5-toubun no Hanayome

This show is not your basic harem anime; The 5 sisters in the show each have their own personalities and quirks. At first non of this sisters like Futaro but through the character development of the show they grow to like him more but it is clear that they left room for a season 2 which has already been announced. The emotion in this show feels real and keeps you hooked. One thing I wished they did better was explaining or adding onto Futaro's past. You can connect with the characters and trully feel for them as well. This show has earned its right to ... be on my top 3 favriote animes of all times and I cannot wait for season 2.

I'm honestly kinda shocked. I had extremely low expectations for this show given it's a 5-sister harem. I was pleasantly surprised, the show was quite entertaining. Be warned that this show is very very hated and in my opinion extremely underrated. There isn't as much romance as you may expect and it's more so comedy but I think that the comedy is good and was pretty funny. A big plus I give to this show is the voice acting, it's on point and made the show really engaging for me, specifically yotsuba's VA, she brought a lot of energy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I ... promise that if you go into watching this with a positive outlook with an intent to enjoy, you will enjoy this show. The pacing isn't slow and keeps things moving which prevented boredom that I find so much in other romcom and the humor isn't stupid and has creativity. I think that the show slowed towards the final few episodes of the season to develop characters a little more. Additionally, there are some stupid elements to the show that might have you shaking your head but it really isn't that bad, trust me. I feel that people on MAL see something stupid and just go apeshit over it and proceed to hop on the forum and rate the show 1/10. Like sorry you didn't like this one minuscule detail. If you don't get hung up over little things, this is a cheesy, but wholesome, watch. Gonna watch season 2 now. Thanks for reading if you made it, -nashy

Definitely not my thing.

I think it's quite boring, and not original. The art sure is good and colorful, but that's it. The story is nothing particularly interesting.

After dropping Bokuben and being disappointed by the second season of Nisekoi, I thought I would give the harem genre another try, but this one was just the worst parfs of Bokuben and Nisekoi combined into a slow-paced calling-for-season-2 kind of trap.

I decided to watch it to the end, but it never got anywhere near proper closure. I already know how the manga will end, and I think it's so far from the current situation that I don't want ... to see another season.

A very generic novel with harem characteristics, however, believe it or not ... This anime can be a lot of fun. Romance and harem never match (Yes, nisekoi sucks), in fact this romance has a very peaceful development and in a way that makes you happy. Yes! For the first time in history, I managed to like all the heroines. This is surprising! Let's go to the review.

1 - Story [7/10] - Above average I would say, nothing very incredible, but consistent and interesting. Some features really bothered me, like some clichés visible and repetitive in anime. However, the use was well used and very ... well developed. Nothing to complain about here...

2 - Art [8/10] - It has static pictures, but the animation gets to be above the average several times, and in some moments (few), the scenes are more worked and beautiful. I would say that this anime has a good design.

3 - Sound [6/10] - The dubbing is ok, but nothing draws much attention in BGM, honestly, it was not explored much by the studio.

4 - Character [9/10] - As I said earlier, I liked all the heroines, all the characters are great, however, some take more focus than others, I felt that some are thrown aside at all times. Losing a little protagonism. Anyway, the best strength of this anime for sure!

5 - Enjoyment [9/10] - This anime has a very good comedy, some parts are tense (protagonist who says it), and some moments of romance are cute, this anime does not sin in what you want to deliver. I would say I missed the comedy with some characters, not to mention the exaggeration at times.

Overall [8/10] - The anime itself is very good, I recommend it to anyone looking for some kind of romantic comedy, in addition, I would say not to worry about the harem element, it is very well explored and often generates a good romance . The only anime for me that managed to bring that element and please me.

some said this work is a piece of trash
some said this is an absolute masterpiece
some said is just so-so
so don't believe me, you need to check this one out yourself,
because everyone has their opinion, but for me, this is the best rom-com ever.
I personally didn't hate rom-com, but when they add some story and drama in,
I'll drop that manga down immediately.
but in this manga, you'll see a lot of side from characters
like "she is a caring person, but deep down she'll kick anyone who stands in her way, but she really loves all her sister, but she'll use any dirty method she can think ... of"
not something you will see every day for rom-com heroine candidate right? LOL
but anime can't get you to the point I talk about, that why they need ss2 right after ss1.

Now this is what I call a great show that gives me the feels, and was a gorgeous blast to watch! The atmosphere of this Anime is breathtaking as well! This is a very wholesome Harem Anime, so that is one Big plus for it! Their may not be much Romance in it, but that did not took away the greatness from it! Art is beautiful, sound is is wonderful, characters were full of joy, story may seem to be simple to others but it is great for me, and overall I enjoyed it a lot! This Anime is Binge watching worthy!

A very well deserved ... 10/10!

I have given the 5 toubun no hayanome a fair score just because of the art and music is good but author drags the interaction between MC and any one girl for too long. Despite being the smartest character in the series, the MC just act very foolish and unreal when he's with any of the sister alone.
That's why i found MC's character development to be an average.

What the hell, every time MC is with a quint he suddenly looses all the sense regarding important matters and the author just drag the interaction between them. Also, the interaction between MC and a sister is ... very dumb and unintelligent like when nino discovers MC in a blonde wig, and she can't even guess that's uesugi.

Hmmm how to put this the right way? Perhaps it was because I watched it late at night when I was tired or perhaps it was the gradual character development. It may also have been the very light humour which sometimes left me going 'Heh, that's funny.'

In any case while there isn't much about this anime that I'd write home about I can say that from episode 2 onwards I did enjoy myself.

The first episode was cringeworthy though and I found myself preferring the Dubbed version to the Subbed.

This anime is a good one to watch if you're looking for something lighthearted and ... sweet to pass the time.

How I Met Your Mother: Anime Edition

Right off the bat, LA will say LA hasn't been this invested in a purely straight out harem (as in no fantasy or battle harems elements) in quite a while and 5-toubun no Hanayome just fits that bill.

