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During a vibrant panel at Anime Expo, director Motonobu Hori and Bones Film producer Tatsuya Saitō shared insights into the upcoming anime adaptation of the action-romcom manga MARRIAGETOXIN. Created by Jōmyaku and Mizuki Yoda, the story revolves around an elite assassin named Gero who must navigate the treacherous waters of matchmaking to secure his family’s lineage while keeping his sister safe.
We sat down with Hori and Saito to discuss the creative journey behind bringing this unique manga to the screen and what makes its cast so unforgettable.
What initially drew each of you to the MARRIAGETOXIN manga and inspired you to adapt it?
Tatsuya Saitō:
For me, it was definitely the characters. The heroines introduced early on—like Himekawa, Ureshino, and Arashiyama—all possess incredibly distinct personalities. Watching Gero evolve through his high-stakes matchmaking missions and battles is captivating. While I pour my all into every project, this particular series felt like an opportunity to pay exceptional attention to detail in the animation.
Motonobu Hori: I was immediately struck by just how wild and outrageous the manga is, which made it seem like a blast to animate. It features plenty of action, and I knew that if BONES handled it with care, it would turn out genuinely entertaining. Beneath the chaos, though, there are deeply resonant emotional moments. That striking balance is what ultimately sold me on the source material.
You mentioned the series is “outrageous.” Could you elaborate on that?
Motonobu Hori:
It walks a tightrope where you can’t always tell where the seriousness ends and the comedy begins. It carries the signature energy of a Weekly Shonen Jump title, leaving you guessing whether a specific scene is entirely earnest or meant as a gag. I felt that ambiguous tone was one of its greatest strengths.
When reading a story like that, do you immediately picture how the panels will translate into motion?
Motonobu Hori:
Once I came on board as director, I re-read the manga specifically through an animator’s lens. I quickly noticed how brilliantly crafted it is, relying heavily on visual techniques that only work in a manga format. The panel compositions make certain moments feel incredibly dynamic on the printed page.
Ironically, that makes direct adaptation quite difficult; simply copying the panels wouldn’t capture the same magic. Instead, we had to deconstruct each scene, figure out why it worked in print, and rebuild it using movement. That approach made the animation process much more engaging.
©Joumyaku・Mizuki Yoda/SHUEISHA, MARRIAGETOXIN Project
Does that inherent chaos make the animation process harder?
Motonobu Hori:
It was a major hurdle. Part of the manga’s charm stems from those moments of ambiguity between panels where the exact sequence of events is left slightly unclear, generating a unique kind of kinetic energy. While we broke scenes down to make them flow more smoothly for the screen, over-explaining everything would strip away that magic. Striking the right balance—deciding how much to clarify versus how much chaos to preserve—was one of our toughest challenges.
That balance is very noticeable in the reading experience, shifting effortlessly between comedy and profound sincerity without either overpowering the other. Why do you think readers resonate so deeply with characters in such bizarre circumstances?
Motonobu Hori:
Look at Gero, who was raised from infancy purely to be a lethal weapon, or Byakko, whose childhood trauma is almost unfathomable. Their backgrounds are undeniably extreme. Yet, Gero also has a very mundane quirk, like being unable to eat food prepared by others because of his upbringing. Everyone carries some lingering impact from their childhood or past environment. While MARRIAGETOXIN exaggerates these situations for comedic effect, the emotional core of every character remains deeply relatable.
The series goes beyond traditional romance to explore family, duty, and various forms of human connection. When you started this project, did you view it primarily as an action story, a love story, or something else entirely?
Motonobu Hori:
What hooked me was the premise itself. In the brutal world of battle manga, Gero is practically unmatched. But right at the start, he suffers a defeat against Kinosaki. He reigns supreme in combat, yet he’s completely out of his depth in the realm of romance. Putting those two contrasting worlds side-by-side is what makes the manga so distinct. Of course, the action remains crucial, but the narrative constantly pivots back and forth between these two opposing spheres.
So the contrast between those two worlds is the driving force?
Motonobu Hori:
Exactly. There’s a moment later on where Gero states, “I want to become more attractive.” In a standard battle shonen, a protagonist would usually declare that they want to become stronger. Because he’s caught between these two worlds, his core values begin to shift. Witnessing that personal transformation is one of the most compelling aspects of the story.
Assembling the right creative team is vital for a project like this. Saito, what led to your decision to collaborate with Hori on MARRIAGETOXIN?
Tatsuya Saitō:
Hori and I have a solid history, having worked together on three prior projects. I was already familiar with his directing style. Coincidentally, as we were greenlighting MARRIAGETOXIN, we were also collaborating on My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, which gave me a front-row seat to his growth as a director.
Motonobu Hori: At one point, Saito actually thought action sequences were my weak spot.
Tatsuya Saitō: That’s true. Historically, I viewed Hori’s greatest assets as character work and emotional depth. But seeing his progress on Vigilantes proved to me that his action direction had leaped forward, giving me full confidence to bring him onto this series.
Tatsuya Saitō: We spent a lot of time analyzing contemporary anime—discussing what trends were succeeding and what kind of action choreography we wanted to achieve here.
Motonobu Hori: I was eager to learn from the innovative approaches to action seen in modern productions.
Tatsuya Saitō: The bar for action animation has risen dramatically over the last few years. We knew we had to be very intentional about crafting sequences that could hold their own in today’s competitive landscape.
Given BONES‘ legendary reputation for raising the animation standard, does that create a constant sense of pressure to reinvent the wheel?
Motonobu Hori:
Not really. We’re simply pouring our energy into keeping pace with the industry standard.
Speaking of the action, the battles in MARRIAGETOXIN rely on bizarre, unorthodox abilities rather than raw power alone, turning fights into puzzle-like encounters. Did that open up new creative avenues for the animation team?
Motonobu Hori:
The narrative constantly blurs the line between humor and earnestness. For instance, when Gero uses common toilet cleaner to melt a car, playing it entirely as a gag would reduce the story to a simple comedy. But I didn’t want to approach it that way. The real charm lies in walking that tightrope between the absurd and the serious. I instructed the animators to treat even the most ridiculous scenarios with complete sincerity—making the outrageous moments look as cool as humanly possible. We kept that mindset front and center starting from the storyboard phase.
One final question: if you could step into the world of MARRIAGETOXIN and inherit the unique ability of any character, who would you pick?
Motonobu Hori:
I’d go with Gero’s. I’d use his poison manipulation to reinforce my own physique… so I could push through longer work hours. (laughs)
Tatsuya Saitō: There’s actually a character named Beppu who hasn’t debuted in the anime yet. I’d probably choose him. (laughs)