Your 'Underrated Gems' Reviews Thread

[Batbrony 16,054]

Good evening, everypony. It's been far too long since I posted a thread of any kind on our lovely forums, but I recently got a fun idea in mind that I hope others may enjoy as well.

 

The premise of this thread is quite simple: What are some 'underrated gems' you've adored in media, be they films or television shows, literature, even music or artists?

 

Whatever your underrated gems may be, please provide us with a review of them. It can be as long or as short of a review as you want, I only ask that, if the media in question is telling some kind of story and you go very in-depth into reviewing that story, please disclose if you are about to share any sensitive spoilers. After all, none of us want to ruin the potential experience of these gems for others before they've even had a chance to experience them, now, would we.

 

To start things off, I'll offer a spoiler-free review of a show I just finished that I very much believe strongly fits into the 'underrated gems' category for very good reason: the anime adaptation of 'The Quintessential Quintuplets.'

 

 

'The Quintessential Quintuplets' - A Needle in a Haystack

 

For those who aren't familiar with the title, 'The Quintessential Quintuplets' is an adaptation of the manga of the same name by one Negi Haruba (probably his most prominent creation to date). The biggest reason why I believe it is easily an underrated gem starts with the genre it fits into. You see, 'The Quintessential Quintuplets' is... a harem anime.

 

 

Yes, yes, I know, some of you may be wondering what I'm doing even bringing up this genre. For those who may not know WHAT exactly a harem anime is, I'll try to explain what 99.99999999999% of them are as simply as I can. Essentially, in order to qualify as a harem manga/anime, you need a story where three or more characters have some form of romantic feelings for the main protagonist (usually, but NOT always, a high school age male character). In many harem stories, it is VERY possible that the protagonist may even end up in the long term in romantic relationships with all or most of their love interests in the story, no matter how ill-advised or unrealistic such a conclusion may seem. Another popular outcome is that the story will end with the protagonist ending up with only one of their love interests, BUT, in order to satisfy the all of their fans who may favor different love interests, the creator of a harem manga/anime may actually create multiple endings where the fans can see the protagonist ending up with their favored love interest (which some people seem to be cool with but me, IDK, I feel like that's kind of cheating).

 

Harem stories are notorious for a few reasons. Generally speaking, they unapologetically engage (almost as their singular focus at times) in rampant fan service and low-brow humor (even great ones like 'High School DxD' do just that, though that particular title does it so hilariously over-the-top that one could argue it's at least aware of what it's doing). Most of the time, it is about as low-brow wish fulfillment as you could get in published stories, not all that different from what you might encounter in really bad fanfiction.

 

Here's where 'The Quintessential Quintuplets' first stands out in this genre. You see, right from the start, the story makes clear that not only is our protagonist, Futaro Uesugi, going to end up with one of the titular quintuplets... he's going to straight up marry ONE of them! And, seeing as they are (largely) identical quintuplets, the readers/viewers are going to spend most of the story trying to figure out just who he ends up with.

 

Already you can see that this is a stark contrast to what I've described above as constituting the majority of harem stories. From the get-go, you've got (1) a promise that there will only be one definitive love interest at the end of the story and (2) a mystery to try to unravel based on whatever breadcrumbs the author might give you along the way. But what about the characters themselves? How do they hold up?

 

This brings us to the meat of my review. I'm going to spend the rest of this review setting up for you the six main characters in as spoiler-free a manner as I can, along with a few odd notes here and there about the animation and storytelling. I want people to check out this show (or the manga, whichever you prefer) but I think it's most enjoyable going into it without knowing entirely what to expect. Still, if you prefer going in totally blind, stop here now and just read the rest of my review after you've checked out the story for yourself.

