Should you try it: The Quintessential Quintuplets

In this ‘Should you try it’ I am going to talk about an anime from this season that has really surprised me: The Quintessential Quintuplets.

The Quintessential Quintuplets is set to air 12 episodes and is from the winter 2019 anime season.

The anime is about a super smart guy in high school that always gets perfect grades. Conversely, there are five girls in his school who are struggling and are in danger of failing and not graduating. They later are discovered to be quintuplets. 

Their dad recruits are main character, Fuutarou, for the job of tutoring them and making sure they pass. Fuutarou accepts because the job pays a ton and his family needs major help getting out of debt. Little does he know at the time that five times the pay means five times the trouble to deal with. 

Before I say anything else, an important note before you consider this further: yes, it is a harem. However, let me make the point that it is not the kind of harem you might be accustomed to. No, this harem does it more brilliantly.

See, most harem just sees the girls fall in love with the guy the very moment they meet. That is not the case here. In fact, only one of the girls even accepts Fuutarou at the beginning and even that isn’t in a romantic way then. The quintuplets don’t like him at first and do all they can to make sure he loses his job and leaves them alone. And Fuutarou is just as stubborn and wants to be left alone as well, but the mutual benefit of him needing money and them needing to pass keeps it going long enough for both sides to be willing to work together on this.

And as Fuutarou continues to do his thing, the girls begin to want to make him more than just their tutor. This isn’t fully obvious though, except for maybe Miku, so while the harem exists, it is done in a way that’s not super overwhelming and it develops as the characters develop. This is a refreshing look into harem that we need more of. 

But with that out of the way, I can move on to talking about the animation and art. I really like the designs of the characters and the quality that some scenes have. And this can easily be seen in some of the more important scenes. It takes tremendous care for showcasing certain emotions and feelings within its style. 

Now to the story. I already mentioned that the story develops into a “wholesome harem” (I know, that almost sounds like an oxymoron), but I think the story is well-done overall. Instead of engrossing you into this big world with many characters, it takes you into a small piece of the world with only a few characters. While bigger world anime can be fantastic, sometimes it is cool to relax in a smaller piece of something bigger and see how people’s lives can develop and change on a smaller scale. And that is what this anime hits so well. It is very simplistic and small scale, but there’s no need for it to be anything more. 

The other thing it does well is establishing an end goal. At the beginning of the series, and in the theme song, we see Fuutarou getting married to one of the quintuplets (let’s be real, it’s Itsuki). This end that it shows us from the beginning gives you a reason to watch from the beginning because you know that satisfaction at the end is coming. It gave me a “How I Met Your Mother” sort of vibe where it gives you that promise from the start then takes you along the wild ride to figure out how they got there. 

The thing this anime does super well though is the characters. I already mentioned that the characters develop well and right in line with the story. The one thing I really like is that each quintuplet gets their own time, usually an episode, dedicated mostly to them developing acceptance towards Fuutarou and the feeling that it is synonymous with actually passing and graduating, giving them a goal to reach towards. And with all of this, we also see Fuutarou growing ad well. Their growth is fueled by one another and not separate from each other, which is awesome.

But the character interactions is what gets me every time. I love how the main characters interact with each other. There are so many different personalities and different ways of achieving things amongst the group that when they are all together, it makes for a quality time. The relationship they share based upon pride and always wanting to be one step ahead, combined with the power struggle between quintuplets and Fuutarou makes for some very funny shenanigans. 

This anime is meant to be funny, and I will say that it definitely is that. While it does mix in drama and romance, the anime always tries to paint things in a funny way, and it spins the struggle of the end of high school life in a more comical fashion ad opposed to the somewhat serious tone that is conveyed in other anime. It takes a guy that isn’t socially awkward but just chooses to study instead of making friends and puts him in a situation that he wouldn’t have ever wanted to be a part of if the pay wasn’t so good. The quintuplets and Fuutarou both don’t want to be in that situation but they learn to deal with it as best as they can. It’s funny and endearing, and the end goal that was teased keeps it fascinating the whole way. 

This is definitely one I’d recommend, even to people who don’t like harem because I think this harem is different and disguises itself well enough to not feel that way. And if you want some very good laughs, this anime is certainly for you.

Should you try it: Yes 

Roast or Recommend: Sakura Quest

For this week’s Roast or Recommend, I will be reviewing the anime Sakura Quest.

Sakura Quest came out in the spring of 2017 and is 25 episodes in length.

This anime follows a girl who is a college graduate who moved out of her rural town out to Tokyo to pursue work but is having trouble as potential employers keep turning her down.

She winds up taking a job in another rural town in Japan known as Manoyama. She thinks the job is to just be queen for a day, but she didn’t read the contract well-enough and has to work as part of the effort to re-vitalize the town. And did I mention as well that she wasn’t even the one that was supposed to get the job in the first place, but an error and a mix up leads to it happening. So now it is her job to help turn a struggling town into a tourist destination.

