My Home Hero

Episode 12

This final episode of My Home Hero is all about our two fathers finally giving some much-needed backstory for Matori. This backstory fleshes out the character and explains his unhinged reaction to everything that has happened so far. We see that he is a man who never truly experienced the emotion of love until his son was born. However, due to his life circumstances up until that point, he had no idea how to express that emotion, so he simply didn't. It was only after Nobuto ended up in juvie and the yakuza put the idea in his head, he decided to dedicate himself to Nobuto's well-being—which meant utilizing his newfound mob connections to make Nobuto untouchable.

All this makes Matori a tragic character: a man who never knew love finally found it—only for it to be used as a tool by society's worst people. While Matori's love for his son was twisted, and his way of showing it counterproductive to his son's overall well-being, there is no doubt that this love did exist and was the most important thing in Matori's life.

The other point of focusing on Matori is to contrast him with Tetsuo. While both men love their respective children, only Tetsuo was involved in his child's life from the start. He always looked out for Reika, and his love was backed up by actions—actions that helped her grow into the completely normal girl we see in the series. Sure, her taste in men isn't the best, but she's far from the first college kid to date a bad boy. Or, to put it another way, Matori attempted to shield Nobuto from the repercussions of his actions, while Tetsuo ensured his daughter faced no such consequences in the first place.

Unfortunately, it's hard to see Tetsuo as some kind of noble hero when he continues to make the same mistakes, again and again. Even though he's only still alive thanks to the help of his wife, he once again decides to keep her in the dark. Tetsuo can't get past his ego—his need to be the "protector" of his family. Kasen has tried to make him realize that real victory isn't simply keeping the ones he loves safe—it's keeping the family happy and together. If he dies, it is a Pyrrhic victory at best as the family unit will be destroyed even if Kasen and Reika are still alive.

Once again, this is a time when he should be relying on his wife. Yet, he goes it alone with a half-baked plan to get rid of Matori's body—something that will undoubtedly come back to bite him later. And Kasen knows he's hiding something from her—that something dangerous has happened that she could have helped with. Never before has a slap been so deserved. In the end, Tetsuo had a chance to end it all—to keep his family safe and together. However, his inability to learn from his recent experiences has doomed him to repeat them—and he may never get a chance to escape from this vicious cycle again.

So here we are at the end of My Home Hero, and I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. Overall, the story is competently told. It is exciting and well-thought-out. Moreover, Kasen is an amazing character who steals every single scene she is in. Yet, this episode leaves me with a sour taste. While Tetsuo's inability to grow is somewhat understandable, it also feels like an excuse to prolong the story even though it has already reached its logical conclusion. All in all, I had hoped for more from our main character. But change is difficult (if not impossible) for some of us, and perhaps that is the final lesson this anime wants us to take to heart.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• I'm surprised that Reika was never really bothered by the disappearance of Nobuto. Perhaps, in the end, she thinks he simply decided to ghost her.

• I wonder if the yakuza ever told Hibiki that Nobuto died. It sucks that she's been left hanging.

• While stabbed and bleeding heavily, we never saw Majima's corpse, so I think it's safe to say he's still at large.

• As always, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the adventures of the world's best housewife as much as I did.

My Home Hero is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.