Product Info

Studio

Bibury Animation Studios

Director

Masato Jinbo

Genre

Animation, Comedy, Drama, Romance

Rated

PG-13

Theatrical Release Date (NA)

Dec 2, 2022

Film Length

2hrs 16min

Purchase From

The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie wraps up the story of the popular anime previously told over the course of two seasons. While it contains lots of drama and comical moments, it feels like it should have been made into a new season instead of an over-two-hour film.

The Answer on Hold

The series revolves around Fuutaro Uesugi, a teenager and a tutor to the five Nakano sisters who are failing high school. In the anime series, the majority of the sisters deny any help from Fuutaro, even though they attend the same school and are in the same class. Later in the series, all the sisters begin to grow an emotional attachment towards him.

Throughout the series, viewers see scenes of Fuutaro about to marry one of the Nakano sisters in the future. The series never showcased who that lucky girl was, but the animated film seeks to answer that question. The film does the same style of foreshadowing, but right before the wedding happens, it flashes back to five years prior.

After spending time tutoring and getting to know each quintuplet, Fuutaro admits he has to pick someone if he wants to start a relationship. However, things become busy as their last school festival approaches. He promises an answer at the end of the school festival.

Instead of focusing on Fuutaro, the film takes a different approach, showing each quintuplet’s perspective during the festival. It’s great that each sister is given time to shine, showcasing the three days of what transpired after Fuutaro’s vow to choose one of the sisters up to the end of the school festival. For example, after showing what happened with Miku Nakano, the film rewinds and goes to the next sister. To avoid confusion, a title screen appears before moving to a new segment with the new sister. After the fifth quintuplet, the film moves forward to the evening of Fuutaro’s answer. However, it takes a long time to get to this point. Hence, the film is over two hours long.

A couple of the sisters’ spotlights take less time than the others, but other segments just feel too long. Although it’s great to see the Nanako sisters’ past, that backstory could have been placed outside the back-and-forth of the sisters’ spotlights or, better yet, made into a third anime season that spreads the content out. As it is, it’s simply a lot crammed into one film. Initially, going into the movie, the focus felt like it was about how Fuutaro arrived at his choice. Instead, the audience is left waiting a long time during the build-up.

Once the answer is finally given, things begin to speed up very quickly before jumping years forward to where the film started. It feels like there could have been more screen time focusing on what took place after Fuutaro’s pick, but instead, most of the audience’s time is spent on those three festival days.

There aren’t many harem anime series that end with the protagonist actually picking someone and closing the book. The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie at least delivers that.

Vibrant Quintuplets

The film’s animation picks up right where the original series left off when it comes to the vibrant characters and settings. Which comes no surprise as animation studio, Bibury Animation Studios, worked on the second season of the anime series. However, the movie adds additional details to characters when compared to the series. Each quintuplet stands out on their own with a unique style that matches their personality. Unsurprisingly, side characters get a bit of the shaft with fewer details when compared to the main cast.

Scenes throughout the film are storyboarded well. From showing Fuutaro’s hand reaching out to one of the Nakano sisters to the underside view of a beverage Fuutaro is holding that foreshadows what his answer is, the movie has some creative shots.

The film’s ending song, Gotobun no Hanayome -Arigato no Hana, is sung by all five Nakano sisters. It’s a calm, whimsical track that gives a farewell to series fans. The rest of the film’s soundtrack, like the ending song, is soft and calm, making the emotional scenes pop out more.

The Final Answer

The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie tells its story in a unique way, but it tries to do too much in its two-plus hour runtime. Still, it does deliver what it promises to series fans: reveal who Fuutaro’s bride is. And quintessentially, that’s what you want from the end of a harem series.

An early screening was provided for this review.