More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers

## Season 1

### Soundtrack

More Than A Married Couple, But Not Lovers' entry in the ever-growing list of goated opening and credits is spectacular.

I really enjoy the opening. It follows the same vibrant artstyle as the show, but with more eye-catching videography. The song it uses is excellent, it's perfect, it fits the show, and I really love the 3/4 time part at the end.

The credits are pretty good. The animation is quite unique, almost impressionistic. I'd also say the videography is pretty good. The song is quite nice, though it doesn't really pull the same heartstrings as most romance animes. It feels more like an intermission between episodes. That's a good thing, though, as it gives you a moment to reflect on the episode you just watched.

### Thoughts

More Than A Married Couple, But Not Lovers is a very good romance anime. It's like if you had My Dress-Up Darling's character interactions applied onto a love polygon. Yes, there's a love polygon. It's quite complex, actually!

The story isn't really something to write home about. To preface, this show isn't a "Nothing Ever Happens" romance anime, but it has elements of one. At first, the story gives exposition as to what this "Marriage" coursework is. It doesn't really feel "realistic" at all, like there's not really much worldbuilding around it besides some scenes from other characters. It's treated as quite a big thing, though, which makes sense. There are a lot of good scenes, but the plot barely moves. Near the end, the story also moves to a beach part-time job thing. Like, that's so obviously artificial. Imagine if 10 people who knew eachother got the same job flier and applied for it. Well, it makes sense I guess, since someone they mutually know was advertising it. Finally, the ending gives way for a second season (which probably isn't coming). The final episode's just filler, honestly. It's a cop out, but it's bearable (I'm an Akari supporter btw). Overall, the story is fine, it does it job, but is clearly not the main strength of this anime.

I'd say the strongest part of this anime are the bonds the characters make and the characters themselves. Jiro is a loser, to be honest. He's the type of person to bring a game console to school. What makes his character interesting is the fact that despite being a loser, he's still compassionate and mindful of others. He really gives other people too much, to the point that Akari gets mad about it. Akari is probably the hottest anime character I've seen so far. Not just in looks, but also in how she behaves. She could probably be classified as a tsundere, though she's very kind to everyone she loves (whether she realizes it or not). The other characters, like Kamo, Shiori (I don't like her), etc. are also realistic, yet fun also. Overall, the way everyone interacts isn't unrealistic at all, rather they interact like actual teenagers. Confident, shy inside, and always thinking about something.

When I watched the first episode, I didn't know this was an ecchi anime. Damn, it really got me. I think it's even more ecchi than My Dress-Up Darling just by runtime alone. It's not really a good or bad aspect of the show. The ecchi aspect feels more like a plot device. It develops the main characters, Jiro, Akari, and Shiori. Like, everytime they interact with eachother in a sexual manner it always has to be addressed. That may sound obvious, but it really gives the writing a lot of work to do as to what outcome should be chosen. Not to mention the way the show sets up and plays off of the ecchi parts is excellent. It's always awkward after, but in the moment you always feel immersed in the sexuality. Also, the show almost never pulls the "simple misunderstanding" card. It's almost always very direct, and when there's a misunderstanding, it's probably due to a middleman or it's immediately taken care of. To finish this paragraph, I'd say the ecchi aspect really amplfiies a lot of the characters. It creates problems and events for the characters to handle, intensifies existing non-ecchi ones, and of course it's hot!

I will say that the animation is pretty good. I love the vibrant color artstyle, similar to the opening of Komi Can't Communicate. Due to this, despite this show being a 2022 anime, it feels like a more contemporary one, just minus the chibis. Other than that, I will also say that I really like the design of the sky. It isn't just some simple or complex gradient, it's a stepped gradient, which I can't say I've seen before. It's quite beautiful, actually. Oh, and the ecchi scenes are animated so well. They feel intimate, which is good!

Altogether, More Than A Married Couple, But Not Lovers is a 9/10 Slop-Gem anime. It's a 9/10 from the endearingly awkward and sexual character interactions, along with the excellent animation. To me, this anime is a Slop first, because it's very very vulgar (due to the nature of the story!). If you show someone a clip of this anime that's vulgar, they probably wouldn't be interested in it, yet it remains the strongest aspect of this anime. Secondly, this anime is a Gem, just because when you look it as a whole, taking into account all of the small moments and interactions, it feels cohesively good. To put it in a sentence, this anime portrays the joy in how one would fall in love, just from proximity alone. After all, how different are we, really? That's about it. PLEASE GIVE ME SEASON 2 PLEASE.