The Way of The Way of the Househusband

I don’t eat meat, but I like hamburgers. They make for easy lunches. Add pickles and I’m having the time of my life. 

Beyond Burgers are a good option if you don’t eat meat. They’re not great, though. I’m not sure what they’re made of. They seem unhealthy. There’s junk in there for sure, and a box of eight Beyond patties costs $18.99. 

In our kitchen, one evening, I told my children and their mother a plan I’d made: rather than purchase more Beyond Burgers, I would make a dozen black bean burgers and freeze them. That way, we could have burgers to eat for lunch whenever we wanted. They would cost a fraction of what we’d been spending. They would be better for us than what we’d been eating. They’d be made out of beans, and I’d add wheat gluten so they wouldn’t fall apart like so many bean burgers do. 

When I was done relaying my plan, our elder daughter said, “You sound like the Househusband.”

There are no words for the pride I felt—for her, as she’d made a killer reference; and for myself, as I’d reminded her of my most recently adopted hero. 

The Househusband she referred to is the protagonist of the anime series The Way of the Househusband, which is based on the manga series of the same name by Kousuke Oono. In Japanese, it’s called Gokushufudō. We had watched it, as a family, on Netflix, in Japanese with English subtitles. Our kids insist on subtitles, rather than the dubbed versions of things, which also floods my heart with fatherly pride. 

The Househusband, whose name is Tatsu, was, until the series begins, a member of the Yakuza. A dangerous killer known as the Immortal Dragon, he wiped out three rival gangs in one night. The underworld had never seen a thing like it. And then, the next morning, he was gone, leaving no trace behind. 

We, the readers/viewers of the series, know where he went. The morning after his rampage, he was discovered unconscious in an alley by Miku, a professional woman. She took him home and nursed his wounds—and the rest is history. Now they are married. Tatsu has put his bloody past behind him, and, with the same fervency with which he once applied himself to extorting, robbing, and killing people, he excels as a cook and housekeeper. He has redirected his brutal energies to things far more constructive.