My Happy Marriage season 1 episode 1 recap & review: The Meeting

Open Go TV / July 6, 2023 / Reviews

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My Happy Marriage follows Miyo, a young girl who’s been bullied by her stepmother and sister all her life, getting married to Kiyoka Kudo, a man rumored to be cruel who turns out to be kind and changes Miyo’s life for the better.

Recap

A 19-year-old Miyo lives with her family consisting of a father, stepmother, and a younger stepsister. Her stepmother and sister are contemptuous and cold towards her every waking moment.

Miyo is treated as a servant and she carries out the daily duties as one too, catering to sister Kaya and mother Kanoki’s constant needs. Meanwhile, all that Shinichi, the father, has to offer to Miyo is apathy and a smidge weaker contempt.

One day, Mr. Tatsuishi and his son Koji visit the family to meet with Shinichi. Koji, who has been a close friend to Miyo, and the only one who has cared about her growing up, tells her that he wishes to make her smile and be with her forever.

He and even Miyo, in a minute quantity, hope that the meeting about the arranged marriage will lead to the two of them tying the knot. However, the outcome of the meeting is disappointing. The next day, Koji visits again, and this time he’s wearing a defeated expression.

At the meeting, Miyo’s family and Koji are present, with Miyo’s father breaking the news that Koji and Kaya are to be married. Not only that, he tells Miyo to leave the house the next day as her marriage has been arranged to Kiyoka Kudo of the Kudo family.

Even though she’s come to expect this sort of sorrow, Miyo’s still taken aback a little as the tiny fire of hope inside her is so quickly and cruelly extinguished. Koji comes to apologize to Miyo who thanks her for everything he’s done for her.

The next morning, she departs for the Kudo family’s residence and eventually arrives at the house which she finds to be much plainer than she expected. She is greeted by a cheerful servant Yurie, who gives her a tour of the house before Miyo finally meets her husband-to-be, Kiyoka Kudo.

When she stays bowing, Kudo asks her how long she’s going to keep doing that, to which Miyo apologizes and he says he never asked her to apologize. Miyo finally lifts her head and is instantly spellbound to find Kiyoka to be such a beautiful man. That’s when My Happy Marriage episode 1 comes to an end.

Review

My Happy Marriage season 1 episode 1 is off to a promising start, with the promise coming for a lot of aspects.
A quality of the anime that’s immediately clear is the beautiful animation that’s very easy on the eyes. The age-appropriate clothes, cityscapes, transport, trees, water, the fire — all look and feel realistic and fantastical at the same time.
There’s no overbearing amount of screentime devoted to the woes and sorrows of Miyo, and yet her troubles are conveyed effectively in the span of one single episode.