My Happy Marriage

My Happy Marriage (Japanese: わたしの幸せな結婚, Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon) is a Japanese light novel series written by Akumi Agitogi and illustrated by Tsukiho Tsukioka. Initially published online via the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō, it was later acquired by the Fujimi Shobo editorial, who has released the series since January 2019 under their Fujimi L Bunko imprint; additionally, Yen Press is publishing the novels in English. It's been also made into a 2018 shoujo manga drawn by Rito Kosaka, published in Gangan Online and licensed by Square Enix for overseas release; there's also a March 2023 live-action movie with Mio Imada and Ren Meguro as the leads, a July 2023 and January 2025 anime series by Netflix with Reina Ueda and Kaito Ishikawa in the main roles, and an August 2023 stage play.

In the Japan of the late Meiji/early Taisho Eras, the most noble Japanese families are known for having mysterious powers (mostly of the Elemental or Psychic kind) known as Gifts. The more powerful and numerous these Gift users are in a clan, the more noble the family is. Additionally, this world has demons known as Grotesqueries and even when they haven't really been seen in years, there's still a special Imperial Japanee Army squad named the Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit, formed by soldiers who possess said Gifts.

In these years, a young woman named Miyo Saimori lives a very harsh life. After the death of her kind mother Sumi and the discovery that Miyo didn't inherit any actual powers from either her paternal or maternal families, she's been treated like a servant by her Wicked Stepmother Kanoko and her Alpha Bitch half-sister Kaya (who does have powers of her own), while her father Shinichi does nothing to aid her. When she reaches the age in which she should marry, Miyo has a bit of hope to get out of this cruel situation... only to find out that she's to marry Kiyoka Kudou, one of the leaders of the above mentioned Special Anti-Grotesquerie Unit, whose brides have all run off due to his coldness. And yet she cannot really refuse, for that would mean she'd simply be thrown on the streets.

Having nowhere else to go, Miyo moves into Kiyoka's house -- and within a few days of the arrangement she realises that not everything is lost for her since Kiyoka turns out to be a somewhat harsh man, yet not half as cruel as he's believed to be. From Kiyoka's own part, he sees that Mio is very different from the spoiled girls that were sent to his doorstep, and feels she might be "the one" he can actually fall for. And so they start a life together, even as her family and others interfere. . .

Tropes used in My Happy Marriage include:

• Abusive Parents: Kanoko, holy crap. On one hand she forces her steopdaughter Miyo to be the family's maid, steals all her mementos of her late mother Sumi (and when Miyo tries to call her out, she has her locked up in a warehouse and burns the mementos anyway), fires the only maid who openly defended Miyo, and keeps berating and mistreating her a la Rich Bitch as time passes. On the other, she spoils the fuck out of her birth daughter Kaya but as seen in flashbacks, she also cruelly berates her her when she fails at anything and tells her to never be "useless" like Miyo. Since this fuels Kaya's massive Inferiority Superiority Complex towards her older sister, Kanoko is to blame for the girl being... who she is, on top of mistreating the fuck out of Miyo for no reason than her being the daughter of her husband Shinichi's first wife. And when she, Kaya and someone else kidnap Miyo back into the family to force her break off her Perfectly Arranged Marriage, she either beats and all but tortures the captured Miyo (LN and manga) or enables Kaya to do it and helps her with it (anime)
  • Minoru Tatsuishi, the father of Miyo's Childhood Friend Kouji and the aforementioned someone else, doesn't have the boy trained in his powers but shamelessly uses him as a pawn when it's convenient. He banned Kouji from intervening regarding the Saimori clan's horrible abuse of Miyo in hopes to make Mio easier to "attain" as a bride for Kouji; when he revealed this to the poor guy, he was naturally horrified over being used like that and especially over Miyo's suffering. And later Minoru used his powers to set the Saimoris' storehouse on fire during his fight with Kiyoka, and in the manga and LN Kouji noticed that his dad did not care if Kouji was caught in the crossfire or trapped in the burning building itself.
