The Way of the House Husband follows the life of Tatsu, a doting husband. But before starting his simple life, Tatsu was a feared gang member. Even with his dark past, Tatsu does a fantastic job taking care of the house while his wife, Miku, works. Between what is shared during his day-to-day life and flashbacks, this anime shows us how Tatsu was as an ex-gang member and a husband.
The Way of the House Husband is broken up into short snippets of life. Almost like the audience is catching a glimpse of this couple's day-to-day life, getting everything from Tatsu's personality to his interactions with people from his past. With that said, not everything will have a firm timeline. Some events are never given a specific time, and all fans know is what Tatsu did before marriage and what he does now that he is a househusband.
Tatsu Before and After Becoming a Househusband
One of the most notable things about Tatsu's past is his being part of a Yakuza gang. During this time, he was known as the Immortal Dragon. It would seem that his time there was just a bit before he married Miku. As mentioned by some police officers in the first episode, he went missing after "smashing up ten of his rival clan's offices," only to disappear soon after. After his disappearance, the gang broke up, and Tatsue and Miku married.
As a househusband, Tatus spends his time cooking, cleaning, and doing other stereotypical household work. Something that this anime does that is fantastic is it takes these gender roles and flips them on their head. An excellent example is when Tatsu cooks. He had skills with a knife before being a husband. Now he uses these skills to cut up meat and vegetables. During all of this, it's clear that Tatsu adores Miku and does all of this so she can continue with her career as a designer. Although how he expresses his love is sometimes a bit odd.
Many of Tatsu's personality traits came from his time in the gang. The main one is his drive to do everything perfectly, even if it means he gets hurt. It leads him to take cooking classes, keep track of store deals, and clean every part of the house. Along with this is some of Tatsu's unspoken PTSD. Tatsu had gone overboard when protecting Miku or performing a task on more than one occasion. During episode three, when looking at cars, he freaks out, thinking everyone will attack because Miku said to drive defensively.
This isn't entirely surprising since Tatsu was a member of an extremely dangerous gang, but this begs the question, why leave? Other than Tatsu's love for Miku, maybe he enjoys this life. Yes, he probably had fun driving trucks into other gang's offices and controlling, but at what cost? Tatsu met Miku after getting seriously injured, and now he is still paranoid. Instead of attacking other people, Tatsu can use his skills to take care of someone for a change. The same way Miku took care of him the first time they met.
Of course, this didn't happen overnight; even Miku has mentioned that Tatus has changed since they first met. Then Tatsu is an ex-gang member and a househusband, but he's also someone getting over past trauma. He's dealing with social norms because being a househusband isn't common role men take. In a way, Tatsu represents the duality in people, how there are both good and bad sides to people. Except fans enjoy this satirical anime about the Immortal Dragon, trying to be the best househusband.