Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Last week, I took a look at The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses. So it only seems fair that I take a look at what inspired the series, The Quintessential Quintuplets aka Gotoubun no Hanayome. Like I said last week it was nothing groundbreaking but the series just did everything right in terms of story, characters, themes, and fanservice. With the success of the first season a second season was announced for 2021. This time under the production of Bibury Animation Studios, a relatively new studio at the time that had one anime under their belt, Azur Lane, but was headed up by a veteran in the industry. Hope your up for some more romcom. This is the Quintessential Quintuplets S2.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening is “Gotobun no Katachi” by The Nakano Family Quintuplets. It’s a good song. I like it when VAs get a chance to show off their singing abilities. It honestly sounds like this song would work as the opening for a visual novel.
The ending is “Hatsukoi” by The Nakano Family Quintuplets. Once again another good song that would work as the ending theme for a visual novel. The ending also does a good job summoning up everything that’s going to happen this season and the feelings our characters develop for each other.
Episodes 1-4
The new season starts with Futarou in the hospital. It turns out his cold transitioned into the flu and he was rushed to the hospital where the father of the quintuplets paid for his room and everything (in fact, I think he might just be the director of the hospital). He gets a visit from the girls who came for their vaccinations where Itsuki gets to talk with him alone and asks why he studies so hard. Obviously, it’s because of a girl he met in the past, but he’s not gonna tell Itsuki that. However, he does notice Itsuki take out an old charm she got as a child which was the same charm the girl from Futarou’s past got. In fact, she got five of them (she needs all the luck in the world). This information makes Futarou start to think that one of the quintuplets is the girl he had a crush on in the past, but which one. After Futarou gets discharged from the hospital he goes to pay the girls a visit where one of them wearing nothing but a towel was trying to dispose of their failing exams (I did that once. It did not end well for me). The quintuplet runs away and Futarou begins an investigation trying to figure out which one is the culprit. After having them do a written test, Futarou figures out that the culprit is Ichika because she always puts her b’s in cursive. However, further investigation shows that it’s all of them who failed the last exam and were trying to dispose of the evidence only to fail.
In episode 2 exams are around the corner and Futarou is determined to make the girls pass this time (his livelihood depends on it). However, things rarely go as planned in life and that’s what happens when Futarou goes over to tutor the girls. Nino (the problem child) gets into a fight with Miku which leads to her trashing the practice exams Futarou made (the same exams he spent all night handwriting for them. This fucking bitch) which leads to Itsuki smacking Nino for being a brat (more like inconsiderate bitch, but what’s the difference?) and this leads to Nino and Itsuki fighting with each other. Both Nino and Itsuki leave with both refusing to return home until the other apologizes. Nino stays at a fancy hotel where she blames the fight on Futarou for entering their life while Itsuki stays at Futarou’s place because she left her wallet at home (baka). With Nino being the obvious problem here, Futarou focuses his attention on trying to talk to her where she refuses to meet with him until the end of the episode where his persistence finally paid off.
At the start of episode 3 we see Futarou and Nino talking to each other (well. . .this is new). We then see that before arriving at the hotel, he met his childhood crush after all this time (yeah, she’s pretty. She’s too good for you). They go for a ride in a boat where his crush introduces herself as Rena where she knows about his tutoring and is curious about his students (they’re good people, but they’re idiots. They’re all idiots). After their boat talk, Rena takes her leave saying they won’t meet again (well that was erupt). Futarou tries to go after her only to slip and fall in the lake. This led to him arriving at the hotel in a depressed state where Nino took pity on them and allowed him to use her shower. After hearing his story she cries feeling bad for him (so you aren’t a robot after all) and tells him to cheer up. It then gets revealed that she’s actually been studying and using Futarou’s practice exams to get better. She apologizes for acting like a bitch last episode, but still refuses to make up with Itsuki (alright, she’s been downgraded to asshole). Nino feels like she doesn’t know who her sisters are anymore. They’ve all grown and become their own person, but Nino doesn’t feel like she’s grown at all and feels like her sisters are leaving her behind. She wants to move on just like the others, but just can’t let go of the past especially since she can’t get over Kintaro. Futarou arranges for Kintaro and Nino to meet up again where we get a few funny moments until Nino finally figures out Kintaro is Futarou and drugs him (Good God, she drugged him again. What the hell, bitch? (Shizuku): I thought she was downgraded to asshole. (Nitsuj): She got upgraded to bitch again). When Futarou wakes up he finds out that Nino checked out and has no idea where she went. With Nino nowhere to be found, Futarou has no choice but to trust Miku into finding her bitch of a sister while he focuses on Yotsuba. It turns out the girl got roped into helping the track team and of course they’re taking advantage of her talents, interfering with her studying, and plan to do a training camp before exams (are they trying to fail school?). She wants to quit the team, but doesn’t know how to. At the end of the episode Miku finds Nino.