Spoilers Ahead

5-toubun no Hanayome follows Fuutarou Uesugi voiced by Toshitsugu Matsuoka, an ace student but being in a poor family, he's also a recluse as a result, however when one encounter with Itsuki Nakano, he meets Itsuki as her tutor, wait hold on, the correct term is "they", as Itsuki has four other sisters, their quintuplets at that and Fuutarou now needs ... to tutor these five sisters and make them graduate, this will get his family out of debt, here's the catch, the sisters absolutely hates Fuutarou and all five of them are uhhh.........not at passable grades...AT ALL.

So with this kind of premise, comes in the already massive hurdle for our main protagonist and let's start with him, as he's not your typical kind guy main male bland protagonist, sure he's stuck up and standoffish that already makes him a fresh of breathe air in harem protagonist akin to Keima from the World God Only Knows, but with studying instead of games, but not only that but Fuutarou is one of those main male protagonist who develop and improve his personality along with the five sisters, which LA highly commends this harem anime. "Typical bland male harem protagonist" he is not.

So in order?

ICHIka, the "eldest" of the quints and voiced by Kana Hanazawa, she's your typical Big Sis archetype, is one of the more laxxed members of the sisters and she's fairly well developed, as we get her reasonings as to why she has bad grades and again why she falls for Fuutarou later on due to Fuutarou being still ok with Ichika's goal in life, add in some romantic situations with Fuutarou and Ichika's development was probably the third most focused in this season.

NIno, the most aggressive of the sisters and voiced by Ayana Taketatsu. She along with one other sister is the most distant and pissed off with Fuutarou even to sabotage MANY of Fuutarou's lessons to almost to the point of him getting fired, BUT as much as LA's first impression towards Nino wasn't the best and the anime didn't help, in the latter episodes, she did get some focus and lessened in her aggressiveness towards Fuutarou. Her development and reasonings towards being so aggressive to Fuutarou is a nice compliment to her character as odd as that sounds but it makes her a bit more of genuine character...an aggressive tsundere character sure but still.

ITSUki, the middle sister and voiced by Inori Minase. She's the other sister who wasn't in good terms with Fuutarou from the start and that's because of Fuutarou, mainly because she was the first to make contact with the standoffish Fuutarou and Fuutarou pissed her off, thus not in good terms. Her habit and running gag is her eating alot to the point of the fanbase calling her "Eatsuki". She's not as aggressive as Nino towards Fuutarou but she warms up to Fuutarou quicker as a result, well much better than Nino's development anyways. Fuutarou also uses his little sister Raiha voiced by Natsumi Takamori as bait to study and considering Fuutarou gets desperate ALOT and given his demeanor, he would do it. Though LA will say this, but LA REALLY doesn't want Itsuki to win, mainly for her being "First Girl Wins", but her winning isn't everything as LA WOULD like to see more development from her at the very least.

YOTSUba, the genkiest of the sisters and voiced by Ayane Sakura, she's your typical athletic hyper genki character and she's sorta book dumb and is one of those characters that can't say no, thus her failing grades as a result. She along with one other sister quickly accepts Fuutarou, she's ALSO an interesting character as she seen as something of a chessmaster towards her other sisters and Fuutarou getting herself and her sisters into situations (good or bad). She "may" seem genki, but "maybe" just maybe she's like the Momo from To Love Ru. She's LA's second favorite character as a result.

Lastly MIku voiced by Miku Itou and the youngest of the sisters. She's the other sister who quickly accepts Fuutarou, mainly because of him being secret keeper to her secret interest and Miku allowing herself to no longer be distant to everyone outside her sisters, LA doesn't like these kind of archetypes in anime but man did this one surprise LA. Sure she quickly develops a crush not to mention the anime itself feels like it's pushing Miku as best girl as she gets ALOT of screentime especially early on in the anime. Yeah LA is in the Church of Miku, though the Yotsuba Gang might take LA latter on...who knows?

Who knows?, well LA says this as 5-toubun no Hanayome, mainly who Fuutarou would marry and this is sprinkled throughout the anime and sure the anime shows ONE of the sisters being the bride and all, but uhh...yeah their quintuplets and in comes LA's connection towards this and How I Met Your Mother as ALOT of mysteries are brought on even outside of who the bride is, like who is one that Fuutarou met in childhood?, does Nino's good luck charm affect anything? and the campfire legend. This is another element towards 5-toubun no Hanayome that got LA invested immensely as it works in tandem with Fuutarou's goals of getting the quints graduated and thus the plot as a result, whereas many harem anime either pulls best girl out of nowhere or it's "first girl".

With that as much as Miku and Ichika gets alot of focus in this season, each of the quints themselves gets their own development be it from branching plotlines from Miku and Ichika in which the rest of the sisters develop. With all the mysteries all showing the potential candidates being ONE of the sisters and how the ending of this first season ended, they are all differing yet fair positions in the anime towards Fuutarou, it's ANYONE's win.

The animation done by Tezuka Productions is actually decent to great in most regards, from the decently good backgrounding but the most prominent part of the animation is obviously, the character designs and as much as the quints all have the similar face syndrome, well it kinda makes sense as they're quints and at least they have differing chair colors and accessories to easily make them distinct (which kinda most of the time, ruins some of the jokes about the quints impersonating each other). The animation nonetheless was great, especially the character designs.

As for voice acting, well LA researched this a bit and LA heard that Ayane Sakura was suppose to voice all five sisters but that would had burned out Ayane's voice and throat voicing that many characters all in prominent roles thus the decorated and widely popular voice cast, Ayane Sakura included of course. LA would gush about the main five sisters voice actors but let's just say that *ahem* Miku Itou and Ayane Sakura was great (that's a given considering LA's ships), Ayana Taketatsu was aggressive as she was in her cadence still did decently, Inori Minase as Itsuki felt more like a Ram than a Rem cadence and Kana Hanazawa as Ichika is base Kana and as a result great. Ohh hey on speaking of which, ANOTHER anime where Kana Hanazawa and Ayane Sakura are together!, haven't seen that in a while. Yes if you haven't noticed LA LOVES this voice cast, heck Yoshitsugu Matsuoka was pretty great in his role as Fuutarou.

