Review of More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers.

This anime series is centred on two high school students; Jiro Yakuin and Akari Watanabe. He is a shy and retiring boy who has feelings for Shiori Sakurazaka; she is an extrovert who fancies Minami Tenjin, the school idol. As part of a school programme to train people to live as couples students are paired and have to live together for some time. Jiro is less than impressed to be paired with Akari. They are told that those who get on best will be able to switch partners; something they both want. As the time passes they become closer to each other; but will it be more than friendship by the time the programme ends.

This series could so easily have been sleazy but it turned out to be surprisingly sweet. The characters are likeable and develop nicely as the series progresses. There is inevitably some fan service but it is mild enough that there isn't any obvious censorship, which detracts from many shows. The central premise is clearly a bit unlikely... having students living in boy/girl pairs would be a disaster waiting to happen, but as a hook for the story it works. The story provides plenty of laughs and an enjoyable element of romance as we wonder who characters will ultimately get together with. Overall I'd certainly recommend this one; I hope we get a second series to resolve unanswered questions.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.