REVIEW: The Way of the Househusband (manga, vol. 2) by Kousuke Oono, translated by Sheldon Drzka

The Way of the Househusband is a comedy series licensed by Viz. I bought this volume brand new.

I mention most of the basic chapter topics in this review, which might count as spoilers in a series like this.

Review:

Once again, former yakuza boss Tatsu (aka Tacchan) pursues the way of the househusband. This time around, he attempts to get a little more fit via yoga and volleyball, tries to sell some stuff at a flea market, helps Masa with his laundry, goes car shopping, and spends some time with his in-laws.

I went into this volume hoping for more of the things I enjoyed in the first volume, and instead I got less. There were fewer chapters devoted to Tatsu and his wife, and the ones that were there weren't as good as the ones in the first volume. I did at least like that one of the chapters was devoted to Tatsu's in-laws. Tatsu and his father-in-law had trouble properly communicating with each other but genuinely wanted to get along, and it was kind of sweet.

The volleyball chapter was similarly nice - I'm a fan of tough-looking softies. And the one part of the volume that made me laugh out loud was the bit where Tatsu did aerobics - the poses and closeups were great. Unfortunately, the humor worked even less for me in this volume than it did in the first, and there were a few chapters and moments that outright annoyed me. My least favorite chapter was the car shopping one, in which Tatsu kept imagining random attacks, something he'd never previously showed a tendency towards doing. I also wasn't really a fan of the crepe stand chapter. Sure, the "battle" was nicely ridiculous, but it was also a waste of money and food, something I'd have thought Tatsu would have been against.

And apparently the animal POV chapters are going to be a recurring thing. The first volume's animal chapter was a bit random, but not too bad, I guess (as long as I told myself someone came and helped that dog get untangled later). This one was just a giant poop joke. While I liked the black cat's attitude, I wish Oono had opted to focus the chapter on something else.

Okay, one more volume of this in my collection. If my opinion of this series doesn't significantly improve after reading it, I'll be stopping there.