By Akumi Agitogi and Tsukiho Tsukioka. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon” by Fujimi L Bunko. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by David Musto.
I seem to have run into an awful lot of short story collection volumes lately. This is another one, as after finally getting to the ‘happy’ and ‘marriage’ part of the title, Miyo and Kiyoka are taking the time to have some leisurely microstories that were online web exclusives, or else more serious titles written for this volume specifically. You can probably guess what I’m going to be talking about the most. Still, overall it’s a good, solid volume, with a tragic flashback at the start followed by some romantic schmaltz. There is a suggestion we may get a darker present-day story later on, but even that ends up being a romantic schmaltz sort of thing. Which is great, frankly. I’ve been complaining forever about the fact that these volumes are too damn dark, particularly in the last one, and it’s nice to just see these two do things like accidentally get drunk, or get scared by a thunderstorm and a power outage. Couple goals.
The first story is written for this volume, and takes up almost half the book on its own. It’s a flashback showing Kiyoka’s college years, as he struggles between his powers and the destiny everyone wants him to grasp and his own dreams of being a research nerd. We then get a series of microstories arranged in a chapter, showing things that happened when Kiyoka was sick (mostly Hazuki fangirling over Miyo), Miyo showing off her skill at cooking and distracting Kiyoka from work, Miyo accidentally getting drunk by eating a liquor-laced sweet, in the best anime tradition; etc. The other story written for this collection has our happy couple staying at the main estate for a bit, only to have to deal with a moody Fuyu, who is upset over a broken gift from her husband. We then get a second series of microstories, which is actually mostly one story, showing Kiyoka and his subordinates going out to drink and running into Kazushi.
Every story with a strong, powerful spirit-user who always seems in control and together needs a doomed mentor somewhere in its backstory to explain how he got that way, and it’s now My Happy Marriage’s turn. It’s easily the best story in the book, showing how sometimes tragedies are not really the fault of one person, but also that sometimes, yes, the fault can indeed be spread around. And, honestly, it also shows that this is the sort of world where it’s for the best that Kiyoka did NOT become a research nerd. His mentor, Itsuto, is exactly what you’d expect the moment I said “doomed mentor”, but that’s not a bad thing. The other original story has a lot of Miyo and Kiyoka being adorable (and almost having wake-up sex, but they’re interrupted), but it’s also about interpretation. Kiyoka sees his father as controlling his mother and spying on her every move, while Miyo sees the fact that his mother is aware of it as meaning the gesture is about protection and love. Both interpretations are, in a way, correct – Kiyoka’s family is pretty messed up – but it’s clear Miyo is the best thing that could ever have happened to Kiyoka,
The 9th book in the series is scheduled but not out yet in Japan, so it will be a while till we get more. Despite being a short story collection, every fan of the series should enjoy this.
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