A Couple of Cuckoosisan adaptation of a Romantic Comedy mangaby the same name, written by Miki Yoshikawa. The author herself is no stranger to this genre, after all, her past works such asYankee-kun to Megane-chanandYamada and The Seven Witchesare some of the biggest Rom-com titles of their time.
SinceA Couple of Cuckoosis a new adaptation of Yoshikawa’s latest major work, there is a lot of hype behind it. Let’s see whether this first episode manages to live up to the fans' huge expectations or not.
RELATED:Spring 2022 Preview: A Couple of Cuckoos
You’re Going To Be My Boyfriend
The story ofA Couple of Cuckoosis about Nagi Umeno. Apparently, he was switched at birth, and now that he is a high school sophomore, his biological parents wish to meet him. On the way to the meeting place, Nagi meets a cheeky girl named Erika Amano. Her parents want her to marry someone she has never met before.
So Erika decides to ask Nagi to pretend to be her boyfriend in the hope of changing her parents' minds. Although reluctantly, Nagi finally agrees to help Erika. Unbeknownst to them, they are actually the switched children and both of their parents have decided that the best course of action for both families is ifthey are simply married to each other.
Interesting Premise
The premise of switching at birth is nothing new in fictional stories. As a matter of fact, it is actually one of the easiest premises to use in order to explore all sorts of tension and drama throughout the story. Because there are tons of ways to develop this premise into whatever the author wants it to be. It can be a tragic drama as easily as it is to develop into a romantic comedy.
That being said, the approach that Yoshikawa Miki took to the story is actually quite interesting. Because rather than make it a drama between the two children andtheir respective families, she provides an easy solution right from the start. Rather than having the child choose between their biological parents or the parents that raise them, why not just marry them instead? That way they can stay in both families. That is honestly quite an interesting way to go about this familiar premise.
Lovable Characters
The two characters that are heavily featured in this first episode are Nagi and Erika. From what we can see thus far, both of them are quite lovable and relatable characters. Nagi’s anxiousness on meeting his biological parents and Erika’s frustration with her parents' decision regarding the arranged marriage are perfectly valid and believable reactions. As a matter of fact, given the same circumstances, most of us would probably feel and react the same way.
RELATED:Komi Can’t Communicate Season 2, Episode 1 Review “Winter Arrives”
Not only that, the way both of them feel so comfortable around each other and the dynamic between the two vastly different personalities successfully create suchsweet and unique chemistrythat will make the viewers love them and want to root for them.
Potential Harem Situation
Now let’s move on to the first drawback of this first episode. Right at the end of the episode, we are presented with two other female characters that potentially have feelings for Nagi, which means we geta potential Harem situationon our hands.
Some people like this trope, while others might be tired of seeing the same old story where multiple girls like the same man to the point of competing for his affection. However, since it is a Yoshikawa Miki’s work, chances are this harem situation is not only a possibility, but rather a core element of the story. Let’s just hope it can at least develop into something interesting.
Predictable Outcome
Other than the Harem situation, there are a couple other things that we can predict regarding the story. The reason is simply because Yoshikawa Miki has a certain formula to her story that she has used in her past works. It allowed her to create a very interesting story, but it is still a formula nonetheless.
Judging from what little we’ve seen in this first episode,A Couple of Cuckoosseems to also follow that same formula. So it is highly likely that the girls involved in the Harem will receive dedicated time to explore their individual tales, but when all is said and done, the guy will choose one girl that he loves the most. Let’s see whether everything will progress in the same way or not.
The first episode ofA Couple of Cuckoospresents a very interesting story with a great premise and lovable characters. However, the fact that it is a Harem rom-com with a predictable story progression might turn some people off from this series. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it isone of the most hilarious and exciting rom-comsin this season, and you should definitely watch the next episode.
More:Best Anime of The Spring 2022 Season (& Where to Watch Them)
