Long recap: My Happy Marriage live action movie is a sci fi fictional historical drama romance all rolled into one. Note that I did not know that this was originally a light novel which has also been adapted to an anime and manga prior to watching this. After watching and from some online sleuthing I think that it was difficult to pack all of the source content into 2 hours. Therefore I have augmented this recap to explain some things that I was confused about in my watch.

The movie is set in an alternative world where magic and supernatural spirits exist during Taishō era where western culture influence is present as well as traditional Japanese culture. There are people born with supernatural gifts who historically helped the emperors maintain power and over time became wealthy nobility. At the basic level of power the gifted are able to see the Grotesquerie or vengeful spirits/souls of the gifted who died in battle and were not able to pass on peacefully given their extreme powers. This was a nuance lost on me which I learned from the internet. They are malevolent to humans who have bodies and souls.

We are first introduced to our FL Miyo who is the Cinderella in her family. The first born daughter (but unloved by her father) from a loveless arranged marriage between her father Sinichi Saimori (a declining noble family with few gifted who is given a ton of money behind the scenes by the emperor to marry Sumi) and Sumi Usuba (a family with a unique and powerful gift in which they can manipulate people’s minds and dreams or in extreme cases strip people of their will and drive them mad with illusions) who dies when Miyo is 2. Due to their unique gift Usaba’s usually only marry internally but the emperor feared their power which was stronger than his so he caused their financial decline forcing them into a situation in which Sumi agreed to this marriage to save her family. Historically the Usuba is the force controlling the gifted from exploiting their powers. Since their gift is on humans and gifted and not the grotesquerie they don’t have the spirit-sight to see them. Miyo never manifested that basic level gift so it was assumed by herself, her family, and the emperor that she was gift-less so she was abused by her stepmother (the lover of her father from a non-gifted family who resented Sumi) and stepsister Kaya (who did had spirit-sight but no other power). Her father removed her status as the eldest so she became a family servant.

At the start of the movie she just turned 19 and is arranged to be married to Kiyoka Kudou the head of the anti-grotesquerie squad of elite gifted who is the gifted talent of his generation able to harness multiple gifts at a time. He is the head of his family and is known to be cruel, cold, and heartless. Several prominent noble families have tried to send their daughters in engagement to him but he treated them so poorly that they fled within 3 days. …

Miyo’s father arranged this marriage because he wanted money and to be rid of her and thought she would end up being thrown out by him.

Her half sister Kaya is engaged to be married to Miyo’s only childhood friend Kouji Tatsuishi (gifted wealthy family also on the decline in terms of gifted ones) who is too weak to stand up for her. Kaya is a pampered spoiled brat who partakes in mistreating Miyo and doesn’t want Miyo to have any shred of happiness or anything better.

When Miyo shows up at her fiancé estate in the countryside she greets him with a low bow to the floor and agrees to his command that she must follow his orders even if he tells her to die she must die. The next morning she assumes her usual servant role and rises early to make breakfast for Kiyoka to the surpriseof Yuri (his nursemaid and trusted mother figure). Kiyoka then refuses to eat her breakfast without Miyo eating first (which I assume would be unacceptable in the traditional culture) in case it’s poisoned. Yuri chides Kiyoka for being rude to Miyo and says she likes her because she is considerate.

Luckily our ML is observant and his tsundere demeanor doesn’t last long- early on he notices how chapped her hands are from manual labor and how tattered her kimono is so he suspects she wasn’t the pampered first daughter of a noble family. He commands her to draw him a bath and shows off his pyrokinetic gift to warm it. He tells her to put in a medicinal pack each time, but it turns out he hates medicinal baths and was just doing it to help her hands heal. Kiyoka learns from Yuri that Miyo doesn’t sleep well and has nightmares.
We meet our 2nd male lead Arata Usuba who is the head of an old trading company and goes by a different last name since his family is in hiding to avoid being discovered. He is the civilian helping Kiyoka contain the spread of the grotesqueries. He also drops handy tips like what the Usuba powers are. He is also assumed to be non-gifted and a great negotiator (not sure how this was supposed to help the soldiers deal with spirits). Apparently over the ages the antigrotesquerie unit has done so well doing the emperors’ bidding that the Usuba’s haven’t had to use their powers to control anyone for so long people forgot about them.
Kiyoka later announces he is going into town and she can join if she likes. Miyo has never gone into town and is afraid to embarrass him so she hesitates but when he almost retracts his offer she agrees to go. Yuri helps Miyo prepare for her day out in town with makeup and clothing. Kiyoka’s jaw nearly drops to the floor when he sees our heroine all dolled up for the first time. I have never seen an actress look more like a doll with her big round innocent eyes. I was shocked to learn the actress Imada Mio is 27 the same age as the main actor Meguro Ren. She looked 19 and so innocent. Hats off to her.