• Adaptational Villainy: It looks like the anime writing team REALLY had it for Kaya. The LN/manga scenes where Kanoko berates her younger self and induces her to hate Miyo are removed save for one, and Kanoko’s beating, clothes cutting, strangling and threatening of the kidnapped Miyo in the warehouse are almost all directly done by Kaya instead.
  • It can also be seen as Kanoko getting this too, but in a subtler way. While it IS true that Kaya is the one pulling all of this crap, her mother and enabler is seen looming over her actions and approving directly of them without saying a word, even looking proud of her “dear” daughter going insane on the child of her biggest rival.
• Adaptation Expansion: A scene from the anime episode shows the young Miyo and Kaya going through a ritual that shows whether they inherited Gifts or not. Miyo fails it, Kaya passes with flying colors.
  • Episode 7 has an additional scene where Kaya is getting ready to go work and train under a very strict family after the whole kidnapping mess, and Kouji attempts to comfort her and tells her that they can still rebuild the Saimori clan together, but she rejects his sympathy.
  • In the LN and manga there are solely mentions of the Dispelling ability, used to try nullifying magic and curses. The anime has Kazushi explaining that Gift and attempting to use it to no avail
• Agent Peacock: Kazushi Tatsuishi is very flamboyant-looking and totally unapologetic for it, but he's also a skilled telekinetic and does a pretty good job later as the leader of the Tatsuishi clan.
• Alpha Bitch: Kaya. And many of Kiyoka's spurned brides.
• Ambiguously Bi: Even when Miyo is one half of the Official Couple, she gets a bit of a Stupid Sexy Flanders when she meets Kaoruko. Then again, this IS Kaoruko.
• Apologizes a Lot: Miyo, due to her cruel upbringing. Kiyoka tells her to stop doing so, adding that if she does it she'll look less sincere in her apology.
• Arranged Marriage: Shinichi and Sumi were in one, which is why Kanoko hates Miyo so much: she was Shinichi's girlfriend from a long time ago and was not allowed to marry him until Sumi's death.
  • Shinichi and Kanoko arrange this for Kouji and Kaya. This distresses Miyo because she had thought at first they'd have her marry one of the few persons who were kind to her and she saw that as a hope to get herself out of her cruel life; on the other hand, Kaya doesn't exactly like Kouji but she accepts the arrangement to ruin Miyo's chance to grasp anything similar to happiness.  And then, Shinichi tells Miyo she's to marry Kiyoka... Which does not go well with Minoru Tatsuishi, as Shinichi had more or less promised to have her marry his son Kazushi...
  • Later, Kaya goes to Minoru and then Shinichi, telling them switch things around by engaging Miyo to Kouji and Kaya herself to Kiyoka. Minoru sees the chance to use her to further his plans to get Miyo married to one of his boys - so Miyo ends up kidnapped back into the clan to force her give up on Kiyoka, and she's even beaten up (by Kanoko in the LN and the manga, and Kaya in the anime) when she refuses to play along. And then, Kiyoka shows up...
  • And some time later, there's a guy who can actually be a huge love rival to Kiyoka... It's Miyo's maternal cousin Arata Tsuruki, a powerful Master of Illusion. Heck, he duels Kiyoka and wins, but ultimately sees Miyo's heart is with Kiyoka rather than him and bows out, settling into taking a Big Brother Mentor role towards her.
• Ascended Extra: Kouji's older brother Kazushi gets some more scenes to himself in the anime.
• Awesomeness By Analysis: Kiyoka is very, VERY observant. ie., he swiftly sees "red flags" about Miyo's looks and behavior that tip him off about her troubles.
• Baby Factory: More or less, how Minoru views Miyo. He's VERY obsessed with getting her to marry one of his sons, first Kazushi and then Kouji, so her Usuba bloodline will "rejuvenate" the Tatsuishi lineage
• Badass Normal: Masashi Ookaitou is not a Gifted, but he's still the leader of the Anti-Grotesqueries Squads.
• Beauty Mark: Miyo has one under her left eye.
• Berserk Button: No one should hurt Miyo when Kiyoka is nearby. Including her own family. ESPECIALLY her own family.
• Beta Test Baddie: Lots of Kaya's terrible actions towards Miyo come from deep, deep envy and her desire to never EVER let her older sister have anything better.
