5-toubun no Hanayome | Episode 9 through 12 Review

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Episode Nine through twelve

So I will be doing something I normally never do. Since episodes nine through twelve are all based around one arc the “Legend of Fate Day” arc. I didn’t think it would make any real sense if I split up this arc into two blog posts because each episode was a continuation of the next. So here we are, episodes nine through twelve and my thoughts on each one of them.

To be completely honest, I didn’t like episodes nine or ten in large part because nothing happened. Both episodes were extremely boring and bland which was a shame. Literally, both episodes were about the five sisters worrying too much about Uesugi for whatever reason. As we know, Uesugi has been completely oblivious the entire time he’s been around the sisters so to him it has always been business as usual. It’s only when the five sisters start to question his character and begin to discover their own feelings for him that we see things begin to boil over.

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Was this something I liked? No, not really. But then again, 5-toubun no Hanayome is a harem for a reason. I expected this sort of thing to happen, however I think the biggest beef I have with both episodes was that it just wasn’t entertaining. It felt like we were bouncing ground between the sisters and that alone made both episodes feel pretty choppy. Not to mention, a majority of the scenes in both episodes had all five of them plus Uesugi there at the same time. To me, I didn’t like that because that is too many clashing personalities in one room for my liking, you were basically overloaded with differing and opposite personalities; each one wanting their time in the spotlight. There were several times throughout each episode where I felt like the scene was too loud and noisy.

Episodes eleven and twelve weren’t much better. Probably the only difference between the previous two episodes, to these ones (episodes eleven and twelve) are the sisters all agree that they all have feelings for Uesugi and instead of keeping everything equal amongst them (something they’ve always done), they decided that may the best woman win. Even thought episodes eleven and twelve were no different from nine and ten, something I will admit is that out of all five sisters, the one I like the most is probably Ichika Nakano. I think she’s the more rational and mature person out of the bunch and I really how she openly shares her thoughts and opinions with Uesugi. This more reserved and careful personality has always been a personality that I adore in anime. I believe it’s a personality that the viewer can connect and relate to. Ichika by far has had the biggest influence on the direction of the show. Being a quintuplet, she knows what each one of her sisters are thinking and feeling. However, unlike her sisters (apart from Yotsuba), Ichika is able to express her thoughts more openly and more importantly she’s been vital in helping her sisters understand their own feelings.

Who would have thought that liking the same person would be so complicated. The past four episode have taught me that 5-toubun no Hanayome is surprisingly a very complicated harem because each sister is different and seeks something different. Normally in Harem anime, for the most part all the characters just end up liking the male protagonist because they’re supposed to. It’s written on the script so therefore it must be fulfilled. Weirdly enough, each sister fell in love with Uesugi because he unintentionally cares for them individually.

The one thing I liked about the ending of episode twelve was that it foreshadows what is supposed to happen. Uesugi is supposed to marry one of the twins. Which one? We don’t know since there is five of them. Will the second season answer the question? Probably not. But anyway, I did like that little foreshadow at the very end because if you’re someone who is invested in this anime, in particular the first season. Then it’ll push you to watch the second season and maybe even read the manga. Which is a smart move.