My Happy Marriage Episode 12 [FINAL]

Nooooo they can’t just end it like that!!! Where’s the rest of it?! I NEED MORE!

[IMMEDIATELY CHECKS FOR SEASON 2 ANNOUNCEMENT]

Announced after today’s finale:

“My Happy Marriage” TV anime Season 2 production confirmed. https://t.co/U6Iv34uJTd

— A.I.R (Anime Intelligence (and) Research) (@AIR_News01) September 20, 2023

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! LET’S FREAKING GOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Oh my goodness, with the way they ended I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a sign they were going to even announce a second season or not, but THANKFULLY they did right off the bat! So now I think I know why they stopped where they did– which may have felt a bit abrupt for some (especially novel readers ahaha!). You’re not wrong if you thought there was more to follow in that particular scene. If you’re too impatient to wait till Season 2, you’re going to have to read the novel for that now because the anime has bypassed the manga adaption at this point. If you’re a paperback book collector like me though, I wish you good luck because looks like the volumes are out of stock for a while until the printing catches up to the demand. But as a fan that’s always good to see! 😀 This is why I put in preorders hahaha! Provided the bookstore doesn’t mess up the order and you never get the book…. [STARES AT PARTICULAR BOOKSTORE]

AHEM, Season 2 excitement aside, let’s focus on this season’s finale!

Truth to be told, I thought the way the pace which this episode was handled a bit wonky. Though please don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m saying it was bad by any means– I just felt like something was off about it, but I can’t put my finger on what it was. It’s kind of between feeling a bit rushed, but also feeling too short? Do you get what I mean??? I think that’s probably the best way to describe it. It’s really hard to explain, hahahahaha!

That said, there still some great things that were delivered in this episode! So let’s start with the star of the finale, Miyo!

I really loved the way the story followed up with Miyo reaching the turning point for her character. It was crucial for her to be forced to confront her doubts and insecurities before she could save Kiyoka, because she absolutely needed the resolve and strength to see it through. It was truly an beautiful and emotional scene, it got me all teary-eyed. This is exactly why I urged patience from the audience, because sometimes waiting (not too long) for the moment you see the flower that had been neglected for so long finally springs back to life is so incredibly rewarding! The way she faced her past-self, her insecurities and doubts that constantly haunt her, ripping away the thorns that guarded her wounded heart with her bare hands was such a powerful moment! This was Miyo taking control of her life again, committing to her resolve to change and becoming stronger so that she can confidently feel worthy of being by Kiyoka’s side. While the whole transformation scene might have come off as cheesy, I felt like this was truly the best way to show that Miyo has finally crossed that bridge. It perfectly symbolized how Miyo was the neglected flower that was able to spring back to life thanks to the love and care of Kiyoka and the others had given her! And man, I loved seeing Miyo shine with her powers! YOU GO GIRL! I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!

It was also very poetic for Miyo to be the one to fight and protect Kiyoka for an exchange. It’s an understatement to say Kiyoka has carried a lot of his weight this season, and understandably so because he was the beacon of light that helped pull her out of the darkness she was trapped in for so long. His patience and understanding has done so much in helping her crawl out of her shell. He has helped her become more comfortable with socializing, breaking the habit of apologizing by default when she wasn’t to blame, communicating that it’s okay for her to rely on him, being the one to be upfront with his feelings to assure Miyo to open her heart and speak truthfully about how she feels. But most importantly he always does whatever it takes to end her suffering. We saw that with his initiative to finding Hana, and hunting down the Usuba’s in order to find a way to finally free her from her plaguing nightmares. And now Miyo has found enough to strength not just to save herself, but to save and protect him too. Better yet, she is now ready to open her heart to him in the way she hadn’t done before, which is to trust and rely on him more when she can’t shoulder the weight on her own.

Speaking of Kiyoka, man he had it rough with the Grotesqueries today. They just wouldn’t stop spawning, making it impossible for him to catch a breath. If Miyo didn’t have the power to search for his soul in his dream, then he might have not made it out of there alive. The Emperor was pretty deadset on killing him that night. But he knew he couldn’t die there, because he needed to save Miyo (not realizing at the time she was coming to save him haha), and he knew he needed to apologize to her after he let his emotions get the better of him. It was so endearing to see how proud he was of Miyo being there to save him. He didn’t question anything, he immediately trusted that she would be able to protect them. God I just loved the way he looks at her. Perfection. I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCH!

