Our heroine and her new husband.
Chiwa Takanashi is an average 23-year-old office clerk working for the powerful Mamiya company. Unlike her workmates, she despises men and it's been ages since she had a boyfriend: the reason is she works as a club hostess at night to pay for her father's debts. One day at her night job, a handsome but rude costumer throws a tantrum that causes her to get fired; the next day she's called in by the Mamiya Company president... and she discovers the client was Hokuto Mamiya, the young president of the company, who's been engaged to her by his grandfather... Unable to pay her father's debts, Chiwa doesn't have a chance to refuse, even if she'll only know about her husband's real personality after marrying him.
Happy Marriage?! (Hapi Mari) is a josei manga by Maki Enjouji (who also wrote Private Prince) It was serialized in Shogakugan's Petit Comic from 2009 to 2012, spawning a total of 10 volumes. The series was licensed in USA by Viz Media, France by Kazé and Germany by Tokyopop.
Happy Marriage?! invokes these tropes:
- Arranged Marriage: The main conflict of the story. Hokuto and Chiwa marry each other out of his grandfather's wish, not for their own will.
- The Beautiful Elite: Everyone in the Mamiya family is beautiful.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Mamiya clan.
- Bumbling Dad: Chiwa's dad, who always makes his way into making new businesses that always end up in failure and drown him and Chiwa in debts.
- The Confidant: Yagami works as this for Chiwa, listening to all her problems while they have a drink. It makes Hokuto a bit jealous.
- The Chessmaster: Someone inside the Mamiya family has been plotting everything from the start to obtain the chairman position, including killing Hokuto's mother (who later turns out to be an accident, since the target was Hokuto). It turns out it was Satoshi's mother.
- Does Not Like Men: Chiwa, at first. She ends up developing a good harem of her own.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Chiwa claims to have never cooked before, yet manages to make quite a menu everyday for Hokuto.
- Generic Cuteness: Chiwa is supposed to be plain-looking (at least by rich people's standards) yet she's as pretty as any other female character.
- Happily Married: Averted at first. However, the series ends with Hokuto and Chiwa getting married again (this time even with a ceremony) under his mother's surname, and with the intention of being together forever.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Chiwa goes drinking a lot to try to forget about her problems.
- House Wife: Chiwa ends up becoming this: she's the one who cooks and cleans the house. And ends up becoming one for real after resigning from her job.
- In-Series Nickname: Chiwa's alias at the host club was "Chihuahua" (in Japanese it's written "Chiwawa", so it's basically repeating the last syllabe of her name) Later in the series Hokuto frequently compares her to this dog breed.
- I Want Grandkids: Hokuto's grandfather feels this way.
- Love Triangle: Eventually, Chiwa ends up in one: she's very much in love with Hokuto, who reciprocates her feelings, but her re-encounter with Asahina (who seems to still love her) awakens doubts on her mind.
- Marital Rape License: Sometimes Hokuto gets a bit too aggresive on the sex whether Chiwa wants him to or not. However, it's mostly averted, since he usually stops if he sees she's not comfortable. Also, Hokuto once jokingly threatens to rape Chiwa if she doesn't shut up.
- Marriage Before Romance: Chiwa ends up falling in love with her husband... and it's very possible Hokuto ends up loving her as well.
- Men Can't Keep House: Hokuto's house is incredibly dirty before Chiwa moves in and starts keeping it proper.
- Missing Mom: Chiwa's mother is nowhere to be found. Also, Hokuto's mom died in a car crash.
- New Old Flame:
- Asahina, Chiwa's boyfriend from university.
- Also Misaki Shitara, a CEO from a famous make-up and clothes brand who dated Hokuto before he married Chiwa.
- Older Than They Look: Taeko Souma, Hokuto's pretty secretary, knows him since childhood because she's 55 years old, yet she doesn't look any day older than 30.
- Property of Love: Hokuto considers that after their marriage, she belongs to him, and he belongs to her.
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Shitara.
- Second Act Break Up: After Chiwa is kidnapped and Hokuto gets hurt protecting her, Chiwa decides to take a divorce and leave the company. He ends up visiting her at her father's house and they make up.
- This happens again at the end, when Hokuto leaves the Mamiya family and decides to divorce Chiwa to avoid her being targeted by those who wanted to kill him. Later they remarry, this time for real.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: As a company's president, Hokuto usually wears his hair slicked back and very expensive-looking suits. The only one who usually sees him dressed more informal is Chiwa.
- "Shut Up" Kiss : Hokuto does this to Chiwa almost every chapter.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Happens constantly.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Hokuto.
- Tender Tears: In almost every chapter, Chiwa ends up like this.
- Their First Time: They plan it over and over, yet they always fail: at first, because Chiwa is a virgin and can't bring herself to have sex with a man she doesn't love. Later, when she's already fallen in love with him, something always happens that interrupts them both. They do it on chapter 16.
- Those Two Girls: Aya and Sayaka, Chiwa's workmates.
- Tsundere: Chiwa ends up being this for Hokuto: she loves him, but can't bring herself to tell it out loud and can't stand when he isn't direct too.
- Unlucky Everydude: Chiwa is mostly an average woman, but she has had really bad luck in life because of her father being too innocent and often asking the yakuza for money (without knowing it was them) This caused her to drop out of university in her first year and to accept Hokuto's offer in the first place.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Hokuto's cousin's wife Saeko, who first appears with a kimono who matches well with her black hair.
