Let's begin with what the manga does well.
Story: 7
While the manga starts off with a lot of fast paced standard comedy sketches, it soon evolves into more of a drama series, while keeping some of it's comedic moments. Personally, a large amount of the humor was at the very least amusing, but what kept me coming back was the drama aspect. The more plot driven parts of The Quintessential Quintuplets were executed beautifully. At some points in the story, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the conclusion to the next arc. The very solid storytelling along with the interesting drama points made this manga something I kept wanting to come back to. Of course, there's a massive issue which I will address nearing the end of the review.
Characters: 9
In my opinion, the meat of this entire story comes from telling the trials and tribulations of it's characters.
Fuutarou Uesugi, the bibliophile who focuses literally all of his free time on studying. Fuutarou is meant to be our looking glass into the story, so his character isn't made to be the most expressive. However, his overly serious and unwavering dedication to his studies does make him have his charm. Overall, the story would never be the same without him.
Now we move on to the quintuplets, and this is going to be the most controversial part of the review. Take it with a grain of salt, as this is my opinion. You're free to disagree, and I welcome any counterpoints. Now, let's go in order from eldest to youngest. **CAUTION, THIS SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS.**
Ichika Nakano. On paper, she's your typical "Onee-san" type character. The friendly smiles, the lazy attitude, the nurturing nature. Throughout the course of season 1, she got some solid character development, and I liked her even more than Miku. Ichika's character arc is asking the question; "Should I help my sisters or should I help myself?". She knows that Miku was crushing on Uesugi, which made her feelings even harder to accept. I loved this portrayal of her character. Her big sisterly nature is being put to the test, forcing her to decide whether to stay back and support Miku, or pursue her own happiness with Uesugi. Unfortunately, she gets pushed to the wayside in the latter half of the manga. Now, why does she like Uesugi? After spending the past 17 years of her life supporting her sisters with everything she has, Uesugi supports *her*. A mutual relationship built on trust and support suits her to a T. Of course, she came to like him a bit quickly, but she was one of the less hostile of the quints towards Uesugi, so it isn't entirely unrealistic. Overall, Her character was great, but it wasn't properly capitalized on due to her lack of popularity. She comes in second place on my list, even if only because she deserved more than what she got.
Nino Nakano. Hoo boy, there's a lot to talk about here. She starts off as the most hostile of the 5 towards Uesugi, feigning acceptance to him until she drugs him to sleep and gets Itsuki to bring him home. For the first 30~ or so chapters, I found myself loathing her. Her hostility seemed unwarranted in some areas. But, soon everything began to make sense in her character arc. Nino represents what the manga is all about: "From Hate to Love". After watching each of her sisters change before her eyes because of their involvement of Uesugi, she was scared that they would lose their unity as quintuplets. She was the most scared of the five to take the leap and change as a person, and to grow as an individual. Naturally, she blamed her sisters change on the outsider variable, Uesugi, and hated him for it. In her eyes, he was someone who was disrupting the natural harmony of their sisterhood. This was only amplified when Itsuki slapped Nino in defense of Uesugi. After living alone, talking to Uesugi on multiple occasions, and on top of that, uncovering Uesugi as Kintarou, the boy she thought was her type, Nino finally made the first step. She cut her hair. Now, this may seem like a typical "I've changed" moment in a romance manga. But, think about it for a moment. Her long hair was the last reminder of when the 5 of them looked identical. By getting rid of that, she's finally looking away from the past and taking her step forward as a person. This character arc, in my opinion, was textbook. It showcases a natural flow of change in her mindset, and it's riddled with symbolism from top to bottom. Now, we get into the juiciest part of her character, which is her inevitable falling for Uesugi. Her feelings for Uesugi build up in a natural way that feels realistic. Slowly coming to realize how she feels after denying her obvious signs of a crush. Her confession was easily the biggest highlight of the story in my opinion, and she singlehandedly changed the direction of the story. She took Miku's words; "First come First served" to a whole new level, being the first of the quints to confess. How did she come to like Uesugi? The answer lies in her entire character arc. Initially hating Fuutarou because he was changing things in her sisters, she came to love him after finally being able to accept it, and after having a change of heart herself. If Nino's love could be described as anything, it'd be an all out attack. She gets things done, without any of the waiting around of Ichika and Miku. This, along with her own character arc overall, makes her the best quint out of the five, no contest. First place. I had to cut out a lot of what I wanted to talk about with Nino, too, because this paragraph was getting way too long.
