365 Days to the Wedding

 365 Days to the Wedding (結婚するって、本当ですか,) is a 12 episode slice of life romance based on the manga of the same name by Wakaki Tamiki.  The series aired during the Fall of 2024.

    Ohara Takuya and Honjoji Rika are employees at a branch of a nation wide travel agency who keep to themselves and live isolated lives.  When plans for a new branch are finalized to open in Anchorage Alaska, their location is chosen to produce the person who will head the new office as it establishes its self.  No one volunteers for the job when the announcement is made so management informs everyone that they will choose the candidate.  It will be someone who is young, unmarried and without children, so as not to cause a disruption to others.  Ohara has little desire to move to Alaska, particularly due to his efforts to rehabilitate his adopted cat.  Honjoji similarly does not want to be forced into the assignment, having no strong interest in her work, only taking it due to her love of maps and sight seeing.

    In a moment of calculated desperation Honjoji suggests that she and Ohara pretend to be engaged, to eliminate both of them from the transfer pool.  Seeing this as the best way to ensure he doesn't have to move he agrees to the plan.  But how easy will it be to convince everyone around them that its real, instead of an elaborate lie?  Both of them have little interest in the other, preferring the comfort of isolation and solitude.  But they approach the ruse with strategy and meticulous planning.  Their efforts, while somewhat rocky, appear to be working but they continue to get mysterious phone calls from someone claiming they know they are lying.  As their lie grows they find themselves having to do more to make it look convincing and as they are forced to spend more time together they begin to question if there are any legitimate feelings for the other person or if that's something they even want to explore.

     Its always nice to have romances with purely adult characters in purely adult situations.  That is exactly what this delivers, a cute work place romance that centers around two adults who are a little too innocent for their own good.  Innocent may not be the correct way to explaining them.  They are both very comfortable being alone and they struggle with the idea of changing their routines.  They also work to resist any misconstrued emotions related to their get out of being transferred scheme.  The story follows two parallel narratives.  The first is their efforts to maintain their lie enough to convince the people around them its true.  The other is their growing awareness of the other person and their inner turmoil over that growing awareness.  Its not the best work place romance out there, but its heavily grounded in reality with enjoyable characters.  Both Ohara and Honjoji are grown up social outcasts who have decided that its much more preferable to isolate yourself with your own interests instead of being outwardly motivated.  In other worlds, their both introverts who interact with others as little as possible.

    I feel like a broken record but the artwork is passable.  Realistic and believable character designs but nothing to wow the viewer with.  Outside of the inevitable and predictable conclusion of the two main characters relationship, there are a few side stories that show the viewer and the main pair different sides of the world they are only pretending to live in.  One particular episode deals with a younger man who looks to Ohara as inspiration for romance, taking the initiative and putting himself out there on a dating app.  He ends up connecting with a young woman over a shared passion and develop a strong friendship.  When he wants to take it further with her she informs him that she is a single mother and needs him to accept that.  He falters for a moment and she cuts him off, leaving him filled with regret as all of his confidence resulted in a critical moment of panic.  This one episode story line alone is well worth watching this fun and quirky romance.

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll.