The Winter 2025 Anime Preview Guide

My Happy Marriage Season 2

Born to a noble family, Miyo is raised by her abusive stepmother and married off to Kiyoka, a soldier so heartless his prior fiancées fled within three days into their engagement. With no home to return to, Miyo slowly starts to open her heart to her cold and pale husband-to-be, despite their rocky introduction... This might just be her chance at finding true love and happiness

My Happy Marriage is based on a novel series by Akumi Agitogi and Tsukiho Tsukioka. The anime series is streaming on Netflix on Mondays.

When someone has been beaten down for long enough, expecting the world to change and become kind can be hard. Miyo is a perfect example of this, and so far, nothing in the second season of My Happy Marriage looks like it will disprove it. This new season opens with Miyo's first meeting with her soon-to-be in-laws, and Fuyu, her mother-in-law, feels like Saimori Mark 2, full of spite and cruelty. The only semi-bright spot is that she doesn't have it out for Miyo specifically; there's clearly no love lost between Fuyu and Kiyoka as well.

How the art and animation frame Fuyu is impressive. From her slow descent down the stairs, measured so that we can read every ounce of her disdain, to how she garbs herself in clothing from the last century, everything about her screams that she's uptight and bound up in old-fashioned rules. Her refusal to don the clothing of the new era lets us know that she's adhering to rigid Victorian norms, and the silent snap of her unfolding fan reeks of contempt. Even before she opens her mouth, we can clearly see that Miyo won't find kindness and acceptance here.

If this feels like a setback after the progress she made in the first season, I think that's valid. But it is balanced by Kiyoka's unwavering support; he wants what's best for Miyo, and he's not going to let anyone get in the way of that. Is he unhappy that she's still so reticent? Absolutely; the drop of his hand when she flees the bedroom they're meant to share speaks volumes. But I think he understands where she's coming from and how much damage his mother stands to do to her, and that, too, is on full display, primarily through how he bites out his lines. The difference in tone when he speaks to his parents versus how he talks to Sasaki the butler and Nae the housekeeper is striking – if you didn't know otherwise, you'd think the latter two were his parents, which, again, tells us a lot about the Kudo household.

As frustrating as it may be to see Miyo still struggling after she came so far last season, it's important to remember that the sort of abuse she went through doesn't just go away, and now she's got the added pressure of being the only Usuba with Dream-Sight in the nation. She's still feeling her way around her power, as we see in this episode, unsure if the dream she's having about Kiyoka is prophetic or not, as well as not being sure whether or not the man in round glasses she sees is real. Prince Takaihito is obviously aware of something more going on, and I'm a bit nervous about his plans to revive the Usuba family by using Arata. Still, whatever's to come, I'm going to be right here watching it unfold.

The anime is titled “My Happy Marriage;” we all knew a meet-Kiyoka's-parents arc would happen at some point or another. And keeping it in the pocket for season two was probably a smart idea, seeing as how this episode makes it seem like it will last a while. Sure, it looks like there's other stuff going on in the realm of political intrigue, but at least in this episode, it's framed as something happening in the background of visiting the Kudo family home. Speaking of which, I'm going to feel robbed if we go this entire season without a scene where Miyo gets to see Kiyoka's childhood bedroom in all its race-car-bed-and-Yu-Gi-Oh!-poster-that's-been-in-the-same-place-on-the-wall-for-20 years-glory.

Also, I can't not gush about what a gorgeously animated episode this was, too. From the way the light was hitting everyone from within the cafe to how everyone's hair looked, top to bottom the visuals were fantastic. My favorite, though, without question, is the backgrounds and scenery—those luscious, almost painterly-looking fall forests. You know they look inviting when you can describe how the grass looks as “fluffy.” Chef's kiss. I want to roll around in a huge pile of leaves while eating an entire pumpkin pie just thinking about them.

In any case, I have mixed feelings about the prospect of Miyo trying to get Kiyoka's mother to like her. On one hand, Miyo is nothing if not lovable. She smiles, and light fills the room. I feel my heart melting. But on the other, let's be honest: sometimes, in-laws are jerks who have arbitrary so-called reasons for not liking their child's partner. Especially after everything she's gone through up until this point, Miyo doesn't deserve that, much less need to exhaust herself with the Herculean task that would be making this word-that-rhymes-with-ditch like her. Still, Miyo is sweet, and I don't doubt that she's going to try her darndest and that we're all going to sob about it at one point or another.

Overall, I'd call this episode good but not great; it didn't have any particularly dramatic or memorable moments (save perhaps for Miyo meeting the Kudo mother), but its biggest strength is how great a job it does for setting the stage for what's to come. We have two interesting storylines happening at the same time, the animation continues to be beautiful, and there are still some loose ends from the first season that need tying up—or at least some addressing. All this, and Miyo's come so far since season one. She's come out of her shell a lot, which gives season two all the more promise, as far as I'm concerned.

The first season of My Happy Marriage came as a welcome surprise, and I had a good time with its Japanese fantasy take on Cinderella, so it's nice to see it back for another season. After finally escaping from her terrible parents and reconciling with her long-lost grandfather, you'd think there'd be little to stand in Miyo's way of finally enjoying some well-earned happiness with Kiyoka, but now she has to face the worst nightmare of any newly engaged couple: the in-laws. When Kiyoka receives a new demon-hunting assignment from the prince, it gives Miyo a chance to finally meet her parents-in-law, and while her father-in-law seems nice enough, her mother-in-law is a real piece of work. She's antagonistic from the second they meet and spends their whole first meeting berating her for looking like a servant. That antagonism also extends to Kiyoka, as she talks him down just as much as she does Miyo, and even before we meet her in person, it's clear that Kiyoka doesn't want anything to do with her.

Seeing that kind of tension right off the bat makes me curious as to what kind of upbringing Kiyoka had for these two to resent each other so much, and I'm eager to learn more about that as we go through the rest of the season. To his credit, it's also great to see that Kiyoka won't stand for the way his mother talks down to Miyo, and further cements why he's such a good partner for her, but having come this far, Miyo doesn't want to give up on winning her over and coming together as a family. I doubt things will work out that easily, but after seeing Miyo overcome so much in the first season, it's hard not to root for her to pull this off, and it seems like a pretty good dramatic hook for kicking off the season.

I'm also happy to see that the English dub is back and remains as solid as the rest of the show. There seem to have been some changes behind the booth, as it's switched recording studios from Iyuno USA to VSI Los Angeles, but the cast itself has remained the same and doesn't seem to have suffered from any dips in quality due to the changes. Miranda Parkin still does a great job of showcasing Miyo's meek personality and emotional growth through her performance, while Damias Haas's Kiyoka is equally good at balancing his supportive attitude towards Miyo and sternness towards everyone else. I'm also enjoying Monique Shi's performance as Kiyoka's mother, Fuyu, so far, and she does great at nailing the constant level of antagonism that the character is aiming for. On the whole, season 2 of My Happy Marriage is shaping up to be as solid as the first, and if it can balance its new mysteries with Miyo's in-laws drama, I have no doubt it'll make for a pretty good watch.