my happy marriage (わたしの幸せな結婚)
I watched the first-season anime of My Happy Marriage a couple of years ago on streaming. Really lovely visuals, interesting characters, and good quality production.
light novel, vol. 1
anime series
Now I’ve been reading the original light novels from my library (in English translation). Wikipedia clued me in that the story is set in an alternate history version of the Taishō era. Magic still exists, though declining. Its primary role is to handle malevolent spirits, called grotesqueries. The story shows a society in transition. Traditional social roles and dress are butting up against modernism, machinery, and European influence. Cars! streetcars! telephones!
The main character, Miyo, is mistreated and abused by her family for most of her young life before being sent off to an arranged marriage. She fears being rejected by her proposed fiancé and arrives at his estate in a cloud of fear. Given her past experiences, she thinks rejection is inevitable, and she envisions a frightening future of being thrown out on the street and abandoned.
At the beginning, poor Miyo is a pathetic character, constantly fearful and apologizing. Her life changes dramatically once she leaves her family’s orbit, but Miyo is still caught in the emotional habits she learned in her father’s household. No matter how far you travel, the past is never gone, because you carry it with you.
There’s a second season of the anime version available on streaming now. Guess I will have to spring for one month’s subscription to see it! I’m going to hold off for a cold and wintry day, so I can be cozy on my couch and watch it with a warm mug of tea.
ephemera
Today’s moon: last quarter 🌗
Reading: The Grammar of Fantasy, Gianni Rodari, orig. pub 1980; new English translation, 2025.
Reading and or watching: My Happy Marriage (series)
(re)Watched: The Truman Show, 1998. Livestreaming life before broadband.
Watched: The Toxic Avenger Unrated, 2023.
Abandoned: Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley, Jacob Silverman, 2025. I’ve had enough of these oligarch weirdos and I’m too online for any of this to be news to me.