My Happy Marriage

I have never read the light novels, nor watched the anime. I was drawn to watch it from the striking apperance of both the Male and Female leads.

I believe that the writer did an excellent job of writing a story line that ebbed and flowed, drawing the viewer into the story and carrying them on an emotional rocky path like someone riding the rapids while white water rafting.

I found myself at the edge of my seat during the action scenes willing Kiyoka to succeed and crying along with Miyo when she shed tears. The chemistry between all the players was powerful, especially between Miyo and Kiyoka.

The live-action movie was incredibly fast-paced and a million times better than the anime, especially in how it portrayed Miyo as a character. The actress who portrayed her was flawless, as were the rest of the cast. Her performance was outstanding, from her voice to her acting. The cinematography was excellent, and the main cast delivered great performances that remained faithful to the source material, all within a high-energy, action-packed experience. Ren Meguro was such a great choice given his demeanor and looks for the main lead were exceptional. I wish they honed in on Miyos super natural abilities a little more than they did. Else 10/10.

As a big fan of the light novels, I have anticipated this movie for a long time.

The movie follows Kudou Kiyoka, a tsundere captain of a unit of gifted soldiers, and Miyo Saimori, a girl rejected by her family for not having a gift/supernatural ability. At the very beginning of the movie, we find out a marriage is arranged for them.

While the light novels, and even the anime, lean a lot more on Miyo's perspective, this movie dedicates almost equal attention to Miyo and Kiyoka. The movie also deviates from the original material, but I cannot be mad at it, for the added action greatly spices up the story, giving it a powerful climax point. The movie also adds the relationship between the soldiers as another arc, and a bigger emphasis is put on the friendship between them, and between Kiyoka and Prince Takaihito (in comparison to the anime). The movie encompasses light novels 1 and 2 of the series, where the central story is the one from novel 2, with significant changes to it. Arc from novel 1, Miyo's struggle with her family, is more of a side story, but it's given enough importance in my opinion.

While I appreciated the changes in the plot for the sake of keeping the movie's flow, the movie was moving fast. Like, very fast. It made me think it should have been a series instead, because it seemed like they were rushing through the material. In comparison, the love story was quite slow, which was kind of helping slow down the entire movie.

While the anime has a lot of pink undertones, this movie is full of earthy colors, realistic settings, so it feels kind of grounding. The scene of exposing the burial grounds is absolutely beautiful, and I really enjoy the creative choices that were made, especially the marks that appear on the skin of gift users.

Imada is absolutely adorable as Miyo, and Meguro is quite dashing as Kiyoka. However, in some scenes, his wig was fighting for its life. They have very nice, comfortable chemistry. Meguro's Kiyoka is more awkward than the novels, and Imada's Miyo has a bit more of a backbone and is more open in expressing her affection for Kiyoka by the end. My favorite scene is the one where he compliments her cooking- the way his face changes and he squirms after she cries, you can tell he is deeply affected.

Two stars down for the questionable speed of the story. I am also not sure if watching this without knowing anything about the original material would even make sense. I think it's ok to make movies based off of anime/manga/light novels, but I am still unsure whether this should have been a series instead. It also seems like they plan to make a part two, because they left the ending open.

Japanese Movie " My Happy Marriage " is a fantasy melodrama based on a popular light novel.

The movie does a great job pacing the story and presenting it wholly, even though the ending needed more time to properly develop, leaving the viewer to believe that there might be a second movie to follow this one.

The film also fleshes out the characters, giving them time to properly unfold and giving them enough background to make it easier to sympathize with.

Also, the CGI was perfect, without awkward special effects that would have ruined the mood of the movie. Rather, they were nicely arranged along with the action scenes. The costumes were also great.

Finally, the performances were enjoyable by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, eight out of ten.

I have not read the books, but I really enjoyed the movie. The actors were great, the costume and settings beautiful. My only complaint is that I wish it was a 6 part series. The story is part of a complex world of mystical creatures, important families with supernatural powers, a monarchy and many other elements which would have been interesting to dive deeper into. I also wished we could have seen more of the backstory of the main characters. Lord Kudo is suppose to be cold and harsh, but we barely see any of that side of him. Anyway, really good movie. I recommend watching it, i just wished we could have more of it.