More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers

Episode 9

It's really refreshing and rewarding to see Shiori be so forward in this episode compared to previous ones. The universe finally gave her an opportunity to be with Jiro in a more casual setting, away from the married couple's life that they're both forced into with other people, and she is taking advantage of that. Interestingly, the focus is on the characters interacting where the pretense of them being presentable in a conventional married environment is nonexistent. We get to see how Jiro interprets some of Akari's actions when she's not necessarily his wife because that was the excuse he was telling himself that made it difficult for him to believe her advances. I like the setup and payoff in this episode regarding Akari's swimsuit, where she says explicitly that she bought two of them and she's only going to wear the revealing one for Jiro. That pays off in the second half of this episode, where they go to the beach, and she doesn't wear the more revealing swimsuit because Minami is there.

This is probably the most convenient and contrived situation the show has ever given us, which is saying a lot. The idea that there is a stay-at-home job opportunity that all of the central and supporting characters just happened to take simultaneously does push things to the absolute limit. Still, I will give the show the benefit of the doubt. This show is full of tropes and comprises that hit a check mark on someone's fetish list (I see what you guys were doing with the cream gag), but what I like about the show is that it doesn't waste any of its contrived opportunities. When it puts our characters in awkward situations, there is a genuine progression in the big and little moments. Honestly, my favorite part of this episode is right at the beginning, where Sadaharu comments on how Akari might sleep around with a bunch of guys if Jiro isn't around, and Jiro just firmly says that she wouldn't do that, which is a massive contrast to how he saw her at the beginning of the show.

What's more, after everything that Akari has been through and her one-on-one time with Minami might be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of her finally accepting the fact that her feelings for Jiro are where she wants to put all of her attention, even if it is the scarier and riskier option in her eyes. Overall, this episode was primarily set up. Still, it is an excellent example of showing that the characters are in a different place now compared to where they were at the beginning. It gives me a lot of faith that everyone will be in a different place again by the time this arc ends.

Rating:

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