In front of the old apartment, Nino meets up with her father to discuss the test results. Maruo still has a bone to pick with Futaro (that much is clear in later scenes) but he does acknowledge the boy’s abilities as a tutor so he’s willing to re-hire him. Surprisingly, Nino rejects the offer to move back in on her sisters’ behalf. The girls have apparently decided to continue living on their own for the time being (though Nino admits that to do that, Ichika can’t be the only one one paying the bills). While I do side with the girls on this, I also get Maruo’s point of view. He did give his daughters the best home they could ask for so his confusion that the girls are willing to revert back to their old life to be self-sufficient is understandable.
As I suspected, Nino is also using this meeting to cut ties with Futaro. That way, she doesn’t give her feelings towards any more thought. Of course, Nino should have realized that Futaro is more than willing to ignore her wishes as he arrives on his boss’s motorcycle to pick her up for a celebration with the other girls. Surprisingly, Nino confesses to Futaro on the ride to the restaurant. This feels a bit soon given that Nino only recently started to get along with Futaro for more than ten minutes. Then again, I suppose this has been a long time coming. The whole Kintaro story thread certainly plays a part as it allowed Nino to befriend Futaro within a sort of a vacuum. There’s also the fact that even when Nino is at her worst, Futaro still tried to see her at her best and he still looked out for her. Both things considered, I get how Nino would fall in love with Futaro within a short period of time.
After the celebration, Nino learns that Futaro did not hear her confession due to the wind. Just when you think Nino would do the usual thing of giving up and trying again some time later, she immediately confesses to Futaro a second time and makes sure that he gets the memo. I’m still not on the Nino hype train but I must admit that her confession is a great stroke of writing. One, it’s an amusing and ironic development. When this series started, Nino liked Futaro the least. Now, she’s the first quint to confess her feelings to him. Two, it makes good use of Nino’s character in a new way. Her attitude aside, I can’t deny that Nino is assertive. Once she becomes sure she loves Futaro, you just know that she’ll be dead set on winning the “race”. Third, this has huge potential to shake up the plot. It’s been a season and half and neither Miku and Ichika have made their move. Nino coming from behind and throwing her hat in the ring is bound to get things moving.
By happenstance, Ichika overhears Nino’s confession. Miku already makes Ichika conflicted over her own feelings towards Futaro so adding in Nino makes her position even more complicated. If Ichika decides to concede, she’d have to stay neutral and leaving Miku and Nino to duke it out is risky, given their proven track record of bickering with one another. At the same time, you have to wonder if Nino’s confession will instead make Ichika more motivated to win the race. She doesn’t seem that guilty over outscoring Miku and sabotaging her plan to confess. Would she be willing to beat Nino then?
The next day, Futaro runs into Miku at a supermarket. Both characters pull the “asking for a friend” card to indirectly discuss to each other about their romantic troubles. Honestly, this scene makes me wish Miku could muster up the courage and confess. On the way out, the two participate in a raffle and they both win a family trip to Toraiwa Hot Springs. I guess when the plot demands it, their odds are 100%. Kind of odd that Maruo has come along with his daughters, considering his relationship with them, but I suppose this trip is a good opportunity to spend time with the family.
Upon seeing the quints again, Futaro notices that they’re all keeping their distance with him. Itsuki then tells Futaro that they should meet up sometime later at the hotel their families are staying at. Things then get strange from there. Futaro sees Itsuki at different places all at once. He then gets a note from Itsuki, requesting to meet up at the hotel’s courtyard. On his way there however, Futaro runs into Itsuki and to his confusion, Itsuki then tells him that the girls are cutting ties with him. Before Futaro can get an explanation, he accidentally provokes and gets attacked by the innkeeper, who reveals himself as the girls’ grandfather (Yutaka Nakano). In the morning, Itsuki calls Futaro and asks why he never showed up. The two agree to talk at the mixed baths.
Itsuki and Futaro’s conversation gets interrupted by Nino, who tries to join Futaro in his side of the bath. It’s random but for Nino to do something this provocative, it goes to show that she really does mean business. Because of what happened last night however, Futaro struggles to recognize Nino, causing her to leave the bath in a rage. I’m 50/50 as to how long Nino holds a grudge against Futaro. With her track record, it wouldn’t surprise me if it lasts for a while. That said, her going back to hating Futaro would undermine the first half of this episode so part of me would prefer it to be short-lived.
Anyway, Itsuki and Futaro speculate that the Itsuki the latter ran into last night is one of the other quints impersonating her. Considering the Itsukis Futaro saw in the afternoon, it’s possible that there’s more than one quint who is in on rejecting Futaro. Ichika seems the most likely candidate. She’s the only one aware of the whole love polygon and I can see her trying to cut ties with Futaro out of desperation to keep the peace between her sisters. I don’t know who else would be in cahoots however. Unless they’re playing 4D chess, we can safely rule out Itsuki and Nino. Miku also seems unlikely, given her feelings towards Futaro. That leaves me with Yotsuba and there is admittedly a scene earlier in the episode where she’s nervous about screwing something up. Assuming it is Ichika and Yotsuba, I have a hard time believing that Ichika would tell Yotsuba about what’s going on or that Yotsuba would go along with the plan without knowing the whole picture.
While the goal is to catch the Fake Itsuki red-handed, Itsuki admits that her imposter does have a point. All the girls have changed since meeting Futaro and Futaro has become a major part of their lives. To say Futaro is just their tutor or partner as he’s put it would be inaccurate nowadays. A more accurate term would be “friend”. Itsuki might be the perfect candidate for this scene. Her relationship with Futaro has gone through so many different stages and as far as I can tell, she’s not in love with him. She arguably has the least amount of bias towards Futaro compared to the other characters so for her to call Futaro a friend, she really means it.
Watch The Quintessential Quintuplets 2 on Apple TV and Crunchyroll
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