Fuufu Ijou, Koibito MimanFuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman #mangakakalot

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 serialized in Kadokawa Shoten‘s seinen manga magazine Young Ace since March 2018, with its chapters collected and published in nine tankōbon volumes as of October 2022. An anime television series adaptation by Studio Mother aired in October 2022.

Story :

High school student Jirō Yakuin is an introvert who would rather keep to himself and play video games than interact with others. He has unrequited feelings for his childhood friend, Shiori Sakurazaka, but the school has implemented a couples training (夫婦実習, Fūfu jisshū) program, which has the students develop social skills on interacting with a partner as if they were married, and they are judged heavily on how well they work together through monitoring. Despite hoping to be paired with Shiori, Jiro is instead paired with Akari Watanabe, a gyaru who finds Jiro repulsive and who would rather be paired with the popular school idol, Minami Tenjin. Learning that if they attain enough points, their current partners can be switched, both Jiro and Akari agree to put their differences aside and work together.

As the story proceeds, Jiro and Akari find themselves developing deeper feelings for each other as they “pretend” to get along, causing confusion between themselves as they struggle to sort out which feelings are real and which are not. Adding to the chaos is Shiori herself, who is 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 confession 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 ultimately pursue.