More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers

Episode 3

Episode three of More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers almost felt like it was going through the beats of what you would normally see towards the end of a romantic comedy series. It was pretty economical in setting up a believable circumstance that our two leads can actually get closer over, only to then introduce a convenient yet effective emotional conflict and fallout based on rather understandable insecurities once you get the full picture. There are even some nice payoffs in the form of the food that Akari cooks not being sweet enough for Jiro—he feels off put because it's a constant, tangible reminder that the food isn't for him—that also acts as a good setup for the overall theme of the episode about how we shouldn't make assumptions about people's preferences or experiences.

We haven't seen much of Minami, the subject of Akari's affection, but we get the impression that she doesn't know as much about him as she seems to think she does. She made an assumption that he doesn't like sweet food and kept discounting Jiro's preferences because in her mind, the two of them are very different. When Shiori showed up with those sweets, not only did Akari realize that she was wrong and was being way less thoughtful than she probably thought she was, but her insecurities about being unworthy were brought back in full force. Those insecurities manifested in her putting Jiro in a situation where he was ironically also forced to confront his preconceived image of Akari. I know a lot of people complain about scenarios like this where one person turns down another's clear invitation for intimacy, but I think that's because most of the time we don't really get an understanding of the mindset of the characters during those intense moments. Jiro could tell there was something wrong and thinks that Akari needed to be treated better than that. Based on the way the episode ends, that's probably the first time that's ever happened to Akari, which is kind of sad.

Don't get me wrong, there are still some things in this episode that bother me on a practical level even though I think it was very solid thematically. The whole thing about Akari asking Jiro to “do that thing he did last time” was a little confusing, because I'm not sure if she was actually asking him to kiss her or to do something else that he did to make her feel at ease. Considering what happens later in the episode, I feel like that was a little bit insensitive of her, but that could also be indicative of how desperate she was for security. Also, the premise of the show continues to inspire questions. What would've happened if our two leads decided to go all the way right in front of the camera that is grading them? Didn't the teacher or faculty staff at all consider the implications of getting a bunch of horny teenagers to play house together? Also, what's the point of going through the effort of making their separate rooms have door handles with fingerprint scanners if one of them can just invite the other into the room where I'm assuming they're not being observed? I just get more uncomfortable with this whole operation the more I think about it, but those practical issues aside, I am impressed at how thoughtful this show is when it comes to the emotional beats, and that is what I think really matters.

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More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.