Lazy Unnie’s Couch: Shanai Marriage Honey

Miura Manatsu is a young office worker who finds himself in a quandary: His mother is suffering from ill-health, and he believes that getting married will be a good way to bring some cheer to her – and help her recovery. The only problem is he doesn’t have a girlfriend. So he downloads a dating app and starts looking for potential partners.
Another of the app’s users is Haruta Ami, a woman who has been struggling to get over her ex, and has resolved to dive headlong into a new relationship in order to forget her former flame. The two meet online and decide to get married in a hastily arranged ceremony, barely knowing anything about one another.
But there’s a hitch: Little did they know, but they are actually workmates. And as they neglected to tell their co-workers that they were getting married, their relationship becomes an awkward secret. Little by little, they get to know each other – and start to discover that despite the unconventional nature of their marriage, true love might not be completely out of reach after all…
mydramalist

Starring: Itagaki Mizuki | Matsui Airi
Episodes: 7 (25 Min.)
Aired: November 13 – December 25, 2020
Network: MBS
Where to Watch: VIKI

I have never seen a Japanese drama before so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Any expectations I may have had were quickly thrown out the window. This was basically everything I could have asked for in a fluffy romantic comedy and then some. It starts off, rather quickly, with a contract marriage via a tinder like app between Haruta Ami and Miura Manatsu. What I liked about the fast paced plot was there was no unnecessary filler really showcasing how these two decided to come to the terms of getting married. It was basically wham, bam, thank you ma’am for marrying me. It included all the awkwardness that you could expect from basically two strangers going from their singled lives to now being husband and wife. But just like everything else, there wasn’t a lot of time wasted on those struggles.

Even though I enjoyed how quickly things progressed, I didn’t care for how it felt like all of a sudden, Haruta was in love with Manatsu. Yes, I get that he was hot and she hit the jackpot with him as her husband, but it was like one thing he did that was sweet and she was in love. It felt very fabricated in that sense. Another thing that bothered me and maybe it wasn’t because of the show itself but really with the sub team, they kept calling Haruta Ami cunning. I don’t know if there isn’t a word in Japanese for flirting, but it seemed that the way they were using cunning was wrong half the time.

Ultimately, I really loved this drama and just thinking back on it gives me all those uwu feelings again. I liked how cute and light it was. And the skinship level was amazing! It was shocking at first to see characters actually lust after one another, something I think K-dramas need to take a lesson in. I could have done without the female lead’s weird joker like smile, but the male lead made up for that annoyance with how adorable he ended up being. I saw how the show tried to add some drama in by including some hurdles for the couple with some outside forces. i.e Manastu’s ex and some co-workers who had a thing for Ami. It was cute seeing the jealousy on both sides come through. Basically this drama fit into 7 episodes what I have been looking for in romantic shows for a while.