A Couple of Cuckoos

A Couple of Cuckoos (Japanese: カッコウの許嫁, Hepburn: Kakkō no Iinazuke, "Cuckoo's Fiancé(e)") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Miki Yoshikawa. It was originally published as a one-shot in September 2019, before beginning serialization in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in January 2020. An anime television series adaptation produced by Shin-Ei Animation and SynergySP aired from April to October 2022 on TV Asahi's NUMAnimation block.

Plot

Nagi Umino is a 16-year-old second-year high school student who learns that he is not the biological child of the family that raised him. On the way to his first meeting with his biological family, he meets Erika Amano, a popular internet celebrity who is trying to escape from an arranged marriage. Later, Nagi and Erika discover that the hospital had accidentally switched the two after their births and their parents are now aiming to put them in an arranged marriage; so they, selfishly, do not have to say goodbye to the children they raised after missing out of their respective childhoods. To facilitate this, they are made to live in a house owned by Erika's family; hoping the two will fall in love before graduation, but will respect their wishes to abandon the idea if nothing comes of it.

Characters

Nagi Umino (海野 凪, Umino Nagi)

Voiced by: Yuma Uchida (PV), Kaito Ishikawa (anime) (Japanese); Nicholas Andrew Louie (English)

A second-year student at Megurogawa Academy, who is ranked second in his grade. He is the biological son of a hotel tycoon, but due to a mix-up after his birth is raised by a different family. He has a crush on his classmate Hiro Segawa and aims to confess to her once he beats her in the school rankings. Following a challenge which he won, he starts dating Hiro. However, he starts to develop feelings toward Erika after realizing he hurt her by choosing Hiro.

Erika Amano (天野 エリカ, Amano Erika)

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida (PV), Akari Kitō (anime) (Japanese); Lindsay Sheppard (English)

A popular Instagram celebrity who is the biological daughter of the family that raised Nagi. She first meets him while taking videos at a park, and makes him pretend to be her boyfriend to escape from an arranged marriage, unaware that her parents arranged for her to be engaged to Nagi and for them to live together in a single house. After her school discovers the pictures she took with him, she is forced to transfer to Nagi's school. She decided to start an Instagram account in order to reach someone she had been looking for. Though she initially had no romantic feelings or interest in him, Erika later on realizes she really is in love with Nagi, as she is hurt when he chooses Hiro instead of her. She nevertheless continues to have feelings for Nagi's biological older brother Sōsuke, the person she was originally searching for.

Sachi Umino (海野 幸, Umino Sachi)

Voiced by: Konomi Kohara (anime) (Japanese); Bryn Apprill (English)

Nagi's adoptive sister and Erika's biological sister. She is scared that Nagi will leave her, and later she runs away from home and moves to the house where Nagi and Erika are staying. Later on in the series, she decides to aim for enrolling in Nagi and Erika's school after graduating from junior high school. She also has feelings for Nagi, which grew after she learned they are not blood-related.

Hiro Segawa (瀬川 ひろ, Segawa Hiro)

Voiced by: Nao Tōyama (anime) (Japanese); Amanda Lee (English)

Nagi's classmate who is ranked first in her grade. She lives in a temple and works as a miko. She later becomes friends with Erika. It is revealed that she is also engaged to someone else. Though she wants Nagi to get together with Erika, it is suggested that she has developed feelings for Nagi as well. She sometimes shows yandere tendencies towards Nagi.

Ai Mochizuki (望月 あい, Mochizuki Ai)

Nagi's childhood friend, who moved to China as a child due to her father's work, and returns to Japan for Nagi. She is also a popular online singer. She has loved Nagi since childhood, to the point of decorating her room with pictures of him.

Yōhei Umino (海野 洋平, Umino Yōhei)

Voiced by: Ryōhei Kimura (anime) (Japanese); Gianni Matragrano (English)

Nagi's adoptive father. Erika and Sachi's biological father. He and his wife Namie run a restaurant together.

Namie Umino (海野 奈美恵, Umino Namie)

Voiced by: Yoko Hikasa (anime) (Japanese); Marissa Lenti (English)

Nagi's adoptive mother. Erika and Sachi's biological mother. She and her husband Yōhei run a restaurant together.

Sōichirō Amano (天野 宗一郎, Amano Sōichirō)

Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (anime) (Japanese); David J. Dixon (English)

Erika's adoptive father. Nagi's biological father. He is the owner of a hotel chain.

Ritsuko Amano (天野 律子, Amano Ritsuko)

Voiced by: Yukiko Aruga (anime) (Japanese); Monica Rial (English)

Erika's adoptive mother. Nagi's biological mother. She works as a television producer.

Shion Asuma (遊馬 シオン, Asuma Shion)

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (anime) (Japanese); Brendan Blaber (English)

Production

A Couple of Cuckoos is the first manga series in which Miki Yoshikawa uses digital drawing.

Media

Manga

Miki Yoshikawa first published the series as a one-shot in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in September 2019, as part of a promotion in which she would publish three one-shots and readers could vote on which would receive a serialization. The series began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Magazine on January 29, 2020. The first tankōbon volume was released on May 15, 2020. A promotional video for the series was released on June 11, 2020. The video was voiced by Yūma Uchida and Maaya Uchida, who are siblings. As of April 2024, twenty-two volumes have been released.

The series is licensed in digital format in North America by Kodansha USA.

Volumes

Anime

In April 2021, an anime television series adaptation was announced. It is animated by Shin-Ei Animation and SynergySP and directed by Yoshiyuki Shirahata, with Hiroaki Akagi serving as chief director, Yasuhiro Nakanishi overseeing series scripts, and Aya Takano designing characters. The series aired from April 24 to October 2, 2022, on TV Asahi's NUMAnimation block. It aired for two consecutive cours. The first opening theme song is "Dekoboko" (凸凹, Rough) by Kiyoe Yoshioka, vocalist of the Japanese duo Ikimonogakari, while the ending theme song is "Shikaku Unmei" (四角運命, Square Destiny) by Sangatsu no Phantasia. The second opening theme is "Glitter" by Sumika, while the second ending theme is "HELLO HELLO HELLO" by Eir Aoi. Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia. A spin-off mini anime series titled Kakkō no Iikagen premiered on YouTube on April 28, 2022.

On April 11, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the series would receive an English dub, which premiered on May 7. However, the English dub of the series was produced in Coppell Studios in what was Funimation, which acquired Crunchyroll in August 2021 and Sony rebranded Funimation as Crunchyroll in March 2022. On July 10, 2022, a promotional video for the second cours starting on July 23 was released. Eir Aoi performed the new ending theme song "HELLO HELLO HELLO".

Episodes

Reception

It was reported that the first volume of the manga sold out in stores due to high demand, and that sales exceeded the publisher and author's expectations. A Couple of Cuckoos ranked twelfth on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2021 for male readers. The series ranked fifth on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2021" by the Honya Club website. The manga has been nominated for the 46th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category in 2022.

Notes

References

External links

• Official manga website at Pocket Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese)
• Official anime website (in Japanese)
• Official Twitter account (in Japanese)
• A Couple of Cuckoos at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• A Couple of Cuckoos at IMDb