Debu na Danna

The main character of Debu na Danna

Debu na Danna (Miranian: デブな旦那, "My Fat Husband") is a Gylimanga series. Created by Chihiro Munakata, it was first published on Telecomix in 2016, and later collected in tankōbon volumes and translated into English and French.

The series updates sporadically.

Plot

The series focuses on happily married couple, who remain unnamed throughout the manga. They refer to themselves by terms of endearment in their dialogue, while Chihiro's own notes refer to them as tsuma (妻, "wife") and danna (旦那, "husband").

The series combines the genres of cooking manga and erotica. The couple is only ever seen at home, cooking dishes, flirting with each other, and having sex. They are both devoted to each other. The husband can't resist his wife's cooking, and the wife enjoys indulging her husband, deliberately cooking slightly larger portions so that they're both satisfied after a meal and eager to have sex afterwards.

Background

Chihiro Munakata designed Debu na Danna as a lower-key work than his previous hit series Kenkyūsha Ayako to joshu Himeko, Joseitenin Maki Suzue, and Bijin onna jōshi Takizawa-san — the latter two of which were both ongoing when it debuted.

He gathered inspiration from his own personal life, mainly from his own efforts at cooking together with his wife. He had gathered enough anecdotes he felt would make good stories, but thought they might not fit his existing manga, and thus decided to start a new manga specifically focused on cooking.

He stated in an interview that he wanted the wife to mainly look "sporty and classy", and thus drew her wearing a sleeveless double-breasted jacket, and deliberately designed her husband to be "strikingly beautiful and elegant", giving him a "feminine" face and showing him always wearing a suit and tie, even at home.

He enjoyed the image of the couple being "dedicated to looking their best even when it's just them alone", and thought viewers would be both amused and inspired by this element. He was especially pleased by foreign reviews that described the couple as "quintessentially Gylian", remarking: "Vanity, clotheshorse-ism, dandy-ism, these are all traits that Gylians were wisely taught to treasure by the Golden Revolution."

Reception

Initially published on Telecomix, Debu na Danna gained a positive reception. Reviewers praised the series' characterisation, easygoing tone, graceful handling of sexuality, and detailed portrayal of cooking. The series spread rapidly on the Gylian internet as a meme, with the recipes featured in it experiencing a surge in popularity and the cookbooks cited enjoyed an increase in distribution figures.

It was later collected in tankōbon volumes as Chihiro gathered new chapters, and translated into English and French.