The first season of My Happy Marriage ended this September 2023 with great reviews. While a second season is coming, it’s uncertain when it’ll arrive. Despite the weird magical plot and other things that don’t fit a romance anime, the show was great, and it amassed a huge fanbase, ready to see what’s in store for our favorite couple. But, while we wait for Miyo and Kudo’s romance to return, we have this list of 6 anime you should watch if you liked My Happy Marriage.
6. I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss (2022)
Let’s begin our list of anime like My Happy Marriage with something lighthearted. If you prefer comedy over drama, this one’s for you. This show avoids many of the drama stables we’ve seen in other anime and includes some ridiculous scenes that show why this show goes by the abovementioned title.
Aileen is a girl who reincarnates in her favorite game but is now the villainess. After a prince breaks up his engagement with Aileen in front of everyone, she decides to join the game’s Final Boss to live her life as a villainess. The catch here is that Aileen knows the game’s story and knows her character is destined to die. With the help of the Final Boss and his minions, she’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive and uncover the true villain of this anime.
5. Romeo x Juliet (2007)
In a different timeline from Shakespeare’s original play, the Capulet family died, except for Juliet, who must hide her identity for 14 years. Juliet learns to fight and begins to protect others as The Red Whirlwind. But with rumors of a Capulet survivor, the authorities accuse a young girl of being Juliet. The Red Whirlwind tries to save the girl, but when they are about to be trapped, a young man riding a pegasus saves them and introduces himself as Romeo.
If you’re into alternate worlds and doramas, this might be the anime for you. Anime isn’t a stranger to taking an existing story and making it into something crazy that we haven’t seen. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like this adaptation more than the original work.
4. Spice and Wolf (2008)
Kraft Lawrence is a merchant traveling to trade goods and gather enough to set up his store. During one of his travels, he stops in a village where he meets the wolf-deity, Holo, who has been providing the village with good crops for years. But Holo wishes to return to her homeland in the north and see how the world has changed, so he convinces Kraft to take her. During their journey, Holo helps Kraft to improve his earnings, but the Church becomes more and more interested in Holo.
The striking thing about this anime is its context centered on economics, trade, and peddling in a medieval world. While they might sound like boring topics, they aren’t. They help to flesh out the world and give us a better understanding of what characters are going through in this fantastic show.
3. Sugar Apple Fairy Tale (2023)
Anne is a candy artisan who, after her mother’s death, decides to become a Silver Sugar Master like her mother. To embark on her dangerous journey, she buys Challe, a fairy warrior. Anne wishes to be friends with fairies like Challe, but it is difficult in a world where humans enslave them. Still, Anne strives to be the best craftswoman and live peacefully with the fairies around her.
This is a very sweet anime, although its medieval world touches on themes such as war, mourning, racism, and sexism. While the first episodes start slow, they pick up quickly and will hook anyone who enjoys drama instantly. Plus, Challe is one of the hottest characters of the year, so fans of this type of anime can’t miss it.
2. Yona of the Dawn (2014)
Yona is a spoiled princess who always had everything she wanted in life. But this ends when someone close to her betrays Yona, and from one day to the next, she loses everything when she has to flee her home with her bodyguard Hak and a dragon legend to guide her way.
This sets Yona on a journey where she will have to face the reality of her kingdom and find a way to save it. Both anime and manga have received several awards due to their plot and how they break away from some anime tropes people have grown tired of.
1. Violet Evergarden (2018)
Violet, an orphan girl, is taken to enter the army under the commander Gilbert Bougainvillea. For many years, Violet fought for her commander until, at the war’s end, the two parted after a sad farewell. Claudia Hodgins, Gilbert’s partner and friend, takes Violet to the Evergarden home as a favor to her friend. Claudia helps Violet start her job at the post office, where Violet decides to work as an Auto Memory Doll.
The Auto Memory Dool has the task of understanding people’s feelings and turning them into letters. This way, Violet thinks she will understand the emotions and thus understand the last words Gilbert said to her. It is undoubtedly an anime full of drama, romance, and many situations that will move you. Prepare to shed some tears with this anime that touched everyone’s hearts when it premiered.
And that’s our list of the 6 anime like My Happy Marriage we recommend. If they are not your cup of tea, there are others with a more modern take, like My Love Story with Yamada-Kun at Lv999 or The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague, set in modern times. Whichever you choose, it’s a nice time to watch romantic anime as we have some fantastic new ones, and even some old ones are returning for a new season.
