Anime: Kaguya-Sama Love is War

Score: 8.8/10

Reading Time: 16 Minutes

Zeph Note:

Heyo, this is gonna be my first old review revamp. I’ve been doing reviews for a while just not posting them publicly and only among my small circle. If you don’t know what this means then don’t worry about it! I’ve recently rewatched Kaguya-Sama Love is War and gave it a pretty short review at the time just to get it out of the way but I like the show enough to give it some extra Love™. If you are among that small circle you will notice there is a decent bit of the same but I’ve added in a lot of extra content that is just significantly better than the original review.

I won’t be doing this type of special treatment for most re-reviews so you better be grateful you sussy baka!

Should You Watch Kaguya-Sama Love is War?

At first glance, only one word describes what Kaguya-Sama Love is War seems like.

Trash.

That’s what I thought, that’s what you should think. The show does zero favors for itself in terms of making it actually seem like a well thought out story. Like the name, the character designs, and the over the topness of it all just makes it seem really bad. If your alarms went off when someone recommended you this show that’s a good thing, if they didn’t you are either lucky or may need to spend some time on yourself.

Treat me like your one sensible friend that you trust and that despite everyone else saying it’s not trash, you need to hear from me before making a decision. It does have its dumb animeness, but it’s not like, overly objectifying of women or creepy or gross. And, unlike other over the top anime things or things that we might consider “camp” it actually has a really thoughtful and great story.

I want to write a post at some point about how over the top anime stuff is just a form of Japanese camp but maybe with a bit more objectification of women (which is bad yes) but people who like camp stuff that hate anime despite already having trash taste just fucking confuse me. Like you are choosing this hill to die on? Really? Anyways, I’ll get into the over the topness of Kaguya-Sama in a bit, this is just an aside.

And one last thing before actual review, let’s talk about how I score shows. There are many times I will heavily critique something that I give a higher score than something else. It’s like being a loving parent (except actually) because I am trying to push my expectations knowing the show can do better in comparison to other shows where an 8.5 is stellar for my expectations of something I think is barely getting by. This is something I plan on talking about in a video essay at some point but there is such a thing as a story that is more important than another.

Kaguya-Sama Love is War is not necessarily important to watch. It is a Comedy, Romance, High School anime. There is no particular reason to watch it when you look at the genres in isolation or intersectionally cause there are hundreds of them. It doesn’t really push the audience to grow or learn, which is totally fine, not every show has to. I really do love this show tho and it’s probably one of my first recommendations for a romance anime (after Horimiya probably). So, if you do watch it, I can safely say you will enjoy nearly every second of it.

Okay now back to the review.

Premise: Love is War!

The premise is simple, Love is War!

Showing emotions and fondness of another is weakness and will lead to you being controlled. The show slams it in your face at the beginning several times over. It knows it might be a bit annoying, to the point it literally fast forwards through the intro at one point, but it is really important to get it across. The importance of this childish premise that “Love is War” is crucial. An atmosphere reminiscent of high school days centered around crushes, secrets, and embarrassment that, for many people, there was nothing more important than these feelings and the games we played with them. This incredible pointlessness is emphasized by these meaningless things. And honestly, It’s the most enjoyable part of the show. The adolescent mistakes are what is at the heart of the show. The cringe, the heart-throbbing, the unknown. That’s that doki doki shit baby, pump it straight into my fuckin veins.

I just find shows that know their themes and wear them so cleanly on their sleeves to be so refreshing. Not that shows that have subtle themes or identities aren’t enjoyable for me, I just feel like most shows have no clue what their identity is beyond just a corporate motherfucker pointing at a target audience. Trust me I much enjoy subtlety more than over the top bullshit especially when it’s doki doki, but if you are gonna be loud, know who you are and do it right.

And I will say as a small aside, that the show is incredibly heteronormative with a couple of gay hints here and there which I wouldn’t necessarily call problematic but maybe just not very modern. The show is premised on the misunderstandings of young boys and girls which is caused by societal heteronormativity to some extent. I don’t fully agree with Aka Akasaka’s claims but at the very least he tries to back it up with some specific situations. Not perfect but not a problem in my opinion.

