Sweet romance with touch of fantasy has bullying, neglect.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
some
Miyo is the victim of bullying, abuse, and neglect from her father, stepmother, and stepsister. In memories and dreams, she is locked in small rooms, treated as a servant, underfed, and verbally harassed. In the present day, her family and others still use intimidation and insults to frighten and manipulate their adult children. A character has a scary dream involving a group of shadowy figures moaning in pain and reaching out towards her. Invisible spirits attack characters, who fight back with supernatural powers.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.
Characters repeatedly talk down to Miyo and threaten her well-being and happiness. Other characters experience verbal hostility from parents and potential fiancés.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.
Topics include love, care, kindness, family, hope, protection, and overcoming hardships. Story teaches that happy relationships (especially romantic ones) come from being sincere, communicating clearly, and engaging with your whole heart. Love can help a person overcome pain.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Miyo is gentle, thoughtful, and kind. She develops self-confidence and becomes more open-hearted by persevering through hardship and building relationships with new people. Kiyoka's stern and serious demeanor covers up his own gentle kindness. Kouji works hard to become mature and strong enough to protect the people he cares about.
Diverse Representations
a little
The setting is late 19th century Japan; both Japanese and Western culture is portrayed with an emphasis on how the West influenced Japan. The romantic relationships follow traditional gender roles. Miyo is presented as a "damsel in distress," and her suitors talk about "saving" her. However, the lead male characters don't follow stereotypes for men (e.g. they cry, show gentleness, are shy about romance).
Parents need to know that My Happy Marriage is a tender romantic drama about a young woman finding happiness and love after a lifetime of abuse and neglect. In flashbacks and dreams, Miyo (voiced by Reina Ueda) remembers her family's harsh treatment of her after her mother's death. The abuse she endured is mostly verbal, emotional, or from neglect. There are instances of physical abuse, like pushing or locking someone in a small room, but they are not graphic. As adults, Miyo and other characters are manipulated by parents through arranged marriages, deceit, and apathy. The show has a fantasy element where characters have different types of supernatural powers that they use to interact with spirits -- both to harm and protect people around them.
As a parent I think it is very appropriate for children 10 and up and tweens because it teaches important life lessons such as always being kind to people even if they despise you and it is emotional in some episodes but I highly recommend it, the anime has amazing role models because the main character is always kind to others even if they hate her, my 10 and 9 year old daughters loved watching this tv show
https://franciscan0-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/r/personal/jgriswold002_stude…
My Review was too long but here is the full review at this link.
What's the Story?
MY HAPPY MARRIAGE follows Miyo Saimori (voiced by Reina Ueda) and Kiyoka Kudou (voiced by Kaito Ishikawa) through their arranged marriage. Miyo, the neglected daughter of the Saimori family, has lost all hope for happiness after the man she loves, Kouji Tatsuishi, is unexpectedly engaged to her stepsister. Kiyoka, a soldier and head of the reputable Kudou family, can't keep a fiance because of his cold demeanor. When Miyo is sent by her father to be Kiyoka's wife, the couple learns that there is more to their new partner than meets the eye, and a journey towards happiness begins for them both.
This charming romantic drama warms the heart and reminds viewers that a gentle love can heal many wounds. While My Happy Marriage pulls drama from characters' traumatic experiences, it doesn't center trauma as the point of the story. Instead, it tells a sweet message about fostering growth and healing from love born of genuine care, consideration, communication, and effort. The couple's awkward shyness is endearing, and the sweetness of their relationship is cozy rather than overly sentimental. The only drawbacks are that the show is fast-paced, which makes the relationship seem a little rushed, and that the fantasy elements sometimes seem out of place.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about processing trauma. How does Miyo's past affect her? What does she do to process those experiences and begin to change? If you know someone experiencing what Miyo went through, how can you help them?
Families can talk about romance and relationships. How are Miyo's feelings for Kouji different from her feelings for Kiyoka? How are the men's feelings for Miyo different from each other? What do each of these characters want out of a romantic relationship? What might they actually need?
How do the characters show compassion and kindness? How do these traits help them have better relationships with friends and siblings?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
