I’ve got some catching up to do with this series, but it’s been a light season volume-wise and I’ve heard good things, so here goes…
Once upon a time there lived Saimori Miyo, in absolute misery. After Miyo’s mother died, her father remarried, and she is forced to wait on her evil stepmother and horrible half sister Kaya like a run-of-the-mill servant. The only one who doesn’t treat Miyo (voiced by Ueda Reina) like absolute garbage is her childhood friend Kouji, who brings her sweets and makes her smile, relax, and most importantly, hope for a better future.
But Miyo and Kaya are now of marriageable age, so the storm clouds of change are quickly approaching. Kaya’s villainy is plain to see as she gleefully mocks Miyo for getting soot on her face (another nod to the story’s Cinderella roots). Kaya is quite simply awful and never lets off the awful accelerator.
Miyo tries to steel herself not to hope that she’ll be wed to Kouji, but still isn’t prepared when she learns he’s going to marry Kaya instead. Kaya clearly enjoys sticking it to Miyo, and is the kind of selfish, haughty, cruel character who would meet a suitably gruesome end if she was in a horror movie. Ayana Sakura is as vicious as Kaya as she is sweet in Rent-a-Girlfriend.
Miyo is informed she’ll marry into a new family, which is a formal way of saying she’s being discarded from this one for good. Kouji, who didn’t challenge his father’s wishes lest he be disowned, chose not to rock the boat, and laments that he was worthless to Miyo. Kouji is a coward who couldn’t live up to his convictions, but at least he’s aware of that cowardice. Even surrounded by gathering darkness, Miyo puts on as brave a face as she can as she bids him farewell.
This episode skillfully places us squarely in Miyo’s corner, making her a sympathetic and rootable character in spite her own complete lack of self-worth. It’s full of little moments of injustice, like how meager her luggage (even giving a servant pause). Miyo’s new kimono and onigiri for her journey easily double the mass of the sum total of her possessions.
The episode uses silent filtered visuals to expertly weave background info about Miyo as she embarks on her solitary rail journey to her new life. Miyo loved her mother dearly, but no sooner did she pass then her father started over as if Miyo and her mother never existed. Even her mother’s cherry tree was chopped down. The slate was wiped clean, but Miyo lingered on.
Miyo is warned by the head servant that the man she is to marry, Kudou Kiyoka, is rumored to be ruthless and cold-hearted, but Miyo has lived in a ruthless, cold-hearted home ever since her mom died. How could it get any worse? After an awkward introduction, Miyo meets her fiancé Kiyoka face-to-face, and suddenly the darkness around her turns to brilliant white light.
She may not know what manner of man her soon-to-be husband is, but she does know that he’s extremely pretty, and that she hasn’t seen a sliver of light like this in her life since his mom was around. Beautifully animated and featuring an exquisitely quiet, understated performance from Ueda Reina, My Happy Marriage is a long overdue addition to my Summer watchlist. Perhaps the title of the anime will prove not to be ironic, and things will finally look up for our wretched Meiji Cinderella.
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