LA's VERY obviously invested in 5-toubun no Hanayome, let's even hope that 5-toubun no Hanayome ends, something even harems rarely do in anime. 5-toubun no Hanayome feels like How I Met your Mother but LA's worry is that they cop out like How I Met your Mother did with it's ending, here's hoping with 5-toubun no Hanayome's second season's announcement.

5-toubun no Hanayome is a breathe of fresh air in harems for LA, integrating character development from all the harem members and weaving that with the main male protagonist's goals, development, backstory and plot progression, mysteries tied to who Fuutarou's bride is, decent to great production and an amazing voice cast.

5-toubun no Hanayome is an outright gem of a harem anime, hope it still shines after it's second season!.

If Shounen had a rival when talk comes to popularity numbers, it would probably be the Isekai genre, specifically relating to the recent years. As far as we can remember, Mecha was huge back in the day too, but an occurring familiar face to everyone is Harem, a genre that makes a boom every once in a while before it dips down and loses notice against the endless seasonal charts which says a lot about the genre itself. It is hard to sell, hard to come by, but when a good, solid Harem show drops in, it occupies a big spotlight in the seasonal scene. ... Although every show has to have a defining selling point to have an audience (Taking apart your usual guilty pleasure trash), a Harem show can't really screw with the formula or it might end up being way too hung up on what genre it identifies as and eventually get caught up in the unfortunate loophole of “what the heck is this show even is”.
Thanks to the daunting constant five-set rules of thumb that a Harem show is most likely composed of; (1) Plain and relatable (In most cases poor) main character, (2) drawn-out drama that feeds off of misunderstood out-of-context happenings, (3) competitive love interests, (4) a beach/hot spring episode (Although a lot of unrelated shows also love to borrow this one out), (5) and finally a highschool setting. Pretty much, most of the related shows out there are just a reskin of the same plot, only with different names, and sometimes (putting in the work in the “copy my homework but change some things so they don't look similar” deal) quirky backstories. 5-toubun no Hanayome goes beyond that in not only abiding by the “five” rules of thumb of what makes its genre but also (being overly proud to its identity) having it in its name. But as they say. Don't judge a book by its cover, or an Anime by its title, genre, description... you get the idea, judging way too early can pass you off some pleasurable entertainment in the Anime scene, and that goes also for the 3 episodes rule, it's not justifiable in this Anime given its special setting, but hear me out...

Story (8/10):
Given its genre, it's pretty apparent what type of predictable plot this show has, it's in its DNA, an unescaped curse that was bound to it the moment its author came up with the idea that is the “5-toubun no Hanayome”, or at least, that's the impression it gives off. We're at a point where even the industry-defining phenominal known as “Shounen” is evolving into something new and refreshing, and thankful, a lot of aspiring works took that wise note and made slight changes to relate to the present days.
First, we start off very basic. A hardworking smart student that has his own daily run due to his family's terrible financial condition is assigned to tutor a group of classmates that happen to be quintuplets, already mixing a welcomed surprise to the formula. Of course, all of them take an average first impression on the guy, until they all start to realize the feelings they have grown for him, but what really pulls everything together is the lack of fighting between them, sort of what happens between every other love competitors in other shows, as their sisterly side makes sure they are all perfectly tied and holding hands at all times. But what shall they do, when all of them are identical quintuplets, where every sister puts the others before herself? That was the biggest theme that the plot makes hints at occasionally. As they picked awareness that not only themselves but also their loved siblings are developing the same feelings towards the same guy, should they be longing for the charming prince, or should they consider one another, and raise a supportive flag instead?
The story progress at a considerable pace, making sure that the development is apparent, even on the episodic level, which makes comparing the same characters with what they were an episode ago very rewarding and satisfying at times, that is of course, speaking more about their love quest, and less about their academic progression.

Art (8/10):
I would say, artwise, it is definitely not the strongest point this Anime has going for it, but it does the work done. For a 2019 animation, it left a lot to be desired, but the average looking art doesn't hurt the eye so bad like some of the shows did this year *cough* Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou *cough*. For the most part, it makes it easier on the visual side to follow the plot, the shacky consistency with the quality does sometimes throw the viewer off, but it's at least very rare that it doesn't matter anyway. However, and that's a big pause to my squared rant. Sometimes, the visuals strike a steep raise in quality, that you're almost looking at a high-quality premium wallpaper that entice you to stop the episode and have an extensive stare at how good the visuals look like. It's a day-and-night comparition that knocks you off your senses, back to the average-looking animation that honestly wouldn't look so poorly inconsistent if it wasn't for those sudden visual drugs the show strikes you with occasionally.

Sound (7.5/10):
My first reaction wasn't a proud one, especially after I loke the show the way I do after finishing it. I was very unimpressed with how clunky the main character's voice sounded to me, the enthusiasm wasn't there, the face of the protagonist and his voice did not match up for me, it was as listening to a performance of an overworked amature that's half-asleep after a lengthy day of work. The girls' performances were very catchy and daring, even though they had the same appearance from a third perspective point, their voice speak a lot about their varying characteristics and treats.
I'm always welcoming a good score in my daily playlist, and this show was made it there from the first episode. Both the opening and ending theme songs were amazing. Remaining on the same atmosphere that the show drives.

Characters (8/10):
I wasn't very charmed when I first started watching this show, but as I considered the quintuplet gimmick that it embarrasses, it got me very interested in knowing more. They are quintuplets, after all, that is, their bodies are similar, but nothing gets in the way of them not leaving a different and memorable vibe. There is Ichika the big sister, that speaks with a more mature tone, and emits a strange, almost motherly aura whenever she's in the spotlight. There is Itsuki, the stubborn, honest and caring one. Yotsuba, the over-active hyper-energetic, hardworking athletic type that adds in fun and laughter whenever she's there. Miku (My favorite one), being the shy and socially awkward one, and finally (My least favorite), the violent Tsundere that hates to admit defeat and her overly protective side would go as far as drugging you to sleep if it meant to save her sisters. All of them leave off a distinguishable, lovable (in the same ways) treats that leave the fans in constant wars on which one IS the Mary Sue that should finally marry the protagonist some day.

