Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Way of the Househusband’ Season 2 on Netflix, Finds Wife Guy Tatsu Returning For More Of The Hilarious Antics Of The Domesticated Man

Tatsu (Jonah Scott) is a high-powered yakuza boss who decided to settle down with his wife, salarywoman wife Miku (Laura Post), instead of living the life of his peers. In The Way of the Househusband, we see Tatsu tackling all the domestic tasks at home, like packing his wife’s lunch, doing the laundry, cooking, and tidying up. Miku is free to leave the house and pursue her career without being tied down to all of the daily drudgery.

But that doesn’t mean Tatsu is sitting at home bored all day or reminiscing about his yakuza days. He’s clearly having fun, as his intimidating and tough-talking yakuza persona makes all the household chores he handles look absolutely hilarious. Tatsu is a veritable wife guy who loves Miku, and he’ll do anything he has to, including biking all the way to his wife’s job to bring her the lunch she forgot on her way out. Yeah, he’s a keeper.

THE WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND – SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Tatsu knocks on a door while a woman nervously makes her way over to it. When she opens it, Tatsu demands that she pays up. She stammers that there must be a mistake, and Tatsu informs her that she owes him 500 yen in “association fees”. The next shot finds Tatsu walking down the street with the money in an envelope bragging about collecting the fees.

The Gist: Tatsu is an ex-yakuza who decided to settle down with wife Miku, who’s pursuing the career of her dreams. Having settled down to handle household tasks like doing laundry, cooking, and tidying up, Tatsu has plenty of time at home all day to tackle initiatives like the “association” around the neighborhood that helps brighten the lives of inhabitants. He also hangs out with some of his old friends, bringing them over to see Miku and going out on adventures together that are a lot less severe than his old yakuza gigs, transforming their dynamic into something hilarious.

The anime’s story is nonlinear, so all you really need to know is the setup to appreciate the vignettes throughout this season. There are multiple stories in each episode, too, which pack the jokes in by the dozen. The first episode may focus on the fees Tatsu is collecting like a loan shark for a few minutes, but it’ll shift to his wife wanting to find a special ticket in a pile of sweets and completely change the tone. Many of the jokes rely on Tatsu behaving like a yakuza would when faced with these scenarios, and they work well, because it’s still quite ridiculous to see him in a Shiba Inu apron while spouting some of the things he does.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? In addition to the first season of The Way of the Househusband, of course, you’ll find some similarities between this show and My Bride is a Mermaid. That series features an actual mermaid, of course, but one of the main characters happens to be the tough and kind head of a set of mermaid yakuza, and there’s plenty of domesticity involved as the male and female characters are meant to get married.

Our Take: If you’re coming here from the first season of The Way of the Househusband, you’ll find there’s plenty more of the same side-splitting antics to take in once more. This gag series still brings the laughs in droves, and it’s adept at making sure you care about each character, not just the main one – and you’ll be begging for more episodes by the time this painfully short season is over.

There was one qualm I had previously with the previous season, and it was the fact that the show barely had any animation to speak of, and was more in line with a moving slideshow. It appears the creators took this criticism to heart, since viewers widely shared the same opinion, and it moves much more fluidly this time around, though it’s hardly a marvel of animation.

What it is, however, is welcoming, funny, well-acted, and packed with plenty of ridiculous situations you love to see Tatsu get himself into. It’s the type of show you turn on with the intention to sit through a couple of episodes, but end up finishing it in an evening. And there really need to be more by now.

Sex and Skin: None here. Tatsu may be a former member of the yakuza, but he’s respectable and quite squeaky clean (except for all the violence and language). This is a much more innocent show than you might assume at first glance.

Parting Shot: A man comes to ex-yakuza boss Torajirou’s (Ben Pronsky) food truck, asking for a special anime-themed crepe based on a female anime character. Torajirou takes the challenge, but delivers a lackluster doodle to the excited customer for a hilarious ending to the episode.

Sleeper Star: Tatsu’s wife Miku has a larger role this season, and we get to hear from her a lot more. She’s particularly adorable when talking about one of her favorite shows (Policure), and going camping with Tatsu and Masa. Laura Post does a great job of lending a believable, exciting, and fun voice to Miku.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Miku, what the hell kinda nonsense is this?” Tatsu asks his wife when she brings home a whole table full of snacks, piled high. It embodies the attitude of the entire show, and this second season.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Way of the Househusband Season 2 is another tasty helping of the same content that delighted fans the first time around. It’s funnier, has more silly situations for Tatsu, and we get to see more of Miku this time around. If you need some lighter fare to kick off the new year with, this is it.

Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.