Dame Oyaji follows Damesuke Amano, a luckless office worker subjected to relentless harassment both at work and, even more so, at home, where—contrary to traditional Japanese family dynamics—he holds absolutely no authority or influence over household matters whatsoever.
Amano lives with his wife, Onibaba, his beautiful teenage daughter Yukiko, and his elementary-school-aged son Takobo. Onibaba is an imposing, violently brutish woman who regularly scolds and even physically attacks her husband, taking great pleasure in making his life as miserable as possible; Yukiko and Takobo frequently join in, subjecting their father to both physical and psychological abuse.
The original manga is said to have been quite shocking to early 1970s Japan, where the father was still often traditionally regarded as the head of the household.
