Anime Review: The Way of the Househusband Season 1

The Way of the Househusband

Studio: J.C.Staff

Genre: Comedy Anime, Slice of Life Anime

Streaming: Netflix

Netflix’s latest anime adaptation, The Way of the Househusband, is a comedic short series with the oddball premise of a former yakuza who retired into the more sedentary life of a househusband after marrying. The series is mostly a bunch of short scenes showcasing little events and scenes, as we see “Immortal Tatsu”, taking to his new life and overcoming the daily challenges that come with looking after a household. It’s a fun premise and one which the series heavily relies on for its jokes, with Tatsu encountering many people from his old life and his new one, who misunderstand his intentions due to his fearsome appearance.

So let’s get the elephant out of the room straight away – Netflix billed this series as an anime, but in actuality, this is more of a voiced manga. There is very little in the way of actual animation and movement, with most frames being just still images with things just moved back and forth. The style is very sketchy, really invoking the feeling that this has been transposed straight from the original manga. It makes the whole show come across as very low budget, unfortunately, which is a shame given how much Netflix has promoted it and the misleading nature of the trailers. Once you get past the odd lack of animation, however, it’s thankfully pretty solid – Kenjurou Tsuda puts in a pitch-perfect vocal performance as the former yakuza which honestly makes the series as hilarious as it is. The music is actually pretty good as well and fits the themes of the show perfectly.

The series can easily be watched in one sitting, sitting at only five episodes with each episode only lasting around fifteen minutes once you take out the opening and ending scenes. It fits the light nature of the show and makes it very watchable. The storylines are often very wholesome and sweet, such as Tatsu trying to make his hard-working wife feel better. A few episodes even follow the cat and its exploits which definitely keep the whole show feeling light and fluffy. To me personally, it felt like just the right length for the season too – I feel like a few more episodes and I would have gotten bored with the joke the series relies on. Whilst there were a few hints at development throughout with a few recurring characters showing up, this didn’t really feel like a show that would have anything major in terms of the plot, but more just random vignettes from Tatsu’s life.

Ultimately, Way of the House Husband is a funny, heartwarming show which is perfect if you’re in the mood for something short and simple. It’s getting a second season soon too so there’s more to look forward to in the future!

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