The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 4 by Kousuke Oono
Series Name: The Way of the House Husband
Genres: Comedy, Contemporary, Slice of Life
Intended Age Group: Older Teen
Publisher: Viz
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1767-5
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book
On what begins as just another shopping trip, Tatsu has a run-in with a thief – of the feline persuasion! When the gangster-turned-homemaker gives chase, yakuza are quickly drawn into the fray, and chaos erupts in the streets of the shopping district. Even everyday errands can turn treacherous when you’re the Immortal Dragon!
Personal & Info
I wasn’t really feeling this one. I’m not sure if that speaks for the quality or my mood. It still got a smile out of me, though.
Characters
Tatsu and Miku are the primary characters for each volume.
Masa is a regular, but his parts are rather small.
Various other housewives make appearances at least once per volume.
Story & Thoughts
Masa wants so much to be like Tatsu, but he always fails spectacularly. It’s nice how supportive Tatsu is. The chapters with Masa are some of my favorites.
The chapters with Miku in them are always great. I like her interactions with Tatsu. She seems to find his eccentric qualities endearing. They also have great chemistry together, but not in a romantic way, since this series isn’t focused on that. The volleyball chapter is one of my favorites in this volume.
The white powder jokes are getting a little tired. Any food item that looks like a white powder of some sort is always referred to as white powder, by Tatsu, with the story intention of it sounding like drugs. I find it hard to believe the people he spends time with haven’t realized that yet. And how the heck is Miku supposed to know which white powder to buy for him if he refers to so many things as white powder?
I find it hard to believe a “Japanophile” can’t tell the difference between a type of dagger and a katana. I’m pretty sure the knife Tatsu uses is called a tanto. Also, who grills with charcoal INDOORS? That seems like an extremely stupid thing to do, for obvious reasons. Can’t the guy grill on his balcony instead?
There is no mention of the possible overarching plot I saw introduced in volume three. Maybe it’s nothing, or maybe it’ll just take longer to have any further implementation.