On Quintessential Quintuplets, S1E8 !!!!!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!
______________
Current Rankings:
1.Miku
Miku’s desire to cook her croquettes to perfection reflects both her relatable insecurity, as usual, but also a dedication to her crafts. She is willing to make voluntary sacrifices, her time and effort, to achieve her goals. As reinforced by her increased willingness to study in episode seven, she has become a more hardworking individual than her study resistant peers. This receptiveness to improvement, as initially spurred on by Uesugi in episode two, has been a one of the constant traits that has kept her character the most attractive out of the quintuplets. Her constant kindness to Uesugi is also highlighted in this episode in how she unhesitantly gives him her email, even smiling at the idea to emphasize how passive she is. Again, however, her character has lacked involvement over the past few episodes thus I find myself struggling to defend her number one position. The other characters intrigue me a lot more.
2.Nino
Ever since episode seven, Nino has been dropping her hostility toward Uesugi and becoming a lot more lighthearted in her approaches. As Yotsuba, so obviously, highlighted, she didn’t even try to kick him out of the apartment, against her initial wishes. Her speech is also a lot less insulting, carrying a softer tone and being more considerate, such as when she asked him if he was fine with eggs being in his porridge. She even gave him permission to close the proximity with her, asking him to give her an ear piercing. She’s no longer the same plotting and scheming Nino we were initially introduced to, indicating clear character and relationship growth that I’m intrigued to see continue. Apart from this, her character falls short of attraction, only noticeably being admirable in her ability to cook well as well as her fashion sense. I believe that we have yet to see more of Nino’s character, of which has untapped potential to be much greater than expected.
3.Itsuki
I’d like to think of Itsuki as similar to Nino in expression, also quite hostile at the beginning, yet carrying a sense of empathy and understanding that allowed her to develop a healthier relationship with Uesugi earlier. I suspect she also had more self-based reasons for her rejection, stemming from a desire to meet high expectations. However, once she realized how valuable his help was in her progress, she began opening up more since episode seven. She doesn’t do much in this episode, but she doesn’t put up a strong-front anymore as she used to, allowing for further character and relational development in future episodes.
4.Ichika
Ichika doesn’t do much in this episode other than egg Uesugi on to get the quintuplet’s emails to establish contact. She does leave for a shoot, but is considerate enough to notify him of the event. Her simple kindness and resourcefulness is shown again in this episode, but apart from that she neither lowers or increases her current appearance.
5.Yotsuba
This was definitely an episode to save her character, with her even acknowledging that she didn’t appear to change. Uesugi claims that she was actually the first to change, but from what I’ve seen, I beg to differ. Her character had kept the same childish optimism and she also kept annoyingly dumb as reinforced by this episode. She comes up with the worst lies, most notably, that Uesugi is deathly sick to keep Nino and Itsuki at home to study. However, she redeems herself slightly in expressing a level of awareness of the world around her, such as noticing the change in her sisters. Behind the scenes, I appreciate how we were able to see that Uesugi has also had a silent effect on Yotsuba, sacrificing her spot in the basketball team to attend her tutoring sessions. It reveals a hidden appreciation and receptiveness from her character, developing a sense of maturity that I had not initially seen. The playful lie that she was interested in him also further intrigued me to her character as it points toward some sort of intelligence, conflicting her dumb, outside appearance. Overall, I’m led to believe that Yotsuba is only putting on a facade of smiles and happiness, but is hiding a more adult and respectable character on the inside. I’m definitely looking forward to how she will progress in further episodes.
Extra Notes:
I knew from the start they would pull a Nisekoi, and today they did. The show isn’t anything special, but after this twist revelation, in addition to the lowered tension, I’m more hooked to finding out what happens next. I also kinda wish Uesugi cared more about the fact that Nino found him attractive, but nevertheless. I also theorize that the girl he met was less likely to be her since memories weren’t triggered surrounding his appearance in the photo. Overall, good episode though. |