This show is going to be a tough one to nail down for me, I think.  I like a lot of what it does but parts of it still drive me crazy.  It does seem to be trending in a positive direction, which is obviously better than the alternative.  But it seems like a classic bubble show if ever one existed.  Shoujo manga adaptations are rare enough – especially historical series – that I’d certainly like to stick with them when they’re anywhere close.  But ultimately Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon will rise or fall on its own merits.

How do you solve a problem like Miyo?  Here we’re wading into that empathy vs. like scenario I described with Oooku.  I totally get why Miyo is the way she is.  Her family is absolutely terrible (to the point where that itself is one of the problems I have with the series).  But the issue is I don’t like the way she is.  The perpetual mumbling, the incessant apologies, all of it – if I were Kiyoka she’d have driven me absolutely nuts by this point.  Ultimately My Happy Marriage is entertainment, and like any narrative fiction it has to work for me as such.  I get it – her family shattered her.  Now I’d like her to show some resolve and sort to work through it.

Kiyoka is fine for his part, but pretty much a textbook tsundere.  In point of fact when Miyo wondered how it was he came by his terrible reputation, my reaction was pretty much to agree with her.  He’s pretty transparently a nice guy, unless he’s just already in love with Miyo and he treated all the earlier fiancees much worse.  He’s already smiling over her (and wishing she’d return the favor) and inviting her out on dates.  At least a shopping trip (to Ginza by the look of it), the main purpose of which is to let the ladies at the kimono shop get a look at her and start designing some better clothes for her (though Kiyoka doesn’t tell Miyo that, which judging by her reaction to the comb is probably for the best).

This shopping thing definitely makes one feel for Miyo, even if she’s still pretty annoying.  She has so little experience as a functioning member of society that even a simple shopping trip is bewildering for her.  She has no context for the life she’s currently living, no sense that the way her family treated her isn’t the way everyone in the world will.  I don’t envy Kiyoka – he’s got his work cut out for him undoing the damage the Saimori clan did to Miyo.

As for Kiyoka’s investigation into her past, that yields some interesting results.  She comes from the Usuba clan, whose supernatural ability (some sort of mind control) seems both famous and infamous.  That’s why Tatsuishi-san is so furious that Miyo’s father “gave” her to the Kudou – even if the power is latent in  her it’s still a potential gold mine, and he vows to wrest her out of the Kudous’ hands.  Saimori-san was apparently forced to marry Miyo’s mother (for obvious reasons) despite loving Kanoko, and took his resentment out on her.  Which makes him scum, basically.  His plan is to let the Tatsuishi have Miyo after the Kudou toss her aside, but the joke’s on him – Kiyaoka knows Miyo has no powers, and wants her anyway (as witness the gifted comb, a sign of engagement).  Sounds like a war over Miyo and her potential progeny is about to begin.