Miku Nakano. She's a good one, but I'm sorry, she just... isn't that interesting. A lot of people describe her as a less interesting Nino, and they'd be right, to an extent. Miku was the first of the 5 quints to fall for Uesugi, which may have artificially inflated her popularity, alongside her character as the shy introvert trope. She definitely has her own quirks that make her likable. Her determination to become a good bride for Uesugi, trying her best to outclass her naturally talented sister Nino in cooking, despite her clear lack of any skills. She has an almost unsettling interest in Japanese Warlords, which makes her the easiest of the 5 to tutor for Uesugi. Unfortunately, there isn't much else to talk about. She doesn't get much more development, unless you count her butting of heads with Nino throughout the story. Why does she like Uesugi? Well, it's simple. Uesugi accepted Miku's interests and supported her every endeavor. It's simple, but it makes sense, especially considering that Miku was the more lonesome type. Overall, she was a bit boring, but still likable. Her popularity makes sense, as she hits the target audience right through the heart. She comes in Third place on my list, because while she isn't very interesting, she brings a very valuable part to the story, and her character definitely isn't actively bad, unlike...
Yotsuba Nakano. Oh boy. Take your typical Genki childhood friend trope, and do literally nothing with it. That's Yotsuba's character. Avoiding spoilers, there isn't even any proper development of her character until the endgame of the manga. I don't even have much to say about her. She supported Uesugi from the start, helping him with dealing with her sisters and getting them to study. She's also the dumbest of the 5. Her character can be summed up as the "Overly Kind to a fault" type. This has great potential to be a great character arc. She reminds me of a worse Koyuki (Iris Zero), with even less interesting character traits. What are they? We can just make a list. Muscleheaded. Energetic. Dumb. Bad Liar. Friendly. Always tries to be helpful. Unfortunately, Yotsuba was one of the more popular of the 5 quints, which means I might get some hate for this from the Yostuba faction. Now, the spoilers. Why does she like Uesugi? Well, she liked him from the start, when they met 5 years prior, and they made a promise to study and get smart together, a promise which she never kept. This is meant to be her character arc. Her guilt from not keeping her promise to Uesugi. If done right, it could've made her a better character, but unfortunately it was too little too late. Overall, just boring, plain and disappointing. Fifth place. She should've gotten a better character arc, considering how popular she was.
Itsuki Nakano. If she was a spice, she would be flour. Joking aside, I love Itsuki. She's adorable. Her character does have some interesting parts, specifically her first feud with Uesugi, and the part at the ski lodge. Also the scrambled eggs arc, where she confirms her friendship with Uesugi. She tries her best to be a mother figure to the other quintuplets, after theirs unfortunately passed away. Her ambition to become a teacher is a great way to solidify this. Her character is just endearing, but unfortunately, that's where it ends. Due to Negi's "No first Girl" rule, she was pushed to the side even worse than Ichika was. She had an attempt made to make her more interesting with the Biological Father Mini Arc, which was disgraceful. I prefer to pretend that it never existed, because holy shit, it was a pain to watch Itsuki get butchered like that. How did she come to love Uesugi? Well, she doesn't. She sees him as more of an idol, without any romantic feelings involved. They're hinted at the end, but it's not concrete. Overall, I love her, but when it comes to character quality, there just isn't enough there. Fourth Place, but I personally wish I could place her higher.
