'The Way Of The Househusband' Is The Anime We Didn't Know We Needed

TV & Film

Mar 14

The Way Of The Househusband poster — Image Source: Breaking It All Down

Looking for positive role models for men and women in anime can be problematic. It’s littered with hypermasculine men and women who are absent or over-sexualised. The Way of the House Husband (Gokushufudo) has flipped the script on the usual tropes and standards producing an anime that is satirical and funny to both genders, and it’s a breath of fresh air.

Tatsu is a former yakuza boss, (crime lord) known as the Immortal Dragon, who has gone from gangster to a cosy apartment with his anime-obsessed wife. Tatsu treats housework the same way he tackled his former life, and with his wife’s brother as an apprentice, hilarity ensues. For example, during a fight with a Roomba, Tatsu spills red wine, and he’s found slumped against the wall looking like he’s been attacked (Roomba 1, Immortal Dragon 0). Of course, there are lots of ‘that white powder isn’t drugs, it's flour’ moments, just because you can see the gag coming, doesn’t mean you don’t laugh.

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Tatsu’s love of cooking and homemaking is shown as aspirational, not as something to be ridiculed. The ‘Immortal Dragon’ doesn’t lose his feared status just because he is a whizz with a sewing machine. His masculinity is intact. The series never once fishes for easy laughs by mocking Tatsu for his interests. The humor comes from his yakuza way of looking at life, not his wish to achieve in arts normally associated with females. And it’s a funnier series for not taking the cheap shots.

The Way Of The Househusband scene — Image Source: Tumblr

Miku, Tatu’s wife is the provider, but is still shown as having time for her husband and retaining her femininity. She isn’t the typical career woman caricature, not a shrew, overly dominating, or a nag. During the series, there are different moments when they protect each other, and offer support, showing balance in the relationship. The Way of the House Husband shows a perfectly functional family with each member given space to be themselves, even though the gender roles are reversed. Some animes/mangas have been guilty of reducing the girlfriend/wife to a two-dimensional stereotype, but Miku is a well-rounded character and has interests outside of her husband, parents and even has things she does not do so well. There’s a reason why the kitchen is Tatsu’s turf. There’s a cute scene where Miku and her father decide to cook, and they both badly chop vegetables the same way.

Other characters from Tatsu’s former life somehow end up in his town doing mundane jobs like working in the local supermarket or running a crepe truck. A comedic encounter will inevitably end with Tatsu giving cooking or cleaning advice. The thing is, lots of the tips he gives are genuine things that can help people living on their own for the first time. But somehow you don’t feel like you’re being taught how to make bubble tea when it’s coming from a tattooed man in shades and a manic smile.

Both seasons of The Way of the House Husband can be streamed on Netflix. It comes with subtitles or an excellent dub with voice actors who put in a stellar performance. The show was based on a manga written and illustrated by Kousuke Oono. It was previously turned into a live-action by Nippon TV in 2020 and if you can find it online, it’s also worth a watch. The anime is a more faithful adaptation of Oono’s original work, but the static panel-style animation won’t be to everyone’s taste. The Way of The House Husband is currently rated at 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb, so the writing seems to be winning people over.