“3 nin no papa” or in English ‘3 fathers’ is exactly how the titles says, a drama about 3 guys taking care of a kid. Taking care is rather too much to say when in fact the 3 friends, Takuto, Kyohei and Hajime face the reality of having a child in their house.
When the baby appears, they suspect each other of being the real father of the little human however neither of them wants to admit that maybe it’s his. There’s also the possibility that they have no idea whose baby it is. While putting the blame on each other, they notice that the little guy has a fever. But how could 3 young men take care of a child when they barely know how to take care of themselves. As any other young adult, in 2017, they use google because google knows everything, even how to take care of a child and how to reduce the child’s fever. Eventually the fever goes down but the question remains, whose baby it is? Takuto’s who lived his life with his mother and knows the pain of not having a father around? Kyohei who has a girlfriend and maybe had an affair and the result is the baby? Or maybe Hajime who doesn’t seem to have any interest in girls? Regardless, these 3 friends are not ready to be responsible for another life.
Regarding the writing of this show, the writer was behind dramas such as “Bitter Blood” and “From 5 to 9” which makes me think that this drama will also get to have comedy and romance well written overall but definitely very Japanese-like. The characters are a bit cartoonish however I wasn’t bothered by that at all, especially since I’m in need of a light hearted show. Although there’s also a kid and it’s a story about fatherhood, I still can’t say that we’ll get a story that will develop to become heavy at all, it will clearly keep on going forward as a comedy easy to watch at anytime of the day, be it if you are upset, stressed from work or happy. The dialogues of the 3 friends are quite funny but then again that’s only if you enjoy Japanese comedy.
The acting is okay. In the first episode only the actors playing the 3 friends were shown more than the other characters. Barely got to see the other characters, to be honest. We did get to meet for a few seconds the actresses playing Kyohei’s girlfriend, the woman who owns a store downstairs of their apartment and the possible mother of the child. Even so, since the 3 actors were shown more I’m going to lay out my opinion on their acting. Arata playing Takuto is quite good, the best out of the 3 followed by Yamada Yuki who plays Kyohei and on the last place is Mitsuya Ryo who plays Hajime. However in Ryo’s case, he recently started acting so who knows maybe he will improve, but I can’t say he is entirely bad, just green.
All in all, judging from the first episode, “3 nin no papa” is a rom-com sprinkled with some fatherhood issues and a cute kid. The plot is already overused and the drama will most definitely not become a must watch show however I enjoyed this episode.
Four Seasons Dramas! 
Good to know the writer was the same as “From 5 to 9”. Thanks for the warning!
Hahaha you did not like that drama?
I hated “From 5 to 9”! I was clearly out of my mind for not dropping it. That show makes Kdrama misogyny levels look tame and reasonable. I’ve sworn off Jdramas ever since. 😦
Ikr! Hahaha I was kinda confused after that show tho, a lot of people from my twitter (who clearly are against these types of things presented in that drama) actually liked it. I tho I was weird for not enjoying the show and its characters.
As always thanks for the comments~
Kinda remind me of 3 men and a baby from the 80’s era….
There’s been a lot of shows/re-makes of 3 men and a baby XD
No, Mitsuya Ryo is actually a stage actor for quite a long time now, so he’s not exactly green when it comes to acting per se. But, indeed, this is his first on-screen project.
Yes, that’s true but stage acting and TV acting are different as the style is different. For TV, he is green.
Yes, in that sense, it’s true. After all, stage requires exaggerated movements and expressions whilst TV (unless it’s slapstick) has to be more realistic. I’ve got to commend him, though, because compared to some stage actors who try on-screen acting, he did better (albeit still lacking). :>
He’s just at the beginning of his acting career, there’s time to improve~