  • Kanoko is not much better, taking out her frustrations over not being able to marry Shinichi first on Miyo aka the daughter of her "love rival" Sumi.
• Bifauxnen: Kaoruko Jinnouchi, a young woman who's a part of the Anti-Grotesqueries squad. And was one of Kiyoka's brides.
• Bowdlerise: The anime removes the scene from both LN and manga where Kouji remembers that he used to think he should kill Miyo and then himself and the implication that Minoru didn't care about Kouji being wounded or dying in the burning Saimori mansion.
• Break Her Heart to Save Her: Why Hazuki's husband, Kiyoka's boss Masashi Ookaitou, divorced her. Their own Arranged Marriage was fine until she gave birth to their son Asahi, and then his family started to cruelly bully and harass her over her inability to be a perfect "Lady of the House"; so Masashi decided to divorce Hazuki, keep Asahi's custody and told her so very bluntly before he had her return to the Kudous. Hazuki herself says it took her a while to understand Masashi's reasons, but she ultimately did and they remain close friends.
• Cherry Blossoms: A cherry tree was planted in the Saimori house's yard when Shinichi and Sumi got married, and Miyo's few memories of Sumi feature it. It was cut down when she died.
  • Miyo's memories of Sumi feature her wearing a cherry-blossom patterned kimono, which was sadly destroyed by Kanoko alongside her other mementos from her. Later, Kiyoka has Mrs. Keiko make her several kimonos - including a cherry blossoms one that doesn't ultra look like Sumi's, but still reminds Miyo of her.
• Childhood Friends: Miyo and Kouji. Subverted in that Kouji is in love with her and doesn't exactly like her sister/his girlfriend Kaya (who really dislikes him)
  • Also, Kiyoka and Prince Takaihito, the Emperor's son and heir.
• Cinderella Circumstances: Miyo's life, in a nutshell.
• Cool Big Sis: Hazuki is this to both Kiyoka and Miyo.
• Convenient Coma: Arata can forcibly put people to sleep with his Master of Illusion powers.
• Cooldown Hug: At some point, Miyo tells Kiyoka everything about her Dark and Troubled Past and how she's a Muggle Born of Mages, and finishes by prostrating herself in front of him. Kiyoka's answer is this.
  • Later, Kiyoka finds Miyo asleep on a low table and notices she's crying in her sleep and notices an odd psychic aura around her, which are her sealed Psychic Powers starting to break through. He wakes her up, she cries openly and tells him she was having Bad Dreams about Kanoko burning her mother's belongings in front of her, and then he hugs her again.
• Costume Porn: Clothes, and especially women's kimonos, are extremely important in this series. ie, Kaya was always given very beautiful clothes while Miyo's own servant ones were very worn out, before Miyo leaves the Saimori home she's given a greenish kimono with a rather gaudy design that would've fitted Kaya much better, one of the first "red flags" Kiyoka saw regarding the abuse she went through was her almost non-existant wardrobe, etc. The clothes design for the anime was in the hands of HALKA, as seen here.
  • HALKA also designed thr first actual gift Kiyoka got for Miyo: a lovely hair comb.
  • Kiyoka specifically commissions several kimonos, underclothes and accesories for Miyo, and not only she gets the sakura kimono depicted above but a cute sky blue one with wisteria motifs alias the one she was wearing during her kidnapping.
  • Then there's the cute light blue-green chrysantemum kimono that Miyo wears later, also by HALKA.
• Cult - Religion of Evil: The Gifted Communion group, which worships the Gift users as if they were gods. And uses Grotesqueries' blood to make a Psycho Serum and try transforming normal people into Gifted ones.
• Defrosting Ice Queen -> Tsundere: Kiyoka, oh Kiyoka.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose In Life: Arata's Freudian Excuse.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Takahito, OH GODS. Especially in the anime.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Miyo is depicted as having these in the LN and manga. It also shows up in the ED.
• Elemental Powers: Some Gift users have powers like these:
  • Blow You Away: The signature Gift of the Saimori family, and Shinichi is pretty good at it alongside his Psychic Powers
  • Shock and Awe: Kiyoka and his father Tadakiyo
  • Playing with Fire: Kiyoka and Godou. Minoru too, though it seems he controls fire with his own Gift rather than creating the flames himself.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: The young Miyo had her hair in a bob cut, then grew it out as she grew up.
