Happy Marriage?! Volume 7

Happy Marriage?! volume 7

The punctuation in the title Happy Marriage?! is really important, because the series by Maki Enjoji does not focus on good times. Instead, every book, Chiwa and Hokuto face another challenge. Sure, by the end, they’ve usually reinforced their feelings for each other, but it’s important to remember that the premise is that these two people got married without knowing each other. (And I feel silly that I just realized that this series probably reads very different in a culture where some people still experience arranged marriages, where that could be true for them.)

In Happy Marriage?! volume 7, the challenge is time. Hokuto has been working a lot of overtime for an important new work project. Chiwa is already feeling insecure about not knowing a lot about finance or international politics or other topics he works with, and now she’s feeling neglected. However, her own work starts becoming more troublesome as well, keeping her from him at a key moment.

Happy Marriage?! volume 7

Those sensitive to how this situation would feel if played out in real life will want to skip this volume (and the series, frankly), since there are lots of control issues on display, and his behavior is right on the line of abuse, as he manipulates an injury of hers to make her listen to him. He also has a habit of dragging her into sex when he’s feeling insecure. However, in my opinion, these two characters are so ridiculous (and two-dimensional) that a realistic interpretation just doesn’t work for me, so I have no problem rooting for them — in spite of their exaggerated behavior — to talk to each other and be happy together.

I find the story with Hokuto’s father — who raised him to be coldhearted and self-sufficient — more sympathetic. Now that they’re adults, and the father is in the hospital with no hope of recovery, Hokuto won’t visit him, because he doesn’t care about family. Chiwa is torn between who she thinks her husband ought to be and a honest glimpse at who he really is. This isn’t resolved in this volume, instead changing focus for each of them to worry about the other’s past partners.



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