It’s time for a very mini season. I wasn’t even sure if I should still go with the season 3 title since that’s pretty much been dropped but it still felt like the most direct way to capture this one. With 3 episodes there isn’t a lot of content to go over but Miyo and Kudou do get to go up against one last challenge. It’s a fun enough final saga with the characters mainly looking good. Unfortunately Miyo was really the main exception to this.
The 3 episodes start off with the two getting ready for their big wedding. The whole series has been building up to this after all but neither character is really sure what to do in the interim. Miyo is still so shy that she can’t bear to hug or even hold Kudou’s hand. Meanwhile Kudou is getting roasted by his friends for how formal the two of them always are. Then tragedy strikes when a legendary monster has been reawakened. Kudou will have to try and put this creature down, but can he make it back to the wedding in time?
Now we’ve got a few different trials here but I will say the one about making it back to the wedding on time is more of a non issue. Lets face it, the characters are pretty understanding of the context here. It’s not like one of those rom-com movies where you’re worried that one person is going to leave early. That was never even a consideration here. The biggest issue is really just the fact that the monster is incredibly tough. He murdered Kudou’s predecessor after all.
Additionally, while Kudou is the strongest fighter in history, he is a bit out of practice due to keeping up with the wedding. He’s grown so sloppy that he didn’t even notice when Miyo was cursed. I will admit that was a bad look for him. Still, on the whole he looks good here. He looks particularly impressive in not falling for Kimio’s tactics which would have worked on most leads. Now this is a complicated issue so lets break it down further.
Basically Kimio is being abused by her husband. This has been a really rough situation for her for a very long time and she doesn’t see a way out. Up to this point, she is clearly a victim. Where Kimio goes wrong is that she decides to bring others down with her by unleashing evils, sending out curses, etc. She isn’t helping her case in doing so and that’s where Kudou looks good. Most characters would have decided to help her out anyway and let bygones be bygones. Kudou instead keeps his personal and professional matters separate. He makes it clear that Miyo is the only one he will give special attention to.
I just like that as a matter of principle and it’s extremely rare that you see this. Usually it’s the opposite where the guy treats every girl amazing to show what a perfect character he is. Obviously being nice to everyone is cool but there is something inherently more romantic about only being extremely kind and charming to one person.
Kudou still points her in the direction of others who can help but she doesn’t seemingly even attempt any of those options. So it’s hard to say what’s going on. Has she already tried these paths and it didn’t work? The series takes place in the olden days where domestic issues didn’t have as many solutions as they do in the current days. I would say part of this mystery is intentional though. We don’t know the full context around Kimio’s situation and we likely never will. All we get to see is what’s seen from Miyo and Kudou’s perspective. It makes Kimio a really complicated villain.
The subject matter is also surprisingly dark and intense for the series. It’s not that Happy Marriage hasn’t tackled its share of dark topics before but doing so in the happy marriage batch was a real choice. Still, the instant Kimio went after Miyo, it makes sense that there would be a lot less sympathy there as well. Miyo was completely innocent so that was completely uncalled for.
This is really the main plot of the 3 episodes and dealing with all the fallout. That’s all handled solidly, but the main issue this trilogy runs into is Miyo herself. I know cultural standards are quite different around the world. Typically in Japan you’re expected to show less affection in public. You’ll see couples barely making any contact outside and then they just pop up years later with several kids. Not expressing romance in public is hardly an issue.
The issue here is how absolutely terrified Miyo is the whole time. Not being able to hold Kudou’s hand or even say his first name in public is just absurd. What’s even worse is how she can’t even have a direct conversation with him while in private without sputtering the whole time. It’s so bad that when Miyo is cursed and starts saying mean stuff to Kudou, he doesn’t even get upset. He just thinks it’s funny because even cursed Miyo is just so timid.
Being timid isn’t inherently a bad thing but again it’s just way too extreme. We are 3 seasons into the show, Miyo should be considerably more confident and skilled by now. Instead it feels like she has only made baby steps since the start of the show. That is ultimately what’s disappointing. She should be on a much higher level by now. The final fight Miyo is in just results in her getting stabbed without being able to react at all. It’s a sad, but rather fitting end to her character. So much for all the power ups and training in the last season.
The animation is pretty solid. There aren’t a lot of fight scenes here but the colors are sharp and you can tell that the animators know what they’re doing. The soundtrack is a little more on the forgettable side but it’s decent enough. This isn’t really focusing on the action part so it makes sense that the soundtrack would follow that. The music works well enough in each scene.
Again, there’s not a whole lot you can do in 3 episodes but I’d say the show covered the important things that it needed to. It was nice to see all of the characters again. It does feel like the army is going to be completely doomed without Kudou but it’s not like he’s moving to another country. I’m sure he’ll still be helping out anytime there is a fight to be won and so in that way I suppose it’s not like they’ll be missing out too much.
In a lot of ways the show is a good example of how a wish fulfillment anime can be good. Who wouldn’t want to be loved by the most powerful person in the land? Miyo went from a really hard life to finally being surrounded by plenty of people who love her. The ending is very wholesome and even if we don’t get any more sequels, this feels like a pretty complete ending.
Overall, If you enjoyed the first two seasons then you will like this one as well. These 3 episodes are good even if Miyo will be annoying you the whole time. The production values are good as always and the writers handle a thorny subject pretty well. I’m sure it will be controversial….or would be if the series was more popular but the whole thing made sense. It doesn’t mean that Kudou did the right thing per say or that the society in this series is as heroic as can be, but the series didn’t take any half measures. If you need another romance series to take the place of this one, I recommend checking out Witch Watch.
Overall 6/10