 

The Main Characters

 

Futaro Uesugi

 

Futaro Uesugi is an interesting protagonist to describe because he is simultaneously a strength of the story, but ALSO one can easily argue NOT the main reason one would get hooked onto the story. He is neither a flawless 'knight in shining armor' nor an unrepentant, over-the-top pervert (two of the more common tropes for male protagonists in harem manga/anime), but rather a flawed character in his own right who has plenty of growing to do of his own. Despite the fact that he has nearly flawless grades and an impeccable work ethic, there's a lot of social cues and just things about people in general that Uesugi DOES NOT understand at the start of the story, and it greatly hampers him in what is for a good chunk of the show his main endeavor, that is, tutoring the five sisters (who all have pretty abysmal grades). It's an awkward situation as is, but the fact that he's quite a bit of a workaholic curmudgeon and just doesn't easily get along with people - with the exception of his dad and little sister - in general makes his job ten times harder, since he really has to force himself to learn and grow quite a bit in order to actually gain the trust and respect of any of the sisters. His journey is a fun and satisfying one to watch, and believable too since he never leans into any character type in too extreme of a manner. Hell, at many points he's behaving just as ridiculously, if not even more so, as any of the sisters ever do, and it makes the show's antics all the more enjoyable to watch.

That said, there are points in the show where it can feel like Uesugi is more plot device than the main character of the show. Partially this is simply because I think for most viewers at some point the sisters will become the main reason they're along for the ride - both because you'll probably figure out who your favorite is, get caught up in the mystery of who 'the Bride' will end up being, and just get really invested in the sister-dynamics between all five of them as well as their growing relationships with Uesugi - but I think it's also because, for like 95% of the show, Uesugi IS NOT pursuing any kind of romantic relationship. This is a strength, don't get me wrong, it is genuinely pleasant that the majority of the show is just focused on how the base relationships between all six main characters grow outside of romance, and I don't think it would be possible for the mystery aspect of the story to work if he was more actively involved in the romantic pursuits himself, BUT it does mean that the majority of romantic intentions or inclinations for most of the story are developed and pursued by the sisters themselves, which sometimes leaves Uesugi feeling like a 'prize at the end of the tunnel' if that makes sense. Still, he's a very good and very well-written main character, even if I would hardly ever say he's the main reason everyone's here for the ride.

Ichika Nakano

I'll be real, ya'll have NO idea what a dramatic mess this character can be

 

The "big sister" of the quintuplets (namely because she was literally the firstborn out of the bunch), Ichika is almost as frustrating as she is compelling. Compared to some of the other sisters, she is much more sure about the things that she wants in life (which I will NOT spoil here) and decisive about wanting to pursue those things, but she can also be a bit of a hot mess despite herself. This means that QUITE a lot of the actions she takes initiate a surprisingly large amount of events in the show, events that don't just impact her but all of the other main characters as well at times, and she doesn't always appreciate the consequences of her actions until they've already caused messes all around. The best way I can describe Ichika without spoiling anything about her is this - there is an excellent chance that at least at SOME points in the show, she will be your favorite quintuplet, and at OTHER points in the show, she won't just be your least favorite, you might straight up hate her guts. Believe me, she is all over the place, but thankfully it never feels necessarily out of character or like bad writing, she's just a bold and brash character with a personality that can be a hot mess a lot of the time. At the end of the day, I found her character arc to be one of the better ones, even if there were some aspects of it that may have been a tad bit unsatisfying.

Nino Nakano

Oh, in case it wasn't clear from the above image, BEHOLD, the show's tsundere! And boy does she live up to the name...

 

The second oldest of the Nakano sisters, I'll be honest, Nino oftentimes acts more like the oldest than Ichika does. NOT in the sense that she's the most responsible of the sisters, oh no no, far from it, more so in the sense that she oftentimes tries to function as the glue keeping all of the sisters together AS a quintuplet unit. In this role, she's not exactly warm and fuzzy, but rather largely suspicious, if not straight up hostile, to anything she perceives to be a threat to how she and her sisters function together *cough cough* Futaro Uesugi *cough cough*. Yes, in case you hadn't figured it out by now - or haven't heard of the term before - this is our show's tsundere, and for those of you who DO know what that is, you probably won't be surprised to learn that Nino inspires some incredibly strong feelings in fans of the show in terms of how likable and unlikable she can be (if you end up watching both seasons, you will probably find yourself distinguishing between S1 Nino and S2 Nino PRETTY heavily, there is a drastic difference between the two based on the character arc she embarks upon). Overall, it would not be inaccurate to say that she has one of the most drastic character arcs out of any of the sisters, and she is definitely one of the fan favorites with an incredibly passionate fanbase. Me personally, while she was not my favorite of the sisters, she did have my second favorite character arc and by the end of the show I just absolutely adored the direction and execution of her character, not just in how her relationship with Uesugi had developed, but with her entire family as well as the direction she chose to seize for herself in life. Nino Nakano is definitely one of the gems of the show, and definitely responsible for some of its best standout moments that will delight and stick with you as a viewer.

