コタローは1人暮らし

 

This weekend, I watched the first episode of コタローは一人暮らし（ひとりぐらし：living alone) / Kotaro Lives Alone, so my summary is limited to the very beginning of the manga-original series. 

Kotaro is a four-year-old boy who just moved in at a small apartment complex. He lives by himself for a reason that is not revealed yet. He becomes acquainted with his neighbors: a male in his thirties who is a cartoonist, a female who works in a bar, and another male who is slightly older and has a son who is Kotaro's age, but they currently don't live together.

Kotaro is a big fan of Tonosaman and he speaks like Tonosaman as well. Kotaro's neighbors are surprised at the boy's independence and peculiar personality, but they seem kind enough to try and take care of the child.  

There are many episodes left, and I am very curious to learn more about Kotaro's story and also the neighbors' stories, too. I have a feeling that it will be both heartwarming and emotional, especially as we get to know why and how Kotaro ended up living by himself.

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I enjoy being able to recognize more and more Japanese every time I watch something after finishing a chapter. This time, I was able to recognize the use of conditional form such as 〜すればよかったけど. It was a lot more natural than when we practiced in class, and I was really able to see what these grammar structures sound like when used in actual conversations.

One interesting thing with this anime, in particular, was Kotaro's speech that imitates Tonosaman. He uses structures like ~である、which I was not familiar with. It sounded like the particular way in which superheroes or fictional characters speak. This made it a bit hard to understand when I tried to watch without subtitles because it was a whole another form of speech that is very different from formal and casual speech we've been introduced to in class.