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極主夫道 [Gokushufudō] #12

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 12

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Tatsu ends up on the radar of an overeager police officer when he attends a traffic safety class, and it isn’t long before a simple class demonstration turns deadly! Well, for the mascot dragged into it, anyway. Has the law finally caught up with this yakuza legend turned househusband, or will he get off clean once again?

Kindle Edition

First published July 7, 2023

30 people are currently reading
463 people want to read

About the author

Kousuke Oono

32 books343 followers
Japanese mangaka. Aka おおのこうすけ (Ōno Kōsuke) creator of Gokushufudou.

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5 stars
392 (39%)
4 stars
410 (40%)
3 stars
179 (17%)
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18 (1%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
Profile Image for Nicolo.
3,464 reviews205 followers
November 9, 2025
The funny is back and I'm back following this series again. The Valentine's chocolate story is an assault on taste, story-wise. Read it and discover why sardines should not be a chocolate-covered treat.

Profile Image for Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎.
1,267 reviews187 followers
December 21, 2024
That cop’s a deranged a-hole. Nevertheless, the story remains hilarious as expected. Sometimes, I forget that Miku and Tacchan are married that my heart beats loudly whenever Tacchan call Miku’s parents Mom and Pops lol. When are they gonna have a kid anyway? Tacchan would definitely be a wonderful yet hilarious dad cracking dad jokes in gangsta language!! Yea, anyway, do they really need to? There’s already Masa for one.

Guess, I’ll have to wait another year for the next volume.
Profile Image for Mark.
2,796 reviews269 followers
September 17, 2024
By this point it seems safe to dispense with the recap - drug jokes and such, as usual.

An easy read, and a fun one, but mostly just okay. There’s no evolution of anybody here, nor do I suspect there ever will be. If you’ve read one volume of this, well, you have truly read them all. It’s both a bug and a feature all in one.

Not that pounding the same jokes into the ground is inherently bad. At least the situations change here, if not the gags themselves. There’s a reason that Garfield has 70-plus collections under his belt and this is drawn way better.

The highlights in this one include the opener, where a baseball game begins as a bad idea and then gets worse. They have a lot of fun with the extra characters juggled into this one.

There’s also a psychotic road safety class that exemplifies the series at its best - pitting somebody as wacky as Tatsu against him while the rest of the world tries to behave normally. The teaching element in this is so hilariously bad that those kids will need therapy.

And, yes, a trick or treat event with Tatsu as chaperone manages to be very, very silly.

Everything else is fine. Masa starting his own streaming channel should be a slam dunk, but, once again, it boils down to the drug metaphors that make up every other punchline in the series.

It’s not like I hate the manga, but you have to acknowledge that by this point it’s really down to doing one thing only. Occasionally it breaks out some new material, Miku karate chops some chocolate in my favorite sight gag here, but not enough.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time, but something would be nice. I don’t mind running gags, heck I love ones like the video games in Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, but even there they are tweaked each time and used sparingly.

Still, as a piece of entertainment? It entertains and without feeling like a drag. I never feel like checking in on this book is a chore, but it is certainly a victim of its own conceits at times and some volumes more than others.

3 stars - good for what it is, but only that, and nothing more. If you are far from tired of this series’ gags, round it up; it’s neither better nor worse than what’s come before it.
Profile Image for Carrie McConn.
302 reviews3 followers
August 24, 2024
I wish there was a stand-alone volume of Masa, but still a fan of the Immortal Dragon.
Profile Image for Adam M .
660 reviews21 followers
September 10, 2024
This series is what it is at this point, so there is very little surprise here. The fun parts are that the cast is getting bigger and we're seeing some ideas circle back around with more detail. The art is still incredible and truly grounds the ridiculousness of the storytelling. Still fun and still a great break from whatever else you're reading.
Profile Image for Ryan.
897 reviews
May 28, 2025
After suffering multiple broken windows, Tatsu's old boss challenges the little ones to a baseball match. Later, Tatsu helps his friend become a better social influencer and challenges a cop who is one too obsessed about road safety.