The scene when the ML finally eats her breakfast and tells her it’s good which shook her to the core because no one had ever praised her cooking before was such great acting. I cried buckets along with her. Despite all the cruelty shown to her she can still be kind and innocent was just amazing and also amazed Kiyoka who falls hard fast. They have a nice “date” and we see her freely smile for the first time which also moves Kiyoka. Miyo astutely notes that both of them have been “motherless” growing up and when she apologizes for speaking too frankly he chides her. He wants her to speak her mind and not apologize or feel small and raise her head in confidence. What a green flag. She is afraid that if he knows she is gift-less that he will throw her out.

Our OTP slow burn interactions are at odds with the fast paced action/sci fi where somehow the grotesqueries were released from their burial ground taking insect form and now are infecting humans who are being captured by the anti-grotesquerie squad. There are some nice scenes showing the camaraderie of the men and friendships they have despite Kiyoka’s reputation.

During an outing with Yuri, Miyo unexpectedly meets Kaya who bullies her which causes a panic attack. Arata Usuba comes to her rescue and tells her the nightmares will end soon but then vanishes when Yuri arrives.

Kiyoka goes to see Miyo’s father and stepmother and threatens to not pay for the marriage if they don’t sincerely apologize to Miyo. This angers her stepmother who always hated Sumi for “stealing” her lover. Kaya sees Kiyoka walk by and is jealous of how handsome Miyo’s fiancé is and desires him for herself.

It is through Miyo’s nightmares that we learn of all the suffering she went through as a small child at the hands of her stepmother and how she became so timid and afraid. When Kiyoka goes to comfort her at night he feels something/sees something.

Kiyoka arranges for Miyo’s nurse maid Hana to return from the countryside to visit her. This act of kindness prompts Miyo to confess her gift-less status and lack of credentials to be a nobleman’s wife. She used his own words that she will die if he tells her to die or leave if he tells her to leave. She thanks him for taking care of her all this time while low bowing and offering him a purple hair tie she had made for him as a gift for his kindness. He lifts her head and says he doesn’t care about her not having a gift and she can’t leave because he wants to formally get engaged to her. He even asks her if she wants to stay rather than commanding her to stay. It is important to him that she always wants to be with him. He asks her to tie the hair tie for him and thanks her for the beautiful gift. Like a dutiful husband he warns her he may not be home much due to the outbreak and work.

Miyo visits the barracks to bring food for Kiyoka and his team and gets regaled with lots of stories of her fiancé.

Kiyoka arranges for Miyo to get the cherry blossom kimono she admired at the store and gifts her a hair comb which symbolizes a proposal. After this happy moment Miyo is kidnapped by Kaya and Kijou’s father. Kaya wants Kiyoka for herself and Kijou wants his eldest to marry Miyo for her bloodline as previously promised by her father. Kijou rushes to Kiyoka to tell him and together they go to the Saimori house. Then we see our ML in all his white mane of glory use his pyrokinetics to blow open the door and search frantically for Miyo. She is being tortured by her stepmother who hates her and her half sister who wants her to give up her man. She refuses even though in her mind she fights with herself how easy it would be to give in like in the past but this time she wants to stay with Kiyoka. He fights off Kouji’s father who gets infected but is frozen by Kiyoko and her father who end up igniting a large house fire with his wind power.

Kiyoka rescues Miyo and puts down Kaya who makes one last plea that she should be his bride since she is gifted, more useful and better. He tells her to shut up and even if the world falls apart he wouldn’t choose her.