Enjoyment (9/10):
For once, I never expected to get this much of an attachment with the show, as I only started it after picking it up on a whim to binge watch in the weekend (Ended up watching it my pace the entire week which I do no regret). It has sincerely been a long time since a show has filled me with uncontrollable chills that kept me swinging my body left and right at some points of the story, the likes of which I never imagined a Harem show would give me. Definitely one of the best Harem shows I watched. I can't wait for the second season to air.

Overall (8.1/10):
Yes. That would be my answer if you were to ask me ”Should I watch this show?”. It is genuinely that good. Refreshing and faithful to what it set out itself to be, I really can't stress how much of a great Harem is in simple words. Here I am writing this review only minutes from finishing watching session, and already thinking about what would be the right time for a re-watch before the second season airs, which happens to be around a month from now.

DISCLAIMER: This will be a review of exclusively season 1 content.

The Quintessential Quintuplets is a fantastic idea; for a different anime. As hard as it is to believe from the premise, 5 quirky, failing quintuplets all falling in love with their hard-ass tutor who's just there for the fat pay cheque is the synopsis of a love story that is supposed to be taken seriously. I went into The Quintessential Quintuplets under the impression that it'd be a comedy like Kaguya-sama or Konosuba, where the ridiculousness of the character writing is used to create amusingly absurd plotlines for each episode, instead, I get the ... impression that I'm supposed to be watching the developments of 5 serious, deep relationships with 1 dude and 5 girls who are siblings.

Now some of you filthy weebs who haven't seen the show out there will be thinking "but Curls! Did you start watching anime yesterday? Do you not know what a harem is? They're supposed to be fanservice! Go back to Sunday school if you're gonna look down on our harems". While it certainly isn't my thing, I can see the appeal of that kind of fanservice and feel no ill will towards those that partake: if a show is good at catering to that audience, then those shows deserve positive reviews from those who are that way inclined. However, I just can't bring myself to believe that a simple, fanservice-focussed harem anime was the intention here, there are attempts to create a genuine romance here, with a protagonist who's not a self insert for the viewer and character writing that's designed create drama that pushes characters to develop their relationships with one another.

There are a variety of problems with this use of the show's premise. The most apparent of which is the dividing of run time between each of the 5 relationships, because the central mystery driving the show forward is which of the girls Futaro will end up with by the end, all 5 potential relationships must seem like a plausible scenario, which results in the run time given for each character to develop their relationship with Futaro is divided by 5. Inevitably, this means that Futaro's relationship with each of the girls is criminally underdeveloped: I couldn't tell you why any of them are attracted to him, they all have pretty weak romantic chemistry and I really don't care about which one he ends up marrying. Additionally, even if they were given all the time in the world, none of the girls (if their characters remain the same as they have been throughout season 1) will be able to have a deep enough relationship with Futaro to justify this show's status as a high quality romance anime. For a romance in a story to work, each of the two characters in question must have something to learn on an emotional level from the other. A recent example of this done well is Gojo and Marin's budding romance in My Dress Up Darling (minor spoilers for this ahead): Gojo admires Marin's confidence in who she is and what she cares about, while Marin admires Gojo's diligent, conscientious attitude towards his passions (notice how she falls in love with him in episode 5 only after learning about this aspect of his personality in episode 4). The characters are different in ways that facilitate them growing through their relationship and this is the primary factor behind what makes their relationship so heart-warming and engaging to watch. Compare this to The Quintessential Quintuplets and it becomes clear how lacking the show is in this pretty essential department, what on Earth is Futaro going to learn from Itsuki? Or Miku? Or Yotsuba? Same goes for the other way around, Futaro is kind of a dick who cares about his sister and studies a lot, other than the contents of textbooks, how can the girls learn anything from this guy? So far, it seems as if the intention is for the quintuplets to collectively contribute to Futaro's development and collectively develop thanks to Futaro. Even if this was done well, (which it isn't but this review is already going to be too long), it makes it impossible for any girl in particular to have romantic chemistry with him.

Strangely enough, I hope that the quintuplets I like most, Ichika and Miku, don't end up with the protagonist, because I'm still not sure whether he even cares about them all that much. This isn't a situation where love blossoms slowly between two individuals who may not have originally been interested in each other, its them being in love with him and it not being reciprocated in the slightest for the entire season. Perhaps this is another consequence of the split across 5 romances, if his feelings for each develop slowly, it's going to be season 60 before he looks at any of them romantically. Once again, this approach could be great for an absurdist comedy: I'd love to watch some uninterested sociopath herd 5 flavours of dumbass, all of which want to get with him and beat the others while avoiding study as much as possible. You could do so much with that, Futaro could use their feelings to get them to study while still remaining a sympathetic enough character with his motivation to provide for his family and the twins could compete with one another in their own unique ways for his attention: it's a comedy writing jungle gym that is entirely unexplored in favour of a subpar romantic drama.

Essentially, The Quintessential Quintuplets is an anime that takes itself too seriously. The voice acting, most of the dialogue and the animation are competent enough, but the direction behind the writing leaves much to be desired. I didn't enjoy The Quintessential Quintuplets, but I really think I could have done if the intentions behind its story were better planned out.

What do Shakespeare, Beethoven, Michelangelo, and Negi Haruba have in common?

They each created some of the greatest creative works in history.

This anime is a sublime masterpiece, second only to the manga source material. Watching it is like sitting in a hot tub, sipping a fine wine and eating top tier chocolate cheesecake, every second of every episode (especially the Nino parts). This anime will be remembered for 1000 years. You will laugh, cry, and feel more wholesome feels than you've ever felt. After finishing it you will feel like you've been born again.

The characters are some of the sweetest and best girls of ... any series. Yes it's true that they loosely follow character archetypes, but it's done well. They each have enough of their own quirks and style that you don't feel like you're just watching stereotypes acted out. They each have their own goals in life and there's clear and interesting character development for each one throughout the series.

