It’s hard enough to find one person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Imagine having to take your pick out of five girls who all want to marry you.
Throughout The Quintessential Quintuplets, we watched high school student Futaro Uesugi (Josh Grelle) contend with five schoolgirls who either refused to study or outright failed at it as their beleaguered tutor: Ichika, (Lindsay Seidel), Nino (Jill Harris), Miku (Felecia Angelle), Yotsuba (Bryn Apprill), and Itsuki (Tia Ballard) Nakano.
They fought him at every turn, but Futaro always pressed on. Sure, he was making the big bucks to ensure these five sisters improved their grades, but despite their initial disdain for Futaro and his methods, something else started to happen, too: love. That sets the scene for…
The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: This romantic comedy was in many ways like the others of its ilk. You had a group of women with different personalities. All of them initially seemed to dislike Futaro, so they had their moments where they behaved as if they hated him. But Futaro was able to help the girls because he wasn’t motivated by romancing them at first. He just wanted them to succeed.
But as this is a harem anime, of course someone has to start falling in love with each other, and it happens both ways. Each of the girls, with their varying personalities, has something lovable about them that Futaro surely notices, and the girls each find something they like about their tutor, even if they don’t realize it at first. And with that, Futaro also has to find out which girl he remembers from his childhood days, who is of course, one of the Nakano siblings.
This movie picks up after the conclusion of the anime series, acting as a definitive ending to the story. Futaro and the Nakano quintuplets are preparing for the upcoming school festival, now third-year students, which means they’re on the precipice of graduation. After tutoring the sisters and getting close to them over the course of the anime series, Futaro has become prart of the family — and the object of their affections. Of course, there can only be one sister who ends up with Futaro.
We see multiple sisters profess their love for Futaro as they work to make their last gasp of high school life, but there’s always been one that Futaro was “meant” to marry, ever since childhood, the girl he’s been looking for. And at the girls’ behest, Futaro is asked to confess to one of them, to choose which one he wants to begin dating. The result will cap off the series as the finale, to give fans the definitive answer as to which girl Futaro marries in the end.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Other than the Nakano sisters, this is a harem-centric movie that’s a heartwarming yet pretty paint-by-numbers affair when it comes to romance anime. It’s quite similar to series like Love Hina and its multiple specials, and other popular romance series like Nisekoi, Kimi no Todoke, Wotakoi, and Horimiya. Really, you can take your pick from the genre.
Performance Worth Watching: Felecia Angelle does an excellent job of giving Miku Nakano her unique yet shy tone. While Miku technically is just as much of a protagonist as the rest of the Nakano sisters, she tends to say a bit less since she’s more reserved than the others. Angelle gives her a warm, yet impossibly adorable tone that you can feel coming through with every word.
Memorable Dialogue: “If not for my amazing sisters, everything that’s happened in my life would have been completely different,” Yotsuba says, thinking about how important being a quintuplet actually is to her. It really sets the tone for the series as a whole, and confirms just how much they all care for each other.
Sex and Skin: As far as harem anime goes, this one is pretty wholesome, so there’s not really much to speak of in this department, except the occasional cleavage.
Our Take: The Quintessential Quintuplets has been something of a slow burn in terms of both of its anime and manga adaptations. Fans have been waiting what feels like a lifetime to finally see which girl Futaro ends up with outside of the manga, and this film is a great way to complete the saga for those who haven’t kept up with the series as it finished up its print run.
It feels like a third season of the anime, with a fun, breezy attitude and plenty of romance to sate viewers’ appetites. With that said, however, this film will only really make sense to viewers who have already seen the other seasons of the anime series, as it’s a direct continuation of the story. It’s enjoyable enough as a standalone movie, but the extra context is definitely needed to deliver the emotional impact that comes with seeing the happy couple at the very end.
Our Call: STREAM IT. If you’ve been watching the Nakano sisters and Futaro for the past few years, or reading about their adventures, this movie is a no-brainer of a next step. It’s lighthearted, romantic, and most of all, true to the series’ typical attitude. And you finally get to see Futaro and his bride. We won’t spoil it here, but it’s probably the last person you were expecting.