REVIEW: ‘The Ingenuity of the Househusband’ Season 1 Makes a Short and Pleasant Watch

The Ingenuity of the Househusband Season 1 is a slice-of-life comedy starring Kenjiro Tsuda streaming on Netflix. Kenjiro Tsuda lives a peaceful life content with the duties of a househusband. How does such a simple life not become dull? The continued pursuit of bettering his work and cultivating pride in his growth.

One of the biggest struggles many of us face with our day-to-day lives is being present in the now. Worries about what’s coming tomorrow or obsessing over what happened yesterday often take us out of the now. These thoughts keep us from just being able to focus ourselves on the small pleasures of life or simply putting our all into whatever task is at hand. Watching Tsuda exemplify these principles in The Ingenuity of the Househusband Season 1 was a surprisingly pleasant and relaxing experience.

The first important thing to note about this series is that the whole five-episode run can be watching in under half an hour. Each episode sees Tsuda tackle one or two household tasks. Virtually all the dialogue comes from an internal narration by Tsuda, as he goes through the process of his task, step by meticulous step. And while seeing an individual go through everyday chores like sorting, recycling, or doing laundry with unique calm and attention to detail was oddly relaxing, the show’s greatest moments are when things go awry for our titular househusband.

Despite Tsuda’s slow, calm, and precise approach to the tasks he undertakes in The Ingenuity of the Househusband Season 1, things sometimes don’t work out. Given how particular the character comes across and the fact that the series is labeled a comedy, I initially expected these moments to send our protagonist into a frenzy. Breaking the show’s calm completely. Instead, there is simply a sigh, followed by a resigned “these things happen.” The acceptance of setbacks as simply being an aspect of the process instead of a sign of failure was an unexpected breath of positivity I needed.

The delivery of The Ingenuity of the Househusband Season 1‘s narration is done perfectly. Tsuda, having done fantastic narration work for Cells at Work: Code Black, doesn’t fall any shorter here. He delivers all the steps to the various processes he undertakes throughout the series in clear, crisp tones that are easy to follow. Happily, the actor can inject a fair amount of subtle playfulness into the narration as well. This keeps each of these short episodes flowing with soft pleasantness.

The only caution I would mention to people going into this series is not to expect to really laugh. Despite it being labeled as a comedy, there are no moments that actually made me out-and-out laugh. The moments are more cute than funny. Not really a fault, just something to be mindful of going in.

When all is said and done, The Ingenuity of the Househusband Season 1 delivers a remarkably pleasant half-hour of television. The softness of the overall feeling of the series, combined with the positive attitude toward setbacks, made this an incredibly enjoyable momentary distraction.

The Ingenuity of the Househusband Season 1 is streaming on Netflix.