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 an aging part of the Japanese culture, arranged marriage anime is probably more common than an arrangement made by parents is in Japan these days.
Best Arranged Marriage Romance Anime
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 having them be immediately smitten.
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 and real romantic feelings steal the spotlight.
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 yakuza 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.
Final Approach
Although older, Final Approach has a very similar plot to Love and Lies. It is just that it is a comedy instead of the drama-driven romance that Love and Lies sometimes is.
It features government interference in the form of a program that arranges a marriage for you. The guy isn’t particularly into it, but his new wife is very enthusiastic.
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.
Urusei Yatsura
Sharing the same author as Ranma 1/2, you will see a lot of the same tropes at play. And one of those tropes is an arranged marriage!
However, “arranged” is the wrong word here. In Urusei Yatsura, he promised his childhood friend that he would marry her if he defeated the alien princess in a game of tag. He did defeat her, but she mistook his proposal to his childhood friend as a proposal to her.
So now she thinks they are engaged and he has to do comical damage control.
However, while this is more a slapstick comedy, it does start to develop more real romantic elements as things of on.
Twin Star Exorcists
While distinctly more of an action romance, Twin Star Exorcist fully revolves around the main characters getting together. They are forcefully betrothed by the organization they serve because it was prophesied that their child would purge the world of the impurities they currently fight.
Of course, they are both barely even teenagers, and are well against the idea. However, as these things go, their feelings for each other soften as they endure grueling situations together.
My Wife is the Student Council President
Based on a drunken promise between their parents, Hayato, a boy running for student council president, and Ui, a girl that soundly beats him in that election, are now in an arranged marriage.
No beating around the bush on this one. They are married and now balancing school with married life. This drives the comedy, but it also turns out that they are kind of perfect for each other.
Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale
For as common as arranged marriages are in Japan’s history, you would think you would get a few historical romances about them. Then again, we aren’t exactly awash in historical Japanese romance anime either, so…
Anyway, Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale takes place in the Taisho era of Japan, or the early 1920’s. In it, the main character lost the use of his arm after being in a car accident that also took his mother’s life.
His father exiled him to his family estate in Chiba. While initially by himself, he is sent a bride that his father purchased for him.
Resistant to her at first, she is determined to be a good wife and her earnest hard-working shoujo protagonist nature eventually wins over his deeply wounded heart.
A Couple of Cuckoos
Imagine being switched at birth, then having both families decide that you should just get married to not break up the families again.
Are you imagining it? Because that’s the plot of A Couple of Cuckoos.
The interesting thing is that it doesn’t play out like normal arranged marriage anime romances. The characters get along well, but there are different obstacles in their relationship than usual.
My Happy Marriage
Arranged marriage anime are always almost surprisingly wholesome, if not just comedic, and My Happy Marriage continues that wholesome trend, but this time with a bit of drama.
Similar to Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale, My Happy Marriage is a set in early 1900s Meiji era Japan, but one with supernatural elements. It follows a girl who, after her father remarries and has a daughter with his new wife, is treated little better than a servant. Eventually, she is told that she will be married off to a husband who has the reputation for frequently chasing his brides-to-be off.
Told she can’t even return home, she is determined to do her best to please him for her very survival, but it turns out that he is actually much nicer than his reputation makes him seem.
My Happy Marriage is indeed that, a happy marriage between two people who have had rather difficult lives.
Did we miss any other good anime recommendations about arranged marriages? Let fans know in the comments section below.