• Fallen Princess: Miyo's life was fine until her mother died AND she was revealed as a Muggle Born of Mages. She was VERY harshly mistreated afterwards, until her engagement to Kiyoka.
  • Kaya ends as one, having to work as a maid and apparently apprentice for a rich yet stern family that will not take her shit after the Saimoris lose everything.
• Family Eye Resemblance: Kiyoka and Hazuki
• Food Porn: There's lots, LOTS of focus on food in the anime. It helps that both Miyo and Yurie are Supreme Chefs.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Kouji is the Responsible to Kazushi’s Foolish, and even lampshades the trope during a discussion with his brother. Turns out Kazushi is FAR more responsible than believed, though; he just CHOOSES to present himself as foolish.
• Forced into Evil: Kaoruko, whose father's life is threatened by Naoshi to force her do his bidding.
• The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: With Kaya as the Pretty Sister and Miyo as the Smart One. Uncommonly, the Smart Sister is the eldest rather than the youngest. And Kaya sees her Onee-Sama as such a rival, she's willing to impulsively and rather brattily try switch marriage arrangements around just so she can have Kiyoka for herself and take him away from her.
• Gold Digger: Kiyoka's former brides are said to have been this.
• Idiot Ball: The plot's kicked off by Shinichi grabbing this for almost two decades. Since his eldest daughter Miyo is a Muggle Born of Mages and born from a loveless marriage, he washes his hands off her completely, allows both his second wife and Alpha Bitch youngest daughter to abuse her and force her be one of the maids, and then pawns her off to Kiyoka solely to get rid of her. Problem is, Miyo may not have powers of her own but is still a member not just from the Saimori clan, but from her mother's own clan aka the VERY prestigious and feared Usuba family, and therefore she can potentially have kids with psychic abilities. Had he not let his resentment of Sumi blind him to such obvious facts and had he taken better care of Miyo, he could've easily handed Miyo to another strong clan and be in good terms with them. And he had promised Minoru to have Miyo marry one of his sons, so when he switched things around to send Miyo away and have Kouji marry Kaya, Minoru was NOT HAPPY at all.
  • Kanoko is just as stupid and short-sighted, if not more. One can get that she was unhappy over not being able to marry Shinichi due to his and Sumi's loveless union, but Miyo had nothing to do with it... and yet Kanoko decided to blame her for everything and abuse the fuck out of her just for being Sumi's child, also treating Kaya like crap by both spoiling her and fueling her and Miyo's Sibling Rivalry. And she's one of Kaya's biggest supports in her REALLY dumb plan to switch marriage arrangements around, which goes as well as one would expect.
  • Not that Kaya was much better. True, she does have decent psychic abilities but they're rather average compared to other Gifted (ie, she doesn't seem to have the Saimori's traditional wind powers), plus she's VERY entitled and thinks anything Miyo has, she must snatch it for herself; ie, her main reason to accept her engagement to Kouji despite not liking him is to snatch him away from Miyo, and thus take away her chance to have a better life. And later she tries to pawn Miyo off to Kouji so she can snag Kiyoka for herself, not even thinking that Kiyoka could prefer Miyo or simply not be into Kaya herself, and also not thinking that it would lead to Kouji finally growing a spine...
• Ill Boy: Kiyoka's father, Tadakiyo, not only has a rather weak general health but his body can barely handle his rather powerful Gifts. As such, he had to hand Kiyoka the leadership of the Kudo clan after the guy graduated from college.
• Ill Girl: Around Volume 2 of the LN, Miyo starts getting sick due to the huge stress coming from her Bad Dreams...
  • Sumi was always weak-bodied, her pregnancy with Miyo took a toll on her, and using her powers to seal Miyo's for her protection shortened her lifespan.
• Imperial Japan: The story takes place in the Taisho Era.
• Impoverished Patrician: Both the Saimori and Tatsuishi clans are rich and respected, but have fallen on hard times lately since their inherited Gifts are not strong enough to keep up with the more powerful clans and especially the military's specific magic-based squads. Hence why they desperately want to use their kids as pawns in Arranged Marriages.
