English Dub Review: A Couple of Cuckoos: “This Isn’t Going So Well”

Overview: Overwhelmed with the sudden revelation he has about his true feelings for Erika (Lindsay Sheppard), Sachi (Bryn Apprill) and Hiro (Amanda Lee), Nagi’s (Nicholas Andrew Louie) poorer than usual test score forms a wedge between him and Segawa. 

Our Take: Nagi can not seem to catch a break, can he? Him trying to reconcile his feelings for Erika, Hiro, and Sachi just continues to create new problems for him that go from bad to worse. It’s also a great status quo progression in Nagi finally recognizing his feelings that extend to more than just Hiro. 

Nagi getting the thirteenth best test score, while still amazing, hilariously enough, makes things problematic as Hiro becomes disappointed after he gets her hopes up that he would beat her and prove himself. The irony of the entire debacle is how it brilliantly highlights what an amazing girl Erika is. Not only is she the perfect little spitfire, triggered by her hungry, unruly stomach. But most importantly, it succeeds at demonstrating how unique all the girls are with Erika loving Nagi no matter what grades he gets, making for a truly sweet moment between them. She even goes above and beyond, giving Nagi insight on Segawa’s let down expectations, so her fiancée can get a girlfriend, showing how metal she is. In all seriousness, it is nice to see how smart and understanding Erika is of what Hiro wants from Nagi and how it differs from her. 

As far as Hiro’s problem is concerned, it is a bit silly and contrived that Nagi not getting the top score on one test leads her to have doubts, using that as the basis that he may not be able to give her a new future. Segawa, being jealous that Erika makes Nagi happy with her not being the only one, is a more sensible part of the issue. Segawa relating to his academic frustrations along with her love of his dorkiness, further fleshes out their distinctive chemistry and makes for a sweet empathetic reconciliation. Hiro’s jealousy also nicely reflects the exact same issue that Erika had with Segawa and Nagi, showing how much she likes him. 

With Nagi back in Segawa’s good graces and him back in fighting shape, of course, it is the optimal time for a new problem to rear its ugly head because life can never be kind to the boy. Erika needing his help to get a good grade on a test or be forced to leave the house by her parents, makes for a fun ultimatum in seeing how Nagi, and probably Hiro, traverse trying to tutor her when studying ain’t her cup of tea.