A Couple of Cuckoos

A Couple of Cuckoos (Japanese: カッコウの許嫁, Hepburn: Kakkō no Iinazuke, "Cuckoo's Fiancee") 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 by Shin-Ei Animation and SynergySP premiered in April 2022 on TV Asahi's NUMAnimation block.

A Couple of Cuckoos
Cover of the first manga volume featuring Nagi Umino (left) and Erika Amano (right)
カッコウの許嫁
(Kakkō no Iinazuke)
GenreRomantic comedy[1]
Manga
Written byMiki Yoshikawa
Published byKodansha
English publisher
ImprintShōnen Magazine Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runJanuary 29, 2020 – present
Volumes11
Anime television series
Directed by
  • Hiroaki Akagi (chief ADR)
  • Yoshiyuki Shirahata
Written byYasuhiro Nakanishi
StudioShin-Ei Animation
SynergySP
Licensed byCrunchyroll
Original networkTV Asahi
Original run April 24, 2022 – present
Episodes2

Plot

Nagi Umino is a 17-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 their parents had accidentally switched the two after their births and were now aiming to put them in an arranged marriage. To facilitate this, they are made to live in a house owned by Erika's family.

Characters
Nagi Umino (海野 凪, Umino Nagi)
Voiced by: Yuma Uchida[1] (PV), Kaito Ishikawa[2] (anime)
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.
Erika Amano (天野 エリカ, Amano Erika)
Voiced by: Maaya Uchida[1] (PV), Akari Kitō[2] (anime)
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. Her parents arrange 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.
Sachi Umino (海野 幸, Umino Sachi)
Voiced by: Konomi Kohara[3] (anime)
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[4] (anime)
Nagi's classmate who is ranked first in her grade. She lives in a temple and also works as a miko. She later becomes friends with Erika. It is later revealed that she is also engaged to someone else. Later on, it is suggested that she has developed feelings for Nagi.
Ai Mochizuki (望月 あい, Mochizuki Ai)
Nagi's childhood friend, who moved to China when she was 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[5] (anime)
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: Yōko Hikasa[5] (anime)
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[5] (anime)
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[5] (anime)
Erika's adoptive mother. Nagi's biological mother. She works as a television producer.

Media

Manga

Miki Yoshikawa first published the series as a one-shot in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in September 2019, as part of a promotion where she would publish three one-shots and readers could vote on which would receive a serialization.[6][7] The series began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Magazine on January 29, 2020.[7] The first tankōbon volume was released on May 15, 2020.[8] 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.[1] As of March 17, 2022, eleven volumes have been released.[9]

The manga series has been licensed in digital in North America by Kodansha USA.[10]

Volume list
No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 May 15, 2020[8]978-4-06-519380-8January 12, 2021[11]978-1-64-659893-9
2 July 17, 2020[12]978-4-06-519380-8February 9, 2021[13]978-1-64-659985-1
3 September 17, 2020[14]978-4-06-520597-6March 9, 2021[15]978-1-63-699002-6
4 November 17, 2020[16]978-4-06-521254-7June 29, 2021[17]978-1-63-699002-6
5 January 15, 2021[18]978-4-06-521642-2August 10, 2021[19]978-1-63-699294-5
6 April 16, 2021[20]978-4-06-522522-6March 1, 2022[21]978-1-63-699642-4
7 July 16, 2021[22]978-4-06-523580-5May 3, 2022[23]978-1-68-491160-8
8 September 17, 2021[24]978-4-06-524837-9——
9 November 17, 2021[25]978-4-06-526000-5——
10 January 17, 2022[26]978-4-06-526602-1——
11 March 17, 2022[9]978-4-06-527283-1——
12 May 17, 2022[27]978-4-06-527918-2——

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.[2] The series premiered on April 24, 2022, on TV Asahi's NUMAnimation block.[lower-alpha 1] It will air for two consecutive cours.[28] The opening theme song is "Dekoboko" (Rough) by Kiyoe Yoshioka, vocalist of the Japanese duo Ikimonogakari, while the ending theme song is "Shikaku Unmei" (Square Destiny) by Sangatsu no Phantasia.[5][29] Crunchyroll licensed the series outside of Asia.[30] A spin-off mini anime series titled Kakkō no Iikagen premiered on YouTube on April 28, 2022.[28]

On April 11, 2022, Crunchyroll announced that the series will receive an English dub.[31]

