You Gotta Quintet (クインテット) is a Japanese musical children's television program which aired on NHK Educational. It is the 2nd NHK puppet variety show overall, the first one being Hotch Potch Station.

About the show

The program offers witty interpretations of classical music for children featuring puppets and a variety of music and cultural entertainment. This program introduces music into daily life for the pleasure of children, and features a musical group called The Evening Quintet. They play folk songs (alongside a bit of J-Pop and anime songs), and classical music, with a variety of instruments such as piano, violin, and clarinet.

In 2023, from 15 September to 6 October, NHK rebroadcast 8 selected episodes from 2003 as part of their E-Tele Time Machine program.

Program

Characters

Akira (Akira Miyagawa)

He is a puppet concert master and pianist. He is the only real human to appear on the show. His age in the show is unknown. He's the only character who doesn't speak, as he expresses his emotions through cartoon-like body language. He is mainly seen playing the piano, but he also plays the guitar, triangle, and many other instruments.

Score (Haruhiko Saitō)

He is a cellist. He is 67 years old, making him the oldest member in the group. He always strokes his long beard whenever h's thinking or confused. Even though he's very wise, he isn't very humble, as he seems to gloat a lot about his past or the many careers he had. He often talks to Flat. He isn't very good with modern technology and has trouble catching up. His favorite season is Spring.

Flat (Tesshō Genda)

He is a clarinet player. He is 42 years old. He likes performing and singing lullabies. He is very sensitive, and often crys very easily. Because of this, he's often teased by Aria and Sharp. He has a dog named Forte and loves them very much. He also plays the harmonica. In earlier episodes, he had a lower pitched voice and cracked old fashioned jokes, but in later episodes, his voice became higher pitched, and started to crack more puns. His favorite season is Autumn.

Aria (Ayumi Shigemori)

She is a violinist. She is 28 years old and is the only female member of the group. She is very easy going and friendly, but she can be very sassy and bossy at times. She's ill tempered and gets angry easily. She has an extremely good soprano voice. She can also play the accordion, and the ukulele. She often argues with Flat. It's implied that she is a gamer, as she's seen playing what looks like a Game Boy during break. Her favorite season is Winter.

Sharp (Ken'ya Ōsumi)

He is a trumpeter and percussion player. He is 22 years old, making him the youngest member of the group. He's still in university. He's very easygoing and gentle with everyone, but he can be naïve. He has the ability to communicate with many animals. He's a big fan of soccer and comics. He also plays guitar. He has a hobby of painting. His favorite season is Summer.

Chi-bō

He is a baby percussion player. He is 11 months old. He usually appears and makes cameos in the episodes. In some 2003 episodes, he used to utter some babbling words, but starting in 2004, he no longer says anything. He also sells concert tickets and does camera work. He's afraid of snakes.

Partial list of original songs

The original songs are written by Kei Shimoyama and composed by Akira Miyagawa.

• "Midnight Zoo" [真夜中の動物園]
• "It's Good to Cry" [泣いたっていいじゃない]
• "Lie" [うそ]
• "I Hate Practicing [練習だいきらい]
• "My habits [ぼくのクセ]
• "Devil's Advocate" [あまのじゃく]
• "Someday When I Become a Star" [いつか星になったら]
• "I Got Hungry" [おなかがへった]
• "I Am Thinking Now" [ただいま考え中]
• "The Yawning Song" [あくびのうた]
• "The Secret Chocolate" [ひみつのチョコレート]
• "Baby" [赤ちゃん]
• "Tomorrow" [あした]
• "The Cello Player in Front of the Square" [広場のチェロ弾き]
• "Golden-ringed dragonfly" [赤とんぼ]
• "I ate Too Much" [たべすぎたのね]
• "The Happiness Xmas" [しあわせクリスマス]
• "Oh, it Smells Good" [ああいいにおい]
• "Look at the Sky" [空みてごらん]
• "Talking with Flowers" [おはなとおはなし]
• "Apology Scat" [おわびのスキャット]
• "Cleaning Waltz" [おそうじワルツ]
• "My Shadow" [ぼくのカゲ]

Repeat and Rebroadcast

CDs and DVDs

Awards

On December 1, 2005, the program won an Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Award in the children/young people program section with the notation "that was able to stream down splendor, the pleasure that this program used the doll, and the music had" at the 42nd annual general meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.^[1]

Production

• Producer/Director: Kei Shimoyama
• Music: Akira Miyagawa, Zenyō Nagayama, Vega Ensemble, Face Music
• Drawing supervision: Ryuji Fujieda and his design studio
• Character design: Ryuji Fujieda and his design studio
• Animation: Tadahiko Horiguchi
• Puppets produced by: Matsushima Hiroshi
• Puppetmaster: Kigutsunoki
• Supervision: Yasuhiro Kondō
• Production Company - 81 Produce
• Studio - NHK

References

External links

• Quintet (Quintet at the NHK web page)