REVIEW: The Way of the House Husband Volumes 1-5 by Kousuke Oono

In brief: A former yakuza leaves it all behind to be a house husband for his wife.

The good: It’s funny and easy to read.

The not-so-good: I read these really quickly!

Why I chose it: Recommended by a friend.

Year: 2019 -2021 (2018-2019 in Japanese)

Translated from: the Japanese by Sheldon Drzka (Vol 1-2), Amanda Haley (Vol 3-5)

Pages: Volumes 1-5: 160;

Publisher: Viz Media

Setting: Japan

Rating: 8 out of 10

I’m enjoying playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth at the moment, a game about an ex-yakuza trying to make things better for others but getting involved in a lot of scrapes. I was recommended by a friend to try this manga as it’s along similar lines – a yakuza called ‘The Immortal Dragon’ leaves that world behind to become…a house husband. He’s involved in the cooking, cleaning and shopping but along the way he seems to get caught up in righting various injustices and gaining a fan or two.

I haven’t read manga for ages, but these volumes were a lot of fun. The chapters are short and funny, looking at various aspects of the house husband’s life from shonky salesmen to meeting acquaintances from his other life. I did feel that I raced through these (being used to novels and not having a lot of time to read) but I did try to slow down and appreciate the backgrounds and drawing, as well as practise my reading of the various signs etc in Japanese.

Here are my thoughts on each volume:

• Volume 1 is a great introduction to the story, capitalising on the problems an ex-yakuza may face when trying to start a new life. He’s recognised by former enemies, idolised by a junior yakuza and saves the day multiple times while barely being aware of it. He also starts to realise that despite his cute aprons with dogs and cats, he might look a little scary to others…and it’s not just the sunglasses indoors.
• Volume 2 continues with Tatsu trying some different house husband roles – a cooking class and exercising at the gym. Of course, with his reputation the police are suspicious but then so is Tatsu when he’s test driving a new car! With the second volume we know what to expect, but I found this volume to be quite sweet in his devotion to his role. It’s also refreshing to see how his in-laws treat him.
• Volume 3 is more of the same – seeing how Tatsu reacts in everyday situations and how others react to his reputation as The Immortal Dragon. It still brings a chuckle or two (or three). In this volume, Tatsu dresses up as Father Christmas, takes on insects, shows off his cooking skills and meets another ex-yakuza, who has a new job that is just as unlikely. We see a bit of more of the other characters too, which helps to keep things fresh.
• Volume 4 continues in the same vein as the others (as expected). Short stories give glimpses into Tatsu’s new life – cooking with the new neighbour, story time for kids, babysitting during the school holidays and on the hunt for a hot new ingredient. I felt that it wasn’t as cohesive as the third volume, but it still makes you chuckle as a light-hearted read. It’s fun, but I do wonder how long the fish out of water aspect of Tatsu’s house husband life can continue.
• Volume 5 in my opinion was a bit weaker than the preceding volumes. The jokes feel a bit flat. (Is this one joke manga running out of puff? Given that there’s at least another five volumes in English, it might just be me). Tatsu is introduced to the idea of being lazy, gets sick, goes to an all you can eat buffet and takes on a freestyle rap contest (which might have worked better in the Japanese). I probably will pick up the next volume if I see it at the library, it’s a light series overall perfect for winding down at the end of the day.