Aesthetic

A-1 Pictures has been slowly rising in the ranks as one of my favorite anime production studios. They aren’t Shaft, Studio Ghibli, Madhouse, Hideaki Anno, Kyoto Animation, or even Cloverworks/WIT level, but they are starting to get up there. They’ve produced some of my favorite anime in recent years including Silver Spoon, Your Lie in April, and Lycoris Recoil. They also have a bunch of anime on my To Watch List™ as well. This might not be enough for me to forgive them for producing garbage like Sword Art Online, Darling in the Franxx, and other bullshit like that but it’s something. While I might describe the works of Shaft tend to have breathtaking stills and incredible directing and Cloverworks/WIT works have smooth animation and elegant beauty to them, I can’t help but characterize A-1’s work as anything but very “alive.” There is something about the animation that feels very natural and comforting when it isn’t going for the over the top. While there might not be incredible meaning behind everything on the directing side, just the movements of all the characters seem so graceful. I mean just look at Chika go.

And while they don’t have my FAVORITE eyes in anime thanks to Cloverworks/WIT and Kyoto Animation just behind them, their eyes still do look stunning. While Cloverworks/WIT has a depth and grandeur to their eyes A-1 has a glossiness and clean look to it. Eyes are just a really important thing for me in anime idk I might talk about it at length another time.

But what I have to unequivocally praise A-1 for is so seamlessly taking the Kaguya-Sama manga and making it’s identity so fully realized as animation. The fact that while I was reading the manga I could basically hear the narration and sound effects shows how realized the identity of the show is. That or how much Akasaka’s style translates perfectly into animation. Both work together so eloquently. Many of the gags have such refined detail yet incredible absurdity that it’s cool just to see what happens next. This show was born to make gifs and memes.

My absolute favorite episode in terms of raw animation is Season 3 Episode 5 with the rapping. Not only is it beyond creative but it’s also surprisingly catchy? It’s crazy how A-1 just made all of the animation and music come together for this to encapsulate the cringe and raw emotion. One of the best examples of an anime production studio working in perfect harmony even for something as dumb as rapping.

Pacing

Kaguya-Sama Love is War takes the March Comes in Like a Lion approach to pacing which is “let’s just explicitly pace it as chapters as opposed to pretending these all flow together.” Episodes contain 2-4 chapters depending on length and most of them aren’t very continous.

The pacing in general is relatively slow, the episodes are basically like 3-4 little chapters of different scenarios and some jokes centered around an idea. It makes each episode feel jam packed with ideas and each little chapter builds upon another. There are basically sequel chapters and the little relationship moments grow on each other as the show goes on. I never felt like any chapter was a one off or served absolutely no purpose. The show has some very emotional sections Ishigami is a beautiful boi) but they are fairly telegraphed. The show isn’t exactly original or unpredictable but that is totally okay. The writing and style isn’t mundane or inauthentic so it all works. Kaguya-Sama runs a fine line of being a mostly fun show that knows how to focus up for the serious moments that bring the show together.

Humor

I’ve mentioned a lot of what I want to say about the show’s humor but let me just clarify some things just in case. The show is actually very funny. I don’t find most comedy anime very funny. The few that I can think of include Assassination Classroom and Horimiya. If a show happens to be funny or lighthearted that’s fine but rarely does a show that’s primary focus is comedy actually makes me laugh. But unfortunately, even I succumb to Kaguya-Sama Love is War’s stupidity. Like as stupid as they are, the jokes are really thought out. Sure there is some anime bullshit that occasionally makes you roll your eyes but there are a lot of moments in the show that are just hilarious.

The exaggerated nature of all the jokes and ridiculous over the top circumstances really just makes me feel like a giddy lovestruck teen back in high school which is exactly what Akasaka wants. Just the situations are so dumb but so adolescent and fun that it fits perfectly as a sweet and savory dessert.

