The More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 anime TV show will have Jirou Yakuin trying to choose between Akari Watanabe and Shiori Sakurazak as the date looms for the dissolution of the marriage practical pair.
But when will Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman Season 2 come out?
Anime Geek is predicting that renewal is possible, but it’s difficult to estimate the More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 release date at this time. (Please see the predictions section below for more details.)
The first season of the Fuukoi anime was streaming in Fall 2022 with English subtitles on Crunchyroll and VRV (not Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HIDIVE, Funimation, or Amazon Prime Video).
The first season’s finale, More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Episode 12, will release on December 25, 2022. The 12 episodes will be released as 2 More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Blu-Ray/DVD volumes on February 22, 2023, and March 24, 2023, respectively.
This article provides everything that is known about More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 (Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Mima Season 2 / Fuukoi Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain
Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman Season 2 release date predictions: Is renewal possible?
As of the last update, Studio MOTHER, producer KlockWorx, publisher Kadokawa, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 release date. Nor has the production of a Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Mima Season 2 sequel been announced.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, the Fuukoi Season 2 release date will occur in the future.
When the first season’s finale premiered, Studio MOTHER did not tease the 2nd season at all. Instead, they told fans to go read the manga.
The More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers reviews have been good but not great for a rom-com anime with surprisingly high-quality animation. Some of the initial backlash by anime fans can be likened to Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!, which has a similar dynamic where a nerdy protagonist is constantly belittled and teased by the female lead only for the unlikely couple to fall in love.
Unlike Uzaki-chan, Akari leaves a first impression that’s very difficult to overcome. Akari physically and verbally abuses Jirou until he establishes boundaries, but then it’s tonal whiplash since she abruptly mood shifts into tsundere mode rather than being arrogant and nasty.
As for Jirou, he’s an insecure teen who yearns for love yet he finds refuge in video games by self-inserting himself into the game along with his love interest. He’s frustrating to watch but at least he’s not cringy in the way he reacts to Jirou’s shenanigans.
Still, there’s a disconnect between Jirou and Akari’s actions and their romantic progression since they almost get fully intimate within several episodes, never mind the early first kiss! Thus, some anime fans feel that Jirou and Akari have little natural chemistry to justify the forced fast progression of the plot as it’s written. While there’s plenty of sexual tension, any organic relationship growth is neglected due to the need to push the rom-com love triangle quickly.
The Reddit scores for Episode 1 were notably much lower in comparison to all episodes, which probably meant that some audiences dropped the TV show early due to the initially unlikable character and the quick romantic progression. But another factor to the negative reviews can be attributed to the entire premise feeling forced.
After all, the school program inexplicably forces mismatched students to live in a romantic environment as a teambuilding exercise where they’re constantly under the watch of cameras and feeling threatened by academic failure. The story doesn’t even attempt to justify this fake marriage arrangement by stating that it was mandated by the government due to Japan’s falling birth rates becoming a national crisis. Of course, if the story emphasized that angle it would come off as creepy dystopian fiction rather than a romantic comedy.
On the other hand, it’s also a tale of overcoming first impressions and the prejudice between school cliques. Being forced to live together in close proximity to someone they initially perceived as a dislike causes them to see the real person behind their preconceptions.
Akari wears a mask of confidence built on maintaining her popularity status as a gyaru girl, but that facade crumbles when she’s forced to confront the realities of having a real relationship. Jirou may project his romantic fantasies into a video game, but Akari also maintains a mental fantasy that being with the so-called “perfect guy” Minami Tenjin will complete her. They’re both timid and fumbling when faced with reality, which makes them more relatable as characters as they rage within the constraints of their internal conflicts.
While the initial relationship between the gamer guy and the gyaru girl comes off as forced the romantic progression between Jirou and Shiori is much more natural. They’re both emotionally reserved and it makes sense they’d have trouble overcoming the hurdle of not wanting to ruin a childhood friendship by revealing their newfound love — especially if they’re not certain the other person harbors the same feelings in return.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to take this love triangle seriously since the moment that Shirori was announced to be the childhood friend in Episode 1 every single anime fan immediately knew that Akari is destined to be the winner. There are still going to be fans who root for the underdog, but most of the Jirou x Shiori scenes (besides the kiss in the rain) are generic romance fluff that comes off as perfunctory. Shiori’s existence in the story seems a pretense for maintaining a cheap love triangle since audiences are not seriously rooting for both love interests.
In the end, the painfully awkward premise of the anime is still a net positive since it does lend itself to comedic moments. The cringe factor and secondhand embarrassment are not as overwhelming as Rent-A-Girlfriend yet the humor is stronger. We’re here to be entertained and that’s where the Fuukoi anime excels… and since when was it a requirement that an anime romance make any logical sense?
