Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai sareru

The Shaderan family has fallen on hard times, and the avaricious and callous baron and baroness will stop at nothing to regain status. They favor their beautiful daughter Anastasia, hoping to marry her into wealth, while they treat the second daughter, Marie, no better than a servant. Years of abuse have convinced Marie that she is truly undeserving of love and attention.

On Marie's birthday—used as a ploy to showcase Anastasia—Marie meets Count Kyros Granado, who is immediately charmed by Marie and her knowledge of his culture. Believing Anastasia to be the one he fell for, Kyros proposes via letter. But Anastasia tragically dies on her way to marry him. Forced to take Anastasia's place, Marie becomes Kyros' fiancée, just as he originally intended. Although Marie terribly lacks confidence, Kyros gently helps her find her worth, awakening her to her own beauty and the true meaning of being loved.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Granado, Kyros Main

Hamano, Daiki Japanese

Shaderan, Marie Main

Motomura, Rena Japanese

Mio Supporting

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Shaderan, Anastasia Supporting

Tanaka, Minami Japanese

Cecilie Supporting

Terasawa, Momoka Japanese

Granado, Liu Liu Supporting

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

Wolfgang Supporting

Asou, Tomohisa Japanese

Johan Supporting

Taketora Japanese

Tania Supporting

Sadaoka, Sayuri Japanese

Giovanni Supporting

Aoki, Takashi Japanese

Kamei, Hiroshi Assistant Producer

Kitagawa, Takayuki Director

Kameyama, Toshiki Sound Director

Ihara, Kenta Script, Series Composition

Reviews

Oct 12, 2025

Otaku_Senpai

Recommended

This is a decent shoujo, or rather josei. The art and animation is decent for the genre. I felt this is a variant or the Cinderella story. Much of the show is about how the woman overcomes the harsh upbringing and is liberated by kindness and love. By the end the story wraps up nicely with no need for a further sequel.
Is the story unique? No. It was predictable sometimes. I enjoyed it anyway for what it was.

I am not in the demography and so cant give it a higher score but I can see how the target audience might.
My Rating: 6/10 ... (Okay)

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Otaku_Senpai (56)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Oct 20, 2025

patkarunungan

Mixed Feelings

'Betrothed to My Sister's Ex' is the latest so-called Cinderella story from what we've had in recent years, namely, My Happy Marriage, as well as 'The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom.' How does this fare?


§ Overview

Marie Sharedan is the maltreated second daughter of Duke Shaderan, whilst her older sister, Anastacia, is well-beloved.

Anastacia is supposed to be engaged with Count Kyros Granado. However, Anastacia met an untimely fate, so Marie has to be her substitute. Will Marie finally find the happiness that she was deprived of?


... § Notes

1. Let's talk about the studio and staff.

⚫ The studio, LandQ studios, has been in the game for more than a decade now. Established in 2009, their offerings are obscure and, unfortunately, judged as mid by MAL users.

⚫ This anime is the director's full-length anime. Kitagawa Takayuki's previous two works as a director involve a movie and an extremely short ONA. He mostly worked as a key animator in previous projects.

Even though he's not new in the industry, his anime début doesn't seem to be a work worth praising, as it is filled with inconsistencies. More on that below.

⚫ I'll have to give partial credit to Terabun Kana, the colour designer. There are some added filters, like some traces of green around Marie, that make her stand out.


2. Let's now talk about stuff about the anime.

First, the characters.

⚫ The best character is Mio. She takes the initiative. She thinks ahead. She is probably the worst person you can try to deceive.

⚫ What I like about the girl, Marie, is that she doesn't come across as pathetic. Sure, she is mistreated, but the anime doesn't want people to dwell on her mistreatment. This serves as a new flavour of the Cinderella story but also undermines it.

I love that Marie is well-read about many countries, and she is knowledgeable about a number of foreign languages. This is one aspect that I, as a language learner, approve of in this series.

Her red hair attracts discrimination.

⚫ Like Too Perfect Saint during the Spring 2025 season, the older sister here, Anastacia, is kind to our heroine. This is the second anime where the stereotype of the evil sister has been inverted.

⚫ The male lead, Count Kyros Granado, has a dark complexion, leading to racism. Good thing, he worked his ass off so that he became the richest in the kingdom.

One thing that bugs me about his background is that it has all the elements that would make him equally oppressed as Marie. He is an illegitimate child. A potential drama would have ensued with him meeting the legal wife of his father, but this did not happen. This is one of those consistent inconsistencies.

Let's now talk about the story, including the consistent inconsistencies.

⚫ Kyros' backstory is rushed. Where some drama could have been presented, lasting 2 or even 4 episodes, it was hand-waved to not go in that direction.

