A Couple of Cuckoos

Episode 10

A Couple of Cuckoos's format really does make the whole show feel reluctant. Here's half an episode with one of the other girls, and now here's the other half with the actual candidate. It isn't helped any by the lackluster presentation. Maybe Sachi and Nagi's trip to get a Mother's Day present was interesting in the manga, but we didn't get much out of it other than bland character art, an insistence that Sachi is attractive (despite the show's production issues), and a reminder that they're not blood-related, so she's technically an option.

The scene culminates in two moments⁠—Sachi not wanting to be treated like Nagi's kid sister and their mother receiving her present: an apron. The whole first half of the episode felt underwhelming in many different ways. It's hard to tell what it's actually trying to say other than introducing the fact that Nagi and Sachi don't usually hang out. But it also doesn't present any reasons for why they should be hanging out more. It's not like there were moments of chemistry or even developing sibling bonds. It was honestly a little strange hearing Erika say that they are “cute together,” because there really hasn't been much to suggest that thus far.

The rest of the episode sees Nagi and Erika leaving the house to get away from her dad. The highlight for me was watching Erika make her first cup noodle. It honestly does feel kind of like magic that first time. Aside from that, we just end up watching them wander around trying to kill time. It was kind of nice watching the two of them find ways to have fun with no money, and it makes for an amusing contrast to Sachi eating foie gras.

On that point, there does seem to be a potential point of conflict with Sachi agreeing to feed information to Erika's dad regarding the status of their relationship⁠—in return for fine foods, at that. She does tell him that their opposite personalities make them a good couple, but it remains to be seen if her own feelings will end up getting in the way.

Episode 10 was largely unremarkable with the one small exception of its cliffhanger, where Erika's dad looks upon a family photo that happens to include two children. We've been led to believe that Erika's been an only child all this time, and the other kid does look remarkably like Nagi. Her father also brings up the concept of “cuckoo eggs,” introducing the meaning of the title. But the concept of a “cuckoo egg” references a bird intentionally making another bird care for its offspring by laying in their nest. It opens up the possibility that this mixup may have been intentional and introduces the question of why.

One point that I forgot to make last week: It doesn't come in that much, but this show has a really good soundtrack when it counts.

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A Couple of Cuckoos is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Callum is the host and creator of the YouTube channel The Canipa Effect where he explores topics within the anime industry. You can also find him talking nonsense on Twitter.