Buddy Daddies Intermission: Cherry-Pick

A pair of professional hitmen are stuck raising a four-year-old. That's the whole setup, and it works way better than it has any right to. Buddy Daddies Intermission: Cherry-Pick is a TV Special that recaps the first eight episodes of Buddy Daddies, so it's a decent entry point if you want to see what the fuss is about before committing to the full series. Kazuki Kurusu is the social, easygoing half of the duo. Rei Suwa barely talks and would rather be left alone. Together they handle contract kills for the underworld — until a Christmas Eve job goes sideways and they end up with Miri, a tiny, relentless four-year-old who was looking for her dad. Her dad happened to be their target. Now these two guys who are very good at ending lives have to figure out how to keep one alive, which means daycare drop-offs, tantrums, cooking actual meals, and pretending to be a normal family while still taking assassination gigs on the side. P.A. Works brings their usual clean animation to both the action scenes and the quieter domestic moments, and the tonal balance between gunfights and bedtime stories is surprisingly smooth. If you liked Spy x Family's found-family energy but wanted something a bit grittier, or if Usagi Drop's parenting struggles hit you right, this scratches a similar itch. It's funny, it's warm, and it has surprisingly solid action choreography threaded throughout.