Kaguya-Sama Love is War fully utilizes its medium of animation and has some of the most creative jokes I’ve seen in years that you simply have to see for yourself. From the details of the shot, to the slick animation, to the music and sound design, to the voice acting. It’s all so beautifully orchestrated for some stupid bullshit.

Perfectly Unlovable

I’m going to be getting into the manga a bit here with some minor spoilers. Honestly, I don’t think Kaguya-Sama is the kind of show that is ruined by spoilers cause of how predictable it is but who knows, maybe you’re weird and are just fully opposed to seeing any spoilers despite it potentially encouraging you to read/watch it more. 

The whole premise of “Love is War” and love being a game stems from the insecurity of not being enough that has only been exacerbated by adolescence and the pressures of romance. Forcing others to submit to you by their emotions makes it so you don’t have to reveal what makes you so unlovable. What Kaguya-Sama Love is War does beautifully is give each character their own flavor of feeling unlovable and have them each find their own ways to reach a resolution. It’s very similar to Horimiya in this way as well as also how unique the character’s relationships are to each other.

I’m gonna do mini sections for each of the 5 main characters about their own arc and what it means in the greater scheme of the show.

Kaguya Shinomiya: The Ice Princess

Kaguya is the most relatable character to me in the show by far. I’m saying this even considering the fact that Ishigami emo boi is right there and Miyuki the male protagonist has some failure children vibes which I adore. Kaguya is the most relatable character for me personally because I come from a similar world from her. Not as extreme as her circumstances, but I mean most depictions of archetypes in media are going to be exaggerated for the sake of getting the point across. But, a genius child who is ensnared by her family’s ideologies and made to be an efficient yet cold person feels very on the nose for me. Someone whose cunning ways make her seem incapable of ever understanding or feeling love.

While most of the first half of the show is spent on slowly uncoiling Kaguya and trying to see if she could ever be something else, her roots are never forgotten. Her manipulative and cold ways always come up to the surface. Kaguya is not a good person, at least by standard definitions. I am not a good person in the same way. Kaguya knows how to observe, manipulate, and use people for her own goals. She learned to do that in order to survive as a Shinomiya. Once you learn those skills, you never forget them, and you rarely hesitate to use them. But once you learn better, you feel a disgusting amount of guilt every time you use people like that. But you just can’t stop, these are skills you must have in order to survive. To control people, say terrible things with a smile, or to just play the bad guy. And even if these things make you unlovable, you simply can’t give them up.

Kaguya faces many challenges, but this unloveable side of her is the one that truly tests her and those around her. Showing those closest to you the side that you have hidden deep inside of you, forever in fear of ever being rejected is something I would never want to do. Kaguya has many personalities and is easily influenced by those around her. She can seem as bright as the sun on some days and as bleak as oil on others. The show actually has a pretty good quote on it here.

Kaguya’s inner turmoil is put on display as a courtroom constantly throughout the show. A harsh evaluation of her emotions and her decisions that are regulated by the Shinomiya rule. She needs to be a genius, not a woman.

She has to be perfect, perfectly unlovable.

Kaguya’s Ice Princess arc in the manga (and in the movie I’ve not seen yet) is the exclamation point on all of this. After finally confessing to Shirogane, you would think all is well.

Maybe for normal people, that would be the case.

But Kaguya feels ugly, disgusting. How can she possibly be loved by Shirogane when she knows she’s only showing what he wants to see. That they’ve only been playing games up to this point. In order for her to truly be loved, she needs to break all the rules of the Shinomiyas and be truly vulnerable with Shirogane.

That’s fuckin hard. 

Betraying a lifetime of harsh yet true lessons all for the sake of a boy. I don’t care if you say that she should know better, or that this is the real world, or that she needs to learn to grow up. If you were not raised in a household that treated you like filth, you may never understand what it’s like to have to find the courage to rebel against it.

