First Impressions – Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken
The start of a life of wedded bliss…
You’ll probably notice this is a rare thing. We usually don’t do Impressions for shorts. But there’s more here than just a short series, so I thought that I’d give some impressions of I Can’t Understand What My Husband is Saying and how uncomfortably close some of the things have been.
Mawwage…
It’s only a little embarrassing…
Now, most of you folks probably know by now that I’m married, and have been for almost 20 years. And of course, I wasn’t anything close to an otaku when we got married (honestly, I don’t think I’m really much of an otaku right now). But I am an anime fan now, and there are some things that go with that, and this story of the married life of Hajime and Kaoru Tsunashi did have some moments right off the bat that had me watching through my fingers going “Oh man….”
I don’t wear glasses, and that’s not Metanorn. Why do you ask?
With the show starting off with these two at the altar, wondering about why they’re getting married, an obvious question that comes up is “How did these two people even meet in the first place, and how did it get to the point of them getting married?” Given that this is Japan we’re talking about, I would bet there’s some omiai (お見合い) shenanigans going on here, although the show hasn’t talked about how they met yet (I’m sure that will be the subject of some future episode, tho). But Kaoru mentions early on that she’s two years older than Hajime, and I’m guessing there was some pressure from mom, and Christmas Cake worries going on.
Love Doesn’t Have to be Perfect
“The things I do…”
And the truth is that these two are making it work, somehow. Sure, Hajime is a blogger and makes very little money, which he probably then spends on anime merchandise and magazines. He’s got some guts to buy gravure magazines tho, AND leave them out in the living room after “using” them… ewwwww. That was one of the times I was like “Duuuuude, no. Nooooooo.” And the look that Kaoru gives the camera after nyaaa-ing her way to a date felt to me like it was both “I can get him to do what I want” and “The lengths I have to go to to get him to do what I want are kinda…~sigh~” at the same time.
Mayotama’s on his way home… again
After three episodes, I can say that I’ve had enough of the little brother character, tho. That’s just not something I find particularly funny, and I don’t think it plays well off Kaoru, which is of course the point of the show. I do like how they pack him on the train when he gets a little too interested in big brother, tho. But I found the part with Kaoru’s friend’s surprise visit to see her husband interesting, especially since they got the impression that he was acting “normal”, when he was really acting normal… for him.
Moe Moe!
This show is a lot of fun, and shorts never take up that much of your time. The situations between Kaoru and Hajime, perfectly played by Yukari Tamura and Kenichi Suzumura, respectively, are the best part of the show, and the semi-understanding of what he likes on Kaoru’s part (like moe eyes and agreeing to watch an anime movie), and the intersections with normalcy on Hajime’s part (enjoying spending time with her, when he actually does it) make this series a lot more interesting than it would be if it was just forcing the ‘normal’ girl to live with the otaku guy. And the ED song is nice and cute, with more lovely singing from Yukarin (who I’ve really come to appreciate as a singer after not liking the first things I heard by her).
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
My ex-wife and I were about as geeky as each other when we met. But this isn’t really about that, is it? If it’s an arrangement, like you suspect…why do they hate their daughter! Did they check? Shop around? JK…
But they make it work, their way. Which is the most important thing.
And yes, Mayo…go home.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think you’re thinking of the arrangement in the wrong way (interestingly, the link to omiai that I put up discusses this way of thinking about it, particularly in the West, as contrasted with renai kekkon). Even if it was omiai, it’s pretty certain that Kaoru wouldn’t have had to marry Hajime if she didn’t want to. Therefore, she had to feel he was good enough for whatever circumstances she’s in. And as she says during the wedding: “I’ll make myself happy, so you make sure you’re happy.”
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
How did Highway get an anime??! Playing across Yukarin as well! *pouts*
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Husband’s mangaka is Cool Kyoushinsha,クール教信者.
The penname translates to “Believer in the Religion of Cool”.
POWUH: iLurker with 1 comments
In the Husband manga, the guy actually earns “a lot” from his blog, and probably a variety of freelance stuff – but you got the point that he spends it for his hobbies. That was in a chapter where he showed his moe car to his wife, to her amusement.