English Dub Review: The Quintessential Quintuplets “Quite the Crappy Kyoto Quagmire”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Futaro recovers from his flu after the school trip when the quints come over to visit, but it’s actually because Nino and Itsuki are avoiding getting their shots. Later though, Itsuki stops by and asks Futaro why he studies so hard, which leads him to remember a school trip to Kyoto when he was younger. He clearly had a crush on one of his classmates but when it seemed like she was into someone else, he wandered off. Then, some strangely dressed lady accuses him of taking her picture, only to get saved by a strange pink haired girl. Itsuki gathers that meeting that girl helped him change as a person, so she hopes he can help her do the same. And after she brings out some luck charms she got as a kid, Futaro starts to guess that maybe he met one of the quints back then.

Later, Futaro stops by for a tutoring session, but finds that one of them has ripped off the names of five tests, all with zeroes. To find the culprit, and because he can’t tell any of them apart, he tries multiple tests, and ultimately finds out it was Ichika. However, she was actually covering for all the girls, who all failed those tests. But even all of this is a cover for the real reason: He wants to find out which of the girls he met five years ago. He tries a direct approach, asking if anyone of them met him years ago, but no one raises their hand.

OUR TAKE

The Rom-Com-Mystery from 2019 finally returns to adapt the next stretch of the manga. Now, since the last season ended two years ago, the manga has been over for awhile now, so readers of that will already know who the mystery bride is among the Quintuplets, myself included. I can’t say I’m very satisfied with the results, but perhaps I’ll be able to see where it landed better going through this anime. Incidentally, there is a big section of the manga I didn’t read that the anime hadn’t covered, so I’m experiencing this part of the story for the first time. And as a season opener, it’s definitely effective. It picks back up exactly where the last season left off, re-establishes the subplots that got started near the end of it (like Ichika’s budding feeling for Futaro), and officially begins the plot of Futaro looking for the girl he met five years ago, who of course is one of the Quintuplets and the one who will become his bride. But for anime only viewers, all of those mysteries are still up in the air, so there’s always a chance that their favorite sister might win. And then there’s people like me who KNOW their favorite did not. Or their pick to win.

And on a personal note, my life has changed quite a bit since last watching this series. I’ve gone through two totaled cars, two break ups, this whole pandemic deal…it’s been an eventful two years. So, it’s kind of weird coming back to this series about pure romance that I was so invested in during those times, when the world as a whole was very different, and pick it up again. Honestly, it might be some kind of torture to pick up a rom com while feeling heartbreak, but I felt compelled since I covered it last time. Perhaps you readers will see me rediscover some things and heal a bit as we go through this season. I’m not expecting Shakespeare or anything, but I do need to keep my mind off of certain things and escapist harem nonsense seems like the best bet. And if not that, then at least I’ll get some good entertainment out of it all. Either way, I look forward to seeing where this season takes us. Also a sequel was just announced, likely to wrap up what’s left of the manga that this won’t get to, so we at least know it won’t be done with here.