And the identical quints dynamic really adds an interesting dimension to the show. The MC Futarou is a self insert as expected, but he has enough of a personality to be admired as a character in his own right. The suspense is done quite well also, I had no idea how the romance aspect was going to turn out until the very end, the author doesn't make it obvious. So I highly advise against looking up any spoilers prior to watching.

Now go enjoy this masterpiece.

(spoiler free but also didn’t proofread bc this anime doesnt deserve anymore of my time me thinks)

as an anime this fails on virtually every front. the music is absolutely horrendus, the visuals are so anime uwu kawaii it has no texture to it, and camera work is the worst offender. often resulting in dead pans, the camera works as a sitcom with people talking while sitting with the camera just staring at them. so creatively bankrupt. the characters are extremely bland. they feel like a flanderized version of themselves by episode 2 its insane. theres 6 characters but it genuinely feels like theres 2 characters ... and 4 clones. the world is so hollow and un lived in. ofc this is a slice of life not an epic fantasy but dude theres barely ANY hints of larger problems within families, communities, and domestic social issues. the anime ends with literally zero pay off to anything. theres no answers to any naturally asked questions, theres no rewarding scenes, theres no real character work. i could ignore all the poor story telling if this anime had something to say with its production. editing, storyboards, animation, color, sound design, its genuinely all so bad. the budget for this anime mustve been 30 dollars dude

(miku my goat tho)

Yes, I like harem, romance and fanservice, I give a good rating with a turd review because I can't write properly.

Story:

Quite original. A dude trying to get a debt paid by working to get 5 sisters to graduate... Well I didn't expect anything until I watch the first few episodes, like, jesus christ.... I feel bad for the MC & those girls are fucken' annoying af.

- This show doesn't quite justify why those girls fall for the MC
- Expect loads of cliche stuffs which are very common from harem/romance animes rating from 6-7+
- Felt rushed. I'm guessing this anime skipped a lot ... of stuff from the manga. (probably the manga is way better, I assume)
- Presentation & execution is okay, pretty average & something you would expect from a cheap ass harem animes

Art:

nahhhhhh, below average art & animations, but tolerable. This anime is one of the least pleasing art & animation works that I have ever encountered. Its not the worst, but I normally I expect these type of anime always have a slightly better art or drawings.

Sound:

OP & ED is okay, sound effects are okay, no problems on voice actors. I think the mood setting music could be better.

Character:

MC is same as what you would normally find in any cheap ass harem anime. Doesn't really know how to make a right decision which made you *facepalm* 70% of the time.

All other 5 girls... I'll just summarise it into this:-

'The most common anime girl personality types'

Enjoyment:

First few episodes, really annoyed the fuck out of me. Really doesn't explain much why these girls fall for the MC. Ahhhhh, I'll just enjoy those fanservice or lovey-dovey scenes. Nothing to expect from its story/drama.

Overall:

This anime made think, trying to handle 5 girls is one hell of a job. Gotta keep my reality check on *slaps own face*.

- a good time killer i guess
- pretty somewhat relaxing show
- i like it cuz i luv harem

There’s a particular kind of frustration associated with a show like The Quintessential Quintuplets, the kind of frustration resulting from recognizing a show that’s so painfully close to being good you can almost taste it. And not just good, but good in a way that doesn’t usually work for you, good in terms of a genre that has almost never connected with you, good in a way that could serve as proof positive for the potential of an entire style of storytelling to finally work its magic on you and overcome your ingrained distaste for where it’s coming from. As someone who has overall enjoyed ... maybe one traditional harem anime in his life (Zero no Tsukaima, before it all went to shit), the sensation of finding myself getting sucked into The Quints was so unexpected and refreshing that I found myself wanting to overlook all its obvious flaws and just let myself enjoy it. Sadly, while the core itself is solid, there are just too many little things that don’t work over the course of its run, too many frustrating distractions for me to consider it a worthwhile investment. But we almost made it, lads. We almost had another harem anime that spoke to me. If nothing else, I can’t help but find a little hope in that.

At any rate, the plot follows the typical harem formula of one dude surrounded by a bunch of female fetish archetypes who all start to fall for him, though the specifics of how it’s implemented this time around are unique enough to warrant interest. Futaro Uesugi is an A+ honors student from a poor family, desperately trying to keep his grades up in order to go to a good college and provide for his father and adorable little sister (don’t worry, she’s explicitly not part of the harem this time). But a chance encounter provides him an unexpected opportunity to earn some much-needed cash: by tutoring, as the name suggests, a set of quintuplet sisters from a rich family who all have their unique talents and skills, but are academically dumb as a bag of rocks. Futaro’s the kind of grump who would much rather study on his own than be forced into human interaction, but the appeal of a high salary is too much for him, so he sets about trying to tutor these five girls and bump their grades up to acceptable levels. Very soon, the realization sets in that if he’s going to overcome their distaste of studying in general and him in particular, he’s going to have to help them through their various emotional hang-ups, many of which relate to the complicated nature of being one fifth of such a massive family unit. Thus, the stage is set for butting heads and romantic tension aplenty, as Futaro and the girls slowly open up to each other over time.

So like I said, it’s a fairly typical harem set up on the surface, and you’d be forgiven for thinking it had little to set it apart from the general low quality of such shows. And yet, while it does stumble into plenty of the cliches you’d expect- accidental groping, walking into someone else naked because nobody locks their damn door- the foundational writing at the core of the thing is shockingly solid. All these characters actually feel like characters, as opposed to stock archetypes, with enough well-defined motivations and hang-ups to justify the ridiculous situations they often find themselves in. Miku, the shy one, is also a massive history buff with a far keener perception than first glance would let on. Ichika, technically the eldest of the five, has a surprisingly complex outlook on her sisters’ complicated relationship. Futaro himself is enough of an acerbic wit to counterbalance the usual harem problem of the guy being a completely uninteresting pile of mush; he can easily stand toe to toe with his love interests, comedically and dramatically. And there’s a genuine reality to all their interactions, a sense that the loss of any one of them would fundamentally change the way the show operates. That’s the mark of a good ensemble cast; everyone, even the initially-hard-to-stomach abrasive tsundere, feels essential. It’s a dynamic that you want to get invested in, because it’s well-realized enough to warrant that level of investment.

