‘My Husband’ Turns Medieval Marital Misery Into An Erotic Animated Melodrama

Otto loves his husband. He also despises him. That contradiction powers My Husband, an animated short from Remus & Kiki and visual artist Mitko Karakolev, now on YouTube through Dropout’s Toonout series.

Its premise puts desire and resentment uncomfortably close together: being furious with someone doesn’t necessarily make them any less attractive.

There’s a strong comic idea in giving the aggrieved spouse the floor. Otto’s complaints carry the tension between wanting his husband and wanting relief from him, turning marital frustration into melodrama. Love becomes another reason to be miserable, and misery another occasion to talk about the man he can’t resist.

Over-the-top character designs and frantic animation that match the protagonist’s switches between longing and loathing are fun, erotic, and meticulously executed.

Voiced by Sam C. Wilson, Otto anchors a story about feelings that refuse to behave sensibly. The appeal is that emotional mess: attraction surviving irritation, affection tangled up with grievance, and a handsome spouse who occupies far too much space in his husband’s head.