The Quintessential Quintuplets (Episode 13) – Quite the Crappy Kyoto Quagmire
Futaro is still recovering from his fever and now finds himself in hospital, all paid for by the Quintuplets dad. Just as he appears to be nearing a full recovery the girls pay him a visit and it stirs up old memories!
What happened?
It wasn’t just the girls, however, as a meeting with his doctor before discharge left him feeling like he’d met him before and that all tied back to a school trip to Kyoto five years ago where he met the girl that changed his life. Back then, he’d been a bit of a free spirit, but realised that he didn’t have anything that made him happy or proud. Then he encountered a girl who was also lost and alone and despite his objections, they spent the day together. Then, Itsuki pulled out a lucky charm that tied back to that day. Could the girl have been one of the Quintuplets?
Discharged and ready to get back to work tutoring the Quintuplets, Futaro was buzzed into their apartment and walked in on one of the girls in a bath towel. She called him a pervert and then threw her bag at him, which, unfortunately, had a number of test papers with the names ripped off and a zero score on all of them. Not knowing which girl it was, Futaro asked them to present themselves before him in matching hairstyle to see if he could tell them apart. He could not!
His final act was to have them all take a test that he had put together. Ichika thought that she could outsmart Futaro and get away with it but he saw through her handwriting. However, when he collected up the other’s tests he realised that all of them had got zero and his work was really only just getting started.
What did you think?
It’s great to be back with my doppelganger, Futaro… and the girls, they’re a lot of fun too. My first observation, however, is that I’m not a big fan of the change of art-style. I don’t dislike the new style, I just find it odd that they would change it from one season to the next. All right, with that grumble out of the way, this was a fun episode and it really felt like being back at home. I love the dynamics of the girls and how they all interact with Futaro differently.
I do wonder about Futaro and why he’s not making the connections yet. The doctor was obviously the girls’ father and the girl in Kyoto is one of the Quintuplets. We know that. It’s so obvious, which makes it odd that someone who is as clever as Futaro hasn’t quite got there yet. I am glad that we’re pushing on with that element of the story straight away, although I can see it slipping back into the background in the next episode. We will find out which one it was eventually, but they’re bound to tease us for a while.
What have you learnt?
It just goes to show that if you get the characters right and give them enough personality, you can pull people back in without missing a step, even if they all look the same (obviously, not exactly the same, that would be a nightmare as a viewer). I’m still surprised at how much they managed to pack into the first season because my memories of it make it feel like it was much longer than twelve episodes. I wonder if that was down to how well they cemented the images of each character into our minds by introducing them slowly, building and adding on the previous details. It’s a similar idea to shounen anime where the team grows over time. If we were just dropped into a room with all the girls at the very beginning, we’d be a stuck as Futaro as to who is who.
Other reviews in the series
- Season One
- Season Two
- Episode 13 – Quite the Crappy Kyoto Quagmire
- Episode 14 – Seven Goodbyes Part 1
- Episode 15 – Seven Goodbyes Part 2
- Episode 16 – Seven Goodbyes Part 3
- Episode 17 – Good Work Today
- Episode 18 – The Last Exam
- Episode 19 – Begin the Offensive
- Episode 20 – Scrambled Eggs
- Episode 21 – Welcome to Class 3-1
- Episode 22 – Five Cranes in Return
- Episode 23 – Sisters War: Part 1
- Episode 24 – Sisters War: Part 2
