Anime Fans Aren't Loving 'Way of the Househusband's' Animation Style

The anime series Way of the Househusband is about a guy named Tatsu, who at one time, was a boss in the yakuza. He became known as the "Immortal Dragon" and was feared by many. But after some time, he decided to leave that life behind and settle down. To support his wife Miku who has an established career, he is now a househusband who takes his new position very seriously.

The manga for Way of the Househusband has been adapted into a Netflix original anime and a live-action series, but fans have noticed that the animation style isn't like the other shows. Many have been complaining about it on Twitter. So why did the production team choose to go this route? Here's what we know.

Way of the Househusband uses a motionless animation style. This means that there's little to no movement in the characters between the scenes. Most of what you see is their lips moving.

Many anime fans are used to shows having fluid motion to understand how different characters feel. Plus, a lot of anime have intense fight scenes that use a lot of variation and super-fast attacks to show how intense they are.

This stylistic choice may have not been a great move from Netflix considering how much fans love their other original animes like Seven Deadly Sins and Kakegurui. Some people feel like Way of the Househusband is good outside of the animation choice. One person tweeted that the anime is interesting aside from the stop-motion effects. Another person tweeted that they stopped watching because it looked like a slideshow to them.

According to Screen Rant, the animation for Way of the Househusband was decided on by the anime's producer. In an interview with Natalie, the show's director, Kon Chiaki, said that it was meant to look like a manga panel or like something that would be seen in a manga or a comic book. This way, the humor and the voice acting are what the audience focuses on, not the animation.

In fact, the article goes on to say that Way of the Househusband was never meant to be the kind of highly detailed anime that some fans are used to. Of course, when you watch it, there are some closeups of characters that have lots of detail meant to convey expressions. A lot of anime uses this as a tool. But overall, it's pretty flat in comparison to other Netflix originals.

Screen Rant also points out that the creator of Way of the Househusband, Kousuke Oono, likes the animation. Its timing is used as a comedic tool for deadpans and that's what he was originally going for when he made it.

You can watch Way of the Househusband on Netflix now.