Does Gotoubun no Hanayome Offers More Than Fanservice?
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Gotoubun no Hanayome first impressions is part of my Ultimate Guide for the 2019 Anime Winter Season. A guide with more than 100 pages with a first impressions to every Anime coming out in the Winter Season. You can get your own here (it’s free!).
Title: Gotoubun no Hanayome (MAL Page)
Alternative Titles: 5-toubun no Hanayome, The Five Wedded Brides, The Quintessential Quintuplets
MAL Score: 7.51
Genres: Harem, Comedy, Romance
Number of Episodes: 12
Broadcast: Fridays (JST)
Studios: Tezuka Productions
Source: Manga
Duration: 23 min. per ep.
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis
Fuutarou Uesugi is your perfect score student. However, his family is passing through huge debt, so when a rich family asks him to tutor their children, paying way more than average he just has to take the job. Never crossed his mind that he would have to tutor 5 quintuplets at the same age as him. Moreover, it’s Itsuki Nanako’s family, the girl who he had a feud the moment they met.
Now, he has the job to tutor 5 girls who hate to study and will do everything to skip study time. However, there is a twist, one of them will be Fuutarou’s bride
Story
I’m going to be honest, Gotoubun no Hanayome ended up being better than I thought in the beginning. I’m really into harem Anime shows because normally it’s all about the fanservice and the moe. However, Gotoubun no Hanayome has more to offer! It actually works well as a romance.
For example, if episode 2 went with a more comedic tone, episode 3 went with a more serious one. It’s nice to see how they are able to create a good story with each one of the siblings and that their relationship with Futarou is actually interesting to watch.
So far, it had everything you could ask for this type of Anime… And more!
Characters
Like the story, the characters also have been growing in me. If I thought, in the beginning, the girls seemed to follow stereotypes too much for my liking, now I believe they all have their own originality. Yes, it’s true that you still have some generic base in the siblings’ personalities. You have the tsundere, the peoples’ pleaser, the one that seems older and is way more into the sexy stuff, the shy one, etc. However, the moment you are able to meet more of the characters they bloom and show themselves more complex and interesting.
When it comes to Futarou, the male main character, I essentially like that he is not one of those characters who just get nuts when he gets the minimum attention of a girl. His character started as someone who focuses completely on getting good grades and it’s nice to see he continues like that. For me, it has been nice to see the kinder side of him… Even if it is just to make the girls getting into studying.
Animation
Is the fanservice good? That’s the real question, isn’t it? I mean, it’s a harem and normally harem has fanservice. And, to that, I have to say, yes, the fanservice is good! Especially because it doesn’t take me out of the story’s immersion hahaha But, yes, the girls are all very cute and have that kind of moe design. Moreover, there are also scenes with them showing a little more skin, which even for a gay guy like myself, I have to say is very well done and appealing. Nonetheless, I like how they don’t show too much of it and actually makes you imagine instead of just putting breasts right in your face… At least, all the time!
For the rest of the animation, the only thing bad I have to say is that there are many static frames. However, since the design is so well done, I don’t really mind!
Audio
The intro song is probably one of the best I’ve heard from the Winter Season. It’s really catchy and speaks the vibe of the show very well. When it comes to the outro, well, I’ll have to say the same! It’s probably one of the best from the Winter Season!
Voice acting wise is also very well executed! The voices suit the characters very well and it never feels off! The conversations are very smooth and… Well, you know the drill, it’s just flawless! There’s really nothing I have to add.
When it comes to the soundtrack, normally the music falls more for the comedic side. Something that makes sense… This is a comedic Anime after all! Nevertheless, when the time comes where there is needed a little tension on the scene, the music becomes silent and it builds the scene very well.
Final Verdict
Gotoubun no Hanayome is one example of why I always wait for episode 3 before doing a first impressions review. Truth is, on episode 1, the episode seemed well executed, but not for me. Now, that I actually watched the 3 episodes, I feel that I will watch it until the end of it!
I think that if you like Harem Anime shows for the moe and the fanservice, this is a good one for you to watch!
Even if you don’t like Harem, but you are into Romance, I still think you should try this one! Of course, it will follow some of the formulas such every girl falling for the main character. Nevertheless, in these 3 episodes, they were able to create some deepness in the characters which I have seen Anime actually focusing only on the romance side failing.