighbor, was always a bright and cheerful presence. That was until Kotaro and the viewer learned that she is in an abusive relationship and no white knight is coming to rescue her from her. She unceremoniously left her friends, including Kotaro, and there was no justice or fairness. There was only pain and trauma of reality.
However, the two most important non-title characters in the narrative are the first person Kotaro meets in the compound, Shin Karino, and Takei, one of the last to move out. Takei has a lot in common with Kotaro, and he recognized one of the previously hidden aspects of Kotaro’s life: his mother never touched him. While Kotaro processed the gloves as a good thing since they were the only way for his mother to touch him, Takei believed they were emblematic of abuse. That included what she suffered, and blew up at Kotaro for this reason.
However, Shin has a completely different purpose. He serves as the voice of the viewer, pointing out that he needed to take care of Kotaro so he doesn’t get kidnapped. He started the show as a somewhat rude man who was down on his luck and treated others in his life horribly, but quickly became Kotaro’s guardian. He also served as the voice of the viewer, asking questions and saying when things are wrong or wrong. He ends the season breaking this aspect of his character, tearfully denying Kotaro the opportunity to know that his mother is dead.
Kotaro lives alone It starts out quite simply. It’s a funny show about a little boy and his friends. However, just as the best children’s stories deal with deep and dark concepts, so does Kotaro lives alone use comedic characters and silly situations to shed light on trauma in children.
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