More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers (夫婦以上、恋人未満。, Fūfu Ijō, Koibito Miman, abbreviated Fuukoi) is a Japanese manga series by Yūki Kanamaru. It has been reissued in Kadokawa Shoten’s seinen manga magazine Young Ace since March 2018, with its chapters collected and published in eleven tankōbon volumes as of December 2023. An anime TV series adaption by Studio Mother vented from October to December 2022. (Read Also: Am I Actually the Strongest?)
Characters
| Character | Description | Voice Actor (Japanese/English) |
|---|---|---|
| Akari Watanabe | A gyaru with a sweet and shy side; main female protagonist. Initially, she wants to be with Minami but falls in love with Jirō. Struggles with expressing her feelings. | Saori Ōnishi / Lindsay Sheppard |
| Jirō Yakuin | Main male protagonist. Awkward introvert with self-esteem issues. Initially aims to be with Shiori but develops feelings for Akari. Deals with insecurities and struggles with relationships. | Seiichiro Yamashita / Ben Balmaceda |
| Shiori Sakurazaka | Jirō’s childhood friend and crush. Shy and kind. Initially partnered with Minami but has feelings for Jirō. Shares a deep kiss with Jirō, expressing confusion about her emotions. | Saki Miyashita / Macy Anne Johnson |
| Minami Tenjin | Popular school idol, object of many girls’ affections. Initially partners with Shiori. Has unrequited feelings for a woman in his past. Helps Akari realize her feelings for Jirō. | Toshiki Masuda / Mike Haimoto |
| Sadaharu Kamo | Jirō’s best friend. Open only to Jirō despite being introverted. Has lousy luck with women but supports Jirō in his relationships. | Sho Nogami / Derick Snow |
| Sachi Takamiya | Outgoing and assertive friend of Akari. Offers valuable life advice. | Minami Takahashi / Corey Pettit |
| Natsumi Ōhashi | Airheaded but kind friend of Akari. Offers valuable life advice. | Azumi Waki / Molly Zhang |
| Shū Terafune | High school boy with a crush on Akari. Dislikes Jirō for his indecisiveness. Declares intention to fight for Akari’s love. | Shūichi Uchida |
| Mei Hamano | Shiori’s best friend. Kind and supportive. Encourages Shiori to pursue Jirō’s love. | Yui Ogura / Meg McClain |
Anime
High Academy pupil Jirō Yakuin is an wallflower who would rather keep to himself and play videotape games than interact with others. He has unrequited passions for his nonage friend, Shiori Sakurazaka, but the academy has enforced a couples training( 夫婦実習, Fūfu jisshū) program, which has the scholars develop social chops on interacting with a mate as if they were married, and they’re judged heavily on how well they work together through monitoring. Despite hoping to be paired with Shiori, Jiro is rather paired with Akari Watanabe, a gyaru who finds Jiro repulsive and who would rather be paired with the popular academy hero, Minami Tenjin. Learning that if they attain enough points, their current mates can be switched, both Jiro and Akari agree to put their differences away and work together. (Read Also: The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses)
As the story proceeds, Jiro and Akari find themselves developing deeper passions for each other as they” pretend” to get on, causing confusion between themselves as they struggle to sort out which passions are real and which are not. Adding to the chaos is Shiori herself, who’s revealed to also be in love with Jiro. Complications reach a near breaking point when during a time alone together, Minami tactfully turns down Akari’s concession and helps her realize that she ended up actually falling in love with Jiro. Now with both girls aiming to have Jiro for themselves, Jiro himself struggles to decide which girl he should eventually pursue. (Read Also: Haruto Zenfis | Am I Actually the Strongest?)
| Episode No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Storyboarded by | Original Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Living in the Same Place, but Not Living Together | Junichi Yamamoto | Naruhisa Arakawa | Junichi Yamamoto | October 9, 2022 |
| 2 | Imagined, but Not Real | Hiroaki Matsushima | Naruhisa Arakawa | Hiroaki Matsushima | October 16, 2022 |
| 3 | Broken Up, and Not Rekindled | Hideki Hiroshima | Naoko Marukawa | Takao Kato | October 23, 2022 |
| 4 | A Hero, but Not the Main Character | Natsumi Uchinuma | Daisuke Daitō | Natsumi Uchinuma | October 30, 2022 |
| 5 | More Than a Nosebleed, but Less Than a Kiss | Takao Kato | Naruhisa Arakawa | Atsushi Ōtsuki | November 6, 2022 |
| 6 | A Male Virgin, but No Female Virgin | Hiroaki Matsushima | Naruhisa Arakawa | Hiroaki Matsushima | November 13, 2022 |
| 7 | Fireworks, but No Embrace | Natsumi Uchinuma | Naruhisa Arakawa | Junichi Yamamoto | November 20, 2022 |
| 8 | An Entreaty, but No Reassurance | Natsumi Uchinuma | Naruhisa Arakawa | Natsumi Uchinuma | November 27, 2022 |
| 9 | More Than a Childhood Friend, but Not True Love | Hideki Hiroshima | Naoko Marukawa | Takao Kato | December 4, 2022 |
| 10 | ‘Already’ Has Passed, but Not ‘Yet.’ | Hideki Hiroshima | Daisuke Daitō | Atsushi Ōtsuki | December 11, 2022 |
| 11 | More Than a Confession, but Not Yet a Broken Heart | Hiroaki Matsushima | Naruhisa Arakawa | Junichi Yamamoto | December 18, 2022 |
| 12 | Done, Being Less Than Love | Masato Takeuchi | Naruhisa Arakawa | Junichi Yamamoto | December 25, 2022 |
External links
| Official website | Click Here |
| Official manga website | Click Here |
| Official anime website | Click Here |
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