A Couple Of Cuckoos - What We Know So Far

Many of the most popular anime known to those with no knowledge of the medium fall firmly within the shonen genre. A typical shonen anime, like "Naruto" for example, chronicles the growth of a young and inexperienced boy in a typically fantastical setting among a large cast of colorful supporting characters. This description applies to some of the most popular anime, but people often get one thing wrong about the medium in general: There's more out there than just shonen.

Just like Americans, Japanese audiences enjoy romantic comedies, which are likewise big in the anime world. "Fruits Basket," for example, is a popular romance anime in which a family of otherwise-normal human beings sometimes transform into animals. Romance and comedy both develop amidst an exploration of the show's core fantastical conceit.

Upcoming anime series "A Couple of Cuckoos" is also a romantic comedy. However, whereas "Fruits Basket" is a fantasy series, the central story conceit of "A Couple of Cuckoos" is grounded firmly in reality. Here's what we know about the show so far.

Otaquest tracked the anime's development and explained that "A Couple of Cuckoos" is based on a popular comic book series.  While that's commonplace for an anime, the turnaround time on "A Couple of Cuckoos" in particular is anything but. According to Otaquest, the serialization of the series began in Weekly Shonen Magazine in January 2020, and the first official volume of the series dropped in July of that same year. Its anime adaptation, then, was announced just over a year after the debut of its first chapter.

That said, as Otaquest also explained, this decision isn't necessarily surprising given the popularity of the "A Couple of Cuckoos" manga. The first stand-alone volume of the series, for example, was the fastest manga volume in the history of prolific publisher Kodansha to hit its fourth print run.

As revealed in a teaser trailer for the anime series, "A Couple of Cuckoos" is scheduled for a release sometime in 2022 on a date that has yet to be specified.

Nagi Umino is one of two protagonists of "A Couple of Cuckoos." His parents — both his birth parents and adoptive family — become key to Nagi's character development from the beginning of the series. The role of Nagi in the anime will be voiced by Kaito Ishikawa, whose prior credits include Tenya Iida in "My Hero Academia," Tobio Kageyama in "Haikyuu!!" and Genos in "One Punch Man," among others.

Erika Amano is likewise central to "A Couple of Cuckoos." Nagi first encounters Erika on his way to a fateful meeting with his birth parents during which their lives become unexpectedly intertwined. The role of Erika, which is the only other one to be cast thus far, will be portrayed by Akari Kito. Arguably her biggest voice acting role to date was as the demonic Nezuko in "Demon Slayer."

The series' core cast is rounded out by Nagi's (via adoption) and Erika's (biological) sister, Sachi Umino, as well as Nagi's high school crush, Hiro Segawa.

While fans will have to wait to see how "A Couple of Cuckoos" adheres to or diverges from its original manga, the manga can help viewers predict what the show will be about. The story of "A Couple of Cuckoos," as outlined on Anime News Network, kicks off when high-schooler Nagi Umino, who was switched at birth, meets with his biological parents for the first time. On his way to said meeting, he runs into Erika Amano, who suddenly asks Nagi to act as her fake boyfriend. Erika wants to avoid marriage at all costs, so she intends to enlist Nagi as cover to prove to her parents she isn't in need of a romantic partner.

When Nagi arrives for dinner with his birth parents, he finds out that they intend to arrange for him to marry their adoptive daughter — who is also his biological parents' adoptive daughter, as a result of the hospital switch — in order to essentially bridge the gap in wealth between the two families. Said daughter, however, is none other than Erika, so much of the ensuing story revolves around their arranged marriage and intertwined families.

Fans can compare the manga and the anime when the series premieres in 2022.