(By the way, the Rent-A-Girlfriend Season 3 anime is confirmed to be in production despite its 2nd season receiving below-average review scores. So, apparently, cringe is currently in.)
Regardless of any criticism of the story, the question is whether the anime production committee can justify a Fuukoi sequel. From a financial perspective, the first season was regularly featured in the Top 20 on Crunchyroll’s popular anime list in Fall 2022, but it’s not a shoo-in for renewal like SPY x FAMILY Season 2, Chainsaw Man Season 2, My Hero Academia Season 7, or even Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun Season 4.
One negative data point is that Fuukoi anime did not give a huge boost to the sales of the More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers manga. The series did not make the Oricon Top 20 manga for October 2022 even though manga Volume 9 came out on October 4, 2022. Nor did the series make the November 2022 Top 20 manga.
Typically, a new volume release will give a manga series a sales boost all on its own even without the benefit of an anime adaptation acting as marketing for the manga. The Fuukoi manga series had 800,000 copies in circulation at the beginning of September 2022. So we’ll just have to see whether the numbers look good to Kadokawa after the first season finishes in December 2022.
Therefore, it’s uncertain whether the anime production committee will have More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers renewed for a second season, but it does seem to have a better-than-average chance. We’ll just have to wait and see since many rom-com anime are receiving sequels.
More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 English dub release date predictions
Crunchyroll’s More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers English dub release date for the first season was on October 23, 2022, which was only two weeks behind the series premiere on October 9, 2022.
Here was Crunchyroll’s More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers dub cast:
- Lindsay Sheppard – Akari
- Ben Balmaceda – Jirou
- Macy Anne Johnson – Shiori
- Mike Haimoto – Minami
- Derick Snow – Kamo
- Molly Zhang – Natsumo
- Corey Pettit – Sachi
- Meg McClain – Mei
Additional voices were provided by Katelyn Barr, Matt David Rudd, Kayla Parker, Danielle Phillips, and Kristian Eros.
Here is the main Japanese dub cast:
- Saori Onishi — Akari Watanabe
- Seiichiro Yamashita — Jirō Yakuin
- Saki Miyashita — Shiori Sakurazaka
- Toshiki Masuda (Eijirou Kirishima in Boku no Hero Academia) — Minami Tenjin
- Minami Takahashi (Megumi in Shokugeki no Souma) as Sachi Takamiya
- Azumi Waki — Natsumi Oohashi
- Yui Ogura — Mei Hamano
- Shou Nogami — Sadaharu Kamo
- Shuuichi Uchida — Shu Terafune
Presumably, now that Funimation is being phased out by Sony, Crunchyroll’s More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 English dub release date will be announced in the future after Fuukoi S2 has first premiered with Japanese audio and English subtitles.
Hopefully, future English dubbing will be faster once the COVID pandemic winds down and becomes endemic. In order to protect voice actors from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, they were forced to temporarily pause production or take extra safety precautions that resulted in slowed work.
Many English dubbing houses have experienced delays since voice actors often travel to the recording studio. By mid-2022 Crunchyroll began switching from remote recording to in-studio recording again (most of the work is done in their Texas studio).
More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers manga compared to the anime
The story for More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers (夫婦以上、恋人未満。, Fūfu Ijō, Koibito Miman.) is based on the eponymous manga series written and illustrated by Yuuki Kanamaru.
The manga has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten’s Young Ace magazine on a monthly release schedule since March 2018. The individual chapters have been collected into 9 tankoubon volumes as of October 4, 2022.
Unfortunately, no North American publisher has announced an official English translation. However, there are fan translation projects that were up to Volume 8 by November 2022.
The anime has stayed true to the manga’s story. It’s not unusual for an anime based on a rom-com manga to reorder similarly themed chapters with self-contained gag stories into one episode (see Kaguya-sama: Love Is War as an example). But when a series of chapter events progress directly into the next as part of a major story arc the anime will adapt the chapters straight through out of necessity.
Considering how many sexually charged scenes there were in the manga some fans expected censorship. But the anime adapted the manga uncensored while maintaining the normal level of censorship for the nude bath scenes, which were censored by steam clouds in the manga. The anime arguably went further than the manga since Episode 10 even showed off bare butts and the outlines of the girls beneath the water in the shared bath scene.
On the other hand, the anime toned down the ecchi scenes from manga Chapter 29. During the first date, Akari had a tendency to lean over too much and flash the reader.