It turns out it was the Emperor who was the one behind this particular incident. Since he had always feared the power of the Usuba and Kudo family, and recently lost his Revelation ability, his paranoia has only heightened. So he sought to eliminate both Kiyoka and Miyo in one fell swoop. Unfortunately for him, Miyo had just realized her powers and was able to fend off the attacks, and get both of them out safely. He got punished by Miyo with the plans quite literally blowing up in his face, but as Prince Takaihito mentioned, The Emperor has yet to fully be held accountable for his actions. Thankfully since Season 2 has been confirmed, viewers are not going to be left with loose ends!

Final Thoughts

I think it’s an understatement to say that I’m quite satisfied with the adaption, in-fact I freaking LOVED IT. While they took some liberty with rearranging the some scenes, at the end of the day, overall I felt they did a rather decent job! It was also such a treat to see my favourite couple have their soft and wholesome moments, and even painful emotional breakdowns because the scenes were just executed so damn beautifully! Like god, the way they delivered the tender moments, SO GOOD!

Of course as I mentioned earlier, there were some imperfections in regards to what they opted to cut that stops it from being a 10/10 of my biased fan of My Happy Marriage’s heart. I still think it was a mistake not to mention this is a supernatural series by leaving out the subject of the Gifts in the first episode. I know some people who were caught off-guard by it, and to them it felt like it dropped out of blue. But those of us who have read the novel, we knew it was coming because it was introduced to us within the first few pages.

I also think had they been able to include some of the things that were chosen or had to be cut out due to time constraint, then I think this probably would have been between 9 and 9.5 because of my absolute bias. HAHA! Alas it’s not the end of the world! Of course if you want to see how that was fleshed out further and cut out, both the novel (and the manga adaption) does a great job of highlighting this, as well as dealing with the subject matter in such a tactful way. And it was because of that, seeing those things made Miyo’s eventual breakthroughs even more rewarding! Also there were some instances of wholesomeness/fluff that wasn’t included, so they did cut out some of that too.

The one thing I really felt the production team did a phenomenal job with was playing with both the imagery symbolism game and the combat scenes, not to mention the animation quality was consistently top notch. There were two very memorable scenes that stays fresh in the mind. The first was when Miyo had been kidnapped and dragged into the storage to Kaya and her stepmother. It was chilling, uncomfortable, and it was so meticulously well done. The other was the duel between Kiyoka and Arata, because they absolutely didn’t have to go as hard as they did, but they went all in and it was 100% worth it! I am so freaking happy and relieved that Season 2 has already been confirmed– I BELIEVED IN YOU MY HAPPY MARRIAGE! I KNEW YOU WOULD GET ONE!!!! YOU DESERVE IT! I’m super excited because the conflict we got a taste of starts to ramp up more in Volume 3 and 4! I’m looking forward to it because we’re finally going to see how Miyo’s newfound strength is going to help her face the new challenges that get thrown her way.

Final Verdict: 9/10!

Hands down, the animation, the OST score were 10/10, absolutely phenomenal, as a fan I feel incredibly spoiled with the musical and visual treatment this series got, and my god I AM SO FREAKING HAPPPPPPPPPPYYY. It’s the absolute best feeling ever!!! They absolutely hit the ball out of the park of that one–BRUH, THEY REALLY CAME FOR MY EMOTIONS MAN! I enjoyed the adaption from start to finish and I’m already hungry for more! I’ll have to reread the volumes again because Volume 5 can’t come out soon enough (next month, October, and you can already pre-order Volume 6 as well!)

If you’re hungry for a Cinderella story that takes it a step further with some supernatural flair, deeper plot developing beneath the surface, heartwarming romance and just wholesome goodness with some angst this is the one for you! This is such a great time to be a shoujo/josei romances fan! So many great series being greenlit, and it’s so freaking exciting to see what feels like the revitalization of the shoujo/josei romance era! LET’S GO, I’VE BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR THIS!!!

See you again for Season 2! 😀

PS: Seriously, definitely read the novels!!!!!!!!!! It’s wayyyyy more fleshed out!