Nagai Michi

This is a slice-of-life about a poor couple in an arranged marriage who slowly fall in love with each other.

Normally, I'm a sucker for that kind of plot. And this one is told with quite a lot of charm. The woman is care-free and extremely likable. The artwork is a little sketchy at times, but adds a lot of charm. The plot is told across a series of very short stories, each of which have some central joke or revelation about the characters, and it's a lot of fun.

But...

The man is such a complete jerk. He gets fired repeatedly for incompetence. He constantly falls for gambling and "get-rich-quick" schemes. He regularly insults is wife. He hits on every pretty girl he sees, including his sister-in-law and often in his wife's presence, and at one point it's implied that he cheats on her.

How can I recommend a manga where one of the two main characters--who I'm supposed to be rooting for!--is such a horrible human being? 6/10

I came across Nagai Michi by chance and liked the vibes and art style from the beginning. Since the story consists of three page chapters, it is easy to read. This anecdotic structure fits the story perfectly, since it doesn't have a plot in the strict sense and is very much slice of life.
The art is simple but charming.

The dynamic between the two protagonists worked great for me, although I've seen many people complaining about good-for-nothing husband Sosuke. Sure, I also have my issues with him treating his wife like a servant, constantly being mean to her and spending her money on other women. But I read the manga more as an ironic comment on gender roles in Japan, and that worked very well for me.

One has to keep in mind that Nagai Michi was published in a magazine for housewives (interesting in itself that something like that exists). Michi is the true star here, and I liked her character a lot. She is quiet and plain, but kindhearted and patient to no end, and she has a wonderfully creative mind.
It was really hard for me to wrap my mind around her giving Sosuke a pass on his behaviour, but it unexpectedly kind of kept her dignity, since her life did not consist only of reacting to the male protagonist like you see it in so many shoujo manga. Although they share their life, there's more to it than just relationship drama. I found that refreshing.