A Couple of Cuckoos

“Switched at Birth, Engaged by Fate”

Have you ever forsaken your own happiness to make your family happy? Our parents and siblings mean a lot to us, but we don’t always see eye-to-eye, and they require very unreasonable things from us at times. It may be of prime importance to them, but it comes at a severe cost to you and leaves you conflicted on what to do. Some choose to abide by the wishes of their loved ones, perhaps going to regret this decision later on, while others prioritize their own happiness and maybe regret not listening to their parents in the future. Life requires us to make all sorts of sacrifices and compromises, for the better or worse. So ask yourself what you would do if you ever found yourself in a situation like the one described in this anime!

“A Couple of Cuckoos," also known as “Kakkou no Iinazuke” or “Cuckoo's Fiancee," is a 24-episode TV anime series that aired from the 24th of April up until the 2nd of October, in spring 2022. SynergySP Studios and Shin-Ei Animation brought it to life while working with TV Asahi, Kodansha, Crunchyroll, and Kadokawa on its production.

The main staff involved included Kurosu Nobuhiko, Sakurai Yousuke, Mori Yuuki, and Tachibana Kou as producers. Featuring the genres of comedy and romance, alongside a harem theme, this show is targeted at the Shounen demographic. Each episode runs for 23 minutes, and the series received a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older.

The series is based on the manga of the same title, which began publication on January 29, 2020, and is still ongoing. Serialized in the Weekly Shounen Magazine, it is the work of author Yoshikawa Miki, who handles both the story and the art. It has also been published digitally in English by Kodansha Comics USA as of January 12, 2021, while also being simulpub through K Manga.

An alternative version titled “Kakkou no Iinazuke (One-shot)” was also released by the same author on September 25, 2019. A 22-episode ONA series titled “Kakkou no Iinazuke Mini Anime” was released from the 28th of April until the 30th of September, 2022. Done by Studio AQUA ARIS, this comedy-isekai mini-anime consisted of 2 minute episodes with a PG-13 rating. It was released on the KADOKAWA Anime YouTube channel.

The story centers around the two protagonists, the “Cuckoos” in question, Nagi Umino and Erika Amano. One is a studious high school student, while the other is a social media star—two completely different people with next to nothing connecting them. But fate had other plans for them, as it is revealed that they were swapped at birth!

This sudden ground-breaking news shakes everyone involved, mainly the duo’s families, who hastily devise a quite selfish plan to ensure “everyone’s happiness.” Unknown to both Nagi and Erika, their families wish to restore the children to their rightful families by having the two get engaged! After learning about this preposterous proposition, Nagi and Erika swiftly reject this absurd idea and blatantly refuse to abide by their parents' wishes.

The issue is that none of the parties involved are willing to yield, so only time can tell where this haywire relationship will go. Will the duo find their own separate paths or ultimately fall in love with each other?

“A Couple of Cuckoos” can swing both ways, either ending up an enjoyable experience for you or making you question why you even bothered to watch it till the end. The studious male harem protagonist is nothing new in the genre, especially if you have ever watched “The Quintessential Quintuplets” or “We Never Learn.” Umino Nagi is probably one of the worst of that archetype, which greatly hindered my watching experience. But as academically proficient as he is, this man is very indecisive and dumb on many occasions. He also makes the most ludicrous and cringy assumptions possible, a new record in my book, and ends up being another boring MC who’s the butt of many terrible jokes. Whatever beauty and quality the show starts with, it gradually declines as it drags its feet towards the end, and it made me wonder what on earth happened to the author.

Another issue here is the execution of the themes, which become exceedingly muddled, as I found myself wondering what this tale was trying to do. Was it trying to unravel how babies of different genders were swapped at birth? Or was it trying to become a Slice of Life show partway through? I honestly do not know, especially in the second half of the series, where everything was all over the place.

Starting with the story, just forget about figuring out how and why the main characters were swapped at birth. These things aren’t rare in anime, where the audience is better off turning off their brains and accepting things as they are.

