Hump Day Husbandos: Tatsu (Way of the Househusband)
There is a wonderful message behind Way of the Househusband. You should never underestimate the lengths some people will go to be with the one they love. Such is the way for Tatsu, who is one of the most intimidating househusbands you’ll ever come across. For all his scowling and intensity, all he really wants is what is best for his beloved wife.
Think you could crack it as a househusband? Take the lessons offered by this week’s Hump Day Husbando and prepare yourself for the most serious endeavour of your life.
Who is Tatsu?
There are legends in the city’s underground. Legends of a man so fearsome and deadly that he was known only as the Immortal Dragon. In a single night, this Immortal Dragon stormed ten rival clans’ headquarters, clearing out everyone inside by himself. After performing this seemingly superhuman feat of fighting prowess, this legend faded into the night, disappearing from the world of the Yakuza completely. This left both his former crew and the police force wondering what happened to this unstoppable force.
Tatsu, the real name of the so-called Immortal Dragon, simply had a more important mission to undertake. One that required all of his skills and drive to complete. That task was making sure that his beloved wife Miku made it to work each day with a healthy lunch in hand. While at the peak of his prowess and power in the Yakuza, Tatsu traded it all in to support Miku in her career as a designer.
Why we love him
The entirety of Way of the Househusband is built upon the juxtaposition between Tatsu’s intense demeanour and the seeming banality of his daily life. He walks into a cooking class and surprises everyone with his sharp knife skills. He makes a door-to-door knife salesman cry with the elegant simplicity of his hamburger steak. Tatsu brings the drive that made him a force to reckon with as a Yakuza boss and uses it to dote on his wife.
Despite the terror that he instils in many of the shopworkers he interacts with while trying to purchase an idol anime DVD for his wife, everything Tatsu does is out of his love for Miku. He gave up everything he had known and turned to an entirely new way of life to give her a chance to achieve her dreams. That kind of love is refreshing to see in any medium and makes Tatsu an intensely likeable protagonist.
Why you’ll love him
Way of the Househusband does something that is sometimes missed in these slice-of-life comedies. There is a wonderful acknowledgement of how difficult it can be to run a household. The endless little tasks that pile up or the errands to run leave very little time for yourself. Often when someone succeeds in their career, it is because someone is behind them, sacrificing their time and energy to allow them to reach new heights.
Tatsu embodies this without a touch of regret or remorse. When members of his old crew show up and beg him to come back, it is always a non-starter. The Immortal Dragon has found where he truly belongs and that is at home, making tasty food for his wife and keeping the house running smoothly. It is no small task being a househusband, after all.
If you’ve not had a chance to catch Tatsu’s adventures in Way of the Househusband, you can catch the first two seasons on Netflix. Once you get used to the sometimes jarring lack of animation in most of the sequences, it is a great adaptation of the humour of the original manga.
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