Some important side characters include the Quintuplet's Father, Maruo Nakano. He's protective, strict, and if I were Uesugi, I'd be afraid of him. I like his character, how he goes from being a distant parent to being more involved with his daughters. Also Uesugi's Father, whose name I can't remember for the life of me. He tries his best to support his family and pay off the loans that he and his wife unfortunately racked up. He's a good father to Raiha and Fuutarou, even if he doesn't get much screentime. It also seems to be hinted that he knew Maruo from when they were highschoolers, which makes me smile. Raiha is a standard Imouto, who is worried about her brothers capacity for romance. I don't really have any problems with her character, but that hairstyle is just a bit ridiculous. Then again, it's anime, so who cares?
Art: 8
The art style really improved throughout the story, and it all did it's job well. Chapter 59 and 60 specifically had some incredibly well done panels. The fanservice is uncommon, surprisingly enough. It's definitely there, and it may turn you away from the manga, but it's not the main focus of this manga, unlike some others. Not really much else to say about the art other than it's a really good standard overall.
Enjoyability: 8
While I was part of the community that frequently read new chapters as they released, I had a generally good time reading it. There were moments in the manga where I'd swoon over a characters progress, or any bold developments made between characters. Times when I would laugh, feel sympathetic, and any other range of emotions that any romantic-drama-comedy worth it's salt would. However, as the series reached it's close, that enjoyability nosedived. This is where I should get into my most major issue with the story.
The Big Issue: **Major Spoilers**, By the way.
If you've read the manga, you know where this is going. As the manga approached it's ending chapters, specifically from around chapter 110 or so, earlier, even, it's quality sunk faster than my mood did. The moment Uesugi chose which girl he liked most, the amazing mystery that the show built up was kicked in the nuts and left to writhe in pain. Clues riddled throughout the chapters were completely disregarded, ending up as red herrings. Not only did the ending not do justice to the story that me and countless others were avidly reading, but the ending sucked on it's own. It was fast, but no where near clean and wrapped up in a neat bow that the wife always wore. Several questions were raised, and going over all of them would turn this essay into a thesis. The ending was rushed and messy, and it looked like Negi wanted to end the manga as quickly as possible so he could leave any people questioning it in the dust. But what annoyed me most about the ending, is that it butchered every character involved, and it abandoned the hard work that each quint put in to gain Uesugi's affection. Yotsuba winning would've been fine if she was a developed character with any semblance of interesting qualities. I'm completely fine with people that like Yotsuba, but people that say the ending was good are just wrong. Even the bride herself, who arguably is the easiest character to write in a situation that she was in, was completely done wrong. Just how can you fuck up that badly as an author? But I digress. Yotsuba herself won the war-harem because she made a promise with Uesugi 5 years ago. That's it. Sure, you can argue that she was there from the start, but little did she ever try to actually gain Uesugi's affection. Yes, this was explained, No, it was not a valid reason. Indirectly, the manga is just saying that fate wins over hard work. Miku, Ichika, Nino and even Itsuki to an extent tried to appeal to Uesugi throughout the course of the plot. In each of their own ways, they had a solid chance to have actually appealed to Uesugi as people. Yotsuba, on the other hand, had no major changes throughout the present time of the story. She stayed back and made no effort to actually appeal to Uesugi's affections. And in the end, she of course, wins. I would like to restate that, if she was a good character and actually did something remotely interesting in the story, I'd be fine with her winning. Well, it doesn't matter now, since the manga's over, and it left a bad taste in basically everyone's mouth, including people that were actually rooting for Yotsuba's victory. I feel pity for everyone that followed this manga from start to finish. Do I regret it myself? Not really. The manga, for the most part, was a great ride. But, just like food, bad tastes linger, even after eating something good. I'm giving this manga a lot of leeway by giving it an 8. To summarize my thoughts on the ending of the manga, I'd like to quote ReviewBrah:
"My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined."
TL;DR :
If I could describe The Quintessential Quintuplets in one sentence, I'd say "It's like building a house of cards." It's great fun and something to admire once it's been built up, but then it collapses in front of you and you just want to die.
