Gradually I'm updating and finishing my anime that I've left halfway through, due to lack of time and patience in these last months. Anyway, it's time for ''Kotarou lives alone''.

At first it seems to be a light anime, with a simple plot, easy-to-resolve everyday situations, and unsavory comedy, however, the deeper you dig, the heavier the story gets.

Kotarou is a 4-year-old boy who lives alone in an apartment surrounded by adult neighbors with their own particularities and personal dramas. As it is not something that happens every day, for a little boy of such a young age to live alone without the supervision of a caregiver, his neighbors develop sympathy and affection for Kotarou and take turns helping him and keeping him company.

The most unusual thing about the story is that Kotarou is a very smart and mature child for his age, with a complex vocabulary and speech that is better developed than many adults over the age of 20.

Basically, Kotarou can manage on his own in every respect and manages to be much more disciplined and organized than the adults who supervise him. But despite these more mature characteristics, Kotarou also has a childish side to him as he watches his favorite anime from which he gets all his lines and mannerisms.

As the story progresses, it is possible to get a glimpse into the individual stories of Karino, a failed mangaka, Tamaru, a man of dubious aesthetic taste who lives away from his son due to family issues and tries to coddle Kotarou for comfort, Mitsuki who has a troubled life and an abusive relationship to the point of being physically assaulted, and Sumire who had a traumatic childhood and feels uncomfortable around children, not to mention Kotarou, the reason you watch the anime to find out why or why not a kindergarten child goes to live alone.

But I confess that I only really understood the message the story was trying to convey when Kotarou goes to the dentist. Towards the end of the anime, the dentist is briefly introduced, drawing attention for providing an extended one-hour visit for children (twice as much as he reserves for his adult audience), in order to talk to them to identify any trace of abuse or violence they may be suffering in the family context.

It was heartbreaking when he reveals that he cannot save one of his patients who did not show up for her appointment, but made the headlines of a newspaper days later, a situation that he says he could have avoided if he had seen her in advance and talked to her, an attitude he currently has with Kotarou and other patients of the same age group.

Despite his young age, Kotarou inspires his neighbors and other recurring characters to be better people and to overcome their everyday problems.

In short, Kotarou lives alone is a sensitive story with subtle themes of violence, abuse, and trauma.