Reviews for Happy Negative Marriage

Happy Negative Marriage is a manga that follows similar themes to Ryuta Amazume's other works. That being of a Mature, Slice of Life focusing on a believable romance, with some kind of hook to it. This time that hook is an arranged marriage. Keitaro Satou is just some guy who turned 30. Nothing particularly special about him as he's just like a lot of us who coax through life, never attempting to venture out of his comfort zone. That is until he is forced into some arranged marriage meeting (Omiai). Of course he's has an aversion to this situation, but ends up going, to not disappointhis parents and it is there that he first meets Akio Shimako. So there you have it, a summary to your typical 'love at first sight' kind of romance; though it is somewhat peculiar, since an Omiai is usually used as a plot device to separate the main couple, not bring them together. But apart from that minor peculiarity it's your standard romance with: the pair going on dates to deepen their relationship, friends constantly getting themselves involved and... Not much else. Really, as of the 2nd volume the story has been rather straightforward. In other words it's falling into the usual trappings of some of Ryuta's other works. Both the story and characters.

About Keitaro... what can I say... Well for one, he's similar to a lot of the protagonists Ryuta-sensei comes up with. So he's average but can show his worth when the need arises. The same can be said about the, heroine Akio and how similar in cuteness & quirks she is to the other heroines. Not really a bad thing, mind you, just very familiar. However my main complaint is on how dependant Keitaro is on others. Sure that means that side characters are much more involved in the story, than in the mangaka's previous work "Love is for those Over 30", however it just makes Keitaro that much less appealing.

Speaking of comparisons, I could not help but compare this to the American live action Rom/Com "40 Year Old Virgin", but with a dash more Japanese and a bit less Comedy. Those who've seen the movie will understand what I mean. Now those who are wondering why I've yet to mention the art; well it's not surprising since I expect anyone reading this to have read the previous mangaka's work (Nana & Karou, Toshiue no Hito, etc.) and have an overall idea of what to expect in that department. But for those who haven't, let's just say that the art is incredibly well done and really brings out the subtle quirks in the characters.

Well that sums up my thoughts on this piece. Chances are my opinion on this manga may change but as of now I feel that it has potential to be something really interesting, but right now it's barely doing enough to be more than a solid romance.

tl;dr: A manga about a relationship of between two very immature adults that’s incredibly well written for the first two thirds or so, but completely botches the final third. This manga is a character focused romantic drama between Satou and Akio. Despite Satou being a 30-year-old man and Akio a 26-year-old woman, both of them are nowhere near mature enough for marriage. Satou has never been in a relationship and is still a virgin, so he has no idea how to deal with women. But more importantly he’s comfortable being alone and is afraid of putting himself out there only to fail. Akio has also neverbeen in a real relationship and is also still a virgin, but she’s the type that goes along with what others want from her on anything. She just does what she thinks others want from her and hopes that she’ll end up happy without having to think about or decide what she truly wants to do. And her getting married would make her father happy, so she’s decided that that’s what she’ll do.

The two of them meet at a marriage meeting and seem to make a good pair at first. Satou just halfheartedly takes part in the marriage meeting, but Akio responds incredibly well to him despite that. After all, she’s really good at responding to what others want, and deep down inside Satou just really wants to be loved. Akio is also not so much interested in Satou as marriage in and of itself, so the issues with Satou aren’t really a problem for her either. And Satou doesn’t seem to care either because he’s found someone that loves him without having had to really put himself out there and put his feeling at risk. However, a relationship such as this isn’t really much more than a sham, so how long could it really last?

The manga does a really good job of exploring the complexes and personality issues that are plaguing both Satou and Akio. The writing is able to convey the happiness they feel when things are going well, as well as the pain they feel when things aren’t. There are a lot of intensely emotional moments. It also does a really good job of explaining what mental roadblocks and hang ups they have and how they prevent them from moving forward in finding happiness. As such, both Satou and Akio are easy to understand, sympathize with, and root for. Satou also gets a good amount of character growth and turns out to be a pretty awesome character. Akio also some moments, but it kind of fizzles out and doesn’t really reach a satisfying conclusion.

On that note, the final stretch of this manga was pretty bad for a number of reasons. The biggest issue is that the ending felt incredibly forced and rushed to the point it doesn’t really make much sense. Satou got a good amount of character growth, but the final steps don’t feel consistent with what he’s like at that point. Akio fared even worse in that it felt like her character arc was still in its beginning phases but just jumped straight to the end without properly justifying it. As such, the ending overall is really unsatisfying even though the broader strokes of the ending are fine. Also, the arc leading up to the ending involves a villain who downright sucks. He’s awful, but not in a good way. Some villains you love to hate, but with some how much you hate them and how far they get just makes them unpleasant to read about. This one was very much the latter. Now it seemed like he was supposed to be a core part of Akio’s character development but as that went nowhere his entire existence seems pointless which makes his presence in the manga even more annoying.

The art in this is excellent as you would expect from Amazume Ryuta. Especially the color pages. There is quite a bit of ecchi, though less explicit nudity than you’d expect. The character designs were pretty boring and forgettable outside of Akio, though it kind of ruined her design too near the end. I absolutely hate that trope. The fan translation was a mixed bag, with some parts being great and some not so much.

Wild ride.Poignant tale of adult love overcoming trial and tribulations which are tied to reality and some superficial ,taking shape in one's mind .It gets better with every read .Ryuta sensei handeled it brilliantly. The character design compliments the two .Satou is a messy ,bespectacled 30 year old who lives a carefree life with his buddies.Mako is a luscious woman in her peak .Every panel with her accentuates her sensuality and evokes temptation. Mako's family originates from conservative country side which flows in a set rhythym as told by the patriarchal head in this case Mako's father. Not much is known from Satou's side of family. Satousailed through life professionally due to good networking ,becoming a leader head in r&d on plastics.It resulted in arguably inexistence of a drive which would set him apart .This would become a hook later on in the story.He never left the cushy comfort zone and ventured into a relationship with the other sex till he hit 30 and feeling lost on deciding second half of his life.

Meanwhile Mako is a goody two shoes girl following the path chosen for her.Things take a turn when she is intoxicated and sexually abused early in her life.She introspects and reflects on herself whether she needs to change .Her daddo reassures that she is perfect which from a personal pov would be the cause of strife between her rationale and the girl who leads on like it never happened.This results in her becoming insecure,stubborn and develop a dormant split personality .This duality often keeps her stupified and let others decide for herself as she lost the strength to take accountability for her choices and shift blame if it doesn't work out .The negative spiral keeps on till they get arranged for an Omai.

A handfull number of drama ensues ,none felt forced or hyperboled .Not spoiling here ~

The end result being both pulling each other out from their stupor and obviously a happy ending.

Last but not the least check up on Ryuta sensei's other works if one is comfortable with a bit of lewd .I find his dialogue delivery in his works one of a kind.