If you haven’t been introduced to The Way of the Househusband, I am happy to be your entry point into this delightful series. Kousuke Oono’s manga focuses on former yakuza boss, Tatsu, walking away from that life and working to become the best househusband he can be. The stories are told in quick, wholesome gags where everyone expects the intimidating man to throw hands when, in reality, he just wants to throw a quiche in the oven so he can have a meal prepared for his wife.
What makes Tatsu so lovable is the fact that he never regrets his decision to be someone who stays at home and takes care of the house. He adores his wife, loves learning new ways to take care of home, and even gets old yakuza acquaintances to realize that the, ahem, way of the househusband ain’t no easy task. Seriously, you expect the joke to get old, but it just gets funnier and more heartfelt the further you get into the series.
Besides the manga, there’s a live-action drama, an anime series, and now? A series of live-action extras produced by Netflix. You’ll be forgiven if you missed the extras as they’re called The Ingenuity of the Househusband, not to be confused with the already existing live-action drama from 2020.
The extras are, at the moment, five episodes, with more episodes on the way this October.
Instead of focusing directly on the series itself, Ingenuity of the Househusband focuses on Kenjiro Tsuda, the Japanese voice actor for Tatsu. Tsuda also portrayed Tatsu in the live-action commercial for the manga in 2019, so this isn’t the first time he’s done the househusband thing on camera.
The live-action commercial tells you everything you need to know about the series.
In Netflix’s Ingenuity of the Househusband, we get to see Tsuda taking care of his house in the same fashion Tatsu would, complete with there being a sneaky little cat who can make things difficult when it comes to home maintenance. Tsuda gives tips on how to remove stains from your shirts, how to sharpen your kitchen knives, and how to make the perfect cup of coffee. Not everything works out according to plan, but that’s to be expected when you’re up against Mother Nature while trying to dry your clothes outside.
Cue dramatic music for the househusband’s natural enemy: the wind.
The extras are definitely worth the watch and, like the series itself, show just how much work goes into being a househusband. Watching Tsuda make coffee was enough to make me realize that I am NOT househusband material (I don’t grind my own coffee beans I just, sigh, buy Folders). I did, however, learn some neat cleaning tricks with things that are readily available in your house, followed by an always cherished lesson to let yourself relax after a hard day’s work.
I also learned that no matter how good of a househusband you are, you are NOT beating a cat, especially in their domain.
Ingenuity of the Househusband is streaming on Netflix, with new episodes coming on October 7th. The first season of the anime is also on Netflix, with new episodes also coming on October 7th. The manga is over at Viz and there are six volumes available.
Now the real question is when do we get Tatsu’s English voice actor, Jonah Scott, to do extra episodes like this?
(Image: Kousuke Oono/Netflix)
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