In episode 4 everything finally comes together. Miku talks with Nino telling her it’s okay that they’re becoming different from each other, in the end they’ll always be sisters. This works as Nino realizes she’s right, and decides it’s time to move on from the past and start moving forward. On the other side of town, Futarou and Itsuki prepare to get Yotsuba out of the track team by having Itsuki impersonate her (ah~, a little quintuplet magic). Futarou lures Yotsuba away by pretending to be a groper and Itsuki takes her spot where the track team quickly figures out she’s an impostor by her hair length. Luckily, Nino comes dressed as Yotsuba after cutting her hair and tells the track team she’s leaving (in a way only she can do it). We then get to see Nino and Itsuki make up with each other just in time for exams where once again their scores are bad but not as bad as the previous exams. In a shocking twist, after exams are over the girls find out that Futarou quit (why, I have no idea. Even when they explain it, I find it stupid as hell) and is forbidden from entering their apartment. Time goes by where we fast forward to Christmas Eve where Futarou is working at a cake shop when the girls come by to see him. They want him back as their tutor (oh we are living in odd times) and have gone as far as leaving their fancy apartment and renting out a place to stay just so he can tutor them. While Futarou couldn’t get the results he wanted, they know that they’ll deliver the results they need with him tutoring them (third time’s the charm). They win him over and he agrees to become their tutor again.
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 starts off on New Year’s Day where the quintuplets invite Futarou and Raiha to their apartment after running into them during their temple visit where we see that the girls feel bad that they’re asking Futarou to tutor them for free (you mean you’re not paying him?) and want to make it up to him in some way. Everyone besides Yotsuba thinks they should kiss him (well we know which girls are thirsty). They can’t come up with a way to pay him, so he just tells them to pay him back when they make it big (you expect too much from them). However, Yotsuba does give him a peck on the cheek when he has some cream on it. After that, Futarou does some tutoring where Ichika dozes off from working too much as she’s the one paying for all of their expenses (because we all know the others can’t work). We see that the parts she plays underuse her talent big time but Futarou is impressed with her acting skills. Later on, Futarou goes shopping with Nino and Yotsuba where they see Itsuki talking to their dad (who has such a plain look that I swear he was pulled from a different anime). He wants the girls to come back home and even allows Futarou to return as well despite the fact that he doesn’t like him (can’t imagine why), but he’ll be working as the assistant of another tutor. We see that their dad doesn’t have much faith in Yotsuba passing, but Yotsuba approaches him and says she and the others will pass their next exams and if they fail their dad will transfer them to another school in order for them to move on to the next grade.
Lots of small side stories in episode 6. We see everyone spend the next two months studying for their final exams. We see some of the girls struggle with their feelings for Futarou (I’m looking at you, Miku and Ichika). When they go to a theme park for a break we find out that the reason the girls transferred schools in the first place is because of Yotsuba. At their old school they failed their exams, but were given a chance to redo them where everyone passed except Yotsuba. Because of this, Yotsuba feels the need to study the hardest as she doesn’t want to drag anyone down. During their talk, Futarou comes up with a new way for the girls to study, teach each other (whatever one girl lacks the other is there to make up for it. So why not have them teach other?). The day of the final exams come and they all pass. They all decide to celebrate, but Nino is nowhere to be found so Futarou goes out to look for her.
