Netflix has been busy releasing new original anime content on their platform in order to compete in the anime market. One of the recent shows that they have released this year is The Way of Househusband which is about an ex-Yakuza member becoming a husband and adjusting to normal life. It certainly is a nice little treat away however I don’t think it lives up to the expectations it set and in the end, becomes somewhat forgettable.
Short Length
The Way of Househusband is composed of a series of vignettes each episode about the daily antics of the main character each episode. The closest show that is similar to this would be Kaguya-sama: Love is War. Unfortunately, there are only 5 episodes available and even these are shorter than the typical anime at around 17 minutes instead of the average of 20. I know that the amount of episodes is not indicative of a show’s quality but I feel that this is too much and leaves you kind of underwhelmed at the end. Given that a lot of the competition on the market is able to give a standard 12 episodes at 20 minutes each, I think this show should have done better to keep up with the
Mixed Bag
The main attraction of this show would be the humor however I did find it somewhat lacking. Much of the humor stems from the contrasts of him being a former deadly Yakuza member while at the same time being a househusband. There were some points that did evoke a chuckle in me such as that scene with the cockroach. However, I wasn’t laughing to the same extent I found myself laughing at other comedy anime. Whenever I think of a really funny scene from this show, I can only recall a couple of scenes compared to the dozens I can think of from other similar shows. I know humor is subjective but this show just didn’t work for me.
In regards to the animations and visuals, they’re a mixed bag. I personally really liked the art style and thought that the character designs were really cool and unique. On the other hand, I really don’t like how few of the scenes were actually animated instead, they’re just being some still frames. I get that they were going for a much simpler design but this doesn’t excuse most of the scenes not being animated. It makes the world of the story feel so lifeless and uninspired. It also ruins the really cool designs since they become far less interesting to look at when not animated.
What it Lacked
My biggest gripe with this show is that throughout its whole run time I never felt invested in the story or characters. That is because in this whole show nothing big or important happens to the story. We also don’t get to see any sort of character development or new information about them. Besides the lackluster humor, there isn’t a lot to keep you watching.
This show missed an important opportunity to explore the main character. Why did he leave the Yakuza to be a husband? Why did his wife fall in love with a dang*rous crim*nal? Does he feel any regret for what he has done? These are really interesting questions that could have not only made him more interesting but also served as a balance out the funny moments. Look at Kaguya-Sama, sure it’s full of laughs but some of the best scenes were the more serious moments especially with Ishigami that made the story of these characters so much more interesting. This show missed that opportunity to create a compelling story or characters and so is worse because of it.
Overall, it was an ok show but I’ve just seen better shows that have done the same thing it’s trying to do. It won’t take you more than an hour to finish this so if you have some spare time then go ahead and check it out but I do think you’ll better spend your time on much better shows like Kaguya-Sama, K-On!, and Nichijou. This show is one of many attempts by Netflix to cash in on the anime market but if they want to truly succeed then they have to start doing much better than this.