Miku Nakano

Hey... you know what time it is?

 

That's right, it's BEST GIRL TIME!!! Ok, I know I am completely basic for liking Miku Nakano the most out of all of the sisters - really the only sister who probably rivals her for fans is the previously discussed Nino - but I can't help it, I just really enjoy this character and the arc she went on (it doesn't hurt that she has a GREAT character design in a show with really good character designs). I won't lie, this is going to be tough you guys, not spoiling anything while describing what makes Miku such a compelling character, but I'll do my best.

So Miku is easily the most introverted out of all the sisters, but not really in a Fluttershy way for the most part. In most respects, she seems fairly sociable, she just feels uncomfortable with the idea of shattering the unity of the sisters by having or getting anything they too don't have (she says many times, especially in the first season, that she thinks they're supposed to be equal in most respects and it seems she takes that quite literally). It also means it's very difficult for her to fully latch onto anything that uniquely makes her, well, her, or at the very least be vocal and outspoken about it. So as you can probably guess, a lot of her character arc is all about building her own confidence in herself but, even more importantly, learning how to love herself and accept that it's OK to want or have something that your sisters don't.

I wish I could say more than that, but again, I really don't want to spoil anything here. I will also add that I've heard another reviewer point out that it's pretty apparent as the show goes on that, as the most introverted sister, Miku is probably the best observer of the bunch, that is, she can be a wallflower when she wants to be but she probably is the best out of all the sisters at observing and paying close attention to the actions of others, including her sisters. Speaking as a guy who's an introvert myself, that makes total sense; we introverts can oftentimes be so in our own heads that by the time we think of something fitting to say the conversation others are having may have already shifted to a completely different topic, but if we're giving conversation our full attention, we can actually be quite observant. That's probably why I enjoyed her character arc so much, I honestly think that this is a great depiction of an introverted character going on a very realistic and uplifting character arc. It doesn't take her to Fluttershy-like extremes, but still does a nice job of emphasizing how hard certain actions or behavior can be for introverts that other people wouldn't think twice about. I can't guarantee she'll be everyone's best girl, but for me, she was definitely my favorite out of the sisters as well as my favorite character of the show in general.

OK, even by anime girl standards this pout face is the stuff of legend!

 

Yotsuba Nakano

Ah yes, Yotsuba, the character you'd get if you were to crossover Pinkie Pie's chaotic good nature with Rainbow Dash's freaky athleticism. That's... not even an inaccurate description if I'm being perfectly honest.

Anyways, how to describe Yotsuba? Well, she does have a really great character arc, it's just really weirdly paced, and from what I know about the manga, I think the show rearranged the chronology of some of her major character moments and I really don't agree with that writing/directorial decision. I guess the best way I can put it is that, by the time you finish the story, you will probably have a full appreciation of Yotsuba's character, but you'll also be really, really, really frustrated with just how so much of her story has been paced. There are huge stretches of the show that just seem to relegate her to a supporting character role, and it feels weird a lot of the time given that she's one of the first sisters to actually embrace Uesugi and buy into what he's trying to do for the sisters.

Personality-wise, besides the RD-like athleticism, there are seriously a ton of parallels that can be drawn between Yotsuba and Pinkie Pie. It's not just that she is such an airhead at times that her randomness reaches unfathomable heights, but much like Pinkie Pie, she does harbor some hidden insecurities and anxieties, and in Yotsuba's case, those have gone a long way towards dictating a lot of her self-worth, or rather, the lack of self-worth she feels about herself. Out of all of the sisters, she probably is the one who naturally struggles the most in her school work; like, the others all either have a single subject they excel most in or, to put it even more plainly, it's usually indicated that a majority of them just haven't applied themselves as much as they could through the years to their school work. Yotsuba, however, is quite literally dumb as a rock, and her default fallback defense mechanism for the insecurities and anxieties that stem from knowing how dumb she is when it comes to academics is to try laughing it off like it's not that big of a deal. In reality, however, it is a HUGE deal for her, and the root cause of a lot of the personal issues and struggles she spends most of the show grappling with.

