Your Waifu material being a quintuplet = Five times the fun?

So I’ve been trying to get back to watching anime after all of my time well spent outdoors. My instincts had me know that rom-com was always the way the go.

While nearly everyone I know around my blogger sphere make it obvious that Rising of the Shield Hero is this season’s hot topic, I’ve always been more inclined towards watching types of shows that allow me to look for little things in the corner to fully appreciate no matter the genre. This is where 5hanayome becomes my manna for the Winter Season.

Go-toubun no Hanayome is your standard harem fanfare for 2019 Winter Season. I somehow feel as if that one sentence alone justifies my total impression of the show so if you really decide to either watch the show or avoid it based on my statement then I guess I will be liable for your blame when you later realize you may be missing out on a (somewhat mediocre) show that does what it is supposed to be doing.

Click on the link to MAL and read synopsis yourself; I am not posting it here to make my post look longer.
What I want to do however, is as always, elaborate on my impressions!

So let us begin.

 

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There certainly are many ways to go about a harem setting. When looking at the waifu (plural), twins and triplets look good on paper but a quintuplet is stretching a little too far from the norm. I will not be nitpicking about realism either because this is anime we are talking about, umu.
And so, you are to tutor five beautiful but somewhat rebellious girls into passing grades. No. None of them are even close to being dumb so I was initially having a rough time figuring out whether the characters set-up were too convenient even for an anime show. Ever since I have returned to Thailand for internship I have come across many people who are very good at one or a few things, both academically and not. From that experience alone, I am inclined to not jump the gun and call others dumb based on their GPA. I thought these girls could be just like that; maybe Futarou can better them in more ways than just academic.
But darn, why had I so much expectation from just a typical waifu war of a show?

 

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We consume anime by watching and most likely listening to it, right?

Good. Just making sure that we are on the same page here and then.

Now, 5hanayome has a LOT of noticeable things. And me being myself, one of the first things I noticed after the first episode was the cast of voice actors/actresses.
Just how noticeable, you want to know?
To the point that I was able to guess the name of each main characters’ VA before looking them up on wiki of some sort. Except for Miku who is voiced by, well, Miku.

Pardon me, I was having my little giggly moments as I do more research on this IP. I mean, Matsuoka-san legit returns to his harem king position. There is also quite a relation to OreImo, as much as you will not like having me mention the show — Kana Hanazawa’s character is most likely among the first few to be out of the waifu war, as if Kuroneko has not given me enough deja vu. Then Taketatsu Ayana’s back to voice the obviously bitchy tsundere who would (and I bet she damn will) eventually turn full dere later on. Now surely you realize why I bring up OreImo at all — because if Nino wins this war I will have Kirino flashbacks until God knows when (I will get over the fact).

Calling an early victory, Nino?

 

Story will be among the easiest things to digest in this show. Absolutely S.T.A.N.D.A.R.D. high school shenanigans but now you have one lucky dude and five sisters on him. The show is also listed as rom-com so surely we would expect romantic and comedic moments, huh?

Well those were also bland at best, especially the comedy part. Romance however is highly subjective. I think that in the end, romantic feels we get from watching anime are mostly due to how connected or wanting we are (to be connected) to the characters. In the case of 5hanayome, it varies between sisters — I would call it very romantic if I take Miku’s moments as my perspective. Eventually all five girls fall for him but Miku was definitely the first to show any verifiable signs.

MUST. PROTECT.

 

Rooting for your girl is an unavoidable subject when you nosedive into a harem show, but again this is only an impression post so, next time I guess?

 

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I will conclude this tiny post with a few compliments I was able to conjure up almost immediately upon having seen (the legendary rule of) three episodes. One being the ending theme — very fitting for the situation these girls find themselves in. The lower frequencies sound savage and mature while the higher stuff (mainly the singer herself) sound cute and young. I highly recommend blasting the ending theme with a proper sub woofer.

Last but not the least compliment I can give to 5hanayome is the satisfying ratio between harem and ecchi. I think we can agree on the fact that these two things come in a package, on equal parts no less. This show however, currently has the 70/30 harem and ecchi going on and it is a pleasant experience for a change, enough to make me think about my most favorite harem show Saekano — of what it could have done better.

So going back to what I said about the people I have met in recent months; this concept can actually be applied to anime, too!
Seeing 5hanayome handle ecchi better than my most favorite harem show is probably one of my best foods for thought from this season. Just because it can do one thing well but everything else on average does not make it a dumb show, though you will not be needing both sides of your brain to enjoy 5hanayome.

 

See (some of) you in the next post where I will enter spoilers territory!

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