• Insecure Love Interest: Miyo, to Kiyoka. BIG TIME.
  • Also, Kouji is this to Miyo.
• Intimate Haircut: Not quite a cut and nothing sexual happens, but one important point in Miyo and Kiyoka's budding relationship takes place when she gives him a lovely hair tie that she made for him using the Kumihimo cord making method. Kiyoka is very pleased and asks her to put it on him, then promises to take good care of it.
• Kissing Cousins: One of Miyo's possible suitors is her maternal cousin Arata Tsuruki, and he's determined to be with her so he can protect her from other who'll exploit her abilities.
  • It's later revealed that Naoshi Usui, the leader of the Gifted Communion Cult, was the cousin and First Love of Miyo's mother/Arata's aunt Sumi.
• Lethal Chef: Hazuki simply can't handle kitchen tinkering.
• Light Novel: The story was originally published as such. As of 2024, eight volumes have been released in Japan, and five in the USA.
• Love at First Sight: Actually averted here. From Miyo's part she's shocked by how beautiful Kiyoka is but, at the same time, is very scared of him due to his much higher social position and the fear that he'll toss her in the streets if she displeases him. Later LN volumes have her wondering if she actually loves him.
  • Kiyoka himself also averts it, due to his massive trust issues. Once Yurie reassures him about Miyo's good intentions, he starts defrosting and falls for Miyo pretty fast.
  • Kaya is absolutely star-struck with Kiyoka as he drops by the Saimori home to talk to her parents about his and Miyo's engagement...
• The Maiden Name Debate: Kouji Tatsuishi is the second son of his clan, while the Saimori family only has daughters. As such, Kouji is supposed to marry Kaya and take up the Saimori surname. Then the Saimoris lose everything, but Kouji and Kaya's engagement is still up even as she's sent away to work as a maid and Kouji leaves to Kyoto to properly train his powers.
• Magic Versus Science: A talk between Kiyoka and Godou shows that this conflict reared its face in Japanese society after the Isolation Policy was over. Westerners brought many scientific discoveries and advances to Japan, boosting the country's advancements and tech as a whole, and since this coincides with a general decline of persons with abilities, Japanese society as a whole has even begun to wonder if psychic skills actually exist, or if they come from demonic powers instead. Moreover, Kiyoka says that since psychic powers cannot be scientifically explained, the lack of belief in them will also weaken their power over time.
• Modest Royalty: Despite being from the VERY rich Kudou clan, Kiyoka lives a very simple and almost spartan life in a small traditional house, with only his Kindly Housekeeper Yurie (who actually isn't a live-in servant) and then Mio (who does cohabit with him) as company.
• Mundane Utility: Kiyoka likes using his Playing with Fire abilities to prepare his own Japanese baths.
  • When Kazushi and Kouji have a verbal fight, Kazushi casually uses his Telekinesis to literally force Kouji to shut up.
• Named by the Adaptation: Hana, the maid that was kind to Miyo, is given the surname "Kanao" in the anime.
  • Kiyoka's informant that gives him data about the Usuba family is never openly named, but the anime credits give him the surname Iwashimizu.
• Murder-Suicide: In the novel and manga, Kouji's inner thoughts as he and Kiyoka go rescue Miyo reveal that he used to think he should fatally strangle Miyo to ease her suffer and then kill himself as well.
• Nice to the Waiter: One of Kiyoka's pet peeves regarding his "fiancées" is that they did NOT abide by this trope, instead treating Yurie like shit. When Miyo is kind to her instead, she earns BIG points with him.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: It seems Kiyoka's parents, moreso his Rich Bitch mother Fuyu (whom he does NOT get along with) than his (apparently) Bumbling Dad Tadakiyo, will be this to Miyo. Miyo does get Fuyu to warm up and be Tsundere to her, though.
• Older Than They Look: Tadakiyo is in his 50's, but looks more like Kiyoka and Hazuki's brother due to this.
• Onee-Sama: Subverted, Kaya refers to Miyo as such - but to insult her.
