In He’s Expecting, a Japanese dramedy now streaming on Netflix, a self-centered businessman gets the shock of a lifetime when he discovers he’s with child. Once wholly consumed with his own issues, he begins to understand just what it’s like to walk in a pregnant woman’s shoes, at last feeling empathy for others. We’re here to let you know if this bizarre show is better left unstreamed, or if there might be a little miracle of life in this male pregnancy dramedy.
Opening Shot: Cameras flash as a man approaches a podium.
The Gist: Kentaro Hiyama (Takumi Saitoh) is an ambitious ad exec who lives his life by “anticipation and preparation”. He gets the same drip coffee every day, dates younger women with no plans to pursue anything particularly serious, and is gunning for a big promotion at work. He looks down on his colleagues with children, unsure of why anyone has kids, though an early birthday text from his mother and a plea for grandkids seems to serve as a reminder of what he’s not doing with his life. Still, he seems set in his ways, even when there seem to be signs all around him. While spending the night with friend/lover Aki (Juri Ueno), he sees a news special about pregnant men and says that he “can’t imagine what that would be like”, but doesn’t think anything of it.
After a night on the town celebrating his “Creative of the Year” award, Hiyama begins to feel ill in the middle of a work meeting. Following some serious vomiting, he heads to the hospital, where he is surprised by a series of tests and an ultrasound from his doctor. Hiyama is initially afraid that he has cancer, but when the doctor tells him that he’s 9 or 10 weeks along, he’s utterly stunned. He doesn’t believe the doctor and heads home to take a test on his own, and the positive result only further flabbergasts him. Just in time for his big news, he also finds out he’s going to be under more pressure than ever at work. The life of a modern man, eh?!
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? He’s Expecting is pretty offbeat in tone, but the message at the center about being taught a lesson via a life-changing event might bring to mind movies like Shallow Hal and What Women Want.
Our Take: He’s Expecting, quite the strange little show, has been name-dropped a bit since Elon Musk tweeted about Netflix’s “woke mind virus”. It might not be a product of the aforementioned “virus”, but it is a bizarre, perhaps inadvertently offensive attempt at trying to be progressive. The setup is pretty predictable; work-obsessed, self-centered businessman breezing through life gets a wakeup call in the form of something unexpected. That unexpected change being male pregnancy, though, is certainly one we don’t hear all that often. He’s Expecting might have gone in an intriguing direction had it been interested in exploring any themes of gender identity and pregnancy within that, but instead, it hammers home this cisgender male pregnancy phenomenon. Just when it seems like it might be set on showing a man how tough women have it, He’s Expecting decides to be about how hard it is to be a pregnant, cisgender man. Yep. The actors are charming and do the best they can, but there’s just no saving something this inherently flawed. The series is based on a popular manga, so some of the outlandishness is to be expected, but the end result is something nonsensical and ineffective. With so many other series to choose from, there’s absolutely no reason to add a ridiculous effort like He’s Expecting to the queue.
Sex and Skin: Some fade-to-black making out.
Parting Shot: “I’m fine!” Hiyama tells his boss over the phone, staring at his positive test.
Sleeper Star: As soon as she opens the door to her apartment in a robe, Juri Ueno charms us as Aki, seemingly one of the only grounding forces in Hiyama’s life. Her role – as the woman in his life who actually has her life (somewhat) together and reminds him of what he might really want – is pretty cliché, but she plays it with ease, bringing to mind a familiar old friend. Ueno is simply lovely, leaving us wanting more of her (even when the show is an utter mess).
Most Pilot-y Line: Much of the opening narration is cringe-inducing, but that could be due to a rough translation: “I had no idea that being pregnant would be this draining and difficult… As a man, I never imagined how it would change my life.”
Our Call: SKIP IT. He’s Expecting is way too much weird, way too little reward; from its bizarre premise and tonal inconsistency to mixed messaging, the series can’t quite get a grip on what it wants to be.
Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines, hogging the mic at karaoke, and thirst-tweeting. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.
