English Dub Review: A Couple of Cuckoos: “Are you going to marry him?”

Overview: Nagi (Nicholas Andrew Louie) and Erika (Lindsay Sheppard) get a surprise new house guest in that of their sister Sachi (Bryn Apprill), which causes more than a little strife. 

Our Take: Sachi really charmed me in the beginning of the series. She is very caring when it comes to Nagi, despite how much she tries to hide it, while also retaining a fun sibling animosity that feels authentic. However, this episode does not do much to further those sentiments and, in fact, begins to do the opposite. Sachi’s excessive pushiness and physical aggression is a headache that has me constantly irritated. 

Sachi decides to move in after being displaced from Nagi and it is developed through how much she misses him when Erika first came to the shop. That is all good and dandy but it is held back by a beyond generic flashback scene between her and Nagi as kids in her not wanting him to walk ahead and leave her behind. It is a plot point that is often used as the most derivative way of showing a sibling relationship that series ranging from shonen to ecchi to the blandest of hentai use that is cheap and easy. Hopefully, we can get more compelling scenes between them in the future that better build their relationship both past and present. The more lighthearted, silly in-sibling fighting is, at the very least, entertaining and enjoyable though. Erika and Sachi’s chemistry is also funny in how sweet they are and occasionally ganging up on Nagi. 

Also, as much as I love him, even Nagi can be annoying with his incessant ranting about constantly studying when beautiful girls want to spend time with him. That has of course been a personality trait since the very beginning so it’s nothing new but hopefully he grows out of that, to at least some extent. Especially when Erika is at the forefront of his thoughts coming off of what she said and he wants a moment alone with her. Nagi getting that intimate time was well worth an episode containing mostly lows with a few highs sprinkled throughout in him meaningfully progressing with Erika in choosing to contemplate how he feels about her and asking her to wait for his answer.