The obstacle for the time being is the final exams. With the girls reverting back to being stupid, a lot needs to be done so Futaro pulls an all-nighter handwriting study guides for all of them. Cracks begin to show as Miku and Nino begin to butt heads. That they don’t get along was made apparent in Season 1 and add onto their differing opinions of Futaro and their feuding is a ticking time bomb. Eventually, Nino disregards Futaro’s help (again), even going as far as smacking them to the floor and ripping them up. Itsuki joins Miku in defending Futaro and both her and Nino leave their family’s apartment out of frustration with each other. Nino rents a room at a luxury hotel while Itsuki crashes at Futaro’s home because she forgot to take her wallet with her.
I made it no secret in the Season 1 reviews that I don’t like Nino so naturally, I find her incredibly insufferable in this episode. Frankly, the most enjoyable moment with her is Itsuki slapping her in the face. Finally, she gets what she deserves! To play devil’s advocate, this boiling point is perhaps a long time coming. I mean, Nino is the only one left to antagonize Futaro. Miku and Ichika grew to like the guy. Yotsuba always got along with him. Itsuki was her sole remaining ally and that’s maybe a stretch. Be that as it may, she also came around eventually (and she certainly showed support for Futaro in a really big way). Nino is fighting a losing fight here and she probably knows that, hence her resorting to something extreme as leaving the house.
Obviously, Nino will somehow accept Futaro’s help again. My one hope then is that this arc is where she finally stops being the worst. She’s stooped the lowest she ever has since the drugging incident so she’s poised to go up from there. I also want her redemption to happen because I really want to know why she’s so goddamn popular. She’s clearly one of those characters where fans insist that you wait and see and well, I’m still waiting. Can I please be rewarded for my sufferance?
Itsuki crashing at Futaro’s place is pretty funny, not going to lie. She does know the address and I suppose it’s her only option since she forgot her wallet. Still, it’s amusing that this is her default choice, considering the rocky start she and Futaro had. There’s the funny possibility that she sees it as an excuse to hang out with Raiha (Natsumi Takamori) but to be fair, I don’t think she would have been caught dead if she did this at the beginning of the series. I kind of expected this scene to be an excuse to show Itsuki adapting so well to living with the Uesugis that she might as well marry into it. That way, the idea of Itsuki being the future bride might grow on you. You kind of see that with how Raiha and Isanari (Satoshi Hino) welcome her with open arms and possibly no questions asked. It doesn’t last long however as the reason Itsuki is here is obviously very awkward.
Before I go over the ending, there’s a couple of other tidbits I want to mention. One, Itsuki reveals to the Futaro that she and her family used to live in poverty. Their mother then married their stepfather and what’s how they’re living in luxury now. It’s an interesting revelation as it gives Futaro some more common ground with the quintuplets. Another tidbit is that Yotsuba is currently helping the track club for an upcoming marathon. I know Yotsuba has a hard time saying no but I wonder if there’s more to this decision, like she’s doing this to escape from the current family situation.
At the end of the episode, Futaro begins to wonder if the quintuplets need him in their lives. I find the notion a little absurd since four of the five quintuplets clearly like him now. Then again, Nino does suck that much so I can see Futaro second guessing himself. Things turn around however when Futaro is greeted by the mysterious girl, who is all grown up now. Oddly enough, we get left in the dark on this encounter as the show cuts to Futaro jumping into a river, presumably after his conversation with the mysterious girl. Why Futaro dives in I’m not sure but it must be part of some plan as his disheveled appearance convinces Nino to talk to him. Either that or things somehow didn’t go very well with the mysterious girl.
As for the identity of the girl, it’s hard to tell who she might be. I’d say Miku and Ichika are most likely, simply because they have the least logistical issues out of the five. I wouldn’t be opposed to that as I’m currently rooting for those two the most. I’d be extremely shocked if the girl is Nino, given the current situation. What reason does Nino have to help Futaro right now if she really wants the guy gone? I doubt she’s playing 4D chess here. Then again, that would explain why Futaro jumped into the water. Given what happened last episode, Itsuki is a weird candidate. I just don’t get why she’d feign ignorance to Futaro if she is the mysterious girl. That said, she isn’t present in the scene. Yotsuba is somewhat ruled out as the show cuts to her finding Futaro shortly after his encounter with the mysterious girl. Part of me hopes the girl somehow is Yotsuba, if only because it’s really funny imagining Yotsuba quickly changing outfits and hairstyles and pretending to jog afterwards. She’s athletic. She could pull it off.
Watch The Quintessential Quintuplets 2 on Apple TV and Crunchyroll
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