Episode list
No.Title [32][33]Directed by [32]Written by [32]Storyboarded by [32]Original air date [32]
1"You're Going to Be My Boyfriend"
Transcription: "Watashi no Kareshi ni Narinasai yo" (Japanese: 私の彼氏になりなさいよ)		Yoshiyuki ShirahataYasuhiro NakanishiYoshiyuki ShirahataApril 24, 2022 (2022-04-24)
Sixteen years ago two babies are accidentally switched at birth. Today, Nagi Umino is to meet his biological parents for the first time. Nagi sees a girl, Erika Amano, about to jump from a bridge and pulls her back. She explains she was recording a video for Inusta, on which she is an internet celebrity, to antagonise her wealthy parents into letting her out of an arranged marriage. She instead blackmails Nagi into pretending to be her boyfriend. Several of Erika’s fans attempt to beat Nagi for dating Erika. Nagi beats them instead, revealing his adoptive parents are former delinquents. Erika decides to simply punch her fiancé instead of blackmailing Nagi and departs. Nagi rushes to the meeting with his adoptive and biological parents who explain that since they don’t want to lose the children they raised they instead want them to marry. Erika walks in and is revealed as the baby with whom Nagi was switched, now his official fiancé. Erika follows through on her decision and punches him. Nagi returns to school and meets Hiro Segawa, his academic rival and crush whom he has decided to only confess to once he has beaten her exam scores as she once told him she would only date a man smarter than herself.
2"I Won't Marry You"
Transcription: "Kekkon nara Shinai wa yo?" (Japanese: 結婚ならしないわよ？)		Mayu NumayamaYasuhiro NakanishiKunihisa SugishimaMay 1, 2022 (2022-05-01)
Nagi is surprised when Erika visits his home. Due to her wealthy upbringing Erika is completely out of touch with normal life, and struggles to believe Nagi’s entire family lives in such a small house. She invites Nagi to her family home, an opulent mansion, also revealing they own six similar homes throughout Japan and other countries. Nagi begins to have serious doubts a marriage between them would work and decides he needs to reject their engagement. Erika suddenly rejects him first and demands to see his parents and tell them so. At their diner Nagi’s parents fawn over Erika and Nagi panics while Erika visibly becomes more upset. When they insist Erika meet Sachi, her biological sister, Erika abruptly leaves crying, revealing to Nagi his parents are such kind people she couldn’t stand to disappoint them by ending the engagement. After reassuring her Nagi brings her back to the diner and everyone has family dinner together. Sachi covertly adds Erika’s chopsticks to their family utensil jug, suggesting she liked Erika. Walking Erika home Nagi meets her father, his biological father, who is confident that despite their unusual meeting, they will do well as a married couple, so confident in fact that to prove it he has bought them a house and insists they live there together for two weeks.

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.[34] A Couple of Cuckoos ranked #12 on Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list of best manga of 2021 for male readers.[35] The series ranked #5 on the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2021" by the Honya Club website.[36][37] The manga has been nominated for the 46th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category in 2022.[38]

Notes
  1. TV Asahi lists the series premiere at 25:30 on April 23, 2022, which is effectively 1:30 a.m. JST on April 24.

References
  1. "マガジン漫画、異例の3週連続重版 『カッコウの許嫁』PV制作で出演は内田真礼&内田雄馬" (in Japanese). Oricon. June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  2. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (April 6, 2021). "Miki Yoshikawa's A Couple of Cuckoos Manga Gets TV Anime in 2022". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  3. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (November 17, 2021). "A Couple of Cuckoos TV Anime's Video Reveals Konomi Kohara as Sachi Umino". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  4. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (September 15, 2021). "A Couple of Cuckoos TV Anime's Video Reveals Nao Tōyama as Hiro Segawa". Anime News Network. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  5. Loo, Egan (January 16, 2022). "A Couple of Cuckoos Anime's English-Subtitled Video Unveils More Cast, Opening Song, April Debut". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  6. Mateo, Alex (August 21, 2019). "Weekly Shōnen Magazine Readers Vote to Decide Yamada-kun & the Seven Witches Creator Miki Yoshikawa's Next Series". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  7. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (December 31, 2019). "Miki Yoshikawa Launches New Manga Series Kakkō no Iinazuke on January 29". Anime News Network. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  8. "『カッコウの許嫁（１）』 (吉河 美希）" (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  9. カッコウの許嫁（11） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  10. Hazra, Adriana (November 27, 2020). "Kodansha Comics Licenses 8 New Manga by Miki Yoshikawa, Kanae Hazuki, More". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  11. "A Couple of Cuckoos, Volume 1". Kodansha USA. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  12. カッコウの許嫁（２） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  13. "A Couple of Cuckoos, Volume 2". Kodansha USA. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  14. カッコウの許嫁（3） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  15. "A Couple of Cuckoos, Volume 3". Kodansha USA. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  16. カッコウの許嫁（4） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  17. "A Couple of Cuckoos, Volume 4". Kodansha USA. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  18. カッコウの許嫁（5） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  19. "A Couple of Cuckoos, Volume 5". Kodansha USA. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  20. カッコウの許嫁（6） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  21. "A Couple of Cuckoos, Volume 6". Kodansha USA. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  22. カッコウの許嫁（7） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  23. "A Couple of Cuckoos, Volume 7". Kodansha USA. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  24. カッコウの許嫁（8） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  25. カッコウの許嫁（9） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  26. カッコウの許嫁（10） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  27. カッコウの許嫁（12） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  28. Loo, Egan (April 6, 2022). "A Couple of Cuckoos Anime Reveals Half-Year Run, Mini-Anime, Opening Sequence". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  29. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (March 16, 2022). "A Couple of Cuckoos Anime's 2nd Video Reveals Ending Song, April 23 Debut". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  30. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (November 20, 2021). "Crunchyroll Streams Spy×Family, Tomodachi Game, In/Spectre, A Couple of Cuckoos More 2022 Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  31. Mateo, Alex (April 11, 2022). "Crunchyroll Streams English Dubs for Aharen-san wa Hakarenai, Estab Life: Great Escape, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War -Ultra Romantic-, The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2, More Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  32. "Terebi Anime "Kakkō no Iinazuke" Kōshiki Saito" TVアニメ「カッコウの許嫁」公式サイト [TV Anime "A Couple of Cuckoos" Official Website]. cuckoos-anime.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  33. "A Couple of Cuckoos - Watch on Crunchyroll". Crunchyroll. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  34. "マガジンのラブコメ漫画『カッコウの許嫁』1巻が発売即重版、連載3ヶ月で表紙…異例続出" (in Japanese). Oricon. May 21, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  35. Mateo, Alex (December 17, 2020). "Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Editors Unveil 2021 Rankings". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  36. 全国書店員が選んだおすすめコミック2021. Honya Club com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  37. 全国書店員が選んだおすすめマンガ、今年の1位は「わたしの幸せな結婚」. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. January 29, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  38. 第46回講談社漫画賞の最終候補作14作品が決定. Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
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