One Half of a Married Couple Vol. 1

Title: One Half of a Married Couple Vol. 1
Author: Akiyo Kurosawa, Yukino Natsukawa
Series: One Half of a Married Couple #1
First Published: February 27, 2019
Genre: Drama, Romance, Seinen
Format: Web
Source: Web
Rating:

Synopsis:

Aya has a peaceful life with her faithful husband, Kazuma. She is proud to have a husband who takes care of her and she believes that she is the "happiest wife in the world".

However, one day, she noticed a suspicious message from Kazuma's phone and then he started returning home late. Aya is beginning to suspect that her husband is having an affair but she has no proof. Should Aya pursue her husband's affair or not? The confusion of married life begins.

Review

Aya is a happily married woman. She’s got a husband who is kind that is the envy of her friends. Lately however, her husband has been working late, and their bedroom goes cold. One night, after a girl’s night out of gossiping about marriage and cheating boyfriends, she sees a notification from a strange woman on her husband’s phone.

What do you do with that information? Do you invade your spouse’s privacy and snoop, confront them, pretend you didn’t see anything while that text message eats away at you in secret, or do you shrug it off with full trust in your partner? These are the questions posed throughout the volume as Aya confronts the terrifying prospect that her marriage may not be as secure as she thought it was. Is it better to be married and have a partner that will be there with you for the good and the bad, or to be single and free from the heartache?

This first volume accurately portrays the loneliness of a marriage cooling down and the anxiety of not knowing whether or not something else is going on. The difficult topics in this manga are handled with respect without any wacky drama (yet). One of my favorite aspects of this manga was the strong support network of female friends, some married, some single and dating, who all have different perspectives on how they would handle infidelity. The supporting cast was utilized well, and Aya isn’t even the only one going through relationship struggles. Overall a compulsively readable first volume that has me curious to see where the series goes.

Quote

“Not even that long ago, I thought I was the happiest person in the world. I thought I was very much in love with a kind and wonderful husband. How is it that a single message from a strange woman could knock me down to rock bottom?”