Dame Oyaji

**Dame Oyaji** (*Kana: ダメおやじ*) is an OVA released on April 2, 2004, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the anime of the same name.

## Synopsis

Dame Oyaji is the story of Damesuke Amano, a hapless office worker who faces a tremendous amount of bullying on the job and especially at home, where he has (contrary to traditional Japanese notions of family) absolutely no power or say in the runnings of the household whatsoever.

Amano lives with his wife, Onibaba, his beautiful teenaged daughter Yukiko, and his grade-schooler son Takobo. Onibaba is an imposing, violent heifer of a woman who regularly berates and even physically assaults her husband and who enjoys nothing more than making his life miserable; Yukiko and Takobo frequently join in physically and psychologically abusing their father.

## Plot

The OVA begins with the Amano residence from the outside during nighttime, and within a few seconds a very loud blow is heard, which turns out to be from Onibaba to her husband Damesuke, who was being physically and psychologically abused by her, and her 2 children Yukiko and Takobo looking at them, all while playing a cover of the original series's opening theme song, which is briefly interrupted when Yukiko shouts "*STOP!*" and a record scratch is heard. The music returns and Onibaba returns to abuse her husband immediately after Yukiko pretends to correct herself by saying "*I mean... go?*"

The next day, Yukiko finds her mother and brother sharing some cookies and watching TV, which upsets her, asking "*Are you gonna be this lazy all day long?*" Onibaba replies "*Well, not **all** day, I also cook, take care of you and Takobo, hit your useless dad.*" It is upon hearing this that Yukiko reveals why she is upset about her family's laziness: They have to take her to school.

Immediately afterwards, the screen cuts to the backyard, where Damesuke is doing laundry. A few seconds later Onibaba is heard calling Damesuke and asking him to take Yukiko to school, which Damesuke refuses by saying the following: "*But honey, I'm doing the laundry right now, I promise I'll be there for her tomo--*" Onibaba interrupts him by grabbing his hand strongly while telling him she wasn't asking him.

Damesuke is now taking Yukiko to school, where he meets Ms. Aino, Yukiko's teacher, welcoming her with a smile. Aino meets Damesuke and he tells her about what he lives at home and the abuse he suffers mostly from his wife Onibaba. Aino is moved by this story, which later inspires her to talk to her students about domestic abuse, of course including Yukiko. After classes end, she begins to think about the way she and her family treat her father, starting to feel awful for her father and everything they did to him.

After this, the screen fades to black, and later the interior of the Amano residence is seen in an unusually dark ambiance for Dame Oyaji standards, where Damesuke is seen chained to a boulder like a prisoner. Then Onibaba is seen holding an ivory black bat, and Damesuke asks him to leave him alone, and that he has already learned all his lessons, but Onibaba gets more annoyed with every prayer, until she rampages and kills him without the slightest remorse.

Luckily, it soon turns out to be a nightmare from Yukiko, and when she turns to see her father, she is shown to be worried. The next day, Onibaba receives a call from Ms. Aino telling him that the previous day they talked about abuse, and that it left Yukiko thinking. Furious about this, Onibaba quickly leaves the phone unattended without cutting the feed beforehand. Damesuke takes the opportunity to attend, and after asking about Yukiko's score: 91, Damesuke proceeds to ask her if she has plans for the night. Aino says no, and Damesuke replies that he plans to get drunk after work. It is here when Professor Aino suggests accompanying him.

Later, Damesuke is seen at the bar with an empty cup in hand. Damesuke asks the bartender for a cocktail, to which he responds by performing an elaborate routine while preparing it. Damesuke takes a sip and Professor Aino immediately appears, in an elegant gala dress.

Aino sits next to Damesuke and after placing her order, she proceeds to tell him to tell her more about the abuse Damesuke suffers at home. Damesuke starts talking about exactly that, adding the bullying he suffers at work, and as one of his coworkers treats him almost as badly as his wife. As for the latter, Damesuke begins to tell him how much he despises her, ending his story by claiming to think their marriage was a mistake.

In response, Professor Aino begins to talk about her first husband, beginning by saying: "*It's okay, Mr. Amano. My first marriage was a disaster.*" Damesuke finds out that his new friend's first husband treated him even worse than Onibaba: He verbally abused her, and threatened to get violent with her if he didn't do what he ordered. This until one day she discovered the easiest way out of a bad marriage: Divorce.

The bartender joins in, explaining that his ex-wife would brag about the expensive gifts he bought for her: shoes, jewelry, watches... All those gifts were bought with the money the bartender got from his customers, and she wasn't even thankful for any of it. When Damesuke asks about their divorce, he replies that it took place after he caught her in the middle of an affair. After hearing all this, Damesuke starts to think about divorce and question whether or not he should go through with it.

Meanwhile at home, Yukiko and Takobo are cleaning the house, overhearing Damesuke's boss flirting with Onibaba and viceversa. It's not long before they take it to the bedroom, using the search of a lost item as an excuse for sex. Her children overhear them from the bottom floor, thinking it's Damesuke watching a sextape of them, before Damesuke shows up from behind. It's then that the three of them realize what's going on: **Onibaba is cheating on Damesuke.**

Onibaba and Damesuke are having a heated arguement where the former states that she never loved him, and she was drunk the day they got married, thinking Damesuke was that one Hollywood actor she saw on TV. Damesuke then does the right thing and asks Onibaba for a divorce. This angers Onibaba more than ever before, and she chases Damesuke all across the street while he rushedly files for divorce.

The next day, Damesuke and Onibaba tell their children that they're breaking up, and she forces them to stay with her and leave Damesuke alone. Takobo agrees to stay, but seeing that Yukiko does not move from his seat, Onibaba threatens to throw her into a vat of acid, and furiously asks: "Don'tcha wanna stay with mommy, my little girl?", To which Yukiko responds with a loud and resonant "NO!"

Yukiko wants to stay with Damesuke, having found the path of family goodness and learned to understand his mistakes and respect her father. Both Onibaba and Takobo feel betrayed and more angry than they have ever been. Onibaba decides to end Damesuke by shoving a wooden sword down his innards, but just before the impact, Yukiko saves Damesuke from being brutally murdered by his now ex-wife. Yukiko says that Onibaba has to leave her horrible habits of abuse in the past, and that she no longer wants to see her father suffer. Both Takobo and Onibaba burst into rage and start chasing them, only to be caught by the police within seconds of leaving home.

The one who called the police to arrest Onibaba and Takobo was none other than Ms. Aino. Yukiko and Damesuke are glad to see her, especially the latter, and hugs her. Damesuke immediately proposes to her. Yukiko is surprised, and when asking her father why she got engaged to her teacher, he responds by stating that it was her who motivated him to get out of his marriage, and that if it hadn't been for her, he could not have stood up to Onibaba and divorce her.

In the credits, Damesuke and his new wife, the teacher formerly known as Ms. Aino, begin a new life with Yukiko, while Onibaba lives her life in prison and Takobo, being too young for a prison sentence, is seen doing community service.

## Cast

* Kan Tokumaru as Damesuke Amano, a salary worker, husband, and father who is treated like a punching bag both at work and at home.
* Kazuyo Aoki as Fuyuko "Onibaba" Amano, the obese and masculine wife to Damesuke.
* Miyu Matsuki as Yukiko Amano, the first child and only daughter who goes through a change of heart.
* Ikue Ōtani as Takobo Amano, the second child and only son of the family.
* Kotono Mitsuishi as Ms. Aino, Yukiko's teacher who helps Damesuke stand up and defend himself.
* Kōichi Yamadera as Rokubee, a stray dog who serves as the story's narrator.
* Unshō Ishizuka as Damesuke's boss, who Onibaba cheats on him with.

## Theme Songs

### Opening

1. "Dame Oyaji no Uta (ダメおやじの唄)" by Kan Tokumaru feat. Daisukina Ladies
*Lyrics and Composition by* Sumiaki Iwata
*Arrangement by* Waku Hoshino

### Ending

1. "Kanawanai Koto. (かなわないこと。, It’s Not Gonna Happen.)" by meg
*Lyrics and Composition by* Meg
*Arrangement by* Nobuhiko Kashihara