Sadly, as much as I wanted to like The Quints for its smart handling of the harem formula, it’s let down by a production that is, quite frankly, amateurish as hell. Time was clearly poorly allocated over the course of pulling this show together, because the animation starts getting janky by the second episode and never really recovers. Left on their own, the character designs of all the girls are all pretty attractive, but in motion, they all feel stiff and lifeless, bereft of personality that the VAs try admirably to cover for with their expressive performances. And look, I can handle a little less-than-perfect animation if it comes to that, but the way this show is so haphazardly slapped together ends up killing the pacing and driving a wedge through a good chunk of the otherwise very strong comedy. Jokes can’t land with their intended force if the animation is awkwardly flailing to catch up to the punch line and highlighting just how unmatched these rough cuts are to this vibrant, bouncy tonal sensibility. It creates a distracting layer of unreality about the world; the way scenes flow and move into each other feels stilted and discordant in a way that makes the actions of the characters feel not grounded in the reality of their situation. The writing goes to such lengths to make them feel like sensible, understandable characters, but the awkwardness of the production makes them feel like aliens with no comprehension of how to react to any situation normally.

There’s also some weird business about how since they’re quintuplets, the girls are all supposedly impossible to tell apart when they pretend to be each other, a concept mined for both comedy and emotional weight, yet the character designer gave them all such distinct hair colors that you’d have to be an idiot not to recognize them as themselves. And that leads to bizarre moments where Futaro will mistake a girl for one of his sisters, despite the audience clearly being able to tell by her hair color who it truly is, yet the show still treats it as a shocking reveal when Futaro realizes that fact for himself. I have no idea if the obvious unbelievability of this nonsense was supposed to be the point of the joke, like it’s supposed to be funny that Futaro keeps confusing them for each other despite them being very distinct. There’s one particular scene where all five of them have to sneak by an authority figure by dressing up and pretending to be the same quintuplet, and the parade of different hair colors doing nothing to tip him off is so bizarrely goofy that I can’t help but feel like that was the intended effect. But other times, it feels like we’re supposed to be genuinely surprised upon finding out someone’s true identity, and I have no idea why. Did someone in the production team genuinely think we couldn’t tell hair colors apart? Because if not, it’s a baffingly idiotic decision, emblematic of the carelessness of the entire damn production. It’s an inescapable, constant flaw that drags the entire show down, burying its strengths in a much of incomprehensible presentation.

And yet. And yet, I still really want to hold out hope for The Quintessential Quintuplets. The fact that it was able to connect with me at all, when I so rarely find any value in the harem genre, speaks volumes to the level of effort that went into it. This wasn’t some half-assed story someone slapped together for a quick buck; there was care and effort put into it. And had the production been able to match it, we may have genuinely had a new harem classic on our hands. Perhaps if it gets picked up for a second season, Tezuka Productions can finally give it the time and attention it deserves. But until then, I’m just left wishing that this obvious gem was delivered clean of unnecessary, muddying tarnish.

The Quintessential Quintuplets is a harem anime that reignited my trust in this genre of anime. [Minor Spoilers]

STORY: 7/10
For a harem anime the story is really simple. They set up the protagonist and the girls by creating a scenario where he must tutor them to sustain his family and improve their grades else they are held back a year. The story tries hard not to diverge from this center of creativity, but it inevitably focuses on other things as events and the reluctance of some of the girls to study interfere. This is how the harem is able to flourish- outside of this scenario where ... he is tutoring them.

Other than the last 3-4 episodes of the series, many of the events that occur are cliche for a school harem anime. However, the execution of all of these events, especially when being widespread between 5 females, is actually quite splendid and makes for enjoyable scenes with each character instead of rushed, half-assed ones. The story also makes it tough for the viewer to assume which girl will inevitably end up with the protag. At least personally, I assumed that Itsuki would easily win over the protag based on all prior cliche harem anime. This one, however, speaks otherwise through its diversity with sharing the love for all 5 females to have a chance.

CHARACTERS: 8/10
The characters of a harem are what constitutes as a major key to the success of the anime in my opinion. The Quintessential Quintuplets did not fail in allowing each character to be unique and shine in their own way. However, I must admit that some shone a bit more than the others (besides the protag, Fuutarou, of course), which is a bit of a letdown as I was expecting a high quality of personality for all 5 girls if they were to be so ambitious with this idea.

Fuutarou: On the scale of harem protagonists I'd place him slightly above average. He learns to care for the girls instead of focusing solely on how he could make money off his job. He's quite honest and not completely naive or retarded. His major setback in my opinion, of course besides being dense as hell, would be how hard he tries to cover up his past. This may seem only to be used as a plot device, however, which I'll go over in Nino's section.

Itsuki: I'd rank her lowest of the 5 girls. I understand that the core of her character is to reject Fuutarou until he proves himself, but in a show with only 12 episodes and 5 girls to go through this simply was not a good idea to use as her personality. I mean of course she is caring and shows that she studies hard which adds to her character, but these aren't defining traits when compared to those of her sisters.

Miku: In my opinion, by the series' end she is in the lead for winning over Fuutarou's heart (not by a large margin however). She is the second to truly open up to Fuutarou and proves herself to have the work ethnic and cooperation needed to succeed and make Fuutarou happy. If anything that's her prime motivation before she falls for him, which I see as a valid one. Despite not being as talented as her other sisters necessarily, she shows almost the most amount of heart of the 5 with nothing to back it up except for love.

Nino: I'd rank Nino a tiny bit above Itsuki because of the way she rejects Fuutarou. Unlike Itsuki who does everything to avoid him, Nino opts to do anything else but study with Fuutarou but can at least stand his presence and cooperate at times. Her major flaw comes when she falls for Fuutarou's past self however. This whole connection seems to be a very superficial way for Nino to build a bond with Fuutarou. However, it does work as Fuutarou does learn a bit of Nino's true personality through this arrangement. Still not the best option however.

