On the occasion of the Comicon in Naples, Crunchyroll will broadcast the animated feature film The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie, the conclusion of the homonymous romantic saga which, between anime, manga and video games, has become a real cult phenomenon.
One of the most interesting aspects of pop culture, from a socio-anthropological point of view, is its ability to create products which, although they remain practically invisible to the general public, become real cults for a relatively small but fierce group of fans.
These are often works which, for the most varied reasons, are able to get in tune and satisfy the tastes and desires of their own niche of reference public, earning, at that point, unconditional affection and practically inexhaustible passion.
Something like this happened to a rom-com that started out as manga from the pen of Negi Haruba, initially published on the pages of the magazine Weekley Shonen Magazine by Kodansha and then collected in 14 volumes from 2017 to 2020, which in Italy was published by J-Pop.
In a very short time, this series has gathered around it a bevy of faithful fans, ready to fill the web with posts and memes about the five adorable protagonists, until the highly anticipated conclusion of their events in film The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie.
The student and the twins
Futaro Uesugi is a Japanese high school student with a rather difficult life: orphaned of a mother, he lives with a little sister and a father in debt up to his neck. Futaro, although not particularly athletic, is a model student: intelligent, serious and determined to get the most out of his studies, which is why he believes that any distraction, even romantic ones, would only be an obstacle for his future.
Precisely these qualities make him a perfect school tutor: he is thus hired as a private teacher by the wealthy Nakano family, who have just moved to the city.
He’s going to have to raise their daughters’ grades.
The particularity of Nakano girlsas Futaro will be able to find out at his own expense, is that they are five pretty twins very little inclined to study, each with a particular character and ready to give their “teacher” a lot of trouble.
One way or another.
From these foundations develops a story made of misunderstandings, heartbeat, laughter and tenderness that will eventually lead Futaro to marry one of the quintuplets.
But which of them will wear the white dress?
The Quintesseintial Quintuplets it immediately becomes one of the most successful titles and records a prodigious number of sales in the manga charts, with more than 20 million volumes active and the victory of the prestigious Kodansha Manga Award in 2019. animated seriesproduced by Tezuka Productions, received excellent reviews and was one of Crunchyroll’s flagship titles.
In addition to the enormous merchandising production, including figures and illustrations, The Quintessential Quintuplets it has also had several transpositions in video games and visual novels.
Like in a harem
The reference kind of The Quintessential Quintuplets is the romantic comedy between school desks, with elements of the so-called “harem” series, a very popular trend in Japan, in which a single character becomes the center of attention of several protagonists who vie for his favors.
This type of story, which obviously relies on a particularly simple but effective fantasy, can be declined in different ways, from the most (easily imaginable) vulgar to the most delicate and tender ones, and this is precisely the choice of the author of The Quintessential Quintuplets.
Without exceeding in the most itchy or erotic parts, Haruba Negi he was able to create a fresh and engaging story, in which the development of relationships between the various characters is captivating and well balanced.
Indeed, his intention was not to focus on elements of fanservice such as particularly mischievous shots or poses, but to focus more on adolescent dynamics, on the evolution of relationships between the various characters. The Quintessential Quintiplets is therefore never “heavy” or excessive, but always engaging and fun.
Furthermore, the author has managed to create five equally fascinating and well-defined female protagonists -even if with this statement I risk igniting a flame among the fans of one or the other sister…-, playing both with the physical appearance (the girls are distinguished from each other by a few, essential details) and with peculiar and distinctive character traits.
The quintuplets are Ichika, the leader of the group, Nino, the more maternal one, the taciturn Miku, the exuberant Yotsuba and Itsuki, more serious and capricious.
Each of them has the Japanese number in the name, from one to five, to indicate the order of birth (Ichika is the eldest, Itsuki the fifth), and each of them, over time, will begin to appreciate Futaro more and more. in a process of mutual growth that will culminate, in fact, in the marriage of one of them with the boy.
A mechanism similar to what has already been seen, for example, in How I Met Your Motherwhich here, however, plays more on teen themes, on ambiguity and uncertainty, given that until the end the identity of the bride will remain a mystery to the public.
If the readers of the manga have already had the opportunity to find out who will marry Futaro among the five, the viewers of the animated series are still waiting for the final revelation, after the two seasons already available on the Crunchyroll platform.
However, the wait is almost over: in the upcoming film, which will be screened at the next Comicon in Naples, we will find out which of the five will go down the aisle to marry Futaro.
Who are you betting on?