English Dub Review: A Couple of Cuckoos: “It’s Almost Like Anything Could Happen!!”

Overview: Nagi (Nicholas Andrew Louie), Erika (Lindsay Sheppard), Hiro (Amanda Lee) and Shion (Brendan Blaber) go on a study retreat but they soon all become sidetracked when their personal feelings enter the mix. 

Our Take: There has never been a better time for a study retreat at Erika’s vacation houses. When Sachi can not come after getting sick, we get everyone’s favorite third wheel in Shion. He has amazing chemistry throughout this entire episode with Nagi in being a flamboyant lovable weirdo and Umino just not having it. 

Erika oddly enough puts a family portrait facing down as soon as they arrive, which was most definitely of her and Nagi, or perhaps her and someone else. Shion not-so-subtly trying to maneuver him and Nagi with their crushes is hilarious in his idiocy. With Shion and Erika grocery shopping, Hiro and Nagi get some alone time by the lake. Hiro’s temptations to slack off and not focus on studying goes a long way in humanizing her and not solely placing the focus on her being ever studious, despite being number one. This is opposed to Nagi, who, while very adorkable, can be a constant earache with his incessant ranting about studying. Purpose of the retreat and Nagi’s study habits aside, it can just be mind-numbing and it is especially jarring when he does it around Hiro, ya know, the girl he loves! However, even Nagi’s whining can not ruin the moment because her wanting to come solely because of him is an incredibly heart touching sentiment, made even more beautiful by gorgeous shots of her. 

Shion and Erika’s snack excursion is made truly stupendous by a hilarious misunderstanding in how he attempts to explain his “true” feelings for her and how she reacts to that. However, what makes Erika’s interactions with other guys so fun is how it provokes Nagi’s true emotions like his jealousy in Shion’s attempted love confession and relief after hearing he could not go through with it. 

The gang all decide to visit a shrine and go in teams of two, as per the boys’ plan. Unexpectedly though, Erika passionately forces Nagi to go with her, instead of Segawa, setting up an intimate moment between the two. The ending focuses on Hiro and Shion’s private chat, however. After believing Nagi’s ambition is no match for Hiro’s raw determination in being number one, Shion is shocked when she, surprisingly, wants to help him confess to Erika properly. This is a potentially huge development in how it points to her trying to get Erika out of Nagi’s romantic purview and take out her competition.