English Dub Review: A Couple of Cuckoos: “I’ll be with you when you meet him”

Overview: Tensions are high as Sachi (Bryn Apprill) becomes jealous of and threatened by Hiro (Amanda Lee) as she grows feelings for Nagi (Nicholas Andrew Louie). Erika (Lindsay Sheppard) discovers clues that may lead to her long lost brother. 

Our Take: Sachi confronting Hiro about disclosing her long hidden feelings to Nagi kicks things off with a bang in how it directly deals with the drama surrounding Umino’s crush and little sister. Their heated discussion also brings about new details regarding what they previously discussed in their school tour. With Segawa’s platonic relationship with Nagi having evolved and Sachi’s trust in her waning as a result, it makes their rivalry even more intense, especially as Sachi is beginning to understand how she truly feels about him. The frustration that stems from her character is how possessive she is of Nagi and how annoyingly juvenile she is in how she handles it, which has been pointed out numerous times by him. Hopefully, this plays a part in her maturing in a more earnest fashion, especially in how she views him. It would go a long way in making her more tolerable and less frustrating to watch in her not being characterized solely by her childishness. 

For someone so smart, Nagi sure is dense. Similar to how charming Erika’s naivete is when it comes to everyday experiences, Nagi’s lack of commonsense when it comes to finer things in life never ceases to amaze. His nude jacuzzi mishap is both befuddling and hysterical, all the aspects we love about him. All the jokes aside, there is a nice romantic growth shown in how Erika’s feelings for him are slowly but surely getting stronger in her flirting. 

Of course, Erika in a swimsuit was not enough. Fanservice in the form of playing a Twister knockoff and lathering bubbles in the bath with Hiro was also very necessary. It blatantly feels like a guy’s wet dream, but then again aren’t all of these types of scenes? With that said, for that very reason, my eyes were so glued to the screen, that they could have dried them off. The girls’ late night heart-to-heart does not amount to much, initially, in it being more of them doting over their new experiences, a tired story element that has been relied upon one too many times and lost its luster. The intrigue lies in how it touches on Hiro’s feelings for Nagi, with her even asking Erika if she can advance with him. It makes for a juicy tease before getting to the nitty gritty of it all. 

The Sousuke story advances ever so slightly in the clues he left at the beach house of his presence in an interesting bed crumb trail. Understandably so, nothing of note transpires from it in regards to his story as it would be much too simple and rapidly paced. The heart of his subplot comes from how much it scooches Nagi and Erika even closer together in him, giving her strength and wanting to be there for her. The foundation of their romance continues to be built upon with warmth and empathy as their arranged marriage becomes more genuine by the second.