Marriagetoxin

is a Japanese manga series written by Joumyaku and illustrated by Mizuki Yoda. It has been serialized on the mobile app and website of Shueisha's online magazine ''Shōnen Jump+'' since April 2022, with its chapters collected in 13 ''tankōbon'' volumes as of May 2025. Viz Media licensed the series for English release.

Plot summary

Hikaru Gero is a young man from the Poison Clan of professional assassins, which has been in existence for hundreds of years. Because he deals in the dark side of society and has never lived a "normal life", he considers himself to have no prospects with women and has no interest in marriage. However, one day, the Poison Clan states that if Gero does not marry and produce an heir to carry on their lineage, they will force his sister into bearing a child against her wishes. Wanting to save his younger sister from such a fate, Gero asks one of his assassination targets to marry him. When the cross-dressing marriage swindler Mei Kinosaki declines, Gero instead has Kinosaki train him to date and how to appeal to women with the goal of finding someone he truly wants to marry.

Characters

Protagonists

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:Gero is the designated heir of the Poison Clan, one of the Five Great Families of assassins. Under pressure to produce an heir to the Poison Clan, he vows to protect Kinosaki in exchange for her help in finding a bride.
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:Kinosaki is a marriage swindler who has made countless men and women fall for her. Although Kinosaki dresses and identifies as a woman and is perceived by others as female, she says she is "actually a guy" and claims to be irresistible when passing as a man.

Prospective partners

;Kyoko Himekawa: A thief who returns stolen art to its rightful owners.
;Shiori Ureshino: A college student who will one day take over her family's party supply company.
;Kimie Arashiyama: The Hamster Master, whose family is a branch subordinate to the Beast Clan.
;Chinatsu Akakura: A "protector" who has skills similar to the assassin clans, but more useful for defense, as they have not specialized. Her weapon of choice is a metal-alloy barrier tape.
;Makoto Himi: Ureshino's friend, who can change her attitude from meek and mild to aggressive to suit the audience. Her father Yukio has made many sacrifices after the death of her mother.

Friends

;Piichi Nakagawa: The Hit Man Hunter, an "ordinary guy" who has great talent with a knife. He wants to open a cafe with his girlfriend Marin and has decided to kill the assassins, starting with the Beast Clan, because he feels his potential patrons would not be able to dine in peace otherwise.
;Erina Zao: The only daughter of the head of a criminal organization; after he left, he was betrayed by his former colleagues and killed, and they now pursue Erina.

Other Masters

;Toshiro Dogo (Beast): Head of the Beast Clan and one of the Five Great Families. His animal partner species is a bat.
;Tonako Dogo (Beast): New head of the Beast Clan and sister of Toshiro. Her animal partner species is a wolf.
;Ushio (Water):
;Toshiki Hanamaki (Bug): His family is a branch subordinate to the Poison Clan. He is married to Anna Kawakita.
;Tsunagi (Needle): His family is a branch subordinate to the Poison Clan.
;Nagihiko Kushima (Spear): Killed by Piichi; he was infamous for indiscriminate killing.
;Byakko (Bear): From a family subordinate to the Beast Clan which are shunned as the "impure masters" because they skin their bear partners rather than control them.
;Kazuma Kannawa (Wind-Wheel): The Kannawa family was thought to have died out before a trio of siblings, led by Kazuma, were hired to capture Erina Zao. He has a sister (Mitsuba) and brother (Kojiro).
;Sakazuki (Ghost): He uses weapons and belongings possessed by ghosts, either forcing humans to attack with cursed weapons or debuffing their abilities with spiritual mementoes.

Publication

''Marriagetoxin'' is written by Joumyaku and illustrated by Mizuki Yoda. The manga was officially announced by Shueisha on April 11, 2022, and began its weekly serialization for free on the ''Shōnen Jump+'' mobile app and website on the 20th of the same month. Shueisha also simultaneously publishes the series in English for free on the online platform and mobile app ''Manga Plus''.

In June 2023, Viz Media announced that they licensed the series for English release under the name ''Marriage Toxin''.

Volumes

Chapters not yet in format

These chapters have yet to be published in a ''tankōbon'' volume.

* Chapters 120–132
* Bonus chapter 18

Reception

''Marriagetoxin'' was nominated for the Next Manga Award in the Best Web Manga category in June 2022, and ranked eighth out of 50 nominees. It also ranked fifth in the Nationwide Publishers Recommended Comics of 2023. The series was recommended by Koyoharu Gotouge, Gege Akutami and Mogumo, the character designer for the anime series '' Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury''.

The first volume received positive reviews for its art and action sequences. Hikaru Gero has been singled out as a " ry relatable lead" with praise aimed at his design and his relationship with the "bubbly and energetic" Mei Kinosaki. Some criticism was aimed at Kinosaki's supporting role in the story rather than being a "fully realized character."

In ''Anime News Network''s year-end retrospective, Lucas DeRuyter wrote that: "''Marriagetoxin''s attitude towards dating is so healthy, and it was considered a shoo-in for my pick for the best new manga of the year."

References

External links

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{{Shōnen Jump Plus

2022 LGBTQ-related literary works
Action anime and manga
Anime and manga about organized crime
Cross-dressing in anime and manga
Fiction about assassinations
Japanese webcomics
LGBTQ-related anime and manga
Romantic comedy anime and manga
Shōnen manga
Shueisha manga
Viz Media manga
Webcomics in print