Arranged marriages or fixed marriages may sound obsolete or old-fashion, but this still happens nowadays albeit very rare, but in anime, this has been a cliche that always delivers a hilarious and romantic story. This kind of setup usually leads to an interesting development that may either give the viewers a good dosage of drama and romance, while some simply bring total entertainment through humor and relatable antics.
For anime fans, this kind of cliche is another opportunity to experience a different approach towards the romance genre. Stories that could bring a news perspective amidst the generic plot that we often have. In line with this, we have prepared a list of anime and donghua with arranged or fix marriages set up for fans to check and add to their watchlist.
Anime with Arranged Marriage Plot
The World is Still Beautiful
She’s a princess of a small secluded nation, and he is the Emperor is a growing and insatiable empire. The World is Still Beautiful follows the story of Princess Nike and her escapade to a faraway land where she was chosen to marry a young emperor, who is quite known to be cruel and indifferent. However, as time goes by and they both get to know each other, a budding relationship grows and they both find solace in the presence of one another.
Nike, the fourth princess of the Rain Dukedom and one who holds the power to call forth the rain, travels to the Sun Kingdom to marry Sun King Livius for her country, despite her own reluctance. She soon discovers that the King, who conquered the world in only three years after his ascendance to the throne, is still a child!! Furthermore, for trivial reasons, he has demanded that Nike call forth the rain…!?
Psychic Princess
Tong Ling Fei | Here’s a donghua (Chinese anime) next in our list and it just has the right combination of action, romance, and hilarious antics that could steal our heart in one way or another. It follows the story of the daughter of the Prime Minister, who’s a peculiar one who had been cast out by her family due to her special ability to see spirits. However, she’s been sent by her father to marry the tyrant prince of the empire, which means making her a political hostage since her parents aren’t in good condition with the royal family. Her soon-to-be husband is not a real tyrant but he is known to be stubborn, he treats her like someone who had been sent as a spy. Thus, trust issues had been the major hindrance in their married life and have started a rather obnoxious love and hate relationship between the newlywed.
Qian Yunxi, the oldest daughter of the prime minister was born with a special ability. Because of this she was deemed ‘abnormal’ and was raised at Mt. Lin Yun. Upon turning 16, she took her younger sister’s place to marry into the royal family of Ye. Rumours say Ye Youming is strange, cold and cruel. Just how will Qian Yunxi’s fate play out?
Anilist
Recommended: 10 Anime like Tong Ling Fei
Memory of Chang-an
Shi Yi Chang’an: Mingyue Ji Shi You | Just like Psychic Princess, The Memory of Chang-an is quite similar to the premise of a political marriage to keep the peace between two kingdoms amidst so many controversies and an act of rebellion that might actually take place. In the middle of all these political struggles is Mingyue, the new wife of the 9th prince of the empire. She’s a carefree lady and he is a tsundere prince, what would become of their married life when they are caught in all of these politics and conspiracy?
Princess Mingyue and Li Qiang, the emperor’s ninth prince, are forced to marry in order to keep the peace in their kingdoms. As the princess finally seems to be getting used to her new life in Chang’an (an ancient Chinese capital), there are plots hovering against her and the royal family.
Anilist
Love and Lies
Koi to Uso | Here’s a rather unique take on the drama and romance genre where each individual in Japan had been assigned their own partner. However, it’ll be a game against fate, how one will dictate how he/she feels, will they succumb to the system, or will they find a way to follow their own heart?
In order to increase birth rates, Japan implements a system where the government assigns you a marriage partner once you turn sixteen. Yukari Nejima, a below average teen, confesses to his childhood crush Misaki Takasaki on the eve of his sixteenth birthday… only to find out that he has been assigned to Ririna Sanada instead.
Engaged to the Unidentified
Mikakunin de Shinkoukei | This romance and comedy anime offers a hilarious ride in a slice-of-life setting. Imagine getting an unusual gift on your 16th birthday, and it’s not like any other gift that a girl often received. That gift is an arranged marriage that her grandfather had set for her.
Not every girl gets what she wants on her 16th birthday, but Kobeni’s gift is something she never saw coming: an arranged marriage! Thanks to her late grandfather, Kobeni’s been engaged to a total stranger since childhood, and even though she’s supposedly met him she doesn’t remember a single thing about him. Even weirder is that both her Mom and creepily over-doting sister, Benio, seem completely unsurprised when the groom-to-be, Hakuya, and his younger sister, Mashiro, show up on the family’s doorstep to move in with them! But it’s not until they start attending Kobeni’s school that things take an even stranger turn after she starts to pick up some very… unusual vibes from her potential future family. From Mashiro’s obsession with aliens and UMAs (Unidentified Mysterious Animals) to Hakuya’s disconcerting lack of emotion, there’s something very off about them that Kobeni can’t quite put her finger on. What has her grandfather gotten her into, and how does this relate to the strange gap in Kobeni’s memory?
Sentai Filmworks
How to Steal 55 Kisses
Guomin Laogong Dai Huijia | He and she are married but it’s not their choice. And just like the usual cliche that we often have from a Chinese or Korean drama, the couple had set rules for their married life and this premise looks exciting and hilarious, isn’t it? For all the fans of the drama and romance genre, How to Steal 55 Kisses is like a story bring forth to life from your favorite pocket novel.
Lu Jin Nian and Qiao An Hao are a newly married couple—unfortunately, neither of them are willing participants. Now husband and wife, Qiao An Hao establishes a few ground rules: no one can know that they are married, their cohabitation is top-secret information, and under no circumstances is Lu Jin Nian permitted to touch her. As a result, their marriage remains strictly superficial. Behind their broken union, however, there is a long and complicated history. A chance encounter while seeking shelter from the rain led to the lives of Lu Jin Nian and Qiao An Hao getting intertwined. But as fate would have it, the date also marked the moment Qiao An Hao’s sister fell madly in love with the stoic and mysterious Lu Jin Nian. With emotional stakes flying high, the years leading up to this marriage have been long and complicated—but never boring. And even now, despite their long-standing friendship, the newlyweds are no closer to understanding each other.
Written by MAL Rewrite
My Bride is a Mermaid
Seto no Hanayome | When fiction and the average daily life converged, a hilarious story of love and comedy had come to life in this anime called My Bride is a Mermaid. What will you do if you almost get drown in the sea but a mermaid has saved your life? But because of their peculiar traditions and rules, you have to marry her or else, both of you must die. This is the plot that this anime promises to deliver and it spares no time in giving the viewers a fantastic ride filled with laughter and butterflies.
Michishio Nagasumi’s life couldn’t be any more normal. In an odd twist of events, during his summer vacation he ends up almost drowning in the sea. Luckily, the cute mermaid Seto San appears to save him. However, San is from a yakuza mermaid family and according to their law, if a human is to catch sight of a mermaid, either he or the mermaid must die. The only other way is for Nagasumi to be taken in as a family member, marrying San. In attempts to save both of their lives, Nagasumi asks for San’s hand in marriage. Nagasumi’s summer vacation reaped more then what he would expect, as he must now protect San from others finding her secret out.
Further Recommendations
Aside from the series that we had mentioned above, here are some more anime and donghua with arranged marriage elements that you might want to check as well:
- Taisho Otome Fairy Tale
- A Couple of Cuckoos
These are only a few of the popular anime with arranged marriage cliches. Are there some more titles that you would like to be included in this list? Share your thoughts with us by leaving your comment below and we will check it out.
Last Updated on September 25, 2022 by Yu Alexius
