REVIEW: ‘My Happy Marriage’ Specials 1-3 Crafts A Disjointed Experience

My Happy Marriage Specials 1-3 see the wedding of Miyo (Reina Ueda, Too Many Losing Heroines) and Kiyoka (Kaito Ishikawa, MF Ghost) finally arrive. But as the happy day approaches, events take a turn that could intrude upon the couple’s day of bliss.  

As the wrap-up of Miyo’s journey from an abused servant in her own family to a happy marriage with the man who sees and cares for her, this trio of specials makes a truly baffling narrative choice. In particular, how it handles Kiyoka is likely to leave many wondering what they are supposed to think of him.

My Happy Marriage Specials 1-3 shatter Kiyoka’s image up to this point.

From the moment the outwardly cold protagonist is introduced, the series spends much of its time unraveling him, letting us, along with Miyo, see the kind heart of a man who isn’t so much cold and uncaring as he is often viewed, but more awkward and distant. As he and his bride-to-be grow together, he becomes far more compassionate than he first appeared. My Happy Marriage Specials 1-3 go out of their way to shatter that image.

At the center of the turmoil is Kimio Nabaga (Mao Ichimichi, Fire Force). An elementary school classmate of Miyo’s who stumbles into her old friend at a cooking class. The woman’s life mirrors what Miyo’s once was, as well as what many expected it to be once she was handed off to Kiyoka. Driven by her pain, she makes some poor choices and seeks help in her desire to escape her brutal situation. Sadly, one of her mistakes is looking to Kiyoka for help. 

Having already acted in a way that put her in the soldiers’ disfavor, it’s understandable that My Happy Marriage Specials 1-3 would present Kiyoka as hesitant, or even unwilling, to do the bare minimum to help the desperate woman. But despite being shown cuts and bite marks and hearing her complete desperation, he opts to do nothing. He washes his hands of it, telling her to come back to him if she has a problem with a grotesque. Otherwise, there’s nothing he can do. 

While Kimio makes some heinous choices, her reasons for them are spelled out painfully clearly.

There was a meme that used to circulate every now and then. It said, “It doesn’t matter how your boyfriend treats you. If he’s a jerk to the waiter, he’s a jerk.” Though this situation is even harsher, my mind continuously wandered back to that line every time I saw Kiyoka with Miyo after he met with Kimio.

Perhaps it wasn’t his place to intervene, but surely he could have at least pointed her in the right direction to get help? His choice lends credence to all the stories that circulate about the cold and uncaring Kiyoka. I guess Miyo is lucky that, after becoming his betrothed, she became “his problem”; otherwise, he’d have left her in that shed to be tormented by her cruel sister.

While Kimio makes some heinous choices, her reasons for them are spelled out painfully clearly. Fear, unending pain, and a hopeless future are all the woman has. And being pushed away by others like Kiyoka only reinforces that truth. Being wronged never justifies wronging others, but as Kimio’s situation is revealed, her actions and resentment, even toward those who haven’t hurt her but possess what she never will through no fault of her own, feel understandable. 

My Happy Marriage Specials 1-3 make some terrible choices.

If you can get past the demolition of two seasons’ worth of character build-up for Kiyoka, My Happy Marriage Specials 1-3 bring the couple’s happy day together in a suitable fashion. Once the narrative’s crises are averted, friends and family join the pair on their happy day. The visual style and animation do a great job of bathing the story’s climactic moments in the warmth such scenes always strive for. 

My Happy Marriage Specials 1-3 make some terrible choices when it comes to the male lead. After two seasons showing he is simply misunderstood, shattering that on the eve of his wedding fractures the entire proceedings. Despite ably presenting the happy day, the warmth within the frames never comes across as well as it could. 

My Happy Marriage Specials 1-3 is streaming now on Netflix. 

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