It’s a challenging task to find a good harem anime. Seasoned viewers would agree that it’s time for the industry to movie away from tired tropes established by the genre. Since harem series are targeted toward a young male audience, the genre can feel alienating to other anime fans. Luckily, once in a blue moon, a series arrives that breathes back life into the genre. The Quintessential Quintuplets, based on the manga by Negi Haruba. is such a series.
While the anime adaptation should have covered more manga chapters with a detailed Season 3, it was announced that the series would conclude with a feature film. While content cuts were made, the film it still serves as a satisfying conclusion. The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie was released in Japan on May 20, 2022. It has since earned over $16 million at the box office and is a domestic hit. It’s one of the best anime movies of 2022, and finally concludes the Nakano sister's saga. The movie is a continuation of the series, which was welcomed by fans with open arms. Starting the movie from scratch would’ve broken the magic the two seasons worked so hard to build up.
The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie is based on the final four volumes of the manga. The second season ended with the biggest harem cliffhanger of all time -- whisch of the series Futaro decides to marry. While fans of the manga know how the story decisively ends, anime-only fans get to enjoy an exclusive twist -- the film chooses to leave the winner's identity a secret. That’s exactly what makes the movie all the more exciting; it’s not about the happily ever after, but it shows in detail why Futaro chose one of them.
The way the movie builds up to this ending is very well done. It doesn’t indulge in the romantic elements right away, nor is it a senseless fight to "get the guy". The movie is actually more about the quintuplets, and their relationships with each other, than anything else. Each sister has been portrayed as a “main character” rather than any one sister being the center of attention. The anticipation and the anxiety are founded thanks to the intense build-up the film portrays. They’ve truly explored what each quint stands for, and even though they’d disagree on everything, they are still sisters at the end of the day.
There’s no animosity, sabotage, or even an “I wish I weren’t your sister!” moment. Each Nakano sister wants to be the girl Futaro chooses, but on the other hand, they all are somewhat afraid to see each other hurt. Since it’s also a time when they have to pick a course for their life or a career that appeals to them, the decisions they make or the emotions they harbor would affect everything.
The movie may be the only thing in the franchise that offers solid character development. It is a dense two hours and sixteen-minute long film, which does its best to do justice to the final four volumes of The Quintessential Quintuplets manga. In all honesty, it's storytelling at its best and undoubtedly establishes itself as one of the best harem anime of the last decade.