365 Days to the Wedding

So, this is a bit of an odd one because it's hard to imagine it ever happening in real life. That said, it's very hard to imagine MOST anime ever happening in real life, but there you go. Anyway, 365 Days to the Wedding.

Takuya Ohara (glasses guy) and Rika Honjoji (deadpan lady) are two of the most awkward ever adults and they both work for a Travel Agency. That agency is about to open a branch office in Alaska in a year and send an unmarried worker to start it. Neither of them want to go and have a bit of a private panic (to be fair, NO ONE in the office is looking excited about the prospect).

But somehow the two, who have barely even spoken to each before this because that's just how awkward they are, manage to hatch a plot and buy rings. They're going to pretend to be engaged so they don't have to go. Now, how in the world they thought they could pull this off for a year, I dunno. Or why they thought their co-workers would just be like "okay" and go on with their business and not be surprised or want to celebrate, I dunno either.

Anyway, it started off fairly cute as it's obvious that they'll end up liking each other due to the forced proximity / cohabitation. BUT then the show goes down some dark pathways that I didn't expect and, honestly, feel a bit out of left field.

Like, the less attractive glasses man, who thinks he has a happy homelife, gets into some horrible argument with his wife and basically goes on a day long bender where they're taking his young son around to find him and finally locate him in a bar, where he then PRETENDS TO BE A WILD ANIMAL and runs off into the park. With his poor kid still chasing after him. There's no resolution to this either; as far as you can tell by the end of the show, he's likely getting a divorce from his wife.

And the plump, earnest guy, Gonda, really wants a relationship but he's not exactly anyone's idea of a catch. But he meets a woman who likes the same thing he does. When he asks her out (or maybe he jumps right to marriage, I can't remember), she surprises him with the fact that she's a single mother. He flinches--I mean, not like recoils, but obviously dude is surprised. She cuts him off. He tries to respond by gathering up all his bank books and proving to her that he could support a family, but she won't even see him again; she sends a friend to do it. Also no resolution there. That's where poor Gonda's story ends too.

Then there's some drama with Rika's mom and with Ohara's family. It's like a show that wanted to be light and fluffy, but the author is dark and depressed and couldn't handle it. I dunno. I did see that it's written and illustrated by Tamiki Wakaki (creator of The World God Only Knows). That's quite a show too...while it has one of my absolute favourite lines in it (I have always rejected reality in an exceedingly friendly manner), it's also a show I never quite finished because it just. Got. Weird. I think I got through most of the first arc, but never even tried the second. Or maybe I got through the first season. I dunno. It's been years. 

Anyway, back to this one. I finished it. As expected, they both come clean, but then decide to get married anyway, even though they haven't dated yet. It ends there, though it looks like the books go into more details on what that actually means.

Am I glad I watched it? I wouldn't say glad. I'm not unhappy I watched it and overall I liked it, but it kinda gives you whiplash. I wouldn't watch it again, though I did enjoy the art.