English Dub Review: A Couple of Cuckoos: “You’ve Realized it, Haven’t You?”

Overview: Erika (Lindsay Sheppard) reveals to Nagi (Nicholas Andrew Louie) the truth about who she is trying to reach and it makes for a shocking revelation. 

Our Take: Erika has had her own Nagi all along in Sousuke, her older step brother and his biological one, we just did not know it. Although Nagi, very much in character, does not care and is ever the gentleman, willing to help, thankfully it does not skirt past the main questions bubbling up in all of our heads.

Immediately from the offset, this revelation presents an interesting new layer to their dynamic in how she feels about him in relation to Nagi and if her feelings for Nagi are entirely dependent on Sousuke. This creates a startling issue for Nagi that is some of the most grounded drama thus far in his jealousy and fear that she is projecting the feelings she has for her older brother onto him. However, Erika’s understanding of being a younger sister lends itself to how relatable she is with Sachi and their overall sibling relationship. Sousuke himself, even in just flashbacks as a child with Erika thankfully is not stuffed into the cliché hyper corny brother category. He is playful and cheeky, while also kind and it goes a long way in making him likable. 

All this family drama finally pushes Nagi to see the man behind the curtain in Erika’s father, Souichirou Amano. He dismisses the idea of Sousuke oddly enough, making one wonder what formed a wedge between them and how each of them played a role in it. His decision in now pushing Nagi to potentially marry Sachi is just a whirlwind of bafflement in the most intriguing way possible. He wants Nagi to have his harem so goddamn badly and is so ahead of the game that he is playing 4D chess and everyone else thought it was checkers. Or Souichirou just wants to throw a wrench in Nagi’s life only to push him and Erika closer together. The crazy smart madness of it all is in questioning whether or not his schemes are all going according to plan with his schemes continuing to keep you guessing.