Kaguya’s journey toward kindness and self-acceptance is a bit cliched and imperfect but is written so intimately and lovingly that I can’t help but adore it. The way she learns to rely and help others is so silly, simple, and satisfying. She may not be a perfect person, but she wants to be the best she can. She will find her own way to be the woman she wants to be and I can’t hate a character that just wants to do that. Her drive to be better knowing how terrible she can be makes her so lovable despite what she may think and I hope she gets everything she deserves.

Miyuki Shirogane: To Be A Man

Despite being the male protagonist in a love story with failure children themes, I don’t really relate to Miyuki Shirogane. I mean he’s AIGHT and I think his character arc is written quite well and conscientiously. It just lacks much personal importance to me. It’s all about like hard work and having a good caring relationship with your sibling/father but being damaged by the fact that he wasn’t chosen by his mother when she ran away. Like I TOTALLY get how that fucks up a guy especially since he wasn’t chosen because of his grades. I just happened to have been the talented one who didn’t work hard which is like sorry unlucky bro idk lol. And my family is also far more dysfunctional and has a lot more at stake but alas.

I still really do enjoy the idea of Shirogane trying to become a person worthy of standing by Kaguya’s side. That the power of “love” can make people learn and change and do incredible things. I’m using quotes here because we all know that using love as a word so openly here can be kinda cringe since YOU ARE IN HIGH SCHOOL YOU HAVE A CRUSH AND ALL BUT LOVE IS VERY COMPLICATED AND ITS MORE THAN THIS YOU ARE A TEENAGER AHHH. It’s fine, the show knows it’s cringe and all that. I really do like how it mocks Shirogane for being cringe too.

Just overall a super solid character and his stuff where he encourages both Ishigami and Iino is very poignant for me. It makes me want to be a nice person. I understand why Kaguya loves him. 

One small thing to note is that unlike other romance anime, I actually understand what Kaguya and Miyuki see in each other. Kaguya loves how kind and hardworking Miyuki is, where he sees his efforts as a necessary way of living, not something tedious. It gives Kaguya real hope that good people exist when she was trapped in a world of dealings and manipulation. And, Miyuki loves that despite how talented/powerful Kaguya is, she still finds a way to be down to earth and caring for others. That even though she is in a whole other world, she tries so hard to stay grounded. They also have the whole weird details of the glare, expression, and cat ears shit but whatever lol that’s what “love” is. It’s a small note but is often overlooked in romance shows because the power of doki doki and sex appeal usually just explains away everything so idk it’s just nice to see.

And all of the characters have unique relationships with one another just like in Horimiya.

Chika Fujirawa: Uhhh…

This is your intermission… wait I’m sorry can you say that again… you want me to explain this gag character? Yes, Chika Fujiwara is a gag character through and through. While most shows would try to reap the benefits of a character with this much appeal going for her with an emotional arc, Kaguya-Sama Love is War remains quite restrained. And you know what? I really respect that. I really wouldn’t have cared for a Fujiwara arc but wouldn’t have minded one either. It really doesn’t matter to me since we get some hints of it so she seems human but at the end of the day, she is just our beloved cliche anime gag character. Like the stuff with her quitting piano despite being a prodigy I could make a reach for her no longer being what people want and that making her be unlovable but most side characters have more character writing than her so let’s not waste anymore time. Next.

Yu Ishigami: Go To Hell, Dumbass

If there was a character made in a lab that was scientifically made to appeal to most of my wants and inner edginess, then Yu Ishigami is at the very least a late-stage prototype. He isn’t everything that I want but Akasaka really knew what he was doing here. A very dry straight man character who still knows how to use the over the top nature comedy of the show to his advantage. A gamer at heart and yet a completely lost fool in the real world.

