"We should try to find our own shape of happiness."
Hello everyone!
Tonight, we're taking a look at the acclaimed second season of the series that won my heart over so fast, it's a miracle that no skidmarks were left behind!
As I said before in my previous posts, I'm not really an anime person.
But this?
This one is prime quality entertainment, with beautiful animation, heartfelt story-telling, and a main couple for the ages.
So make sure you've got your popcorn, sit back, relax, and let's dive right back into an alternate universe of Imperial Japan, of all places.
Then again, the best anime stories seem to happen around that time, and the same goes for My Happy Marriage.
After an unhappy start to life in her own family home, Miyo has found a semblance of happiness in her new one with husband-to-be Kiyoka, unlocked a supernatural ability no one else but her has, and managed to save her erstwhile fiancé from a coma, so you'd think life could get back to normal now, right?
Haha, wrong.
After running into Kiyoka's father in town, he invites them to the Kudo family villa, both to meet Miyo as well as because there have been Grotesquerie sightings in the are which are quite troubling. Kiyoka's hell-bent against this until an origami letter from the prince arrives; said prince had a revelation, and Kiyoka's going to be needed where his father wants him.
Side note: the fact that these guys have time during EMERGENCIES to fashion little origamis to send around will never not be hilarious to me. "Hey, the world's coming to an end, we need help fast - let's sit down and painstakingly fold paper over and over again."
Anyway, Kiyoka asks Miyo to come with him for the trip, since he doesn't want to go alone and is selfish enough to want her company - boy is mad for her, I swear.
She runs into her next obstacle once at the residence: Kiyoka's formidable mother.
Not that he considers her his mother, of course. Fuyu Kudo married into the family with high expectations riding on her shoulders, had been raised into the perfect lady, and established strict rules under which Kiyoka, as the Kudo heir, was to be brought up. This led the boy to grow up and hate all women, proving what a feat Miyo's presence in his life truly is.
Fuyu does her utmost best to humiliate Miyo and drive her off, including actually dressing her in a serving girl's outfit and having her clean, but considering this is something Miyo spent all her life doing anyway, she's like PFFT you'll have to do much better than this, woman.
Kiyoka apologizes to Miyo about this, but she reassures him that she's fine, and she wants to try and get along with his mother, if she possibly can.
This becomes the background upon which the season's plot is balanced, which is Kiyoka discovering that an order called Gifted Communion is apparently somehow bestowing supernatural abilities on people who were born without, creating demons that are much more resilient and resistant to actual abilities people wield.
Turns out that Miyo will play a huge part in this, too, when he runs off to help the village after some young men confront the demon, and one of them falls under its spell. Miyo dives into his psyche, with the help of her cousin Arata, and dispels what was ailing him.
Important to note here is that Miyo and Kiyoka share their first kiss at the official Kudo residence, which is a BIG deal especially because of where it happens. It's not at home - that's for later, after the New Year's Eve celebration - but in the place Kiyoka theoretically hates with a passion, signalling that Miyo being there is helping him, too.
... to be honest though, everyone and their grandmother shipping this romance by either offering them a single bed or futons close together is hysterical this season.
Upon returning from the residence, they finally run into the season's primary antagonist: Naoshi Usui, of the Usuba branch family, who was Miyo's mother's prospective fiancé once upon a time.
Yup, it all keeps going back to the mom who's much more important than you can give her credit based on the screen time she has.
Usui wants Miyo to come with him, and because his ability messes with all the human senses, Kiyoka takes her with him to his workplace, which is heavily protected and fortified. He also assigns her a bodyguard, probably one of the only females on the Anti Grotesquerie Forces, who turns out to be a former fiancée to boot.
Thankfully, Miyo's a kind soul who wouldn't dream of grabbing her man by the balls demanding explanations, and besides, it speaks to how well Kiyoka thinks of his ex regarding her professional abilities if he wants her guarding the woman he loves at all times.
Things come to a head when the Emperor's kidnapped and Kiyoka's called out to try and rescue him, which, as the Major General reveals when he rushes out to drag him back by the scruff of his neck, is all a ruse: Usui's going straight for HQ.
And for Miyo.
Turns out, her bodyguard was fooled into thinking her dad was being brutally tortured, so tampered with the protective barrier, and it's only Kiyoka's arrival and his overwhelming powers that send Usui packing, but by this point it becomes evident that the number of safe places is becoming drastically low.
Which is why, after New Year's, and their first shrine visit together, during which they see how the Gifted Communion is sowing fear into citizens, Miyo is moved to the prince's personal household, and Kiyoka's group posted around the place to guard it.
They discover that, while the created demons initially consumed blood to become what they are, things have now progressed, as their resident de-speller works on detangling a mix of spells and protective barriers placed around an actual Grotesquerie claw, which is how these guys are turning themselves into monsters.
