Is 'More Than a Married Couple' More Than a Generic Rom-Com?

Remember the Home Economics classes we took in school that required us to learn the basics of cooking, monthly budgeting, and other important life-related skills? What if, to raise the birth rate, schools matched students up and had them live together as mock married couples so they could learn the skills they’d need in relationships? That’s the over-the-top premise of the new romantic comedy Fuufu Ijou: More Than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers. Keep reading to see if it’s worth your time!

The Concept Behind More Than a Married Couple

Jiro Yakuin is a high school boy who’s envious of ria-juu, the “normies” who lead happy, fulfilled lives with boyfriends and girlfriends, which definitely doesn’t describe him. When the school’s “couples practice” class approaches, in which students will be randomly paired with a classmate so they can learn about marriage, he hopes his partner will be Shiori Sakurazaka, his childhood friend and crush. When he instead ends up paired with the flamboyant gyaru Akari Watanabe — who’s in love with class heartthrob Minami Tenjin — both are mortified. Eventually, they hatch a plan together: if they work hard and score enough “married couple points,” they can move up to A-rank and be free to change partners!

To reach A-rank, they need to do married couple things together, like sharing their first kiss, wearing matching pajamas, watching horror movies together, and generally acting lovey-dovey for the camera that’s watching them. If they fight, their score goes down.

The “married couple score” of all the students is displayed on a board, so everyone can see how each couple is progressing. When Jiro sees that crush Shiori is in the lowest rank and is clearly unhappy, it adds an extra impetus for him to reach A-rank so he can switch partners. But what about the growing feelings Jiro and Akari are starting to feel for each other…?

About Akari, the Main Heroine of Fuufu Ijou

While the show’s main character is the standard generic MC-kun that most of the show’s target audience can probably identify with, I like the character of Akari Watanabe quite a lot. A combination of the “sweet” Yukana and harsh Ranko from Hajimete no Gal, she’s definitely a new take on the classic tsundere model. While she can be aggressive when breaking Jiro’s balls for not seizing every opportunity to get closer to Shiori, I love how her emotional defenses are quickly revealed to be a coping mechanism. I’m definitely enjoying how she alters from being haughty and smug to being confused by the new emotions she’s feeling for Jiro.

Hopefully, she can avoid The Curse of the Pink-Haired Main Heroine. While many fans seem to love pink-haired girls as side characters or when they’re in full-bore yandere mode, the track record of romantic main heroines with pink hair is rather spotty. Will Akari be tossed into the trash bin of anime history, like Shikimori-san or Sakura from Naruto? Or will she be a contender for Best Waifu of the current season?

I Like Anime That Comment on Modern Japanese Society

It’s excellent when anime can become a vehicle for driving a discussion on important social issues. Series like Welcome to the NHK, Rozen Maiden, and AnoHana explored the issue of mental health and how too many Japanese deal with life’s struggles by becoming hikikomori. Other anime like Orange, A Silent Voice, and Wonder Egg Priority tackled the difficult subject of suicide.

And there’s a whole mini-genre of shows that discuss the challenges Japan faces with its birth rate, which is caused by many factors but can be boiled down to

Industrialization and improving economic opportunity for women always lower birth rates and improve health and longevity.
Changes in how people view family formation and concern about the future affect things. Cynism that no IRL romantic relationship can ever work take hold in social media communities, causing both guys and girls to feel negative about dating.
Technology changes how we interact with the opposite sex. How many of us spend Friday nights on Facebook or Reddit rather than going out where we might meet someone special?
Sadly, poor social skills by both men and women are part of the problem, as 40% of Japanese in their 20s report never having been on a date.

Anime that deal with these challenges, such as LOVE or LIES, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun, and More Than a Married Couple, are interesting to me because they take a topic that’s on everyone’s minds head on through the medium of fiction.

Thanks for reading my overview of the Fuufu Ijou: More Than a Married Couple, Less Than Lovers rom-com anime. Are you enjoying the show? Tell us below, or reply to us on Twitter!