The following contains spoilers for Episode 8 of A Couple of Cuckoos, "Are you going to marry him?" now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Seven episodes in, and A Couple of Cuckoos has successfully brought its audience through a series of unexpected roller coasters. Both in terms of the story, and the overall quality of the episodes. The good ones and the bad ones seem to be alternating in a linear fashion.
Episodes 5 and 6 were arguably this series at its finest. The hype was at an all-time high and everybody was eager to see the next episode. And then episode 7 came along, and the hype was forcefully suppressed to make way for a much more dramatic story. So will episode 8 continue this trend? Let’s find out in this review for the eighth episode of A Couple of Cuckoos.
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Previously on A Couple of Cuckoos
Episode 7 focuses on the school field trip where Nagi gets the chance to be in the same group as Hiro and Erika, along with their classmate named Shion. Shion tells Erika that he is her biggest fan, so Erika decided to use this chance to let Nagi and Hiro spend some quality time together.
However, what ended up happening is Nagi cannot focus on Hiro at all. His attention was always on Erika and Shion and how they seemed to enjoy their time together. Hiro quickly picked up on this sign, and let him know that he didn’t have to spend the day with her if he didn’t want to.
Nagi couldn’t say anything back to her, so they decided to part ways and spend some time alone before heading back to the group. Nagi accidentally met Erika on the beach, and she told him that she is actually looking for someone, but he can’t tell him who that person is, because it will change his fate forever.
Are You Going To Marry Him?
Episode 7 was rather dramatic, and episode 8 proudly carries the baton from its predecessor. However, rather than drama between Erika, Hiro, and Nagi, this episode focuses on the relationship between Nagi, Erika, and Sachi, the third harem candidate.
As the story goes, Sachi and her parents currently live in a tiny apartment because their house is still under renovation. After a quick visit to Nagi and Erika’s house, she decided to move out of her parent’s place, and live together with Nagi and Erika. Meanwhile, Nagi is dying to know who Erika refers to in the previous episode.
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Erika gladly accepts that proposal, but Nagi is furious. However, he, later on, finds out that one of the reasons why Sachi wants to live together with them is because she wants to spend more time with her brother. She feels as if Erika will take her brother away from her and there’s nothing she can do about it. So that’s why she decided to be brave and ask them to let her stay in that house.
Unsatisfying Resolution
There are two main problems, or conflicts, in this episode. The first one, which is also the main conflict, is about Sachi moving into Nagi and Erika’s house. The second one is about Nagi wanting to know who Erika has been looking for all this time.
Without giving out too many spoilers, let's just say that those conflicts do receive their own resolution in this episode. But both of them are just painfully unsatisfying. Nearly all of episode 8 is dedicated to building up tension, and everything is resolved in around the last five minutes of the episode. Not to mention the solution is basically just, “Well, it is what it is, right?” Good setup, but terrible punchlines.
Why So Serious?
What makes episode 6 stand out from the rest is its brilliant ability to balance the comedy while still developing the characters and moving the story forward. After all, humor is always a big part of what makes A Couple of Cuckoos so appealing.
Unfortunately, they decided to take a more dramatic approach in episode 7, and the same thing happens in this episode as well. Sure, the story does get more complicated, but the absence of humor leaves a huge gaping hole that cannot be fixed by simply throwing more drama into the mix. Comedy is part of the identity of A Couple of Cuckoos, so hopefully we get to see it brought back in the subsequent episode.
This is an “Okay” episode for A Couple of Cuckoos. Once again, it’s not that bad, but it’s not good either. It feels like the series is trying to be more serious and presenting more conflict to make the reader root for the characters and relate to their problems.
In doing so, they mess up the balance between conflict and resolution, and humor and drama. The tension of the conflict has a long build-up, but the resolution is lightning fast. The drama can make you cry, but there is little to no trace of the humor left. Hopefully, the next one will have a more balanced episode.
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