⚫ Both Kyros and Marie are in love with each other. Many of the scenes are lovey-dovey, as if the point of this anime is fan service: good vibes only and shying away from drama.

This creates the frustrating experience that when the dramatick parts do come, they just happen and don't feel emotionally deep as they should in a proper drama. This also leads to the ending that's beautiful for the couple, but you can't really be satisfied with all the holes that were ignored.


§ Conclusion

If you want an okay love story with cute couples, you can watch it to pass the time. After all, you're more likely to ignore the narrative inconsistencies. But if you're more sensitive to such inconsistencies and can't tolerate them, don't touch this with a 10-foot pole.


NOTA BENE: A grade of 4 out of 10 means I got some enjoyment out of this anime, but the issues are glaring, or simply I rank it higher than my 3's but below my 5's.

My enjoyment spectrum lies from 4 to 10. If I have scored an anime below 4, I actively dislike it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by patkarunungan (304)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Sep 20, 2025

User842713

Not Recommended

TLDR: A visually exquisite experience weight down by shallow characters and an unoriginal story.

The show shines a light on interesting societal and interpersonal dynamics, but refuses to engage the topics in any detail to the point that they feel like set dressing. The male MC, Kyros, is a lord who employs the most capable people regardless of ethnicity/ nationality. Some of the positive sides of this approach, like diversity in cuisine, clothing, care products and procedures, are showcased but none of the conflicts that would arise from different upbringings and culture values are seen at all. Kyros himself is an ethnic minority and seems to ... be the result of a untoward relationship between the previous count and a commoner, who is either vaguely middle eastern or possibly Romani inspired. Their relationship is spoken about for no more than five minutes. Similarly, the consequences of Kyros' racial and cultural background are explored through flashbacks that don't even amount to half an episode and they don't seem to affect the story in any way. He's portrayed as a capable businessman and count with one interest: his fiance.

The female MC, Marie, is the younger daughter of an incompetent baron. Her parents mistreat her because of an inherent physical characteristic. The specific characteristic does not matter, it could have easily been feet that are too large or oddly shaped elbows. The only people who seems to think of it as a negative trait are her parents. It does not affect how other characters treat her, although the show does try to portray the suffering she goes through as a result of her dysphoria.

The story boils down to "what if Disney's Cinderella kept going for another four hours". There is more to the story, as implied by the runtime, but none of it is particularly original. The story has two central points: the death of Marie's sister, Anastasia, and Marie's betrothal to the count as Anastasia's replacement. The first part of the story tries to deal with the latter, but the concept is swept under the rug in the first episode. The show instead attempt to portray Marie dealing with her sense of inadequacy. Unfortunately, the show dedicated too much screen time to this aspect of the story. The former is more or less ignored until it becomes relevant to the plot, which is also the first time Marie is portrayed grieving Anastasia's death in spite of her being one Marie's only friends.

While the medieval European setting isn't particularly creative, the environment designs are intricate and well made. The character designs are stellar. It's evident that a lot of effort was put into creating appropriate attire and hair styles for all the named characters. There isn't much action in this anime as such there is nothing in particular to say about the animation. It is serviceable.

The pacing is decent in spite of some parts of the story overstaying their welcome. I watched the episodes the week they aired and never felt like watching was a drag.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by User842713 (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

2025 New Romance Anime

by Doggo1195

41 Entries · 106 Restacks

Parejas formadas pronto - Early engaged couples #2

by El_Osgo

5 Entries · 1 Restacks

Shousetsuka ni Narou anime adaptation, Part 5

by AkeZZZ

50 Entries · 70 Restacks

Summer 2025 Simulcast List [Update 8/7]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of television anime acquired for simulcast release during the Summer 2025 season. Anime series licensed for hom...read more

Jun 27, 2:20 PM by Snow | Discuss (17 comments)

Summer 2025 Preview

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of Summer 2025 titles with an accompanying promotional video, commercial, teaser, or trailer. This post will be...read more

Jun 18, 12:31 PM by Snow | Discuss (10 comments)

	Poll: Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai sareru Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Marinate1016 - Sep 19	64 replies	by Tsuyu_no_Inochi »» Nov 3, 4:41 AM
	Poll: Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai sareru Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 5	56 replies	by iwubanime »» Oct 26, 7:48 PM
	Poll: Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai sareru Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 12	30 replies	by VanniePon »» Oct 23, 9:18 AM
	Poll: Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai sareru Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 22	28 replies	by 6AMDiary »» Oct 12, 7:05 PM
	Poll: Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai sareru Episode 7 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 15	30 replies	by 6AMDiary »» Oct 10, 4:42 PM