Ichika: Ichika is right behind Miku in my opinion. She has a nice personality and cares the most for her sisters out of all of them. This resonates quite well with Fuutarou when he realizes what and why she's doing things behind the scenes later on. She likes teasing him a lot but also opens up to him much later on. This strengthens their bond and allows Fuutarou to clearly see the good in Ichika. As the big sister of the 5 this is good that she uses her natural standing above the 5 (i.e.: her immense love and care for them) to attract Fuutarou.

Yotsuba: She'd be smack dab in the middle. Her natural personality allows herself to open up to Fuutarou very easily, but nothing deeper really comes out of this other than him realizing that she volunteers so much to the point of becoming a pushover basically. Outside of making one major move on Fuutarou, Yotsuba doesn't do much to try and attract Fuutarou to her at all (romantically speaking). However, her personality is a very amiable one so it's quite easy for her to get along with him anyways and create a somewhat shallow bond of sensei and kouhai.

The cast for this show is overall really solid with mainly Nino and Itsuki bringing it down. Nino could've been at the same nearly tragic level that Itsuki is at without the whole complication that occurs with Fuutarou's past self. However, the personalities of Miku, Ichika, Yotsuba, and Fuutarou's response to them makes the characters overall splendid to watch in action.

ART: 7/10
The art almost made me not watch this anime along, with the given that it was a harem. However, in very heated moments I was able to find an appreciation for how the art would capture a sentimental or romantic moment. I give cudos to Tezuka for making those specific scenes look good and the anime look solid overall.

SOUND: 8/10
The sound was able to capture all the special moments that occurred throughout the show quite well. The school music was normal and lighthearted of course, but when things got serious, romantic, or frisky, I felt the vibe of those situations and the music definitely helped. The OP is really upbeat and fun to listen to while the ED is a soft, romantic song that I found pleasing to end every episode off on.

ENJOYMENT: 7/10
I was really reluctant to watch this series from the get-go and was preparing myself to feel underwhelmed by the cliches of a harem anime (that luckily there were very few of). I ended up enjoying this show a lot more than I thought I would, but it was the second half of the series that I found myself seriously indulged in. I couldn't wait for the next episode by the time the 9th episode finished which shows how I had truly enjoyed the show.

OVERALL: 7/10
This harem was a solid step up from many others that I had watched. With season 2 on the horizon I can proudly say that I enjoyed the first season and can't wait for what else this series has in store. Many of the girls are very likable and the protag is neither a dimwit nor a complete childish person. The story and romance are all there despite having a school environment to ensure that the events occur regardless showing a bit of lack of creativity. Nonetheless this show surprised me with how good it was and especially how it made me feel about watching harems again.

This show is not for everyone. That being said I haven't seen a harem show an a pretty long time and I enjoyed this a lot. It was easy watching and honestly while it doesn't bring anything new to the table it does everything pretty well, except for the soundtrack. Soundtrack sucks majorly to the point where I hated just about all of the ost.

Art is solid and has some real eye candy moments. There is no real fanservice as far as harem or even just as anime goes; and one thing the show does well is make it so that there is actually a ... bit of hope for all the ships.

Story is pretty mediocre but good enough to just sit through 1 episode a week and enjoy. Characters are pretty "by the books" but they blush through the rough parts so what more do you want????

8/10 tbh I want a second season just because its such easy fluff to enjoy.

How should I start this?

Besides some part of the story, it's a typical harem.

- Story: 7. It is good, but not perfect. The fact that the harem girls are quintuplets make it different from the other harems, but that's all. Besides that, I don't find anything outstanding in the story.
As it keeps going, I found it quite dense more and more. [Little spoiler] Okay, now the main character had met one of the sisters before. The end. That's it, that's what make it starting to be dense. That's what make it starting to be typical. Now I guess, the MC helped the girl ... out and they just liked each other something? Just guessing. If that is, then hold on, am I watching Nisekoi?

- Art: 8. It's quite gorgeous, but not really. Sometimes it can be clingy, but overall it's super nice.

- Sound: 8. Pretty good. The OP and ED is nice and cute, I like them both.

- Characters: 6. Ahhh....
This is hard to start, if you know me.
_MC: he's a quite good character, but I don't feel like liking him.
_Ichika, oldest sister: A nice lewd onee-san. I kinda like her though. But she's not my most favourite character.
_Nino, second sister; Here you must expect me to say "She's a bitch" "I hate her" "Worst character", yes? But no. She's definitely not the worst character of the show. By this I don't mean she's my favourite, she's average to me. May I ask some of you, why would you hate her? I found her relatable as a caring sister. The sisters are peaceful together, and a random guy comes. I mean, wtf? What Nino did is tense, yes, is lame, ehh maybe, is the worst, fucking no, please.
_Miku, third sister: Ahhhh, yes. tHe BeSt MoE tSuNdErE eVeR! And here, you must be expecting me to say "Aww she's so cute" "Tsundere, I love her" "gOtTa LoVe GiRlS wItH hEaDpHoNeS", no? Oh my, please! She's my least favourite character in the show. First, typical and cliche tsundere, I mean there are fucking a lot of tsunderes that are WAY better than her. Ugh. What she did to be the best girl was just blushing and smiling and doing things with her puffy cheeks, tryna be cute to be the bEsT gIrL of the show. And yes, she did succeed on that. Second, the fanbase. I mean whenever there's a post about the other characters, her fans are like #TeamMiku. Not only that, but other girls too. But you must understand that when it comes to harem, it would happen. In conclusion, Miku is just a typical tsundere girl that is dense and has nothing special with her, boring.
_Yotsuba, fourth sister: Is it weird that she's my most favourite? It musn't be. Well, as the anime's keep on going, she's the most shallow character. But that is what I like of her. Anyways. Energetic? Checked. Cute? Checked. Caring sister? Checked x100.
_Itsuki, fifth sister: She's a nice character just like Ichika, and my second favourite after Yotsuba.

- Enjoyment: 7.
I did enjoy the series, but not too much. Maybe part of the war bride affects this. But anyway, this show is enjoyable.

Overall, I would give this a 7. A fair enough and best score I could give.

This review is all over the place, but here I go:
I am personally not a fan of of harems, but after watching this show, I am thoroughly convinced that I should give harems another shot.