Arata visits Miyo at the behest of Yuri for helping her with her panic attacks. Arata chides Kiyoka that he didn’t deal with Miyo’s nightmares and her injuries are due to him. He then reveals himself to have the Usaba gift when he tells Kiyoka to send her to him and then disappears. Kiyoka puts 2 and 2 together and realizes Tsuruki was the name Usaba was using.

Poor Miyo’s nightmares are getting worse and she is even getting them when she falls asleep at the table. Kiyoka rushes to her and comforts her and takes her to the Usaba where they learn that if she can’t control her gift it will kill her. I loved the cinematography during the scene where Kiyoka asks Arata if he is the real him or an illusion and they use the kaleidoscope lens while walking the stairs seeming to contradict Arata’s words. Her grandfather says if Miyo stays with them they can help her with her nightmares but she doesn’t want to leave Kiyoka. He orders her to stay and reminds her that she promised to follow his orders so she reluctantly obeys with the low bow (a habit he had been trying to break her of).

Arata proposes marriage and says he’s been waiting for her. I hate how he’s always pushing her into chairs even though he pretends to be kind. As Kiyoka is about to to leave he gets a message that the headquarter is under attack because unfortunately earlier one of the antigrotesquerie team members got infected while helping a sick man on the streets. The Imperial guard unit that also got infected came to the headquarters and attacked the squad and infected more of them.

The crown prince gets a vision of the squad fighting each other and rushes to the emperor who transfers his memories and thoughts to his son. The prince learns of all the scheming his father has done to try to prevent a dream weaver…

weaver (Miyo) from gaining power.

Since they think all the insects are in the headquarters the 2nd in command raises a shield at Kiyoka’s orders (following the emperor’s order) to contain the insects.

Miyo overhears her grandfather tell Arata of the outbreak at headquarters and the shield they put up and inevitable annihilation of the anti-grotesquerie squad while trying to contain the insects that have infected their comrades. She then tried to rush out but when Arata tried to stop her Miyo’s dream weaver power manifests and she is able to push him away and cause his eyes to bleed. Her power has the ability to pull everyone into a dream or spiritual world and she can go in and manipulate them all. She wants to go to Kiyoka but by the emperor ordered her family to not let her. The emperor feared that the dream weaver’s stronger power would result in annihilation of the royal family. So he planned for Kiyoka to be that shield and get killed.

In the headquarters dramatic fighting ensues including a reluctant fight of Kiyoka with a friend who recently had a child that was infected.

Miyo insists on going to help Kiyoka even if it results in her death since she can’t control her powers yet. Arata and her grandfather don’t stop her. Miraculously she is able to run to him despite the restrictions of the kimono and unknown distance. She falls and breaks her precious engagement comb. She is able to penetrate the shield and somehow drag all of them into a spiritual world. She calls out an order “cut them” and then the soldiers are able to kill only the insects and not the humans. This is shown most dramatically with Kiyoka battling his friend and 2nd in command who is trying to fight the insect inside of himself by refusing to attack Kiyoka and attempt suicide. Kiyoka is able to just slice out the insect. While they are in this shield/altered spirit world it’s black and white but as she taps into her power there is a bright yellow focus that spreads and brings color back. She has a dream where she is with her mother but she tells her mom she can’t be with her right now (because she has to save her man). Arata shows up to use his power to support her (not sure why he didn’t get there faster since he’s unencumbered running compared to her) and all the color returns and all the insects are killed but the humans are back including the friend with a kid that Kiyoka had stabbed in the chest earlier who still has the sword stuck in his chest. Kiyoka rushes to Miyo and hugs her as she falls to the ground. She says “my lord I want to be by your side and stay with you.”

Kiyoka and the new emperor have a conversation about how Miyo was loved by her mother who sealed her gift to protect her from the emperor. Kiyoka says you also to the emperor which I assume to mean that he too was loved by his father who did his actions to protect his son. Now there is only 1 person who can correct things which could mean either the emperor….

or Miyo if the emperor or anyone strays or goes power hungry.