It's been a while since I last read a Househusband novel, but I see the series is still going strong. Tatsu is still doing his best when it comes to mundane tasks, even showing more of his Immortal Dragon side when out on the field. Surprisingly this time, it's more of the side characters acting up than he is here. One of the first time is a short story arc appearing here, pretty neat actually. Additionally, a cop character has appeared, which hasn't happened since the early volumes, & I had hoped for more headbutt with that. It's still a humorous series, one I'll gladly continue with.
Profile Image for Fugo Feedback.
5,042 reviews172 followers
May 30, 2024
El partido de béisbol es una genialidad. Las caras de vieja de la nena que va a pedir golosinas son todo lo que está bien. La parte de las leyes de tránsito también.
Volviendo a ojear el tomo me doy cuenta de que era mucho más gracioso de lo que recordaba y que tengo que reseñarlo dejando pasar menos tiempo desde que lo leo hasta que lo marco acá.
Profile Image for Matt.
270 reviews
November 10, 2025
It’s the same formula as always, so one knows what’s coming after so many chapters. Still, I liked seeing Miku’s parents return after a long absence. I liked the fact that a multi-part baseball story made an appearance. My favorite segment was perhaps the Russian roulette take on Valentine’s Day candymaking.
28 reviews
Read
October 18, 2024
Kousuke Oono's writing started off very fun and has gradually improved throughout this series. This issue is a great showcase for the character development (and in some cases lack thereof). The situations are fun and the characters really get to show off outside of their usual fields of expertise. It really shows how Tatsu has truly integrated with his community, to the point that his aggressive passion has begun to rub off on the people around him, even those who started off with a reputation. Great addition to the series!
Profile Image for Courtney K.
1,805 reviews25 followers
April 8, 2025
This is a fantastic issue. I can't even choose a favorite, I loved each one.
Profile Image for Mark Will Never Cry.
598 reviews2 followers
September 7, 2025
Tatsu is becoming a side character again and that is kinda okay seeing how many other characters we aw in this volume, but then racism showed up and that was not a welcome addition. Bob is still drawn like barely a person and it is still not great and not funny. It is also clear by now that his singular character trait is "immigrant, that doesn't understand culture" and that is not great. Who would guess that a manga about a yakuza guy becoming a househusband could be so conservative.
Profile Image for mikaela (spinebreaker).
1,373 reviews57 followers
July 25, 2024
Tatsu and company never fail to make me laugh. This volume is stacked with hilarious one-shots, complete with road safety, Miku's cooking, and Masa's misadventures in content creation. One of my favorite volumes to date- I was near tears with laughter in almost every chapter, and the side character officer and his mascot KILLED me.
Profile Image for Julie Hayes.
Author 78 books102 followers
September 2, 2024
When another baseball shatters a window in the Boss’ home, he becomes fed up and determined to do something about it. So he sends for the troops, his purpose to go to war. Tatsu and the others arrive on the field to face their opponents – a baseball team of youngsters, who promise to “crush them inta dust.” Can age hold its own in the face of youth?

Masa decides he wants to be a YouTube content creator and hopes to grow it to be his main source of income, as he explains to Tatsu. Tatsu notices that Masa’s view counts are rather sad, though. As Tatsu is visiting and relaxing with Masa, Masa suddenly starts filming for his channel, and announces he has his first guest – none other than Tatsu, who is taken by surprise. Masa’s intent is to review convenience food items, but maybe Tatsu wasn’t his best choice?

Tora is annoyed to find new competition for his crepe cart in the form of a nearby oden cart. He and Tatsu come down a little hard on the owner of the cart, especially considering the poor guy hasn’t even had a customer yet and isn’t doing very well. So Tatsu and Tora decide to help the newcomer out by critiquing his food.

A group of parents and kids, including Tatsu, are attending a traffic safety class being given by Officer Masaki and the police department mascot, a monkey named Fuzz. Masaki demonstrates safety by putting Fuzz into dangerous situations so he can explain what to do if that happens, but Tatsu is having none of it, and butts heads with Masaki, concerned over the mascot’s own safety.

It’s Halloween, and Tatsu is determined to show the kids the ins and outs of trick or treating!

While taking tea with some of the women from the committee, Tatsu reveals that a Starbox Coffee has opened in their town! They decide they need to check this out and hurry over there, only to be met by a rival gang with the same idea. The leader and Tatsu get into a contest to see who can outdo the other with their orders.

Tatsu and Masa are on a mission to thoroughly clean Tatsu’s apartment. But when Masa mistakenly tries to burn one of Miku’s Policure figurines, she decides to bring in an expert to show them how it’s done.

Miku invites Tora’s sister, Koharu, to go with her to buy a Valentine’s present for Tatsu. Koharu buys a chocolate making kit and Miku decides to help her so they can both give chocolates. Miku has a unique style, perhaps influenced by Tatsu, and she turns the experience into a game of Russian roulette for Tatsu and Tora, who are less than thrilled at spending time together.

Another great volume of The Way of the Househusband. Tatsu is always up to something and it’s invariably entertaining. By now, everyone has become a familiar character and I look forward to seeing them all and what they are up to. I never get bored, and I look forward to the next volume, which I have already pre-ordered.


Profile Image for Aaron.
1,041 reviews44 followers
December 24, 2024
Don't underestimate crossing the road. Especially when a maniacal police officer is on duty and liable to run over lazy pedestrians who can't hazard to look both ways... The point? "You should never monkey around when crossing the road!"