I cannot in good faith say that Yotsuba is my favorite character out of the sisters, far from it, but I will say that the excellence of her overall character arc - even if the execution is a bit clunky - combined with the fact that she is singlehandedly responsible for some of the show's funniest and most random moments, makes Yotsuba a really solid and enjoyable character throughout the entirety of the show.

D'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww, I know it's from the manga, but just look at that cute widdle bunny-face she's got going on!!!

 

Itsuki Nakano

Oh boy, Itsuki Nakano... Itsuki Nakano is befuddling. Now, do not mistake me, that is NOT to say that she's a bad character. As I've already said, I really enjoyed all of the sisters and truly felt like they were the heart and soul of the show. That said, Itsuki's place in the show AT TIMES is perhaps the most difficult to figure out. She never feels like a third- no wait, um, fifth wheel (I guess), but there are just some times in the show where you can't help but wonder what exactly she wants or if she even knows. She's an enjoyable character, I mean, as the "little sister" of the group she has big "little sister" energy - if that even makes any sense for quintuplets but in this case it kind of does - and her infatuation with food is always a funny gag. I don't want to spoil her main character arc, but I will say that, while all of the sisters mention their mother at some point, Itsuki's in particular is very closely tied with their mother but also discovering herself and who she wants to be, and I really did enjoy that aspect of her character the most. If I had to pick out where she really shines most, I'd say it's really during maybe the first half of Season 2? Maybe the first 2/3 of it, I don't know.

THAT SAID, there is an elephant in the room I need to address. Without giving away WHAT exactly it is, Itsuki, through no fault of the character herself, does have literally the single worst story arc of any of the characters, and the messed up part is that it literally comes in the movie that wrapped up the main storyline of the show. The only forgivable thing about it is that it LITERALLY comes and goes, I'm not kidding, it takes up maybe 10-15 minutes of the movie AT MOST, and then it's just GONE. But that's also one of the reasons it's so bad. Again, I can't spoil it, but I assure you, if you get that far, you will know it when you see it, and most likely you will hate it. Those of you who have seen all of QQ already, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Thankfully, it doesn't ruin Itsuki herself, it doesn't really hurt her character at all, it's just a bizarre and completely out-of-left-field moment and I truly, truly can't explain where it even came from.

Andddddddd... that's kind of Itsuki, she's a perplexing character at times but not a hard one to enjoy.

Itsuki and Pinkie Pie have a lot in common when it comes to their appetite and metabolism... you'll know what I mean if you watch it

 

 

Miscellaneous Items

Since this is a largely character-driven show, there's not a whole lot else to be said, but I will throw in a few short notes about two key points.

The Animation

 

You know, it is what it is. Probably the nicest thing I can say about it is that all of the character designs are lovely, and there's some really neat, little details that tie into some key points about the characters. For example, all of the sisters wear some kind of item that denotes how old they are among the sisters, and I'm not even kidding, but as the show progresses - especially towards the end - they do some fun, little changes with Miku's hair to convey how she's growing as a character.

I know this is manga art, but I do have to admit I'm a sucker for these character designs

 

But beyond small details like that I really can't say much else. This show isn't an animation masterclass, but it's not meant to be an animation masterclass, so don't go into it expecting one, it is mostly there to deliver a compelling story backed by really, really solid characters, and on that front it delivers splendidly for the most part.

The Storytelling

This is a VERY tricky one for me to talk about. Because while I have largely no complaints about any of the characters in QQ themselves, the storytelling is kind of another matter.

OK, let's start with the good. The premise is probably the strongest element of the storytelling here since it's such a strong, compelling hook for audiences. You're offered the promise that our protagonist will marry one, JUST ONE, of these identical sisters, and you're not even really told how interested in him all five of them will be. Alright, cool, we've got a solid mystery on our hands here. But it gets even better when you realize that this is NOT following typical harem story logic where pretty much every potential love interest falls for the protagonist almost as soon as they meet him/her. No no no, all of the sisters actually develop very DIFFERENT levels of feelings for Futaro at a very different pace. Some of them don't even fall for him at all in Season 1! This makes the execution of the story even more fun to watch, since you have to keep telling yourself, OK, even if I'm cheering for someone who's been in love with him since earlier in the show, there's always a possibility that he's going to end up with someone who doesn't develop feelings for him until later in the show.

