KAKANLen09
December 27, 2025
Mixed Feelings
Tale of Wedding Rings, the 2nd Wedding — Much better this time, though not by much since it's cut from the same cloth. It's only been close to 2 years since the premiere season started for mangaka duo Maybe's 3rd anime adaptation of their works, of which Winter 2024's Kekkon Yubiwa Monogatari a.k.a. Tales of Wedding Rings, was supposed to be their redemption after the rather mediocre Katsute Kami Datta Kemono-tachi a.k.a. To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts, after 5 years. And let's face it, both the original manga source material and MAPPA's Summer 2019 adaptation just didn't really cut it for what was supposed to bethe stereotypical fantasy with a twist that really looked unique on the outside but didn't have quality going on inside. On the flip side, of the two works that I would rather invest my time in being the better work (outside of Tasogare Otome x Amnesia), the former truly sticks out like a sore thumb, but I can 100% guarantee you that it's a more digestible series than the latter in both good and bad ways. And with the follow-up sequel for Kekkon Yubiwa Monogatari, I really have to say that it redeems whatever was bad about Season 1 and amplifies it tenfold for Season 2, but in a decent way that's handled better than expected.
With Season 2 continuing where we left off with the development of the new Ring King Haruto Satou and his Ring Princesses harem, there's a lot of exposition and plot for the developing story to face the Abyss King, though there's even more infighting for the troubles that they have within themselves before they're even strong enough to consider taking down the legend that lost his way. For starters, don't really expect Satou at this point to change a lot (at least for the sequel's beginnings), as he has his hands tied with not just the larger matter of his role as the new Ring King, but also that it's putting his long-term relationship with Krystal "Hime" Nokanatika at risk because the two have been seriously putting off their romance for the longest time. And to add a bit of flavour into the already-muted relationship, comes the only new face in Season 2 — Hime's younger sister, Morion, who tries to force some romance shtick on the couple in order for Hime to reach out and get her romance face on, because she's a lot more expressive than Hime with her little sister energy.
Basically put, Satou and Hime's relationship has always been the one constant being put on limbo since the very beginning of their true reveals and the roles they have to execute, and that has largely remained the status quo. Even in front of the Ring Princesses Nefritis, Granart, Amber, and Saphir, where these 4 are even more ambitious and don't have their pretences when hiding their love for Satou, it's always the key area of frustration when it comes to Hime second-guessing whether she should be serious for Satou. Thankfully, when push came to shove, Hime DID trust Satou all the way to the end and wholly entrusted everything to him, so the harem didn't even faze her in any way possible (well...only albeit minor).
Everything about Season 1's production can be applied to the sequel here, as average as Staple Entertainment-produced shows go, because they generally are just mediocre at best. Even the music is a mixed bag that, ironically, goes hand-in-hand with Season 1. With Sizuk's music featuring AYAME, of the 2 OPs for the season, I have to say that Season 1's OP was a lot better than the sequel's OP, though by no means is it bad. And replacing AliA for Season 1 is Akari Kito's ED, which I swear was inspired by Pachelbel's Canon for a wedding-like feature for the Ring Princesses, which, BTW, IS the plot itself that is better than the former for obvious reasons.
As a whole, Kekkon Yubiwa Monogatari a.k.a. Tales of Wedding Rings as a series, is an exercise in frustration trying to take the fantasy and combine it with action and romance, which itself should work for the most part, but it's just somehow dragged on to create a bare-bones impact at the end of it all. This is not to blame the mangaka duo, though their writing skills having to match those of Kemono-tachi since they were in parallel serialization at the same time, severely impacted both series in churning out rather sloppy fantasy stories in the making. This is a warning to authors who try to do too much at the same time, and lest you care about quality, focusing on a sole project as opposed to doing double-duty, you'd end up with two or more projects that are just as equally forgettable as they come.
So, ask yourself this question: Is it worth having a harem to save the world, or having just one girl and making her your world? In the Tales of Wedding Rings, this is perfectly acceptable, though your mileage will vary.