First of all,
1) the protagonist is not a perv
2) the show hints that there will be ONE girl that the protagonist chooses in the first episode.
3) the show does not end without choosing anyone.

Seeing a show that is unique like this is a huge relief.
The story of the show is good. A boy has to tutor 5 sisters who are all different, but similar: each with their own unique personalities. I ... really loved how the anime shows how each girl is good, and by the end of it, I would be satisfied with whomever the protagonist chooses.
The opening and ending of the show is FIRE! I loved the soundtrack.
Overall, I had such a good time watching the show that I binged all of it in one evening. I HIGHLY recommend this anime to anyone who is into and is not into harems.

I have some rather mixed feelings about this one. It has some great parts, and some good characters, but also some horrible, painful, sickening cringe. I have a feeling that some people will love it and some will hate it.

Right off the bat, let me say that this is NOT the standard ecchi harem light-romance comedy anime we all know. I don't consider it a harem at all, actually. Some of the characters are actually impressively irritating; in fact, I wouldn't even want them in a harem...

The story follows the tutoring sessions of the "genius" MC (Futarou) as he attempts to tutor 5 idiots, ... who were born with the mass meant for their brain ending up a little lower down on their body.

Remark 1: I don't really like protags who are all about their grades. Nobody cares about your HS grades. And, even if you go to grad school, nobody really even cares about your undergrad grades, outside of a few cases. Virtually no one will care about grad school grades either. I find characters that care too much about grades to be REALLY cringy and pathetic (especially at the HS level). However, this guy doesn't flaunt his grades very much, nor does he put undue emphasis on them, though he *does* seemingly have an inordinate obsession with studying (which is distrinct from grades, of course). He has some pride in his academic accomplishments, as he should, but not to an absurd extent. This is a postive in my book. Additionally, none of the characters like him for his grades specifically, which is also good.

The five sisters have very different personalities, and while I wouldn't say they exactly fall into standard tropes, they are each certainly not far from one at least. There is an Onee-san, a shy but lovable kuudere, a genki girl, a tsundere (emphasis on the TSUN), and an ... annoying brat. But, whether they are archetypal manifestations or not, several of them (mostly the latter two) are just horrible. These girls do NOT want to be tutored, and would be honestly crippling to deal with (just watching them was hard enough). While the characters do get better throughout the show (though, in some cases, BARELY so), they are very problematic in the beginning. Even Miku, by far the best of the best, starts out being rather difficult to deal with (though she is <3 by the end)... yet she is nothing compared to the soul-crushing, cringe-inducing nightmares that some of the other grills present when trying to deal with them.

Now, what exactly is my problem? Simply put, the characters in this show too often act like bratty psychos. Since they are rich (and imbecilic, in its original meaning), with seemingly poor parenting, I suppose it is sensible for them to be spoiled. But this goes far beyond that. The characters avoid him, refuse to listen to him, and even *actively work against him*. Even after the excruciating process of him getting them to just let him *try* to do his job, they are consistently being annoying. One is often running off and working (repeatedly forcing their responsibilities onto others). One is always running off to help randos. One has an arrogant sense of pride (in what, I cannot fathom) that makes her ludicrously sensitive and hence extremely difficult to work with. One is shy to the point of having difficulty communicating the simplest things. And one, of course, is just a straight-up hater of the MC because of reasons (she loves her sisters so much that she wants them to fail school I guess). Because of this, the show is filled with completely unnecessary drama and inter-personal problems, caused by what can only be described as willfill autism. Characters hide their feelings and lie to each other for no rational reason (including between the sisters, who are allegedly quite close). The MC also makes idiotic decisions when trying to communicate or manipulate the sisters in roundabout ways. We also have the classic angsty "talk about simple things in a round-about pseudo-philosophical way without saying anything directly". They need group therapy and a communications class or something. Several times, I thought, "Please, just... give up. Stop teaching them. It's not worth it." The in-universe explanation that the MC needs money is a decent comeback, but that just makes me feel bad for him. I wish he would just quit tutoring and keep Miku-chan company instead <3.

Remark 2: I suspect that many people will actually enjoy the bizarre drama in this show, which I found cringy. But, some people want mUh rEaLisM sometimes. Also, granted, sometimes willfull autism is funny.

Ok... what about the positives? Technically speaking, this is a great looking and sounding show. I liked the visuals, art, and voicing. Miku-chan is hnnnggh. I also will admit that the characters are quite dynamic and largely consistent (even if often irritating), as well as (I felt) relatively unique. Furthermore, I appreciated the degree of character growth that occurs. In fact, I would say that the character-building and character design is actually quite skilled. I feel like the writer knew how most shows like this go in terms of character arcs (in anime, they either follow this two-phase transformation like [personality type 1 at the start] --> [event occurs with MC, e.g., defeated by them or overcome some obstacle together, and they "see the light"] --> [personality 2 takes hold permanently]; or their character and relationships simply stay the same), and author wanted to do something different. While these discrete transitions do occur, I felt that the character transformations were more continuous and fluid. On a related note, I actually felt like the plot and world (though, not much world-building is needed) were also well constructed. I was invested in the story and I wanted to know what would happen next. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this show is actually funny. While it waxes and wanes (inversely to the poor-communication/brattiness-induced fits of lunacy), it works quite well as a comedy.

This list of positives probably looks very short compared to my rants above. However, I will say that I actually enjoyed the show (I binged it over 2 days) when I wasn't yelling at the screen.

Categorically, we have:

- Moe: mixed (Yotsuba: some; Miku: over 9000; Others: ~none)
- Comedy: decent
- Drama: present
- Action: none
- Romance: low
- Harem: low
- Ecchi: very low

Yes, that's right, this is neither an ecchi nor a harem show in my eyes (characters that actively hate you are not in your harem). It's more like a comedic character study, with (somewhat contrived) inter-character tension/drama/conflicts and a light dash of romance. If you like tsunderes, you may love this show. Personally, I think it's a fine watch for a few hours: you get a moe Miku, a passable story, and some good laughs.