One thing that drew me to this anime in the first place is that it was done by PA Works, a studio that I really like given the anime I have watched by them in the past have been good. When I saw it was done by them, I knew it would at least look visually satisfying, and it was. In short, the animation and art was nice to look at. Not like top notch, but it did what it needed to do to be successful.

The weakest point of this series was likely the story. I am not saying that it was bad, but I can see where criticism would come from. The premise is pretty simple and there is really nothing fantastical about it that would seem to capture attention on the surface.

However, once you actually dive into the story, you become invested in it because, despite its simplicity, it is done very well and it works. It has a strong enough background to it and it follows a linear path that feels natural and correct. It doesn’t stray off too much.

The thing it does super well in the story is that all of the mini stories within the bigger picture are fleshed out well. The anime gives enough time to develop every storyline they introduce. Some string out over a few episodes but don’t take up all the time. They do a very good job introducing many things and actually sticking to finishing that storyline in a satisfying manner, which is something not as often seen in anime as we’d like. It doesn’t hang on a thing too long, but it gives everything enough time and attention so the audience is invested in everything about the little town. 

But the characters are what makes this anime very strong in my opinion. Similar to the story, all the characters we see are given enough time to develop and we see them grow and interact with each other and nobody introduced is just introduced as a nothing character. They all have a purpose to the story and drive the story in their own way, even if it is in a small way.

But the characters are also dynamic as well. They can take on different challenges and they’ll have their disagreements that lead to a falling out, and you will find yourself wanting to agree with both sides of the argument because it is strong for both sides. The characters are often placed in tough decision-making situations where they have to either agree on something or try to work around the disagreements to make something work that benefits both sides. These deeper and more mature interactions is something often missed in anime and it creates great interactions between characters and great relationships between characters, out of both respect and out of friendship. 

Our main five characters have the best interactions. They meet as complete strangers all looking for their place in the world and have different goals. However, they all wind up working together and becoming amazing friends. And while they all think differently and have different motivations to achieve what they want to, they can all come together under one goal, and even though they may disagree on how to reach that goal they always find a way to work it out. Additionally, their interactions feel natural and real instead of forced and misplaced. It feels like natural conversation and natural talk amongst friends and co-workers.

People will also criticize this anime for its pacing. And while it is true that it is slow and drags on a bit, especially given such a simple premise, I think it is kind of refreshing. In a world of fast-paced anime, it is great to watch something slower and more relaxing like that. And as I mentioned before, every character and storyline introduced gets its due. That would never happen if it were faster paced. Most anime fans would call it slow in relativity to other anime, which is true. But for this anime, it works and the pacing feels natural and real.

And the word “real” cannot be understated for this anime. This anime doesn’t do anything super special or other-worldly with its premise. It is simply an anime about five girls finding themselves while trying to help make a town get a bit better over the course of just a year. But in that simplicity comes a lot of deep and realistic concepts. This anime is supposed to feel realistic. Maybe it is a bit more idealistic than reality is, but it hits the mark on feeling like a realistic situation very well. 

The characters deal with real-world troubles like finding a job, leaving home, becoming more confident, making the best of a bad situation, finding your passions, dealing with stress, staying motivated, managing time and resources and all sorts of other things. It deals with real inner and outer conflicts that real people would face. The characters feel like real people and they are very relatable as they present problems everyone deals with throughout life. 

This anime might be very simplistic in nature, but it hits the bullseye when representing real issues and how to face them. And this isn’t something the anime loses sight of either. The whole story feels natural and realistic and the characters feel the same way. The story and characters never take a drastic turn towards being super fantastical where unnatural things happen. It stays on track and *with as little amount of spoilers as possible* the ending is natural as well as nothing outlandish happens. 

A lot of people will have criticism that nothing really happens in this anime, but I personally do not think that was what it was going for. I think what it was going for was to portray conflicts actually people face and build its own little world based on a slice of the real world and the struggles people are facing in modern day. Most people want an ending where the goal is reached or the thing is defeated. That is not the case in Sakura Quest. But the reason that works here is because the anime wasn’t based on the end goal, it was based on the characters figuring out themselves a bit more and being ready to take that next step of their life. 

This anime hits the genres it is under very well too. It is a comedy and drama and both of those are very prevalent in it. There is plenty of both in the anime, and there are many parts of profound emotion. There are funny moments, depressing moments, heartbreaking moments and heartwarming moments. It all comes off as very satisfying though, and it all feels so real. 

I won’t lie, I found this anime by accident, but it seems the ones I find by accident are the best ones I see. I stumbled upon it and knew I’d at least enjoy how it looked visually. Besides, it is refreshing to see female lead characters without a male main character driving them along, so I knew that would help too. But I was not prepared for how good it actually was. For something to be so simple yet feel so real and emotionally attached was very awesome and refreshing. And as I said before, it just had a very real feeling to it and the pacing was very natural for what it was trying to do and that made it feel even more real as well. It was a very enjoyable watch for me. 

Score: 76/100

Roast or Recommend: Recommend

Should you try it it: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

As I’ve been reviewing anime a lot lately and will likely continue to, I think it’d be a good idea to not just go over older anime but also ones going on right now.

