Contains a few major spoilers, but most people have read the manga, and anything important was already spoiled 3 years ago.
My review for this show was supposed to be in the manga section, but since the movie was released, I think it should be better here.
Since the creation of the harem theme in a romantic comedy, the shipping war was born. Many animes led to a good ending, but for the worst part, you don't know why the heck that happened. The recent harem romance film was Saekano Fine which I watched from a Japanese theatre. It was great actually since I knew the reason why the MC ended up with her.
And now this...
It's like I'm living in a deja-vu, another great manga/anime with a polarized or controversial ending. It's like eating a meal, but for some reason, you ended up tasting bitterness after that last bite. I remember that time when I read the manga a few months back and honestly, I hope this film would surpass that manga. But all hopes seemed lost. Don't get me wrong, the first season was good, the second season was great, but the film/conclusion was meh or so-called, disappointing. Before you read this review, let me give you a warning that I didn't simp anything in particular, and had a neutral side.
All I can is, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK!
So the film started after the events of the second season. Well, I'll not state the contents of the film but damn... I don't know how the heck they condensed the remaining chapters of the manga into a 2-hour long movie. Many important scenes were cut from the manga, and the pacing of the movie was like a solid recap of 3 episodes from a certain anime. I know that in the second season, they cut also many scenes but this film adaptation was different. It was a rapid-fire recap format. From a romcom harem story, you would've expected all of the girls to be happy in the end, but in reality, that was a total disaster. The beginning of the story was great. The hints, the dynamics and developments of the characters, and the chemistry between the girls and Futarou, but suddenly, Negi buried the work of the final remaining chapters. He didn't conclude it is a good way and of course, the hate was reasonable because it felt rushed, pointless, and incomplete. All characters were developed well and had a great build-up for that ending. But suddenly, this girl stole the center stage of the story. She kept and chained herself to her memories and "sacrificed" herself for the greater good of her sisters. And she made herself to be the supporting role in the series. She eclipsed the whole story without any proper explanation and ended up being that girl who had a happy ending. That's the problem, Negi didn't put any solid stand on why that girl had to be that girl, who didn't have any development. And Futarou, who didn't show any emotion throughout the series, kneeled in front of that girl and said, "Will you marry me?". Well, that sucked. I didn't have any problems with why that girl won, but Negi should add some closure to their relationship. The ending was like, "you didn't see that coming, didn't you?!" when in reality, it was unexplainable. It seemed Negi was forced to end his story and just wrapped up all the loose ends, but it doesn't feel satisfying. This show/movie unfortunately has never managed to do that, a lot of harem series actually manage to break free from their shackles and start developing the relationship between the main character and the true heroine more at some point in the story. It keeps teasing into all directions until the very end and then throws in a spontaneous conclusion of who the true heroine is. The relationship development is basically just skimmed over and then we are also skipping straight to marriage.
At the very end of the series when Fuutarou is describing why each of the sisters is significant to him and relevant, he jokingly just brushes over the bride at the end and says “Welp, just be yourself and that’s that” and proceeded. Jokes are half-meant and it pretty hurts for other girls to hear that. It feels like he chose the winner based on who fans would predict the least and then didn’t have an agenda to go from there. I would have been happy with her winning if it was actually developed more, but it just feels more like a mercy win than what would’ve resulted.
I didn't expect to have an anime original ending for this film but at least, they should execute it well.
I like the characters, especially the other quints who had great development and resolve that led to nothing. But while the others like Itsuki, who didn't get any development until it got shoved right at the end, where it felt nonsense. That biological dad of theirs, who had no impact on the story, became a plot tool. Welp, it ended with melodrama soap opera garbage. It was nowhere to be seen in the first place.
The other bruh moment was the appearance of Futarou's grade school friend, where incredibly fast to the point that they felt completely disconnected from the overall arching plot. She came, and it was like 2 minutes where nothing happened, she left and never to be seen again. She also stated that she the girl who Futarou met from Kyoto. How the heck did she know that she's referring to Yotsuba, while she didn't meet her in the first place? This is some bullshit writing. What the hell.
The art was nice. It's the same in the second season and they maintained the quality at some point.
The sound was great. It's a little bit better than the second season but I like the music from the second season. They captured the moments from the manga. The credits scene was a big thumbs up, and the music they used there was a memorable one.
Overall, I still enjoyed the series, but I had major problems with the film. It could be better if they produce a third season instead of a movie. There's a saying that it's not about the destination, but it's the journey. If you agree with that, you could say the whole story is great. Sadly, it didn't maintain that consistent and promising quality. The production quality maintained well, but the last stretch felt like Negi wanted to troll us. The romance at the end was cheesy and troupes were handled pretty well. I guess if this story is relatively well done, it is still a harem story at the end. I enjoyed Negi's ride. It's like riding into a van but the tire got flat and accidentally crashed into a crowd. It's not that bad, but the ending was a disappointment. As a matter of fact, it could be one of the potential best harem romcom animes, that it could overtake my favs. As a rom-com fan, my disappointment was immeasurable, and my day was ruined.
For some reason, I want my money back.
__Grade for the movie:
Story: 4/10
Animation: 7/10
Characters: 4/10
Music: 8/10
Entertainment Factor: 6/10
Enjoyment: 6/10__
__Grade for the whole series:
Story: 6/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 6/10
Music: 9/10
Entertainment Factor: 7/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Score: 73/100__
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