• Paper Talisman: They can be used in several ways here. The most common use is for Gifted, especially those with Seers-like abilities, to send them elsewhere in the form of shikigami spirits, then use a special talisman to link their eyesight to what the shikigami shows them. Minoru Tatsuishi, Kouji's dad who's hellbent on engaging him to Miyo, uses them to spy on Kiyoka and Miyo, but Kiyoka realises someone’s keeping an eye on them and gives Miyo a good-luck charm to counter its effects. When she accidentally misplaces it, both Minoru and Kaya can track her down and then have her abducted...
  • They can also be used as Power Limiters for the Gifted. In the LN and manga, when Kouji goes Calling the Old Man Out on his father and loses, he's locked up with special talismans over his hands in what's the equivalent of being Bound and Gagged and his brother Kazushi frees him. (In the anime he's tied with normal rope, and Kazushi undoes his bonds with telekinesis.
• Parental Neglect: Miyo and Kaya's father Shinichi fits more here than in Abusive Parents. He never lifted a finger to defend her from Kanoko and Kaya, and when Kiyoka told him off for it, he said he saw Miyo as a pawn rather than a daughter. Additionally, while he spoiled Kaya alongside Kanoko, he did nothing to stop his second wife from either berating Kaya when she failed at anything or encouraging her to be cruel to Miyo, which eventually led to her being raised into both scorning her half-sister and thinking she'd be "useless" if she didn't meet her parents' standards.
• Parental Substitute: Yurie, for Kiyoka.
  • One of the Saimori maids, Hana, was this to Miyo. After she tried to stop Kanoko from burning Miyo's keepsakes from her mother (implied in the novel and manga, confirmed in the anime), she was sent away as a result. Kiyoka, in a massive Pet the Dog moment, had her tracked down and brings her to visit Miyo.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: After a VERY bumpy beginning, Kiyoka and Mio turn out to be pretty much made for each other. Not even the plans of the Saimoris and the Tatsuishis to break off the engagement so Kaya marries Kiyoka and then Miyo marries Kouji, the appearance of her cousin and possible groom Arata or the intervention of the Gifted Communion can break them apart.
  • Masashi and Hazuki more or less started out as this, but then things went sour due to his cruel family...
• Power Incontinence: The source of Miyo's Bad Dreams is the progressive un-sealing of her Dream Weaver skills.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: The manga cuts some parts of the LN regarding Kouji's thoughts on his older brother (how he considers Kazushi as a womanizer who takes nothing seriously before finding out he's smarter than Kouji believed and Kaya's absolute contempt of Kouji himself.
• Psychic Powers: Aside of Elemental Powers, many Gifted manifest their powers like this. Miyo was supposed to have inherited such skills, but she did not and that's why she's abused. She actually did, but Sumi sealed said powers away to protect her from her own clan and any others who wanted to use her.
  • Barrier Warrior: Kiyoka (in addition to his Elemental Powers). Also Shinichi and Minoru, though it seems the first does it by emulating it with his wind powers. Arata can do it as well.
  • Dream Weaver: Miyo's sealed powers, which are actually VERY strong..
  • Healing Hands: Kiyoka's mother Fuyu and his older sister Hazuki, though they can heal only injuries.
  • Master of Illusion: Arata and Naoshi. Kiyoka says that some guys from his Unit can do it as well.
  • Mind Control: The speciality of the Usuba clan in general.
  • Mind Over Matter: The speciality of the Tatsuishi family: Kouji, Minoru and Kazushi have this.
  • Seers - Psychic Link: Kaya, Minoru, Sumi and Prince Takaihito.
    • In practice, all Gifted should be able to see Grotesqueries no matter the powers they have. Save for the Usubas, but that's because their own Gifts target people's minds instead.
  • Telepathy: Sumi
• Reality Ensues: Many victims of abuse in media are portrayed as sweet, humble and bland beings only there to evoke "shall be protected at all costs" feelings in viewers / readers and the cast, and serve much more as walking plot devices than characters in their own right... but in Miyo's case, not only she's The Protagonist but the trauma coming from ber abuse is portrayed as realistic flaws that do make her "healing process" rather slow at times. She IS sweet, humble and also VERY self-deprecating, but the last trait isn't exactly seen as a "fake flaw" that has no weight in-story; it also keeps her from further reaching to others even as they offer her help AND especially from seeing her own worth.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Kiyoka and Masashi do their best to be this regarding their unit.