While I might relate to Kaguya as a character the most, Ishigami’s character arc is probably one of the greatest feelings of catharsis I’ve felt in a hot minute. All of his stuff in season 2 and even into season 3/later manga stuff is just such a wow factor from a show that you wouldn’t expect this from. The directing really goes in with some of the shots and imagery that you are just like WAIT WAIT WAIT THIS IS JUST A COMEDY/ROMANCE ANIME RIGHT? You can tell Akasaka has favorites and Ishigami got everything he deserves.

Ishigami’s unlovable side is very clear. He stuck his nose into someone else’s love life. His own self-righteousness and innate weirdness got the better of him and turned the world against him. A world that he can no longer look straight in the eye. The isolation shown during the “Yu Ishigami Close His Eyes” chapters is painted so comprehensively clear. Like I love everything about that arc of the show because it really depicts what it’s like to overcome certain social barriers and learning to accept the world for what it is. It is so hard to face the world for what it truly is and put yourself out there again. There are many people who want to bring you down for your past mistakes and call you a creep. They think they know better and all they want to do is scream at you for ruining everything. But you know what I have to say to them?

Go To Hell, Dumbass.

A perfect punctuation on an anime arc I won’t soon forget. Ishigami learns that it’s okay to give yourself and the world a second chance. That you will still make mistakes but you need to use that frustration not to tear yourself down but take you further towards your goal. That not everyone is as bad as they might act when they don’t know any better. I wish I knew what Ishigami learned. I wish I could have made the kind of friends he made.

Yu Ishigami deserves the world.

Miko Iino: A Good Girl?

Iino is weird. While Ishigami at least got introduced early in Season 1, Iino doesn’t get introduced till mid season 2. So her arc and stuff goes on WAY later. And honestly, Akasaka kinda leaves Iino as the most unfinished out of the 4 main characters (sorry Chika I’m not counting you). Like I understand what makes her unlovable and all that. Her overly idealized morals making her seem cruel, her parents not being there to support her, and the whole “Miko Iino is just smart, not strong.” Like I get ALL OF THAT.

I just feel like there isn’t a clear point of resolution to her arc. Which I get that also part of the point was that when Iino and Ishigami became 2nd years they would basically be repeating the show again and all that LIKE I GET IT. But how come Ishigami still got a full arc and Iino gotta rely on a man for some resolution? I really do like Iino as a character and I think that her arc is still valuable, but when you compare it to the 3 other main characters she pales in comparison. Her whole dropping the good girl act at the end of the manga is a cool part of her growth, I just don’t think there was emotional depth to it since they got interrupted and basically had to jump straight into the save Kaguya arc. I wish we got more but am fine with what he have now.

There are other great characters, the main one being Hayasaka. I’ve already gone over the rapping episode but just her arc in season 3 and about halfway into the manga is very meaningful. Her spicy relationship with the president is also very funny to watch unfold, we love teasing people. Honestly, if Hayasaka was slightly more emotionless, white-haired, and a bit snarkier she would fall into my exact archetype. Her unlovability comes from her betraying Kaguya as well as being this multifaced person who can never truly be loved, similar to kinda how Kaguya is. And if you look into every other character in Kaguya-Sama Love is War, you will see this trend of being unlovable to be true as well. Everyone is so scared of being unlovable, and learning how to grow out of that fear is all apart of maturing. Learning about the opposite gender (once again heteronormative stuff but this is how society is set up rn) and learning what it means to be loved by them is hard. But it is necessary and well worth it.

Kaguya-Sama Love is War is one of the few mainstream slice-of-life anime that I have actually enjoyed and resonated with. Generally, I feel a huge indifference to watching these types of shows since often I feel like the writing is fairly safe and pedestrian. While that is true with Kaguya-Sama, the style, and well-constructed character arcs make it worthwhile. A lovely watch that is like a sugary sweet dessert, you don’t have to indulge yourself in it, but it’s nice to enjoy something like this once in a while. It’s nice that there is some substance under all of this sugar with the themes of being unlovable so we can all at least lie to yourselves that this isn’t just for shits and giggles. A fun show that finds ways to be worthy of your time and attention. Give it a watch if you want, you deserve it.

– Jared/Zeph