Short But Sweet

Every once and a great while the anime world will be graced with a well rounded crowd pleaser. No matter what genre you follow, you'll like it. And one such show just landed.

Honestly, this phenomenon doesn't happen often. It's hard to bring so many unique tastes together to create something that people won't argue over, but by George they've done it. So many people have been talking to me about this show and after watching even a minute of it, you'll be able to see why.

The Way of the Househusband, a new Netflix original based on an award winning manga series, is making waves in the anime community after airing on April 8th. The show itself is only 5 episodes long, with each episode ranging from 16 to 18 minute run time. I know what you're thinking: "Sooooo short!" and honestly, I feel the same. But we need to look at this objectively for what it actually is. Each episode is comprised of multiple mini shorts, rather than being one full episode of an actual show. This is a very slice of life type pacing, which makes sense because this is indeed a slice of life, despite how it looks. Not only is classified as slice of life but also as a comedy... as well as action. That's an interesting mix...so how'd they make it work?

This story follows an ex-yakuza boss who retires at his prime to become a househusband to support his career-woman wife. There really is no further explanation needed. It is very cute, quirky, and absolutely hilarious. It brings together a beautiful blend of different art styles and you can't help but find our mix matched couple endearing and fun.

The series started as an original manga series back in 2018, and won immediate recognition with 7 nominations resulting in 3 wins and multiple placings. The manga series is still going strong and is on it's 8th volume, which you better believe I am looking into. Obviously, with all that being said, the manga was has been wildly successful. So much so that it got its own live action series last year, which was a single season long with 10 episodes, and now its anime adaption this year, which is what we are talking about. Though the anime just aired, and was only 5 short episodes, fans can rest easy because confirmation of season 2 has already been greenlit.

I am very excited to get to spend more time with the characters in season 2, and as I track down the manga. Though the slice of life pacing is nice for the soul, this really is such a fun story, I almost wish they had made a full blown series out of it. Speaking of the series layout, even if these are shorts they still did an opening and ending sequence. James and I surprisingly agreed that both felt a bit disjointed. We liked the music in the opening, but didn't feel like it matched the animation piece. The animation always felt a couple beats behind. As for the ending sequence, we liked the animation more this time around but weren't fond of the song. Though I wonder if both of these were purposeful due to the strong contrast between the main characters looks verses his personality, but I might just be giving them a bit too much credit or benefit of the doubt there. Regardless, I find this series to be a 10 out of 10 on feel goods and can't imagine anyone disliking it. With that being said, make sure you take your journey down the path of The Way of the Househusband.

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Short, sweet, and to the point today, just like this show! Just as shows like this don't come around often, neither does being spared from one of my long winded rants, so, you're welcome. I hope you're having a great week! Let's finish strong and enjoy the weekend! I'll be back on Sunday with The Mess, and I hope to see you there! In the meantime, stay safe, stay nerdy, and stay messy otaku!