  • Since The Emperor is old and sickly, his son and heir Prince Takaihito does his best to handle the government. And he's pretty good at his job.
• Rich Bitch: GODS. FUCKING. DAMMIT. KANOKO!!
  • Fuyu Kudou, Kiyoka and Hazuki's mother, is just as bad. She at first mistakes Miyo for a servant girl, is livid when she realises she's her prospective daughter-in-law, treats her like a maid and forces her to be one to gain her approval, while also insulting the girl for almost every flaw she can see in her. When Miyo persevers despite everything, Fuyu starts softening up.
• Riches to Rags: The Saimoris, after their attempt to kidnap Miyo back and have Kaya marry Kiyoka fails BIG TIME and, in the middle of it, their mansion burns down. It's even worse for Kaya, who as the instigator of the incident, is forced to become a Scullery Maid.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Minoru, Kanoko and Kaya decide to abduct Miyo, in hopes to break off her and Kiyokas's engagement so Miyo would marry Kouji and Kaya would get Kiyoka. All they managed was to royally piss Kiyoka off.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Yurie dresses up Miyo for her and Kiyoka's first date. The results are pretty impressive.
  • Later, Hazuki also gets her dolled up in Western dresses. Again, the results are pretty impressive.
• Shipper on Deck: Yurie loves, LOVES how well Kiyoka and Miyo match.
  • Yoshito Godou, Kiyoka's Number Two, is also extremely giddy at their love match. Especially when Miyo cooks for him. It's implied he was slightly skeptical after witnessing how many of his boss' brides were quite bitchy, but when Miyo proved to be the Real Deal, he came to fully support her.
  • When Kiyoka's Cool Big Sis Hazuki appears, she immediately takes Miyo under her wing and starts shipping her and Kiyoka with the passion of a thousand suns
• Shipper with an Agenda: Mrs. Keiko, the owner of the high-class clothes shop "Suzumiya" that Kiyoka sponsors and shops at, adores Miyo and tells him to not let her go... because she's an excellent client and she hopes it'll keep her in Kiyoka's good graces. Though she does think Miyo is a great person and pretty much "a diamond in the rough", too.
  • Rather darkly used when Minoru, Kanoko and Kaya conspire to have Miyo brought back into her family by force so she will marry Kouji and Kaya will be with Kiyoka. In fact, Minoru has been this all along under the belief that Miyo may be a Muggle Born of Mages but her own bloodline as a part of the Usuba clan is still valuable enough...
• Shoujo Demographic: A bonafide example.
• Smug Snake: Minoru, Kanoko and Kaya are insufferably smug antagonists.
• Spanner in the Works: Kazushi and Kouji totally trample over their family and the Saimoris's plans for Miyo. While Kouji did lose his verbal and psychic fight with his dad and was locked-up with either a a power-sealing talisman on him (LN and manga) or ropes tying both his wrists and ankles (anime), Kazushi snuck in and once he saw Kouji was serious about helping Miyo, released him by cutting the talisman with a special Paper Fan of Doom or undoing the rope with his powers. Then Kouji went to Kiyoka, told him about the complot and begged him to rescue Miyo, leading to Kiyoka's massive Roaring Rampage of Rescue...
• Spirited Young Lady: Hazuki is a grown-up version.
• Spoiled Brat: Holy shit, Kaya.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Miyo heavily resembles her mother Sumi.
  • Kiyoka is said to resemble his father Tadakiyo, while his sister Hazuki seems to physically take after their mother Fuyu.
• Supreme Chef: One of the otherwise nonexistant perks from Miyo's horrible initial situation is that she's an absolutely gifted cook. Yurie is one as well, and they both cook for Kiyoka; in fact, the second time she makes dinner for him is quite the step in their development.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: After Miyo makes dinner for Kiyoka in her first day, he refuses to eat it and asks her to eat it first because he thinks she slipped poison in it. (She hasn't). When she doesn't do it out of shock, he asks a rather reluctant Yurie to take it all away. The next day, however, he goes "I was too hard on her" mode and apologizes to Miyo, asking her (in a quite Tsundere way) to cook for him the next day.
