Happy Marriage!? (ã¯ã´ã¾ã‚Šã€œHappy Marriage!?〜) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Maki EnjÅji. It began serialization in Shogakukan's josei magazine Petit Comic on June 14, 2009 and ran until September 23, 2012. It is completed in 10 volumes. It has been published in French by Kazé and in German by Tokyopop. Viz Media has licensed the English version, which was released on August 6, 2013.
Plot
The story revolves around Chiwa Takanashi, a 23-year-old ordinary office-lady that never had the time nor the opportunity to have a boyfriend in her entire life, who agrees to an arranged marriage with the president Hokuto Mamiya of the company she works in â€" a man she doesn’t know â€" in order to pay off her dad's debts. Chiwa believes the arrangement isn’t binding, but her new partner seems to think otherwise. This comedy tells the story of two strangers living together and their way to find a happy marriage.
Characters
- Chiwa Mamiya
Chiwa Mamiya (é–"å®® åƒå'Œ, Mamiya Chiwa), whose maiden name is Takanashi, is an average 23-year-old office-lady, who works full-time in the Mamiya Company and part-time as a hostess in order to pay off her father’s debt from his failed business. She never had the time nor the opportunity to have a boyfriend in her entire life, so she has never gone beyond kissing a man. The Chairman of Mamiya was in love with her late grandmother, so he decides to pay off Chiwa’s debt to honor her memory on the condition that she marries his grandson Hokuto.
- Hokuto Mamiya
Hokuto Mamiya (é–"å®® 北斗, Mamiya Hokuto). He is a shrewd and capable 28-year-old businessman. He agrees to marry Chiwa for personal reasons that have to do with his past, and he convinces her to keep their marriage a secret. He is used to live by himself, and behaves quite selfishly and authoritarian. With Chiwa he will display a curious facet of a tyrannical-devoted-sadistic-charming husband.
- Taeko Souma
Taeko Souma (相馬 妙å, Souma Taeko). She is the efficient secretary attached to the president. She looks young, but she’s already 55. Hokuto entrusts her the mission of keeping watch on his wife, but she will actually help them both to know each other better.
- Yu Yagami
Yuu Yagami (八神 裕, Yagami Yuu). He is a new worker of Mamiya who is being tutored by Chiwa. He falls in love with her, so Hokuto transfers him to the North.
- Shingo Sakuraba
Shingo Sakuraba (æ¡œåº çœŸå¾, Sakuraba Shingo). He is a former classmate (senpai) of Chiwa. He is currently the board director of the company I-Max, which has a business relationship with Mamiya. He asks Chiwa to quit her husband’s company and work with him. He is one of the first people to know the secret of the Mamiyas being married.
- Kaname Asahina
Kaname Asahina (æœæ¯"奈 è¦, Asahina Kaname). He is a former classmate (senpai) and ex-boyfriend of Chiwa. He is Sakuraba’s partner in I-Max and becomes Chiwa’s boss. He also knows the secret of Chiwa and Hokuto being married.
- Mamiya Chairman
Mamiya Chairman (é–"宮会長). He is the chairman of Mamiya Enterprises and the head of the family. He strangely picked up Hokuto over his other grandson Satoru as the company president, despite the fact that Satoru was the son of his first-born child and Hokuto was the illegitimate son of his second child Seiji.
- Seiji Mamiya
Seiji Mamiya (é–"å®® å¾å¸, Mamiya Seiji). He is Hokuto’s father, who is the second son of the chairman. He is a sharp and intelligent businessman. Hokuto blames him for his mother’s death.
- Yoko Miura
Yoko Miura (三浦 è"‰å, Miura Yoko). She is Hokuto’s mother, Seiji’s former mistress. She died hit by a car.
- Kiyohiko Mamiya
Kiyohiko Mamiya (é–"å®® 清彦, Mamiya Kiyohiko). He is one of Hokuto’s cousins, who holds a grudge against him for having reached the position of president being an illegitimate child. Due to his hatred towards him, he started to harass Hokuto and Chiwa, and for that reason the chairman sent him to South America.
- Satoru Mamiya
Satoru Mamiya (é–"å®® ç†, Mamiya Satoru). He is one of Hokuto’s cousins, the son of the chairman’s first-born child. He and Hokuto get along quite well, but both of them know they will have to deal with each other for the control of Mamiya enterprises. His wife, Saori, is the paradigm of a devote and perfect housewife.
Features of the series
This series include the representative features of shÅjo and josei. Two people that do not know each other happen to be married overnight. This fact leads to a great many comic and dramatic situations. Their relationship advances from being husband and wife only in name to becoming a real couple. The manga shows various aspects of the life of the couple: those that have to do with a short-tempered and authoritarian man who makes efforts to understand his wife, the sexual initiation of a young girl who is still a virgin when she gets married, the overwork that makes married life difficult, and the progression of a single and inexperienced woman to a perfect wife.
Happy Marriage!? features not only the romantic story of two people that do their best to compromise and stay together, but also the problems couples have to face together, such as the familial chaos related to the succession process in the company, in which each of the cousins try to get hold of the control of Mamiya.
Reception
Happy Marriage!? has become a very popular series, remaining for many weeks during its running period as one of the 15 best-selling manga of Japan.
Sales
Volume 1 has sold 22,146 copies (as of June 14, 2009), volume 3 has sold 44,737 copies (as of February 14, 2010), volume 4 has sold 69,471 copies (as of August 15, 2010), volume 5 has sold 92,445 copies (as of January 16, 2011), volume 6 has sold 93,108 copies (as of April 17, 2011), volume 7 has sold 109,870 copies (as of August 21, 2011), volume 8 has sold 105,242 copies (as of December 18, 2011), volume 9 has sold 91,690 copies (as of April 15, 2012) and volume 10 has sold 131,117 copies (as of September 23, 2012).
References
External links
- Happy Marriage!? (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
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