The Way of the House Husband
Publisher: Viz Media
Story and Art: Kousuke Oono
Translation: Sheldon Drzka
English Adaption: Jennifer LeBlanc
Touch-Up Art & Lettering: Bianca Pistillo
Design: Alice Lewis
Editor: Jennifer LeBlanc
The Way of the House Husband has been a manga whose reputation has preceded it for quite some time. I was already very familiar with its premise and several scenes before this book got in my hands. Now that it’s finally here and something you can own, was it worth as a whole or did it work better as bits? Let’s find out!
This series is about a former Yakuza heavy, the Immortal Dragon, who left that life behind to become the house husband of a successful designer. Where once his life was murderous violence along with fear and intimidation, he now spends his days cleaning and cooking. Some might hear this and think the guy left his old life for the money, but no, this man is very clearly in love with his wife and very happy to live as a house husband. He takes pride in his cooking and maintenance.
The humor comes not from him doing these activities, but in his approach to them, like how he “recruits” a roomba to take care of its territory. Or teaching a child how to bury an action figures “body” The humor isn’t really that this guy is doing this stuff, it’s that he’s still a weirdo when he does them. He’s a great cook but his glare is automatically set to terrify without even trying. His outfit is his old Yakuza suits with an apron on top, he’s living a new life but his old life hangs over this.
The chapters are short so you can read them bit by bit or all in one go real fast. The art is top notch, the first page shows off all of his back tattoo. This book feels like you could say “I like to imagine this is what John Wick was like before the movie started” with watching this deadly man who just wants a nice and peaceful life. Where another series, like Wick, would be about his eventual return, this one is all about how none of that world really matters to him anymore. He’s often able to still influence the Yakuza in ways just by being his new self.
The leads interactions with his wife are cute because he’s so stern but also very clearly happy to make her happy, as long as it’s not spending too much money, he’s also proud of his frugality. Some of his old crew try to get him back in, his neighbors find him to be severe but sweet, he is a guy you could see meeting in a suburban home but also being the guy you’d remember for the vibes he gave off.
I can’t recommend this book enough, if you’ve seen the panels of this online already, it’s worth your time to get the book. Make sure there’s more for to come by picking it up. This is one of those books where if I didn’t get a review copy, I would have picked it up for myself anyway. It’s funny, silly, and it’s a quick read so you don’t have to be ready to invest a lot of your mind for it but it will stick around in there just for the fun of it.
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
