Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon
My Happy Marriage

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My Blissful Marriage is a hidden gem that caught me completely off guard with it's pacing and overall tone. I went into it expecting a somewhat tragic backstory, for the synopsis basically said that from the get go. But I can say with certainty that labeling this story as a simple tear jerker tragedy is not what it deserves. Seeing that this manga is criminally underrated im going to go ahead and write my first review, and i'll be damned if I dont make it a good one.

Story (8/10):
The overarching story is portrayed as a sort of Cinderella scenario, but our Cinderella in this case ... (Miyo) seemingly has no prospects, beauty, or life skills. Also, the prince wants nothing to do with her at first. However, as the story goes on she discovers that there is much more to life than what her discriminating family have previously shown her. The world building is also pretty well done, and it's fleshed out to a level you wouldn't normally expect from a slice of life romance. From the start we know that certain families have hereditary powers passed down through the generations, and their political power and clout are dependent on how strong these powers are. These powers range from mind control to the ability to control fire and I think it's a wonderful spin on what would otherwise be your typical historical manga. This world is established without too much needless exposition and is a cut above most romances in terms of how fleshed out and interesting it is.

Art (7/10):
The art is solid, and when a situation needs it to be it can be both expressive and impactful. Its nothing jaw dropping, but it is definitely pleasing to the eye and I have no complaints.

Characters (8/10):
The characters are not too fleshed out except for the two leads as this manga is currently only on its second volume. I will say though that what I have seen so far is very good, and a vast majority seem believable in their motivations and actions. It's written in a way where you are empathetic towards Miyo from the start, but it does not portray her in a way that makes her feel contrived or useless.

Enjoyment (8/10):
I'm a guy that you wouldn't usually expect to be into stories of this nature, and I'm certainly not the sentimental type. However I'll shamelessly admit that I was in tears by the second chapter. This wasn't even just because Miyo has a sad backstory, it was because of the way she is realistically portrayed in how she copes with her past and how she continues to live her life in spite of things beyond her control. Don't get put off by the sad beginning, for it only makes the romance and slice of life aspects so much more wholesome and fulfilling when you reach them. The plot is also very compelling, and the way the world is being developed leaves room for so much more than just a simple romance drama. Definitely give it a try.

Character:
First of all, as someone who also has self hatred since I am a child and longer than her (Because I am older than her), I will say that the way this manga portray self hatred is really realistic. Her inner thought is exactly my thought on daily basis. The way she always think in negative way even if someone say something normal, the way she is easily influenced when someone begin to say even a bit of negative thing, the way she always apologize even if she doesn't need to, it's just same as me.

Second, her character development is really natural. It's not ... too fast not too slow. You know those characters who was given advice once then they immediately change? It doesn't happen here. Even after given many compliment, many affection by Yurie and male lead, she still has sometimes negative thought and even the male lead said something like "This is the most positive and confident statement she said" and he said "Her trauma is deeper than I thought" in chapter 12. From my experience, those negatives thought possibly won't completely disappear after years but it can slowly change to be more positive. In my case, it's not a matter of how long I meet but how much I was given affection, is it continuous or not and it seems to be the case for her too.

Since many people say female lead change ONLY because of the male lead and some men around her, I will say this. There are some people who give her confidence, it's mainly Yurie (woman) and male lead, and Kouji also support her in those dark years even if not much to improve her psychological state and condition, so it's not only male lead. Hana (woman), her maid also give her support in those dark years. Everyone who think it's only male lead or only men around her, PLEASE READ AGAIN PROPERLY). Yurie really contribute a lot in her growth, without Yurie, I don't think male lead will be able to give Miyo support because male lead know how to handle Miyo mainly because of Yurie's advice.

Miyo and male lead relationship is feels natural too, the male lead at first only interested in here= because she is unusual, then he cares about her and finally love. Miyo is also same, male lead told us that at first Miyo doesn't really care who is it as long as they provide her home but after several chapters, it changes to be, "I wanted to be here."

About backstory, we were given backstory of female lead mainly and a bit about other character like male lead, Kaya, Kouji.
Is the villain here is simply bad people who only hate her?
No and I don't know. The only villain that we already know the past is Kaya, we don't know about her mother, her father, related to why they do that to Miyo. For Kaya, she was given mindset since she was child that she is always above Miyo in everything, she is always right, this was explained by male lead so if you think she is simply bad because she is bad PLEASE READ AGAIN PROPERLY.

Story:
Story is simple about a girl who meet a man and his caretaker and how she gain confidence by interacting with them (character development) and also how the the FL and ML relationship develop. There is supernatural aspect here as part of the plot that possibly will become more major as the story progress. The story progression feel so natural, we were shown how she change and how their relationship change little by little with some inner thought as benchmark (Like what I already said about chapter 12 it's benchmark as her first confidence statement) so we can keep track of her progress.

Overall I really enjoy the story, it touch my heart and how she progress also motivate me to become more positive too.

Well, first of all I would like to say that this review is based of personal preference (as all reviews usually are) and I only read 2 volumes. Also, english is not my first language.

My thoughts:
▪️A Cinderella type of story it's not my thing. The FL suffers her whole life until a male "prince", strong, beautiful and wealthy appears to save her, and he's the only reason she begins to overcome her traumas
▪️About the character development of the female lead, it's too fast, and too simple (if you consider the amount of trauma she's been through).
▪️The Kouji problem: Kouji it's a pick ... me boy, he totally suffers from the "nice guy syndrome". He thinks he's the only one who can save the FL, and even considered a horrible thing as the only option, while thoghtout his entire life he just watched everything. He's pissed me off, A LOT
▪️The storyline is pure cliche. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy a cliche done right, which it's not the case here. It was just boring and looked like a manga that I would read in the 2000's. Villains that the only reason they are villains it's because they hate the FL and because they are bad people, like seriously?
▪️Initially I was going to give it a 7, but I read the first chapter of the light novel that this manga is based on and the writing it's so much better. Like, seriously, the manga did dirt to the original novel. That just proves that the same story can cause emotions in different ways just by the author writing skills. So if you like the manga, give the light novel a try. Knowing how the original it's better I had to give it a 5

Overall, week FL that are saved by the man around her and only manage to grown because of them, it's not my thing at all. If you don't mind that you probably will enjoy way more than I did, so give it a try. If you don't like this type of story like me there's plenty of good fantasy in historical setting with better storylines and characters, specially in korean webtoons.