In THE WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND v12 Tatsu (and readers) encounter a local officer who is more than a little earnest in ensuring the public takes home the right message. Masaki and the local police mascot, a guy in a monkey costume, are holding a small safety meeting for an audience of six or seven people. Sounds like your usual community stuff. The catch (and the irony), however, is that Masaki is precisely the type of overzealous cop that folks like Tatsu and other gangsters often presume run rampant on the force. Masaki blames victims, uses violence as his first line of defense, and bickers over stridently irrelevant details (e.g., Are all middle-aged people "senior citizens"?).

The hilarious way Tatsu and Masaki lock horns is equally entertaining and bittersweet. Masaki is a great side character, and could prove a routine and accidental foil for Tatsu and the yakuza community, but readers know by now that very few episode characters ever return for a second appearance. Masaki holds value in the same way that Sumiyoshi did, back in Volume 8. Sumiyoshi was an officer with the community safety/self-defense department, and an expert aikido practitioner. It's a shame the author never esteems to rely on these intuitively creative, local authority figures to provide a consistent, structural background onto which Tatsu's chaos might appear. Even when several housewives contribute to a tragically overmatched baseball game, readers intuitively know they'll likely never again see the likes of "Speed Demon Arai, "Point-Getter Iba," or "Brother's Doing Time Tanimura."

Elsewhere, seasonal trick-or-treating earns a Tatsu-specific rationalization for shaking down the locals and a fancy new coffee shop opens nearby (and promptly confuses everyone). THE WAY OF THE HOUSEHUSBAND v12 is as entertaining as per usual. And, as per usual, if there's one thing everyone can agree on, it's that Masa's an idiot.
Profile Image for n.
271 reviews
January 23, 2025
Finalllly, it’s good again! The past 4 volumes I haven’t been a fan of. I thought it was losing its humor because it was becoming a book series of repetitive jokes.

That crazy ass cop made me die laughing. I went back and read those chapters a couple of times. I hope his character continues in the next volume.

Masa might be my favorite character. Tatsu is hilarious and the main character. I love Miku, everything about her character, and the dynamic between her and Tatsu. The whole thing is a joke about how Tatsu might be a notoriously strong former Yakuza (who has definitely killed other Yakuza in the past), but Miku wears the pants, mentally- she runs the house, and she’s strong as fuck. She can carry Tatsu on one shoulder and throws a mean punch and a solid kick. Miku is the one who got him to leave the Yakuza life, after all. Tatsu was bleeding out in an alley, she carried him back to her place, patched him up and they fell in love. I hope they can show us more about when their relationship was budding. We only get scenes of him being found and carried, then obviously they’re married so the readers know what basically happened. But, Masa really has a kind heart. He likes to help people. He clearly has no one but Tatsu and Miku, and now, Miku’s parents. Apparently, he was a Yakuza for a short period of time, under Tatsu. I honestly don’t buy him doing anything really violent(stabbing, shooting, torturing or murdering) in any way. He picks verbal fights that lead to others wanting to fight Masa. But once it goes that way, he runs away or tells someone else to deal with it in his place. Weirdly enough, he seems naive and immature. He reminds me of a young teenage boy in middle school that talks big so he can seem tough. I’m not sure exactly how I should view him. I want more background about him and his life before the beginning of this story.
Profile Image for 寿理 宮本.
2,384 reviews16 followers
December 22, 2024
Normally, I use my "excessive violence" tag for things like blood and dismemberment, but... the one overzealous officer (the one on the cover) makes specific point to , which... is SUPPOSED to be a comedic gag, but it's terrible?! Like, even for the gag of this being about gangsters-turned-domestic carers (like how Tatsu is the scariest gangster, now overzealous househusband), this is a bridge too far, I think.

The REST of the book is the same great comedy! I mean, the first two chapters about the "adults vs. kids" baseball game is a little uncomfortable from the standpoint of the adults really should be more mature than this, but the last page makes up for it with .

You know, the normal joke for this series: a certain weird tone that builds up in a certain direction, then the last panel or two that changes the tone completely; e.g. the black dude's oden cart of... questionable oden recipes, the crepe guy's poor attempts to help out by making crepe-like oden, then master chef Tatsu showing them how it's done and... .

One other thing I don't like is that Gin barely shows up. I feel like he normally gets a whole bonus comic, at least! Nope, he's barely there.

Recommended for fans of the series, but anyone who is doesn't need me to tell them that. Newcomers would definitely be confused, since there's not a lot to "remind" anyone that the joke is he's an excessively reformed gangster.
Profile Image for Alicia.
8,482 reviews150 followers
September 14, 2024
My favorite guilty pleasure back for a 1-2 punch, volumes 11 and 12 in quick succession.

