This is what the quintuplets should have been from the beginning. I dare say it's the best-animated work related to the quintuplets to date. You can clearly see the love and care poured into this franchise; the details are meticulously handled, to the point of being surprising. As for the plot, I can only say that with this expansion, there should be no doubts about why a certain sister is the winner. This element should have been present in the second season or, at the very least, mentioned in the movie, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. I'm glad they didn't overlook it. Furthermore, the rest of thegirls also have their development, just what I hoped to see: Miku's growth after her confession in Kyoto, Nino's determination to fight to the end, and Itsuki's efforts to avoid discomfort to protect her sisters.
Personally, I think some important elements were missing, but that's not a complaint. Perhaps there will be more animated projects in the future, or maybe not, which would be a shame.
Regarding the animation, words fall short to describe how magnificent it is.
Shaft Studio has done an incredible job, from the color palette to the quality of the artwork, camera movements, and, of course, the fluidity of the animation. However, I must mention that the backgrounds are quite static, which takes away some magic from certain scenes, as it feels odd to see one or two characters animated so well while the rest remain as still as stones.
The soundtrack, both principal and the background music, is exceptional. I would dare say the opening is the best in the entire franchise, and the ending is very comforting. The background music tracks fit perfectly and evoke the essence of the first season, which I greatly appreciate.
As for the characters, they haven't undergone significant changes, but their thoughts and the reasons behind their actions have been delved into, something I missed in the movie. It's fun to see the sisters getting along without constant fighting, and, of course, Fuutaro acting like a high school boy and not a bitter guy who only studies.
Without a doubt, this is a special that I highly recommend. It's made with love and preserves the essence of the franchise.
If you're a fan of the quintuplets, you'll enjoy it immensely, regardless of which sister is your favorite.
-B-BL0SS0M-
September 3, 2023
Recommended
Very satisfactory extra episode to fill out the series, and takes a refreshing route of providing more warm interactions with the cast rather than just being another fanservice special. This should be perfectly fine to watch after either of the TV seasons. Plot-wise it is fairly straightforward, going through a few different scenes with the girls and Futarou. Nino gets a whole segment to herself, but the rest get their fair share of quality screen time (Miku fans may have a happy heart attack too). Overall it’s very enjoyable to see all of them again, and I would say the highlight of this is interactionsover visual fanservice. But there’s still a beach segment. Enjoy the speedo bro.
Visually speaking it’s at least on par with the TV seasons, although of course Shaft injected a little of their trademark unique style into how scenes were portrayed (plus an unnecessarily well-animated OP, at least check that out on YouTube). Their style is however kept restrained to a tasteful amount to only enhance the comedy or character interactions, making sure not to take over too much of the focus. Other than that, it's well animated and faithfully replicates the artstyle.
While this doesn’t have any vital content that can’t be skipped, this is still a great addition to what was presented in the TV seasons. Well worth the watch.
tstsumetai1163
September 11, 2023
Recommended
Finally, my favorite manga of all time gets the quality adaptation it deserved. It's a shame that they're just basically gathering up the scraps that Bibury left out of their rushed and incomprehensible movie, but Shaft makes the most of those scraps and then some. This adaptation actually makes me appreciate the fact that the manga's best chapter (Chapter 90) was excluded from the movie, because there is no way it would have been able to be adapted this perfectly without the existence of these specials. The only negative to these specials is that they show the incredible potential that a 5toubun no Hanayome animehad, and that makes the previous adaptations all the more disappointing. Nevertheless, fans of the manga will most likely find these episodes to be amazing, and I highly highly recommend them to anyone who likes 5toubun (especially the manga). Like a good anime should do, this adaptation ascends even further than the manga itself and becomes, in my opinion, the best piece of content ever put out related to this series. I wish there was more. 10/10.
NiNikkklaus
September 27, 2023
Recommended
Animation worthy of the work, finally. And it is clear that very significant moments were adapted for the main story and that if they had done it this way from the beginning, the reception of the anime and its ending could have been different. Furthermore, being able to see the quintuplets interacting with Fuutarou is great again, with emphasis as always on Miku and Nino. I still see hope for the author to redeem himself with more episodes and I will always continue to root for an alternative ending in which everyone ends up happy, even without having been chosen.