In episode 7 a few of the girls start to realize their feelings for Futarou. Nino openly confesses to him (twice). Ichika was going to confess as well until Nino beat her to the punch, and Miku is still too afraid to confess. By some stroke of luck Futarou and the girls both win an all-expense paid trip from a grocery store and each go on family vacations where they meet up with each other (the power of coincidence is strong with this one). Each of the girls acts distant toward Futarou (probably because their dad is there and has a trained sniper pointing his gun at Futarou. Only half of this sentence is true) with him not knowing why and unable to get answers out of them. Itsuki also notices her sisters acting strange and manages to meet with Futarou to talk about this situation as apparently there’s a fake Itsuki running around who wants to get Futarou fired (again? Well at least we know it’s somebody with long hair this time).
The mystery of the fake Itsuki begins in episode 8 as Futarou confronts the other 4 girls where they’re all looking like Itsuki in order to keep their grandfather happy. Futarou of course can’t tell the difference between them (and sadly, this mystery was done a lot better in the manga because you really couldn’t tell who’s who. In the anime, all you have to do is just listen to their voices and you’ll quickly know who’s who. They really should have had Itsuki’s VA takeover for them to make this mystery work). Their grandpa of course is able to tell them apart, so Futarou goes to him in the hopes of discovering a trick to tell them apart (the trick. . .is love). As this is going on we see Nino ask Ichika for love advice (well she is the popular one of the bunch) where she quickly figures out that Nino is in love with Futarou and this causes her to have an internal struggle. It’s obvious that she likes Futarou too and wants to pursue him, but her big sister nature won’t allow her to hurt her siblings. Yotsuba talks with her in private where she tells her to be more selfish and this encourages her to stop holding back. The next day Futarou comes across Miku (still disguised as Itsuki) and tries to figure out who she is. We find out that Miku was the one trying to get Futarou fired because it’s the only way she’ll be with him. They’re teacher and student, so the chances of them getting together are slim. Therefore, we must break that chain and become boy and girl. At first, Futarou thinks he’s talking to Ichika, but quickly figures out he’s talking to Miku which makes her happy. The trip finally comes to an end and everyone returns home.
Episodes 9-12
Not a whole lot happens in episode 9 (well a lot does happen, but there’s nothing much to say about it). Futarou and the girls are now third years and are in the same class together (smart move. This way they can’t switch with each other in different classes). Yotsuba becomes the female class rep for their class and nominates Futarou to be the male rep to earn some popularity in class (God knows he has nothing else going for him). The girls also get part-time jobs to pay for rent with Nino getting a job in the same bakery as Futarou where he admits that Nino’s confession really knocked him off his game and he’s not sure how to talk to her now. When Futarou goes to respond to her feelings, Nino stops him saying she wants him to get to know her better (yeah because the only thing he knows about you is that you like to drug him). A few of the girls continue to develop feelings for Futarou particularly Ichika who leaves before her sisters and tries to be alone with him on their walks to school. At the end of the episode, we see Miku shoot herself in the foot (figuratively) by telling Futarou that Ichika likes him and supports them (are you trying to lose this race?).
