9 Anime Series That Feature Arranged Marriages

Arranged marriages, in reality, are relics. Yet, they do still happen. Some find it easier to just be set up with a marriage partner instead of having to go through the whole dating scene. While they are not as common in Japan today, they did once have arranged marriages in their culture. Now marriage meetings are more like blind dating  arranged by a parent rather sealing their fate in matrimony right away.

Still, if you are into the concept of arrange marriage, as it is part of the Japanese culture, they have some anime series that deal with it.




Engaged to the Unidentified

What a surprise Kobeni gets when she turns 16 and discovers that her grandfather had arranged a marriage for her! Kobeni takes it in stride though, even after her betrothed and his sister move into their home. The show is majorly comedy, but there are a few sweet moments as they get to know each other, and one weird twist near the end.

The World is Still Beautiful

This is probably one of the best done anime series on arranged marriages. It’s treated very much in a way that arranged marriage should be treated, as in two people meet and they get to know each other. They are children of differing kingdoms and do not necessarily like each other at first, but the series explores their growing relationship rather just being like, “you’re married now, lul.”

Black Butler

Black Butler, as you go further in the series, shows that as a wealthy young heir to the Phantomhive family, Ciel does indeed already have a marriage arranged. As this is a Japanese anime and set in Victorian England, of course it is to his cousin. As a 12 year old boy focused more on vengeance, he really isn’t so interested in his betrothed, but that’s fine because she is completely too interested in him.

To Love Ru

While arranged marriage is a plot point in the romantic ecchi comedy that is To Love Ru, it is not a major one. The alien princess that fled to Earth did so to avoid a political arranged marriage. To continue to avoid it, she pretends to be in love with a human boy. As things go on, this potential arrangement becomes less and less of a focus.

My Bride is a Mermaid

Not all arranged marriages need to be super serious and filled with either drama or romance. Sometimes they can be a decent set up for comedy too. In this series, the main character is forced into marriage with a mermaid that saved him. It was either marry her or one of them had to die. So that choice seemed easy, but his new merpeople-in-laws are a lot like a mafia family.

Ai Yori Aoshi

This series features a bit of a neat twist on the trope. Aoi and Kaoru are childhood friends whose fathers arranged for them to be married. However, after an event, the arrangement was broken off. Kaoru moved away and Aoi was expected to marry someone else. However, she followed her love, determined to marry him. Of course, he doesn’t really remember that arrangement, but she works to make him fall in love with her.

Love and Lies

Love and Lies has its entire plot built around arranged marriages. To battle the plummeting birthrate in Japan, children are paired up by the government at 16 with marriage partners. Unfortunately, the main character has the heart of a romantic and falls in love with his classmate. He hopes to pursue love before his marriage notice arrives, but well, you know where this is going.

Citrus

Citrus is a yuri show that uses arranged marriage as a plot point for drama. As Mei is the daughter of a wealthy and elite man, her father constantly tries to arrange a marriage for her. He does so twice in the series, only to be thwarted by her new stepsister each time. Of course, all the other wealthy and elite girls in their arranged marriages in the show aren’t so lucky to have a meddling stepsister that is in love with them.

Ranma ½

As a series with a major emphasis on romantic comedy, the fact that Ranma is technically engaged to Akane under an arranged marriage is a major plot point. Since neither of them get along, it creates this pleasant element of love and hate that shippers can really get on board with. Considering they are forced together organically in many situations, you know they’ll end up together. Unfortunately, it is Ranma’s indecision on who his true love is that makes for a lot of difficulties too.

Did we miss any other good anime series involving arranged marriages? Let fans know in the comments section below.


Views 3632
Share
Comment
Emoji
😀 😁 😂 😄 😆 😉 😊 😋 😎 😍 😘 🙂 😐 😏 😣 😯 😪 😫 😌 😜 😒 😔 😖 😤 😭 😱 😳 😵 😠 🤔 🤐 😴 😔 🤑 🤗 👻 💩 🙈 🙉 🙊 💪 👈 👉 👆 👇 🖐 👌 👏 🙏 🤝 👂 👃 👀 👅 👄 💋 💘 💖 💗 💔 💤 💢
You May Also Like