The real monster behind everything, however, is Usui, who's gotten one of the ministers onto his side, takes over military headquarters, and with the help of Arata, the little rat and betrayer, defeats Kiyoka, brands him a traitor to the Emperor, and throws him into prison after badly wounding him.
Terrified, hurt, and alone, Miyo figures the only way to get through this if she somehow fully unlocks her ability, which might be powerful enough to counter Usui, who's basically doing all of this to unlock her full potential, anyway.
The shriki-gami her husband gave her to protect her this season turns into the form of a young boy who looks suspiciously like a child Kiyoka to guide her, and they head on over to the Usuba household.
There, Miyo's grandfather reveals that Usui was always a trouble character right from the start, having witnessed his parents' murder at the hands of robbers, and delighting in using his powers to cause hurt to others. The only person he ever responded to was Miyo's mother, and because she could reach him, the elders postponed sealing his ability away.
The two children dreamed of a world where everyone could be free and connected, chafing under Usuba rules of only talking to the family and not having any outside friends, but once Miyo's mom had her gift come into play, telepathy, she realized that her daughter might achieve what she couldn't, with Dream Sight.
Things went to hell by the time she decided to marry into the Saimori family, and once Miyo was born she released Usui from their promise, asking him to find something which made him happy.
Considering she was the only one who qualified, that was doomed from the start, and ever since her death he'd been working to literally establish an empire over which Miyo would rule as unrestrained Empress, Maiden of Dream Sight.
With her ability fully awakened now, out of sheer need to free her husband-to-be, Miyo tells her grandfather she'll finish what her mother started, and heads to the military headquarters to rendez-vous with Godo, Kiyoka's underling, and the others from the unit who survived, as well as the de-speller and Kiyoka's own father, who reveals that his son asked him to look after Miyo should something happen.
They head down to the dungeons, where the barrier against abilities is stronger than anything they've ever encountered, and a huge ass rat demon chases them all through the tunnels before it's broken - and Kiyoka roasts it out of pure rage that something - or someone - would DARE touch his fiancée.
He and Miyo exchange 'I love you's, and confront Usui together, but Miyo runs into a problem: she foresees that the psycho and Arata will kill each other during this, and also unable to watch him psychologically torture Kiyoka, she dives right into what's going on in the psyche.
Her full powers revealed, she beats Usui's ability with a flick, and her mother's spirit joins the fray, too, looking sadly at Usui and what he's become, but he's unwilling to let his plan rest, as it's the only way he believes he's honouring the love he has for a woman who's now dead.
He and Arata do, in fact, wound one another, but only Usui ends up dying, the spirit of his beloved taking him away, while Arata is taken to the military hospital to recover.
Turns out, he joined Usui because Usui preyed on his own insecurities and wishes, and I'm a little unsure whether he ACTUALLY joined, and had a change of heart when Miyo was in danger, remembering his role as her supposed protector, or if it was all a ruse and he was playing the long game that was something the prince foresaw and asked him to do. I'll have to watch again to see if I can figure it out.
Meanwhile, Kiyoka decides to resign from the military - never an aspiration or desire of his anyway, because he only joined up after the death of Godo's father, who was somewhat of a mentor to him and maybe even more of a father figure than his own.
He passes the mantle to Godo now, praising him for how well he did against the Gifted Communion and keeping everyone together, then goes to officially propose to Miyo, asking her to marry him.
She happily accepts, gifting him another cord to tie his hair with, this one blue instead of purple, and they then have to suffer through his mom and sister arguing about what the wedding is supposed to be like.
Side-note here: the mom does, in fact, accept Miyo the very first time they visit, gifting her a bow to tie her hair with, and later actually tying it on for her, telling her she needs to stand firm as the future head of the Kudo household. The Kudos also do Miyo another kindness, gifting her the family kimono to get married in, passed down from Kiyoka's mother, to his sister, and now to her.
Overjoyed because she doesn't have anything that would be passed down to her from her own family, Miyo can't wait to begin the new chapter of her life, turning down the prince's request that she move to the Imperial palace and work on establishing new oversight rules for the Usubas and other families, wanting nothing more than to plant that cherry blossom in their home that Kiyoka promised her, and live out her life peacefully and happily.
I'm not sure whether that'll ever be possible for two such powerful individuals, because I have a feeling the empire will be calling on them to help when they run into a snafu, but I admire her dedication to her own wants and desires!
As beautiful as the first season, and continuing to weave the romance between the two main characters, My Happy Marriage comes to an end on a bitter-sweet note for me, as I'm rather fond of Kiyoka in military uniform (he better get married in it, or else!). I'm also unsure whether this is fully the end, or if there's more - a new anime project has supposedly been announced, but it's unclear WHAT, exactly, it is within this world.
In any event, I highly recommend this series. It's got action, slow-burn romance, mystery, and a good dose of humour along the way, plus the episodes are just around 20 minutes long each, making the seasons very watchable.
It's definitely worth the sit-down, in my opinion!
10/10 recommend.
xx
*images and video not mine
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