In the first half of episode 10 Yusuke, a classmate of Futarou who considers himself to be his rival tells Futarou to stop tutoring the girls (can he at least kiss them?). Yusuke doesn’t like how Futarou’s grades have started to slip from tutoring the girls and he believes the girls are holding him back (they’re gumming up the works). Futarou doesn’t believe this is true and he’ll prove it on the mock entrance exams where he vows to place in the top 10 nationally. As Futarou studies, we see the girls agree to delay his birthday gift, but of course they all went out and got their own separate gifts for Futarou (great minds think alike). We also see Ichika tell Nino that she’s also in love with Futarou and won’t be holding back (3 sisters down. 2 to go). They all agree to hold off on gifts until after the exams, to allow Futarou to focus. In the end, Futarou comes in 3rd place nationally in the mock entrance exams (unacceptable! You should have came in first place). In the second half of the episode, it’s time for the trip to Kyoto and the girls want to be in the same group as Futarou, but it’s only 5 people a group which means one of the sisters is going to be left out. We see Futarou go on a date with Yotsuba in order to repay her for helping him out so much on the school trip last season. Futarou tries to buy her a gift, but all of them are basically gifts she wants to get for her sisters (the girl is too selfless for her own good). They finally go to a park where Futarou shows off a pure smile which makes Yotsuba blush and that serves as her gift. The next day, Nino tells Futarou he’s going to be in a group with her, but Futarou reveals he’s already in a group with some of his male friends (he actually made friends? It’s like coming across a shiny Pokémon, I’m secretly happy when I see one).
In episode 11 we arrive in Kyoto (where I think they ran out of budget. All the locals are just cutouts with no human features whatsoever). We see everyone besides Yotsuba is interested in hanging out with Futarou. Why is Itsuki taking such an interest all of a sudden? Well it’s hinted that she’s the one girl Futarou met in Kyoto when he was a child meaning she’s the one he fell in love with. The trip has its share of problems with Miku’s feelings for Futarou being exposed (it was really obvious). Miku runs away and locks herself in her room because she doesn’t believe she’s worthy of Futarou (that’s the craziest thing I’ve heard since Evangelion. If anything, it’s the other way around). While in the hallway of the hotel, Ichika winds up alone with Futarou where she asks to speak with him alone tomorrow and he says yes. The next day comes around where Nino of all people is the one trying to get Miku to come out of her room and fight for her love. Back with Futarou, we see Itsuki try desperately to jog his memories from years ago but it doesn’t work. At the end of the episode we get a major reveal and find out that the girl Futarou met all those years ago was Yotsuba and Itsuki tries to convince her to tell him the truth (WHAT!? Yotsuba is the one! Yotsuba!? The same girl who’s been supporting her sisters this whole time).
The final episode focuses on Miku and Futarou. The final day of the school trip arrives where Futarou goes to the studio district (famous for shooting a lot of movies) where Ichika wanting to apologize for screwing over Miku, tricks her into going to the studio district. It’s not just Ichika, but the other sisters help out Miku as well where in the end she confesses to Futarou and the sisters make up with each other to end the school trip on a good note.
Final Thoughts
Once again the anime does a good job following the events of the manga faithfully which works as a double-edge sword. On the one hand it’s good for those who haven’t read the manga, but on the other hand it doesn’t give manga readers anything new to check out besides hearing the voices of the characters come to life. Though that’s probably a blessing in disguise. I did like how the girls are finally realizing their feelings for Futarou with some even confessing to him and not backing down. They love him and they want to be with him no matter what, even if that means crushing each other. Ichika probably gets the most flak for using a lot of underhanded tactics to get ahead of the others, but she realizes her mistakes at the end and apologizes for it. Finding out that Yotsuba was the one Futarou met all those years ago is surprising but makes the most sense when you stop to think about it. She’s a social butterfly, so it makes the most sense that she’b be the one to befriend someone as distant and closed off as Futarou. It does put her in a real awkward position as she wants to support her sisters because of her selfless personality, but I think she’s going to throw her hat into the race soon enough along with Itsuki.
I did like the new animation style for this season. It’s very colorful, vibrant and matches up with the art style in the manga, but the art style in the first anime was more realistic and yes, you can see where this season ran out of budget. The music got better. The music was more memorable and I also think this season had a better pacing and jokes to keep us entertained.
Final Score
The final score for the second season of Gotobun no Hanayome is a 7/10. Much better than the first season in my opinion as something always seems to be happening each episode. If you enjoyed the first season then you’ll definitely like the second season more. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.