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Kotaro Sato, the 4-year-old main character ofKotaro Lives Alone, is not like other kids.
Its obvious from the eyes.
Most distressing: Kotaro lives alone.
How do children deal with loss?
And most affectingly, what makes a family?
We first meet Kotaro in the supermarket looking for tissues.
He declines the kids brand three-pack with dinosaurs and grizzly bears wearing top hats.
I thought this apartment didnt allow tenants with kids?
I dont have any kids living with me, Kotaro replies.
Kotaro and Karino form the classic odd couple as inverse configurations: the precocious child and the adult baby.
Kotaro is financially stable; Karino is unsuccessful.
Kotaro is clean and organized; Karino cant remember the last time he bathed.
Karino begins to chaperone Kotaro, and the 4-year-old becomes the nucleus that pulls the other buildings tenants together.
Routine and structure expand around him like an airbag.
Eventually Karino becomes more of an adult, which allows Kotaro to act more like a kid.
Kotarofollows the rhythm of daily life, its humor deadpan.
There is a resistance to explaining too much; the lack of clear episodic arcs makes each beat spontaneous.
Feelings will catch a character like an undertow.
The stories take on a poetic, parable-like quality.
The umbrella should always shield the other person.
A wet shoulder shows you care.
InKotaro, the ephemera matters the small gestures and quirks.
Love is showing up for school recitals and washing someones hair.
It is a daily practice.
Those memories are proof of living.
Like its subject, the animation ofKotarois simple and effective.
The aesthetic evokes childhood without being childish the bright, bold strokes reflect Kotaros own absurdly frank worldview.
Memories take on a hazy, disjointed quality.
Kotaros biological parents appear with heavy brows, like curtains drawn over their eyes.