Even if you watch it while accepting the absurdity, there are quite a few things to annoy you. For example, all the girls are in love with Nagi in typical harem fashion, which even includes his younger sister. But things get weird when these very girls attempt to be the wingwoman for another girl, all while retaining their own feelings for the male protagonist.

This is not realistic at all and is not executed well, to the point where I was wondering who was more off here. The pacing is quite slow, especially during the second half, and it was crawling with cliffhangers for no good reason. It’s not that the whole show’s a dumpster fire, as there are some great moments thrown in there, but overall, the cons weigh it down harder. There is also an overabundance of fluff preceding any and all plot development at the end of each episode, serving no other purpose than fluff itself. This department just felt very lacking in quality and didn’t seem to know what it was trying to accomplish.

While Nagi's flaws are obvious, and it is difficult to enjoy a show like this when you dislike the MC, surely the girls have something positive to say? Beginning with the main character, Erika, this "social media influencer" was raised in a wealthy family and carries several "rich girl issues."

This comes to light when she moves out to live with Nagi and has no clue how to do everyday tasks, finding everything to be new. Fortunately, her character is quite inoffensive overall and didn’t annoy me much, but her muddled feelings for Nagi sure did. She is just another Tsundere who is both predictable and irrational, starting off mildly likable before attacking the protagonist in the very first episode.

Hiro is next; she felt like the only rational character with substance in this series, as she appeared to have a solid backstory, but she suffered from inconsistent writing. She is extremely kind and compassionate one moment, but overbearing and annoying the next, for no apparent reason. This could have been explained and executed well with better writing, but they don’t do that in this show.

Last but not least is Sachi, a girl who makes you wonder why she’s even there in the first place. She both likes Nagi but doesn't at the same time, serving as the source of banter for the show, but honestly, it’s very weird and half-baked. Their overall relationship swings like a pendulum, making it irritating to watch on occasion no less. She literally served no purpose, had no meaningful role to play, and only served to make the show worse.

Then there is the matter of Nagi and Erika having the traits of their real parents despite having grown up and lived with the others' parents their entire lives. This makes no sense at all and can be attributed to forced characterization and nothing else.

The art and animation department really shines amidst the bad writing and lackluster characters. This show’s art is eye-candy, featuring a very colorful palette with great detail and finishing. The character designs are great too; they are quite distinguishable and fit the tone of the show, all except for Nagi, who looks like another boring Harem protagonist.

It has great animation, complete with fluid movements that really bring out each character's personality and vibe. The girls all look cute in their own way, and the facial expressions are on point, but there’s nothing groundbreaking here. Honestly, this show is very charismatic on visuals alone and gives off a great impression.

The Sounds and Music department is great as well. The opening themes are "Dekoboko" by Kiyoe Yoshioka and "Glitter" by sumika, while the ending themes are Shikaku Unmei" by Sangatsu no Phantasia and "HELLO HELLO HELLO" by Eir Aoi. I honestly enjoyed all four, which are cheerful and served as the highlights of this series for me. The voice actors did a superb job, despite the issues with the characters they were portraying. Meanwhile, the OSTs were decent and suited the situations just fine, but nothing super noteworthy. The sound effects were the same; they did their job and didn’t necessarily ruin anything.

Overall, “A Couple of Cuckoos” is a weird mess of a series. It just feels like a lost and misguided project that lost its spark very early on and never really reclaimed it. That said, if the writing quality picks up, this tale truly can become something decent again, and I hope that it happens in the manga at some point.

I would recommend this show to anyone willing to turn their brain off to enjoy the abundant fluff and eye candy, coupled with great openings and endings to keep you cheery. But if you are looking for a coherent and solid plot, along with characters with depth and development, I suggest you look elsewhere. This series is a cluster of mediocre writing with forced plot progression; this is Nisekoi if it went too far! Personally, I do not recommend it.