The final scene is one in which our awkward ML tell our FL that he may be troublesome and her life may be difficult with him but he wants to be with her. She of course is happy to stay and doesn’t want him to replace the broken comb because it has such meaning when he first gave it to her as a proposal gift even when they both were unaware of her immense powers. Then there is a very formal exchange of words of affection and a sweet shared smile under a single umbrella which then ends with him saying “let’s go” and her agreeing.

Overall I enjoyed this movie although it was hard to follow and understand at times without knowledge of the source material. The sci fi part seems less coherent especially the final battle scene as it isn’t explained how she helped the soldiers defeat the insects. Maybe something to do with pulling everyone into the spirit world where they can kill the spirits and then returning the humans to the real world. What happened to Arata is unknown. Did he die while helping her or is he also alive but just doing his usual business and keeping an eye on her as her Usaba guardian? I also would have preferred a short scene of the punishment for her family especially her sister (source material says her family got exiled to the countryside as commoners and her sister was made a servant of a mean noble family). It would have been a delight to see that karma.

^^ @claire2009

Wow.. I love how you researched the complete storyline. Film couldn’t do it in 2 hours. So watching anime helps a lot. But still I love the film more once you know the background. There’s season 2 of anime coming too.

Koalatown thank you 🙏🏻 firstly for your suggestion of this wonderful movie and also your hard work in preparing such a comprehensive post with complete background clarifying all matters not covered / summarily stated or simply glossed over in the movie. This is a movie which definitely requires some background knowledge to be able to appreciate it. Only the sci fi, mythological / magical (!?) part that is. (The OTP romance doesn’t need any additional knowledge to make us swoon. 😅) And what a vast and extensive background we have. 😂 But the complete story in context requires this kind of elaborate and exhaustive storytelling.

Luckily my journey with My Happy Marriage (Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon i.e. As Long as We Both Shall Live) started with the anime on Netflix which I live watched from July-Sep 2023. I was so fascinated by the complex world building, the mesmerizing drawings of the characters, the vocal range and enunciation of the voice artists (I watched in original Japanese with English subtitles) and the contrasting in tone but spot on music and animation in both the opening and closing credits, that I immediately wanted more. 🤣 A handy search of the internet revealed not only the existence of the original manga (no surprises) but also a live-action movie (happy surprise) which was released in March 2023 in Japan. I clapped in joy and starry-eyed immediately started to search for the movie. Imagine my initial surprise and later dismay when I realized that leave alone the English subtitled movie, even the raw version in Japanese was not available anywhere internationally. The search at the *ahem* sites which at times are our last resort also came up empty. 😢

So I continued my journey with the anime while surreptitiously searching for the movie on the side. I was so fascinated by the little promo of the movie (that was the only thing available) and the effusive praises of Ren Meguro and Mio Imada by the lucky netizens who had watched the movie in Japan that I even ended up watching Trillion Game starring both of them. Needless to say it was a whiplash to see them in this drama as the total opposite (yet so engaging) of their characters in The Happy Marriage.

❤ Miyo and Kiyoka ❤ was an OTP that I fell in love with the moment I met them in the anime. I loved how Miyo, originally so dull and drab when we first meet her in the anime gradually “colored” up and became more and more confident, especially after her interactions with one of my most favorite characters in the anime, Kiyoka’s older sister Hazuki. I was excited to continue our journey with the OTP in the movie. Although the movie came out before the anime, I was able to see the movie much much later and was happy to see Ren Meguro and Mio Imada perfect embody my beloved Kiyoka and Miyo whom I had gotten to know from anime.

Certain dialogues and how she said them made me feel sorry for and love Miyo all the more.

I don’t feel like I want to die anymore.
 
The person who stands beside him, I want that to be me.

But I was very very glad to see how much Kiyoka supported and empowered her.

The way their relationship delicately blooms is so beautiful to watch. 🥰❤

Thank you for this lovely write up ❤️

I will have to come back to this at a later time because due to my hectic schedule I haven’t got the chance to watch this one.

 

 
Nothing is as meaningful as them choosing to be with each other.

As an aside I don’t really think Kaya has the gift at all. I got the impression that she was just pretending. 🤭

And lastly … some eye candy!! 🔥 🔥 🔥