The Way of the Househusband vol 5 by Kousuke Oono

This volume is full of holiday celebrations in the House of the Immortal Dragon. Tatsu decides to wash everything, including the futon, on a day with wonderful weather, but Masa is there to disrupt the plans and challenges Tatsu to a day of having fun and ignoring chores. Then, Tatsu gets mixed up in a rap battle with another ex-mob boss. A local store hosts a costume competition, and the winner gets a Hots Springs vacation, so Miku makes Tatsu participate with her.  Tatsu later gets involved in a Tart-off, a challenge to see who can make the best fruit tart. Miku's parents come for dinner, and Tatsu realized where Miku gets her awful knife skills from: her father. Dad decimates several ingredients while Tatsu helplessly tries to save the food and not offend Dad. Tatsu gets sick and wills his little yakuza cells to fight off the virus while Miku makes a terrible concoction she swears will make him better. Miku, Masa, and Tatsu celebrate New Years, and Miku gets supremely drunk. For Valentine's Day, Tatsu and several other ex-mobsters attend a cooking class to make a beautiful cake.

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After a little bit of a slump in the fourth volume, this one is back to the same level of hilarity as earlier volumes.​ The joke might seem to be wearing thin, especially when Tatsu is doing some of the same chores as previous violumes, but Oono breaks those up with some new and very hilarious moments. I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter with Miku's family and seeing how Tatsu has to interact with The Boss' folks! There is a slight bit of continuity in this volume with the holidays being celebrated, but it is still otherwise a Slice of Life where the chapters don't really lead into or relate to each other.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 4

Publisher: VIZ Media
Publication Date: May 18, 2021​
ISBN: 9781974721771 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Slice Of Life, Humor