Review of A Couple of Cuckoos

Kakkou no Iinazuke (カッコウの許嫁), translates literally to 'The Cuckoo's Fiancé(e)'. Since 許嫁 can either be male or female, it has been rendered into its English title 'A Couple of Cuckoos.' I watched this to catch up to this anime's Season 2, which is a Summer 2025 seasonal. § Overview Amano Erika and Umino Nagi were swapped at birth. Later on, to rectify this, the parents who raised them agreed that both should get married. They are thus engaged. Whilst they don't like this engagement, time will tell if they will develop feelings for each other or find somebody else to love.§ Notes

1. There's no literal cuckoos involved, but the title is apt regarding one basic fact about cuckoos. They tend to leave their hatchlings to other birds so that these birds raise them as if they're their own. It's a somewhat useful metaphor for how the switch at birth happens.

This first season doesn't make it clear if Erika and Nagi are the titular cuckoo couple. It's unanswered. And if they are the cuckoo couple, it feels unsettling if you imagine possible storylines involving their hypothetical children.

2. The baby swapping at birth is a trope that watchers of soap operas are sick and tired of, at least in my country. An iconic kdrama, Autumn in My Heart, used this trope.

Whilst this trope is the bane of soap operas, this anime succeeds in making this trope feel fresh. It provides justification for some commonly used anime tropes, namely 'engagement of unwilling couples' as well as brocon.

3. At first glance, this seems to be a generick harem that follows the formula of The Quintessential Quintuplets. A studious guy and three girls navigate their feelings.

But there's a twist. Nagi isn't the top guy in class. It's Hiro, and Nagi is working his ass off to overthrow Hiro's position so she would date him.

4. I like that Season 1 limits the girls to only three (there's a new girl in Season 2, and she is hinted at in one of the episodes) and has 24 episodes. Those who watched this anime when it was released might have been bored, but for those with access to the entire season, you can feel that this anime takes its time to characterise each girl and make them compelling for Nagi. It doesn't always succeed as the treatment seems uneven, but there's enough effort to appreciate.

5. The two openings and the two closing songs are catchy. This show should be generick, but it seems the studio gave this anime the best ingredients, so to speak.

Not just how good the songs chosen for the OP and ED are, the visuals are on point. It has a nice colour scheme that makes it visually pleasant. This can be seen in the OP/ED. The storyboarding is great.

6. I'm just not pleased that Nagi's character design is generick. The author probably thought of him as a self-insert, hence Nagi was illustrated as such, but he is way too decent a character to be reduced to a self-insert.

§ Conclusion

If you've watched so many harems already, this anime has nothing groundbreaking about it. It's just that it's well executed, and several elements are working in its favour. That's why I recommend it.

NOTA BENE: A grade of 6 out of 10 means that I find this anime slightly above average, and I enjoyed watching it.

A 6 means a decent score and one notch above average. If you're the kind of viewer who treats anything below a 7 as irredeemable, I'd encourage a broader, more nuanced approach to rating.

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