spoilers for the entire anime!
"it feels like i know the true meaning of happiness now"
-miyo saimori
##this last line before the afterword of the last episode is essentially, the main theme of watakekkon/my happy marriage.
as someone who enjoyed the light novel, i haven't really found the same enjoyment in the anime adaptation. i feel like a lot of that is because so much internal dialogue and context is left out, but i also feel like it kinda exposed the writing's flaws that weren't that obvious when i was reading the light novel- but especially in the 2nd arc of the series.
this is also my first review so bear with me
the story premise is actually pretty different from most of the stories in the animanga/LN medium today. miyo suffers of trauma from the abuse she experiences by her stepmother, stepsister, and father when her biological mother dies and because she possesses no powers. powers often dictated how valued you were in your family, and when miyo grew up to have none, she was resented and completely ostracized. however, when miyo became old enough to be married off, her family decides to marry her off to a man rumored to be cruel, known from driving off whoever he was to be married to.
each half of the anime adapts 1 volume of the LN, so one and two, respectively.
first off, i want to rate every aspect of the story.
is there ever a thing called too much foreshadowing? it was pretty obvious and cliché that miyo would have powers, even if it all made so much sense. but the anime just really made the reveal so.. anticlimactic and unsurprising?
however, the arc serves its purpose- it shows how miyo still is lacking confidence and isn't going to get over her trauma so easily. it highlights the need for miyo to communicate properly, and i liked how miyo was saving kiyoka this time. kiyoka's sister was also a good touch and it was great that miyo was trying to educate herself after she couldn't when she was younger.
it just bothered me that miyo's only internal dialogue in the beginning of the 2nd half is wanting to become a better wife for kiyoka. only at the end does it go in the direction of the bigger picture of miyo wanting to enjoy life, educate herself, and do all these things for the sake of herself. it felt like she still had no agency over herself during a lot of this arc, despite being free from the saimoris. maybe i just missed something from the anime, but it definitely didn't feel like that in the novel.
a lot of the 2nd half just suffered from adaptation issues, though
- lack of context from the novel. the 2nd volume of the LN served to expand of the supernatural worldbuilding, and it's hard to insert all that description into the anime medium
- i think it's also worth to mention that watakekkon was originally going to end at the 1st volume. however, the novel became quickly popular from the start and it continued. unfortunately, the author's inexperience shows and it explains why the 2nd arc was so lackluster in comparison to the first (but also because this is one of her first series as well if i remember correctly).
i have 2 overall main problems with the my happy marriage series:
in the light novel, kaya doesn't really hurt miyo at all and it's the stepmother who physically hurts her. kaya's character was meant to shed a light on how children ignorantly and mindlessly follow their parents' beliefs. however, this motive of not wanting to be like miyo because her mother forced it on her felt so lackluster when i watched the anime. it made me realize that the stepmother and kaya should have had better motives to do all that to miyo. in my opinion, this could have been easily fixed if kaya had unrequited love for koji. it would have explained why she went so far as to try and even stop miyo being happy and successful in love with kiyoka, as koji has unrequited love for miyo. all in all, the stepmother and kaya should have had motives that made more sense for them to torment miyo that much. that part was a shallow take on the cinderella-esque plot, but i guess it's not like they really show up after that arc in the LN or anime either so.
not just kaya and the stepmother, it feels like the rest of the antagonists in the series have shallow motives as well.
now that all of my issues are out of the way, i want to highlight the good aspects of this adaptation. while there's a lot that felt off about the adaptation, there's also so much i love about the entire story:
- the ED. the ed was just masterclass really
- ep4- miyo's reunion with hana. it was honestly one of my fav moments throughout the entire series
- ep1 and ep12, they were great episodes to kick off and end the season
- the lighting of a lot of scenes was beautiful
- the characters were always drawn crisp and clean
- ep 11 was animated beautifully, sumi's backstory was well done imo
- some anime only scenes were great, like showing miyo and kaya go through a ritual to see if they have spirit sight
- the romantic moments were endearing and atmospheric
- all the action scenes were handled very well
- the sad moments still hit very hard, you can't help but empathize with the mc
- most importantly, miyo's trauma doesn't go away immediately when she meets the guy. her growth is rightfully slow and even sometimes taking a step back
- miyo and kiyoka stay pretty consistent throughout the season
long story short, i recommend reading the novel first and then watching the anime or the opposite. i liked both but i can't see myself giving the anime higher than a 7 despite being so passionate for the series. i'm staying very excited for s2 though
thanks for reading my review