This won’t be a typical Roast or Recommend, though much of the criteria will be the same in reviewing it. Since these shows I’ll be talking about in this series aren’t complete, this will be more of a talk about whether these shows currently on are worth watching or not. 

For my first one of these, I will be looking at That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (I’ll be just calling it “Slime” for short). 

Slime has a pretty simple premise. It is about a 37-year old man who gets killed in a stabbing and is reincarnated in another world as an overpowered slime, as he got his powers and traits in that world based upon his final wishes as he was dying in his world. 

His main ability is predator, which lets him absorb people and other monsters in his slime and gain all their abilities and the ability to transform into them as well. He also has some other abilities that help him become super overpowered. 

But instead of use his overpowered nature for evil, he decides to instead use it for good and build up a struggling goblin village from scratch basically and try to form a peaceful world. 

I absolutely love the characters in this anime. We are introduced to so many characters throughout from all different monster classes, and they all bring their own perspective and angle on the world they are living in, which makes for good world building, especially since we are learning about this world right alongside our good slimy buddy Rimuru. 

We meet dragons, goblins, dwarves, wolves, elves, lizard men, ogres, orcs, dryads, demon lords and even humans. And each of these class of monsters thinks differently and has different intentions and motivations. All these different angles and perspectives make for very interesting and dynamic world-building that is very satisfying while not being too over-the-top. 

And our main character, Rimuru Tempest, is a great protagonist for the series. Rimuru is an overpowered little slime monster that wants nothing but peace and doesn’t want to resort to violence. A lot of monsters don’t take him seriously because he’s just a slime that doesn’t make the best first impressions always, but he is always able to show his worthiness without needing to absolutely overpower others. 

It’s actually kind of nice to see a main character like this that has all this power but would prefer not to use it at every chance they get. Usually characters like Rimuru show off their power at every opportunity. Our slime buddy just prefers to talk things out and do is diplomatically. It’s different but it actually works. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I don’t love when Rimuru gets it into high gear and actually shows off all the power he has. And it happens often enough to keep people entertained while not being an overused element. 

And I have to give a shoutout to Milim. She is a great character as well. She doesn’t come on until later on a bit (trying not to spoil too much), but she is so jumpy and full of life and she just wants to be “besties” with Rimuru despite the fact she can easily defeat Rimuru in a fight since she’s a uber-powerful demon lord that is at least ten times stronger than him and a very scary threat. Instead, she is a delight when she’s on-screen. She is a terrific combination of totally adorable and yet super cool both at the same time. 

The animation and art in this anime is strong as well in my opinion. While it may look off-putting to some at first, I had my questions about it at first too, you’ll find quickly that it grows on you and it fits the feeling and tone of the anime well, which is important. The fight scenes look good and crisp and it’s produced pretty well overall. I’ve definitely seen better, but I’ve also seen way worse. I think it’s really good animation and art overall.

The story is pretty simplistic so far. I hope it gets more complex later on. And it looks like the meat of the story is still to come. I have enjoyed the story so far though. It hasn’t been heavy at all, but it’s not totally boring and forgettable either. It’s easy to understand without too much happening at once. It keeps a mainly linear path and has had some good stories to tell so far. The stories within the overall story have been very strong. 

Based on the discussions about the anime I’ve seen and based on what I’ve watched from the anime, I can easily say that it does what it is supposed to do very well. Let me explain.

I am pretty convinced that this anime has just taken all the typical tropes about the isekai genre of anime (anime that places main character(s) in another world) and just kind of projected them out but in a more funny and light way than we see typically. There are definitely isekai tropes in here, like overpowered main character that is almost morally perfect is the big one. But it is handled with such a different tone and style than a lot of the others. 

The beauty of it is that it embraces that it is isekai. That genre gets a bad rap for its growing staleness after the genre peaked a few years ago. So most isekai tries something totally different and almost changes its identity entirely so it loses what it is. I love how Slime just fully embraces exactly what it is and doesn’t attempt to fundamentally change itself just to avoid a label. And the way they go about embracing it is not stale at all. They fully understand what it is and they almost parody the genre at times. 

I won’t lie, when I first looked at this anime’s title I told myself that it was probably something I wouldn’t watch because it sounded silly. But then I saw a lot of people talking about how surprisingly good it is and I thought it may be good to give it a chance. Even then I still didn’t have any expectation that I’d like it. But I began watching it and got sucked in after a couple of episodes as I found myself having a very good time watching it as I was laughing and feeling good. And that is where this anime hits the mark. It makes you laugh and smile and it is always an enjoyable watch, even if it’s an episode that doesn’t have much to it. 

It’s a quality, light-hearted series that does a lot of things well to keep people entertained for 20 minutes at a time. It might not have the deepest concepts or the best story, but it is a very enjoyable watch nonetheless. It has its own way of pulling you in and keeping you engaged with it. I think if you get past it’s annoyingly long name and check it out, you will really enjoy this anime. It has a lot going for it, and it’s potential has yet to be reached quite yet. It should get really good soon too, so now is a good time to jump into it. 

Should you try it: Definitely yes