• Team Mom: Yurie, to the very boot.
• Tears of Joy: Miyo cries these when Kiyoka, after a rough start, starts praising her for her lovely cooking. It becomes a sort-of plot point since Kiyoka, who was unaware of Miyo's Dark and Troubled Past, realises she's not faking her feelings, fully notices how skinny and barely taken care of she looks, and begins suspecting there's something WRONG with the Saimori clan...
• Textile Work Is Feminine: The very girlish Miyo is pretty handy at needlework, and she's seen trying to repair her old work kimonos. Yurie sees this and tells Kiyoka about it, confirming his gut feeling about her being utterly neglected by her family.
  • One of the first gifts Miyo gives to Kiyoka is a lovely purple hair tie, made by hand by her using the very traditional kumihimo braiding method.
  • Mrs. Keiko is a very prim and proper woman who owns the Suzumiya Clothes Store, where Kiyoka commisions several kimonos for Miyo.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: While Kaya and Miyo don't fit in this (they may be a bit more of Light Feminine and Dark Feminine), Miyo is doubtlessly the Girly Girl to both Hazuki8 and Kaoruko's Tomboys.
• Third Person Person: The Cool Old Lady Yurie refers to herself as such as times.
• Tragic Keepsake: Given a pretty cruel spin. Miyo had some from Sumi, including a cherry blossom-patterned kimono and a comb, but Kanoko stole them to get them burned. When Miyo tries to get them back, Kanoko swiftly says she's falsely accusing her of theft and has them destroyed anyway, while Miyo is locked up in a warehouse and cannot stop them. Only Sumi's favorite hair comb remains (albeit damaged, as Kanoko stepped on it), and Miyo still keeps it.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Son: The Emperor and Prince Takaihito.
• Unwitting Pawn: Minoru uses Kouji as this, letting him befriend Miyo but banning him from interceding in her favor; he believes Miyo, who may not have Psychic Powers but still can potentially have powerful kids, will be easier to attain as a bride for Kazushi when she grow up. Kouji doesn't find out until Miyo is kidnapped back into the Saimori clan to be forced to be his bride, and naturally is horrified.
  • Much later, Minoru uses Kaya as one by giving her a photo of Miyo and Kiyoka and telling her how happy they look, deliberately fueling her envious streak so she'll make plans to one-up her sister and help him in his own plans. She falls for it hook, line and sinker, and Minoru even lampshades that in his inner thoughts.
• Unkempt Beauty: Miyo is actually very cute-looking, but having been treated as a lowly maid, she does not know how to bring out her beauty. Yurie and later Hazuki fix that quite soon, however.
• Uptown Girl: Kiyoka is the heir to one of the most prestigious families in Japan, and already has a neat military career. Miyo is The Unfavorite in a family that is still prestigious, but is about to go the Impoverished Patrician way; even more so, she only assisted primary school whereas Kaya also went to a girls's school to become a better wife and "lady of the house".
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Arata's biggest desire is to protect his cousin Miyo from their powerful clan. By forcing his way into her life and defeating Kiyoka in a duel to gain Miyo as his bride, if it's needed.
• Wicked Stepmother: Kanoko Saimori is maybe one of the biggest examples in recent manga and anime.
• Yamato Nadeshiko: Yurie.
  • Miyo has the looks and the domestic skills, but can be seen as a deconstruction since her humility comes from how badly she's been abused ever after her mother's death. She becomes a more genuine example through Character Development, and it shows VERY well when she's captured and badly beaten in an attempt to force her break off her engagement to Kiyoka but Miyo utterly, firmly refuses to do so, even as either Kanoko or Kaya (depending on the version) tries to strangle her.
  • Miyo's late mother, Sumi, was pretty much the perfect one. She was a lovely looking and very gentle woman always clad in kimonos, plus a very good mother to Miyo... And she used her powers to seal Miyo's own because she was sure that Miyo's potentially very dangerous ability would make her a target of not only the Saimori clan, but many others.