Yup, love me a good hook combined with solid execution

 

Here's where the story gets tough to evaluate... there's kind of points where it sort of cheats. What I mean by that is that, when you get to the ending, you can honestly say to yourself, "OK, this ending makes sense and I can be satisfied with it... buttttttttttttttttttttttttttt, there's some parts where the show feels like it cheated by withholding some vital information from us for longer-than-necessary stretches." Now, let me be clear, I say THE SHOW feels like it cheated. What do I mean by that? Well, after I finished watching it, I actually learned that they reordered a HANDFUL of key scenes from the manga and frankly I was perplexed by that creative decision to say the least. It truly felt like there was no rhyme or reason to that reordering, and for the life of me I still don't know why they handled it the way they did. The ending of the show itself also really shouldn't have been a movie, and not just from a storytelling perspective. For an anime movie, especially for a show like this, it feels WAY too long, and I'm sorry but the animation quality in the film itself really isn't even an upgrade from what the show itself typically offered so I have no idea why they even finished it as a theatrical film (yes, theatrical) they really would have been better off just making a shorter third season or something.

Now, I know it sounds like I'm ragging on the show here, but no, despite the botched execution of some key points in the storytelling, especially when it comes to resolving the mystery, I still really loved and enjoyed the Quintessential Quintuplets. It's a fun show with some very enjoyable characters, but most importantly, when you consider what SO many other harem stories typically are, and then compare that to what THIS show is, it's a bucking miracle, really! Like I said, if you've never watched it before, you really should. I think you'll find that it is, in fact, quite the underrated, hidden gem!

 

Well, that's all I've got for this first review. I'm dying to see what underrated gems you all would like to promote. Have fun with this thread, everypony, and remember, if you do decide to include spoilers, kindly hide them for those folks hoping to check out what you're promoting before they read any, won't you?

 

[Tao 7,733]

 

 

Well I'm not going to do a book report like you did but also well done! 

My anime:  Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts

 

INFO:  One hundred years ago, a grave tradition was born in a land where demons live among people: a human must be sacrificed to the King of Beasts. But when Sariphi, the 99th sacrifice, is offered to the King, she isn’t afraid at all! Intrigued by her calm and cute nature, the King decides to spare her life with plans to make her his bride.

Eps: 24

Animation:  3.9/5

• So animation wise:
• Nicely done backgrounds
• There is good flow in the action/fight scenes
• Nice Character design right from the manga
• Minus
• Choppy in transition points and a bit lazy
• You can feel a little burnout at the end
• Pacing in the animation goes from super good to bad

Story:  4.7/5

 

• It has a sweet-centered story about finding someone who truly loves you.
• Deals with items of race, class division, judgment based on looks, on who one is based on their place born in society and where.
• Finding your voice in the mass voices of others
• sticking to your guns when making choices
• Finding out who you are and how you can still grow
• accepting change in society and also others

Bad Points:

 

• Pulls heavily on the beauty and beast theme a lot
• Love troops
• Young girl, and an older man so the age gap is a bit
• Furry themes (does not bother me but might others)
• The pacing did feel a bit spread out too much or at times the story got lumped too fast between major events

Score Over all: 4.1/5

• I would rewatch it on a rainy day
• Has a nice ending
• Does not feel bogged down in the drama too much
• It can be very pretty on the eyes most times
• Nice music score
• It is just a sweet overall story and sadly we don't get more anime like this it seems now these days.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 16 by Tao

[Batbrony 16,054]

Thank you very much, @Tao, that sounds like a lovely show you've recommended! And thank you as well for kicking off further reviews, I'm excited what other underrated gems folks may have to recommend!

 

If I may ask, when did this show come out? Is it a product of the 90s, or early 00s? Or am I totally off.

[Tao 7,733]

8 hours ago, Batbrony said:

Thank you very much, @Tao, that sounds like a lovely show you've recommended! And thank you as well for kicking off further reviews, I'm excited what other underrated gems folks may have to recommend!

 

If I may ask, when did this show come out? Is it a product of the 90s, or early 00s? Or am I totally off.

2023 ---------------------------------------------------------