In volume 12, Tatsu is up to his usual. Dining with his old lady group ready to take down the new chain tea/coffee places Starbox that moved into town. He's cooking up feasts and being treated to others. He's learning traffic and pedestrian safety with a bunch of kids and adults in which the mascot and then he get hit by a car and the best, the entertaining chapter for Halloween when Tatsu wants to shake down the kids who are looking for treats and then they go over to Masa's who thinks that anyone in a costume gets free stuff.

I continue to adore the humor, entertainment, and situations in this brain candy series and that was after my husband cooked me a killer breakfast sandwich- a brisket egg sandwich with Gouda on an everything bagel. I might like it more because I have my own fabulous househusband who's a little yakuza (military veteran) himself.
Profile Image for Pamela.
736 reviews
October 4, 2024
This was a mixed bag of stories I was a bit confused by because of not knowing enough about what they were talking about (specifically the food cart one) and ones that literally had me laughing out loud SO LOUD.

I couldn’t handle the monkey suit police officer being hit by the car 🤣, the yelling of TRICK OR TREAT back and forth that led to a SMAK and the chocolate roulette ending with them all being thrown right on Tatsu’s face. 😂 They were all so hilarious.

But my fav of all was Starbox. 😂 The fact that they didn’t know how to order… I felt that in my soul. And the too sweet drink in the end. 🤣

Loving all the additional characters in the mix, but sometimes I can’t keep them all straight so wish there was a little list of how he knows everyone.

All in all, fantastic and ludicrous good fun!

4.5/5
Profile Image for PumpkinParker.
41 reviews1 follower
May 27, 2025
It doesn't do anything worse than the previous volumes and I still enjoyed a few of the gags (the overzealous traffic cop and Miku sometimes being just as unhinged as Tatsu). Unfortunately, it also just doesn't do much... better than the previous volumes. Like, on one hand, there's comfort in the familiarity, but at the same time, it's starting to get hard to finish even a single chapter sometimes. You can only handle so many drug jokes. We get it. Tatsu handles every situation like it's gang activity. We get it. Drug innuendo. We get it. Turf wars and mysterious powders. Same handful of jokes, different scenarios.

I would kill and die for Miku though <3
Profile Image for Zian B..
2,288 reviews34 followers
September 15, 2024
Despite me enjoying the overall series, I found this particular volume a bit lackluster compared to the others. Many of the more side or minor characters that were featured in this volume, were ones that I don’t remember. The only chapter I really enjoyed was Masa helping Miku and Tatsu with cleaning since it lead to Miku’s parents making a surprise appearance.
Considering how I feel about this volume, I’m going to be going into the next volume (when it gets released) with some slight apprehension since I’ll be debating if I should continue this series for future volumes or not.
Profile Image for 티티킹.
20 reviews
November 28, 2024
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Profile Image for Kastie Pavlik.
Author 6 books42 followers
October 4, 2024
I enjoy this series overall. This volume has a few misses for me, but even those are still fun. I think, for the first time, I'm wishing for a fresher take on the gag, as others have noted repeatedly in reviews, or that we got some continuity carry over - like Masa living in the apartment next to the Yakuza or more adventures with Gin and the cleaning robot. The highlight for me here was trick or treating, chocolates, and the bonus stories. I definitely laughed more in the second half.
Profile Image for fanboyriot.
1,045 reviews15 followers
May 1, 2025

Really good. I loved the last chapter with the chocolate roulette.



𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊



Spice Level: n/a
Sad Level: n/a



Plot: 8/10
Pace: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Characters: 10/10
Enjoyability: 10/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Would I Recommend? Yes
Favorite Character: Tatsu



Pages: 168
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Release Date: 15, August 2023

Profile Image for Gretchen.
1,452 reviews31 followers
June 26, 2024
Thank you to the publisher for this free eARC! All opinions are my own.

Tatsu challenges some kids to a baseball game, reviews products for YouTube, helps a food cart owner, attends a safety course, chaperones some neighborhood kids on Halloween, tries a new coffee shop called Starbox, joins the family for a yearly deep clean, and tries Miku's homemade chocolates. #Edelweiss+
Profile Image for Ikayuro.
362 reviews6 followers
October 8, 2024
Fantastic gags and short stories as usual! It's hard to pick a favourite out of this volume, but it's definitely between the traffic safety bit and the cleaning episode. Though it's repetitive in its nature, that's kinda what I like the most about it - it's a fun formula that I'm not sick of yet. Can't wait to read the next one!
Profile Image for Megan Wintrip.
562 reviews12 followers
October 28, 2024
Finally got round to reading this! One of my all time favourite series!

This time around Tatsu has a lot to dish out, baseball, helping a pal with food, chaperoning Trick or Treaters oh and let's not forget traffic school!

I absolutely loved chapter 105 the Halloween chapter, it was so funny.

I also enjoyed that we got to see more of the friendship with Miku and Koharu.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews

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