Does ‘Buddy Daddies’ have a manga?

Buddy Daddies is P.A. Works’ latest original anime project, portraying the daily lives of Rei Suwa and Kazuki Kurusu, two assassins raising a child together. The story is written by Yūko Kakihara and Vio Shimokura, and so far it’s been well-received by the anime community.

Some consider that Buddy Daddies is riding the hype of Spy x Family, a hugely popular series with a similar premise of two people with dangerous jobs creating a family unrelated by blood. Even if that’s the case, the anime is doing well for itself, leading many viewers to search the Internet for its manga. Unfortunately, unlike many other anime out there, Buddy Daddies is not based on a manga, nor is there a manga adaptation in the works for now. If the story continues gaining popularity, a manga, webcomic, or light novel could be brought onto the table in the future, but nothing guarantees it.

What is Buddy Daddies based on?

Contrary to what some might think, Buddy Daddies does not draw inspiration from Spy x Family, but from live-action projects. In an interview published on Buddy Daddies‘ official website, Mitsuhito Tsuji and Toba Yosuke — two producers of the anime — named the 1987 sitcom Full House and the 2019 movie Polar as sources of inspiration, which helped the idea take shape; however, it all began further back when Tsuji had children of his own.

As the concept developed, the parenting experiences of some of the staff working on the anime were also useful. Anyone who raises a child for the first time will be met with challenges, especially when balancing a work life, which led the producers to request their staff members to include many typical parenting moments in Buddy Daddies.

Is Buddy Daddies a gay anime?

When the project was first announced, many people online deemed Buddy Daddies as a queer version of Spy x Family. Now that a few episodes have been released, though, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The two main characters are co-workers and best friends who live together, but for now, that’s all there is to it. Of course, we have no idea what Rei and Kazuki’s sexualities are at the moment, so we can’t exclude the possibility of them becoming a couple in the future. In the same interview mentioned before, Tosuke said:

“Two men raising children who aren’t related by blood is a modern story where values ​​are diversifying, so I thought this would work. I thought that ‘a family not related by blood’ and ‘two people of the same sex raising a child’ are both great themes.”

On the other hand, the producer also described the story as a “buddy thing” so it’s not clear if the main characters’ friendship will develop into something more or not. It looks like the only way to find out is to keep watching.

New episodes of Buddy Daddies will keep being released every Friday, on Crunchyroll.