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AKA: 旦那が何を言っているかわからない件 (Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken)
Genre: Seinen comedy
Length: Television series, 13 episodes, 3 minutes each
Distributor: Currently available streaming on crunchyroll
Content Rating: 13+ (fan service, scenes of alcohol and smoking)
Related Series: I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying 2nd Thread
Also Recommended: Um... can't think of any other comedy anime with a married couple. Suggestions, anyone?
Notes: Based on the manga by Cool-kyou Shinja.

A teenage version of Kaoru appears in another one of Shinja's manga, Metsuko ni Yoroshiku. The first episode of season 2 of I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying confirms the anime takes place in the same universe as that manga.
Rating:

I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying

Synopsis

Kaoru Tsunashi is a hard-working office lady. Her husband, anime otaku Hajime Tsunashi, runs a blog from home. Despite their mismatched personalities, the two love each other dearly.


Review

Love isn't always perfect, and it doesn't matter what kind of love that is. Whether between families, couples, friends, it can get messy at times, leave you hurt, and/or drive you crazy. And that's exactly the kind of love the main couple have in the comedy short series I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying.

I'll admit, when this series was first announced, my initial thought was, "Wow, yet ANOTHER otaku comedy with a woman constantly confused by a male's otaku habits." Sadly, much like another comedy I quite like (Love Lab), I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying is advertised really, really poorly. Thankfully, it didn't take more than a couple of episodes to prove my doubts wrong.

What makes I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying stand out (aside from already being one of the very few romantic comedy shorts to star an actual married couple) is that it doesn't paint neither the husband or the wife as superior to the other. Hajime is a hardcore otaku (the series makes several references to other anime, including a rather funny Neon Genesis Evangelion, one about the TV series' final scene), but he can also cook and maintain a house very well. Kaoru, while being a hard-working, full-time office lady, cannot, is bad with liquor, and has a smoking habit. They both have flaws, but they overcome them together because they love each other. At no point in the show did I ever feel they weren't in love.

Also, you wouldn't think a short comedy series could offer so much backstory between its characters, but the series manages to do just that with Kaoru in episode 11, as it explains her life before she met her husband. And the final episode ends the first season in a way that I can't think of any other way they could end it. It fits the show and its themes perfectly.

A second season was announced recently for I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying, and I'm glad for it. I hope it pulls an Encouragement of Climb and gives us longer episodes.

Since my friend Stig has seen all of I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying as well, I'll let him share a few words about this series, too:

In a lineup of shows centered around otaku humor, it's nice to see one that gets down to the nitty gritty in relationships between people in love. To be honest, "I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying" is kind of appropriately titled, because I don't think I really get all the references and commentaries going on here, but the show is brief and I completely buy Kaoru and Hajime's relationship, partially by how well they connect, but also by how their respective friends seems to connect. Kaoru might be the breadwinner in that relationship, but Hajime's somewhat reclusive lifestyle has actually made him quite adept at looking after himself, which is good. And with the ending being what it was, I'm actually quite curious how the upcoming second season will play out.

While not every scene hits its mark, I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying is a surprisingly sweet comedy series with a cute couple as the main focus.Tim Jones

Recommended Audience: Funny enough, for a series starring adults, this series contains much less fan service than shows starring high schoolers. Still, there are some fan service moments here and there (even one from Hajime, who's surprisingly buff!). Kaoru's also a really, really bad drunk and also smokes.



Version(s) Viewed: crunchyroll.com stream, Japanese with English subtitles
Review Status: Full (13/13)
I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying © 2014 Cool Christian Believers / Ichijinsha / Husband Production Committee
 
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