More Than a Married Couple But Not Lovers Episode 1 Review: Marriage Practical

More Than A Married Couple, But Not Lovers Episode 1 aired on October 9, 2022. The Japanese title of this anime is Fuufu Ijou, Kobito Miman. It is a school romance-comedy anime of this fall season. Here’s the review of the first episode. Note: This review contains spoilers.

Synopsis

The main story of the anime based on a school project which is called ‘Couple Practical’ where predecided students of two different genders have to live as a mock married couple which will be monitored through CCTV and based on their mutual harmony in their relationship they will get grades.

The main lead of this anime is third-year high school student Jiro Yakuin who hoped to be a partner with his childhood best friend Sakurazaka Shiori, and another popular girl Watanabe Akari who has a crush on a handsome student in their class ‘Minami Tenjin’. But, as the couples are decided randomly, Jiro got paired with Akari, who is totally opposite character, and she didn’t happy about that.

They also got to know Shiori got paired with Tenjin which made both of them sad. They decided to cooperate and change their pair after one month as according to the rules those who will get a grade ‘A’ meaning, couples who will be in the top 10 they after a month can change their partner according to their desire.

Main Characters in the First Episode

• Watanabe Akari
• Sakurazaka Shiori
• Jiro Yakuin
• Minami Tenjin

More Than a Married Couple But Not Lovers Episode 1 Review

The episode starts with Watanabe who is praying in a temple to be with her crush while walking the stairs Shiori tripped into her from behind accidentally. In their school, a new project was added to the school curriculum which is named ‘Couple Practical’ where male-female students are paired randomly and have to live together like a mock married couple and be in harmony with each other.

Based on that they will get grades. While coming to school, Jiro was playing a video game on the stairs when Watanabe was coming from the opposite side with her friends and told them to leave the place. Because of Watanabe’s rude behaviour, Jiro doesn’t like her, but Watanabe is a popular girl most boys have a crush on her.

Watanabe also has a crush on another handsome boy in class ‘Minami Tenjin’ with whom he hopes to be a partner. Meanwhile, inside the classroom, the teacher started explaining the rules for the ‘Couple Practical’.

Those who will be paired for ‘Marriage Practical’ will live in the training room at school which is well furnished, has a kitchen and other necessary kinds of stuff. Besides, they will be monitored through CCTV of their lifestyle and actions.

There are also separate rooms where they have to sleep which is also biometric based means none can forcefully enter another’s room. There is a total of 30 boys and girls who will be paired as 15 in each group. Jiro was calculating how much his chance of being with her best friend and first love ‘Shiori’, which he thinks is a 1 in 75 chance.

Besides, at the end of each month, those who will get a grade of ‘A’ which means to be in the top 10 can change their partners. When Jiro came out of his senses from dreaming, he found out he got paired with Akari. He got furious as at the moment he entered the room Akari screamed at Jiro for being paired with him.

Because of their bad start, they already got a negative score of ‘-3’. Anyhow, they both became sad when they found out their respective crush ‘Shiori’ & ‘Tenjin’ got paired with each. So, Akari decided they will change and will be in their desired crush after this month by getting a grade ‘A’ for being a good couple. Jiro agreed to it, as there were no other options.

While they were beginning to cool down and start acting good to each Jiro’s friend called for him on the doorbell. Jiro rushed to go with his friend but Akari told him to give a goodbye kiss to her, which made Jiro startled.

Akari started teasing Jiro for being a coward, a virgin, etc. which finally made him kiss Akari on her lips, even Akari got startled as she just expected a normal kiss on the cheek just to increase their score which was negative. The score became positive after that though.

The next morning, while dreaming about kissing Shiori, Jiro got woken up by Watanabe. She asked him to help her to make breakfast. This way, 1 week passed. One day, while in the school laboratory, Jiro found Shiori and Tenjin walking closely, which made him jealous.

He was just hoping to be a married couple with Shiori. The teacher called Jiro to come with Akari for a meeting, as their scores were not increasing. When Jiro went to call Akari who was also in school, she left him by saying in the Karaoke she will be with Tenjin.

Anyway, Jiro was waiting outside the school gate as it was raining outside, and he had no umbrella. He was also thinking about how Akari spends her time with Tenjin, and he can’t with Shiori. Suddenly, Shiori called him from behind. She said she was also in the meeting and sat beside Jiro.

Shiori also likes Jiro secretly, which Jiro didn’t understand, as he just thought Shiori thinks of him just as a friend. Well, both of them are in their own misunderstandings. Suddenly, Shiori held Jiro’s arm which at first made Jiro startled, but she said a bug is there on the wall which made Jiro understand that in the morning Shiori was close to Tenjin for the same reason. Well, that made his jealous heart relax.

Jiro was about to express his feeling to Shiori when Tenjin called for her as he came back from Karaoke. Well, Jiro said goodbye and Akari also call Jiro to go home. While walking side by side under the same umbrella, Akari was teasing Jiro to not lose hope in Shiori as they have to be a good couple to get a grade ‘A’ so that they can be with their crush. Anyhow, Jiro expressed his desire to eat dinner at a nearby restaurant, which at first Akari denied, but after a moment agreed and went with him.

Conclusion

The anime is based on a different storyline which is usually not a high school romance comedy we assume, that’s why it may be making some users unusual. But, if we see the animation and other aspects, More Than A Married Couple But Not Lovers Episode 1 is wonderful. Overall, we give the first episode a solid 8 out of 10.