How a rejected concept became a commercial manga powerhouse

Art · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The idea of quintuplets falling in love with the same person was initially rejected by an editor. Despite early skepticism from serialization committees, the concept eventually exploded into a massive success, selling over 20 million copies and spawning a multi-media franchise.

The journey of The Quintessential Quintuplets began with a rejected pitch. Negi Haruba first proposed the concept of quintuplets falling for one person before his previous work, Karma of Purgatory, was even finished. His editor-in-charge turned it down, and the idea faced further negative reactions from two to three different serialization committees. To mitigate these concerns, the team decided to publish a one-shot manga first. The positive reception of this one-shot ultimately paved the way for the full series to begin in 2017.

Haruba's design choices were rooted in making the identical sisters distinguishable. He drew inspiration from 15 to 20 of his favorite female characters and utilized a color-coding system similar to Super Sentai to ensure each remained memorable. This included assigning specific colors to their hair—yellow, purple, blue, green, and red—and incorporating numbers into their names. To maintain narrative stakes, the story uses a flash-forward structure where the protagonist, Futaro Uesugi, is shown as an adult about to marry one of the sisters, though her identity remains a mystery until the end.

During Japan's initial 2020 period, this manga reached the third spot for highest sales, marking a major financial success. It has since reached over 20 million copies in circulation. Beyond the page, the franchise expanded into a complex ecosystem of anime seasons, films, and various media, including visual novels and VR experiences. Critics have noted the series' success in balancing harem tropes with fleshed-out character dynamics and a grounded, no-nonsense protagonist.

The production of the anime also faced unique hurdles. For the first season, the studio Tezuka Productions struggled with time constraints, leading to a unique collaboration where the studio Shaft stepped in to produce the 11th episode's animation. This level of logistical coordination highlights the series' scale and the industry's efforts to maintain its visual quality across multiple seasons and specials.

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