[QuickTidal]

Okay, I'm nearing the end of S1 of MORE THAN A MARRIED COUPLE, BUT NOT LOVERS and this is PEAK romance anime for me. Better than MY DRESS UP DARLING in fact (though I still love that one). There's just so much here. Every time I think it's going to devolve into nonsense, or that Akari is being too flippant to Jiro, the narrative shifts enough to turn it into something wholesome and wonderful. There's a moment in an episode where:

Spoiler

Jiro helps Akari tie the obi on the yukata she chose to wear to impress Minami at the festival (instead of her normal Gyaru clothes) and she kind of lays into him a bit to say "Don't go calling me tonight as I'm going to be with the man I'm after" and then she goes to the festival with her friends, finds out that Minami is not coming and working instead...so she laughs it off and leaves...then Jiro gets a phone call from her and answers to her sobbing, and his IMMEDIATE reaction is "where are you? What happened?" and he can't understand her thorough the crying and he's like "Where are you? " and he's haphazardly throwing his clothes on and shoes and he's like "Nevermind, I'll find you..." and runs out the front door to find her curled up in a ball sobbing outside their door...and he comforts her and brings her inside.

It's such a small moment but my god did my fists pump the air when without preamble he realized she was upset and was like "I'm coming, where are you?"

I was already into the series, but that bit sent me into loving it territory. And I've heard that all the best stuff comes after the anime ends in the manga, so I'm happy with my choice and nabbed both volumes of the manga to support the mangaka.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 June 2026 - 04:36 PM

[QuickTidal]

Finished S1 of MORE THAN A MARRIED COUPLE now and yeah this was definitely peak romance and I can’t wait to settle into the manga…I will warn anyone watching that beyond the spicier fanservice nature of moments in the show (though I would be hard pressed to sort out if it’s more or less than what’s in MDUD) mixed in with the wholesome, there’s a trip/vacation section where they all go to the beach and stay in a hotel and there are MULTIPLE fan service-y scenes played for laughs (a reportedly viral whipped cream on a drink scene that is played for audio-this-isn’t-what-it-sounds-like laughs, a women’s bath scene that hides all the pertinent things but was not exactly needed [it’s used to give info to one female character about another], and another viral scene…but man the ending of Season 1 is really sweet and conflicting for the characters. I also join the throngs of fans who now HATE Shiori. I pre-ordered the 3rd volume manga omnibus now to support the author in the hopes that she will get another season of the anime from US popularity (the show is apparently not as popular in Japan)

I trawled the streamers for another romance anime to dive into.

I want to check out GOLDEN TIME but it’s nowhere on streaming. The title card is on Crunchyroll but no eps, and about a year ago it seems to have been on Hdive (which I won’t pay for because the app is straight garbage the one time I did pay for it) but no longer, nor is it on Prime or anywhere else, not even for purchase in the Apple store.

The one I found that seemed to hit the comedy/romance vibe the best is A COUPLE OF CUCKOOS, which seems sweet and funny. I’ve only watched one ep so far, but I liked so I will be continuing.

Tried out THE KLUTZY CLASS MONITOR AND THE GIRL WITH THE SHORT SKIRT and while it was entertaining and is done by the same animation studio as MTAMC so I love that…I’m not sure about the designs, and the story so far is eh…but I DO think there’s enough there to keep watching.

MARRIAGETOXIN continues to be awesome week to week, and the world keeps getting more fleshed out as things go along.

I dropped DAEMONS OF THE SHADOW REALM as it was just not doing it for me as a week to week watch….but perhaps I’ll return when a whole season is done?

SMOKING BEHIND THE SUPERMARKET WITH YOU is on my list, but I’m waiting for the dub episodes to drop, but I hear it’s great…as I’m a dub guy.

Mark, I had to hunt for I HAVE A CRUSH AT WORK, it’s not on any streamers in Canada but I found all 12 episodes on Youtube in English dub for free….so I’ll watch it there!