Author Negi Haruba's hit harem manga series The Quintessential Quintuplets, or Five Equal Brides in the original Japanese, has since become an equally popular animated TV series with two seasons and a feature-length movie to its name. Anyone who's seen the Quintessential Quintuplets movie knows which character won the central harem race, but it's unclear how she got there.
The Quintessential Quintuplets ranks among the best harem anime series since the five identical Nakano sisters are each treated like fully-fleshed-out characters with their own flaws, growth, and goals. It's not just about which sister will marry protagonist Futaro Uesugi — it's about why that sister became Futaro's lover, and that's a question the original anime and movie did not fully answer. Fortunately, the summer special for The Quintessential Quintuplets will fill in the gaps as a two-episode mini-season, and fans ought to get caught up on the story before this missing chunk of the story airs.
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What Happened So Far in The Quintessential Quintuplets?
The upcoming The Quintessential Quintuplets TV special, which is due to air in two episodes on September 2 and 9, according to some sources, takes place after the anime's second season and before the final movie. So, fans can get caught up on those two seasons while either saving the movie for later if they haven't seen it or not concern themselves with the movie's events if they have seen it. The Quintessential Quintuplets' story launched when the abrasive but book-smart high schooler Futaro Uesugi got a call from Mr. Nakano, asking Futaro to tutor the five Nakano sisters and finally get their abysmal grades up. Futaro accepted this tutoring assignment, only to realize the Nakano quintuplets weren't just lousy students — they didn't trust him as an outsider in their little world, and they took their hobbies and budding careers more seriously than schoolwork.
Still, Futaro persisted, and not just because his impoverished, debt-laden family needed the money from this tutoring gig. Futaro made it personal, vowing to prove his worth as a tutor and help the wacky but kind Nakano sisters reach their potential. Over time, the Nakanos came around and reluctantly agreed to study for real, with the energetic, athletic Yotsuba Nakano being the first to take Futaro seriously, even if her grades were the worst of all. Even the tsundere Nino Nakano agreed to focus more on her studies, and in the process, the Nakanos slowly fell in love with their committed tutor. Even when Futaro and the Nakanos took breaks and pursued their own lives outside of studying and school, they kept crossing paths, such as at hot springs resorts, during a school trip to Kyoto, and more. Plenty of slice-of-life hijinks brought the six of them together, which helped Futaro understand how the Nakanos live their lives and appreciate who they really are and what they aspire to become someday.
The second season of The Quintessential Quintuplets ended inconclusively, with Futaro and the Nakanos riding an emotional rollercoaster together on their Kyoto school trip, complete with dramatic misunderstandings, underhanded romantic schemes, and Nino's unstoppable, aggressive pursuit of Futaro's heart at her sisters' expense. At that point in time, the Nakanos weren't equal in the race for Futaro's heart as his future bride, but they all still stood a chance, with Season 2 teasing viewers about who it might be. However, the summer special in September might make it much clearer who's about to win and who will get their heart broken.
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Futaro & the Nakanos' Intertwined Character Arcs
While the five Nakano sisters treat each other as absolute equals, and each sister describes herself as 20% of a shared person, they are definitely not on equal ground in the harem race to Futaro's heart. The Nakanos started off as true equals, down to identical outfits and outward personas, but after their mother, Rena, died, they began to diverge and assert their personal quirks and goals more clearly. They had unique outfits, haircuts, and, most of all, unique visions of what their future selves should be. This quest for self-actualization plays a major role in the intertwined character arcs of The Quintessential Quintuplets since falling in love isn't these sisters' sole goal — they want to become someone better. The five Nakanos love Futaro not just because he's working so hard to help them but because he empowers them to reach their respective goals and carve out their own identities.
Since the Nakanos are developing their own identities and pursuing different goals at different paces, some of them have gotten much closer to Futaro's heart than others since personal growth is intertwined with the harem-style romance. As of the end of Season 2, the sisters Nino and Miku Nakano were clearly in the lead, having the best and most meaningful scenes with Futaro, to the point the harem had almost condensed itself to a proper love triangle instead. The sisters Ichika, Yotsuba, and Itsuki were definitely behind when Season 2 ended, but they were still in the race, and there's room in the summer special for those three sisters to catch back up to Nino and Miku or even surpass them. The quintuplets have already switched places many times in this romantic race, after all, such as Nino going from the most hostile sister to the one who's most likely to win by the time the summer special begins.
Futaro and the quintuplets are in for some fun in the sun during a much-needed break from studying, and every romance anime fan knows that in anime beach episodes and poolside episodes, anything can happen, especially with five sisters competing over one boy's heart. The frontrunner in this race may soon become wonderfully clear — or the summer special may be just another tease and only subtly signal which Nakano quint is about to win. Either way, though, the summer special should accomplish a lot for the five sisters' rich character arcs without the stifling context of studying holding them back.
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What Sets The Quintessential Quintuplets Apart From Other Harem Anime
Most likely, the upcoming Quintessential Quintuplets TV special will be more of what makes this anime such a standout harem series. This anime goes beyond the novelty of five identical sisters who detest studying but love their tutor anyway — this harem series actually treats the girls like the protagonist, not the male lead. Futaro Uesugi may feel like a boring self-insert, but it's for all the right reasons. He's just the catalyst for the Nakano sisters' own character arcs, with Ichika, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba, and Itsuki undergoing incredible and sympathetic changes as they become better people over time. Their goals and their amorous feelings for Futaro will bring out the best in all five of them and make them far more than typical harem characters who are just an excuse for fan service or self-gratification.
It's not yet clear what will happen in the summer special, but if the Quintuplets seasons and movie are any indication, this summer special will go far beyond PG-13 fan service or self-insert fantasies and prove that a harem anime can — and should — be about the girls, who are proper people and not props for cheap fan service or comedic hijinks. No matter who wins or loses the race to Futaro's heart, all five Nakanos will be better for it, and it's inspiring to see. Even in an otherwise ordinary beach episode, The Quintessential Quintuplets can set a better example for harem anime everywhere.