Happy Marriage!? (2016)
Grade:
C
12 Episodes, 35 minutes each
Viewing
Platform: Amazon Prime
Takanashi Chiwa is working hard at a
local office supply store, barely making ends meet while her
gambling-addict father spends everything she earns. A mysterious
gentleman shows up at Chiwa's day job one day and offers to marry
her. She declines, deciding that she would rather marry for love, but
then some loan sharks show up at her home – her dad had racked up a
substantial gambling debt and she was going to have to work as a
prostitute to pay it all off. Then the man shows up again and pays
off the loan, and Chiwa finally agrees to the contract marriage.
Little does she realize she is now married to Mamiya Hokuto, one of
the richest men in Japan. He agreed to marry Chiwa in order to
please the head of the Mamiya family. What happens when she meets
Hokuto's family? Will Hokuto and Chiwa end up finding true love, or
will one of the Mamiya family members finish what they started 30
years ago, when Hokuto's mother was killed?
*There's something about how Japanese
culture is portrayed in these kinds of dramas (and mangas) in how
women are treated compared to men that doesn't sit right with me. The
men are very domineering towards women. They do show women having
business success, but for the most part it's a “man's world.”
Plus their dramas emphasize the tragic side of humanity, with very
few humorous moments. There was a little bit of character
development, and the actor who plays Hokuto is handsome, but I didn't
quite buy how things worked out. I wouldn't watch this again.*