The adaptation pacing of the anime was mostly very good since it adapted a little over 2 chapters per episode on average. By Episode 5 the anime had adapted 10 chapters, but by Episode 7 the anime was up to Chapter 16. The pacing increased even more since by Episode 11 the anime had adapted 26 chapters.
The biggest negative to the pacing increase is that Episode 11 skipped about half of Chapter 24 in order to reach the best stopping point for the first season. This meant that scenes with Akari and Shiori went missing. Speaking of which, the anime focused on Akari going missing with Menami, which was very important to the plot, but the episode also skimmed over the parts of Chapter 25 which showed Jirou and Shiori going through the test of courage in the forest.
All in all, the first season’s finale, Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman Episode 12, found a stopping point corresponding to manga Chapter 29.
The race between Akira and Shiori at the end of Episode 12 was anime original. Originally, Akari and Jirou had fun on their first date and parted ways while thinking about the future, so the anime added the shrine visit and meeting up with Shiori. The addition was probably ended to give a sense of closure and act as a bookend for the first season since both girls are now symbolically in the running for Jirou’s heart.
Otherwise, the ending remained faithful to manga Chapters 27, 28, and 29. It’s the best stopping point since Tenjin admits that he already knew about Akari’s feelings for him yet he admits that he perceives her like a little sister. Tenjin has also fallen in love with someone else and it’s not Shiori. He even goes so far as to give his blessing for Akari going after Jirou!
Even as Akari shifts gears to focusing on Jirou, Shiori and Jirou share a passionate kiss in the rain. Shiori even gets brave and invites Jirou into her home with no one else around. But Akari isn’t out of the game yet since she fires back by taking Jirou out on their first date. Except for the main couple, everyone has confessed their feelings, which means the anime sequel can focus on Jirou sorting out his feelings and choosing between the 2 girls.
The good news is that there is plenty of source material available for making More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2.
Better yet, English-only manga readers who wish to read ahead of the anime can jump straight to the fan translation projects. But it’s recommended to backup to manga Chapter 24 since certain character scenes and inner monologues added nuance that’s missing from the anime.
Fuukoi Season 2 anime TV spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
During the summer vacation, Jirou, Akari, and Shiori’s respective love lives took a big turn. Akari has finally realized her feelings for Jirou, but he’s anguishing over the big action that took place with his childhood friend Shiori. Now that they’ve been ranked A during the September mid-terms, what will Jirou and Akari choose before the long-awaited opportunity to exchange pairs?
However, after a long period of pseudo-marital bliss, the two wonder if it is right to dissolve their marriage… Jirou even decides to go on a date with Akari away from the marriage practical training!
Meanwhile, Tenjin is facing his own problems with forbidden romance. And a comment from Akari makes Shiori view her marriage practical partner in a new light. There’s also a sports festival coming up and Akari has big plans for the event.
When the last day of the pseudo-marriage finally arrives Jirou is still unable to be honestly happy at the prospect of being paired with his first love, Shiori. He feels embarrassed about making the pair exchange, but now that it’s time to submit the dissolution notice he’s uncertain about what to do.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!
More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 Season 2 studio and staff
The studio and main staff making Fuukoi Season 2 haven’t been announced yet. In the best-case scenario, the main staff will return.
For the first season, the Fuukoi anime was produced by Japanese animation Studio MOTHER, which is probably best known for its collaboration with Studio Asread to create the Arifureta anime TV series. (The Arifureta Season 3 anime was confirmed to be in production in late 2022.)
Otherwise, the animation company is relatively new and only has one other project o its credit: the Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202 compilation movie. That means the Fuukoi anime is the first production where Studio MOTHER took the lead.
- Chief Director – Takao Kato (To Love-Ru, Pandora Hearts, Upotte!!)
- Director – Junichi Yamanoto (Armor Shop for Ladies & Gentlemen, Monster Girl Doctor)
- Series composition/scriptwriter – Naruhisa Arakawa (Kingdom, Twin Star Exorcists, Upotte!!)
- Character designer – Chizuru Kobayashi (Lagrange – The Flower of Rinne, Pandora Hearts)
- Color key artist – Akira Nagasaka
- Art director – Naoko Akuzawa (Team TillDawn)
- Compositing director of photography – Misato Takahata (Moe)
- Editor – Ichiro Chaen (Typhoon Graphics)
- Composer – Yuri Habuka
More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 OP and ED theme song music
The More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers OP “True Fool Love” was performed by Liyuu, while the ED “Stuck On You” was performed by Nowlu.
Let’s just hope the wait for the More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers Season 2 release date isn’t too long. Stay tuned!