English Dub Review: My Happy Marriage Special

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It’s been more than three years since I first started getting invested in My Happy Marriage.  At first, I expected it to be like Cinderella but with superpowers.  But as the series progressed, I was left completely surprised at how much it offered beyond its blend of romance and fantasy.  With its compelling character arcs, subtle emotion, and gorgeous presentation, My Happy Marriage became another show that made me appreciate the romance genre in anime.  However, after its second season ended with Kiyoka proposing to Miyo, we were left wondering when we’d get to the wedding.

That’s where this special comes in, with the anime returning as a three-part event centered on Miyo and Kiyoka’s upcoming wedding.  Of course, no royal wedding is complete without a few obstacles threatening to derail this special moment.  Unsurprisingly, that includes overwhelming emotions as they near the occasion, especially Miyo’s struggle to call Kiyoka by his first name.  However, the biggest threat actually comes from Kimio Hongo, Miyo’s former classmate from elementary school with a deeply disturbing past.  As the episodes progress, we see that Kimio has been constantly abused by her husband and seeks drastic measures to escape that torment, including keeping a grotesquerie spider leg that’s making her mother-in-law go insane.  Her actions also stem from jealousy toward Miyo for finding her own happiness while Kimio continues to suffer.

This aspect continues the anime’s intent on blending its delicate, heartwarming tone with haunting themes, mainly how abuse affects the victim’s mental state and poor actions.  While it may seem harmless in the special’s first part, the final two showed the true colors of Kimio’s darker path as a victim of domestic abuse.  In short, it illustrates how companionship shapes one’s journey, as Miyo finds peace from abuse and heartache through the support of the right people.  With the two different paths stemming from abuse on full display, the three-part special becomes an unsurprisingly compelling and thoughtful way to conclude this happy saga.  Would a “Happy Honeymoon” be next?  It’s unlikely, since it’s meant to end with a wedding, but never say never. 

About Marcus Gibson

I'm a recent writer for BubbleBlabber who has an extraordinary passion for films and television, especially from the animation genre. I also spent plenty of hours playing video games, most notably from the Kingdom Hearts franchise. My goal is to provide the most friendly and entertaining reviews on the planet. Whenever something might be good or not, I always remain optimistic and curious about a specific concept from a film or television show.