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medea10 · 1 year

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My Review of Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Ultra Romantic

Season One Review

Season Two Review

Let the mind games begin…again, again!

Will it be Miyuki? Will it be Kaguya? Or will we go through another season of the same old song and dance?

HISTORY: Love is war! The first one to admit love is seen as weak and is thus deemed the loser in this fight. That reigns true in the minds of student body president Miyuki Shirogane and student body vice president Kaguya Shinomiya. Both of them are mad for one another, they just won’t admit it. So, Miyuki and Kaguya play mind games with one another to see if they can make the other crumble. In a war with many wins and losses, who will be the first one to admit their feelings for the other? But the mind games expand to other areas and with other members of the student council like supporting members Ishigami, Chika, and Miko. But when it comes to the passion for each other category, Kaguya and Miyuki are still the main focus. Who will win? Who will lose?

PREVIOUSLY ON KAGUYA-SAMA: Right in the first episode of this season, we get several callbacks to the finale to season two including Kaguya getting a smart phone, the previous OP sequence, and even the school being blown away because of a giant balloon. But the school was put back to its foundation and we are ready to start this third season. This season is more of the same you got in the first 2 seasons. Mind games, Miyuki being a bad singer, Hayasaka being intrusive, more mind games, and Chika still being best girl.

LICENSE: Watching this anime has been a chore in the past. The first season was easy as Crunchyroll had it available. Season two on the other hand was more difficult as FUNimation had its mitts all over it and it was hard for me and a whole-lot of other people to watch. Thank goodness for that merger because as we all know; Crunchyroll is superior in streaming.

A LITTLE CHANGE: There’s been a little, baby change that’s probably not that noticeable to people. Miyuki’s dub voice changed from time-to-time. During the recording of this season, Miyuki’s voice actor Aaron Dismuke had to take some time off from voicing due to vocal cord strain. And probably during his bout with Covid as well! But the replacement is more of a stand-in.

*Miyuki’s stand-in voice is Clifford Chapin (known for Bakugo on My Hero Academia, Connie on Attack on Titan, Touya on Cardcaptor Sakura: CC, Cabba on DB Super, Langris on Black Clover, and Hamazura on Railgun/Index)

SHIPPING:

I know I should be talking about Miyuki and Kaguya as they are the main ship of the series. But there were several moments this season that had me wondering about Ishigami. I’m guessing he and Miko are going to keep hating each other. But then we get the return of Tsubame. She was part of the cheer squad in season two that supported Ishigami. And yes, we get a confirmation that Ishigami indeed has a crush on her. He got his wish of spending some alone time with her during the school’s culture festival. But he inadvertently gave her a cookie in the shape of a heart and that lead to a misunderstanding of a confession. You know what? After witnessing what Ishigami had to endure during middle school, he deserves all the happiness in the world. So, I’m praying that Tsubame doesn’t break his heart or at least gives him a chance. Our boy deserves to be happy!

We also get a little more with Kaguya’s second cousin Maki. Let’s just say she messed with Kaguya’s mind when it came to Ishigami and Miyuki. But she almost caused a wedge between the token couple of the series Nagisa and Tsubasa. You know, that one couple that’s all lovey-dovey every time you see them. Okay, Maki needs to sit her cock-blocking ass down.

Now for the big one! It’s been clear that both Miyuki and Kaguya like one another and play mind games with each other to try and get the other to confess their feelings. This season it goes a little further as both are determined to say something. Kaguya admitted to Hayasaka that she likes the president and Miyuki set a deadline to tell Kaguya. You know what, I’ll describe all the good and juicy bits when I discuss the ending. I’m just going to say that I support this ship and the final episodes made me quite satisfied.

BEST RAP MOMENT: Enough said, the Chika/Miyuki rap performance was out of this world.

You know my weakness with anime characters rapping. Let me just add something to this. I thought it was a really good idea to have Miyuki rap instead of ever hearing him sing again. Let’s just say there are rappers that are great at what they do, they’re just terrible at singing. And if you don’t believe me, listen to a Biz Markie song.

SPECIAL: Some time before the third season began, we got an OVA. Usually, OVA’s are notorious for fan service and we got plenty of that with vivid imaginations, a porno mag, and a Food Wars knock-off. I’m just going to say that I felt uncomfortable watching part of this special. Chalk that up to Ishigami’s imagination. I wasn’t expecting the animators to animate a naked shower scene with the girls, but it still happened. But watching Miyuki and Ishigami when they see a nudie magazine, they acted like I knew they would.

ENDING: At the halfway mark to this season, we get an interesting revelation. As Miyuki and Kaguya are both upperclassmen, thinking about their futures is going to be on their minds more often than not. And while Kaguya expressed interest in continuing her education at the university this school has, Miyuki set his sights on a little college nestled in Palo Alto, California. Stanford, it’s Stanford. Miyuki realizes the time-crunch he’s put himself in and has vowed to express his feelings to Kaguya if she won’t.

Meanwhile with Kaguya, she actually admits to Hayasaka that she likes Miyuki. Flat out likes him! But she struggles with the inner workings of her mind and if the president will say if he likes her as a friend or truly likes her. But one thing is for certain, both Kaguya and Miyuki have high intentions of confessing to one another during the culture festival currently running. Will either of them make good with that declaration of love?

Well then, it’s time for the school’s culture festival. Next to field trips, culture festivals are the prime setting for new love in an anime. And everyone in the student council has their own ulterior motive. All except for Chika, she just wants to enjoy and have fun. Miko wants to have a giant bon fire on the final night. Ishigami wants to spend some time alone with his crush Tsubame. And Miyuki and Kaguya want to confess to each other! We get an interesting addition in the war of love as Chika’s younger sister Moeha visits and announces she has a crush on Miyuki. Chika and her sisters just cause so much trouble. Whatever, Chika is still best girl!

Trouble rears its ugly head when Ishigami gave Tsubame a giant heart-shaped cookie and she and everyone around mistook this cute gesture as a love confession. This little gesture could fuck up many other lives. Ishigami is not aware of his actions and this could come back and bite him in the ass. Worst of all, if he gets his heart broke by Tsubame, this could dampen the mood for Miyuki and Kaguya. They don’t intend to spend the final day of the festival consoling a shattered Ishigami when they could be hooking up finally. Ishigami of course doesn’t realize what he said and did to Tsubame was going to be misinterpreted so he’s just blissfully walking around like normal.

Miyuki and Kaguya found some time together checking out different things at the culture festival. It was actually cute at many moments, especially when they were getting a love fortune read. But then Miyuki dropped the bombshell on Kaguya and hard. He got an acceptance letter to Stanford University and is going to Palo Alto a year early. That means this is his final culture festival and Kaguya will spend her final year of high school without the president. The news shocked Kaguya on the inside but was able to put up a cool front with Miyuki. So, are we going to finally see a dual confession from these two during the culture festival? These festivals are notorious for confessions of the romantic persuasion.

Going back to Ishigami and Tsubame for a second, Ishigami did eventually realize that what he said could be interpreted as a confession of love. But there was thankfully a back-track and more misunderstandings. I think Ishigami will get his answer when Tsubame graduates. For now, Ishigami is still one piece and no one has to be there to pick up the shattered pieces. Please, next arc to this story, give this boy a break. Back to the main couple in question! Not everything was going according to plan for Kaguya. She had a plan for spending some quality time with the president. But Miyuki was no where to be found! Miyuki planned for this night to go off perfectly by having Kaguya meet him at the clock tower and have absolutely no interruptions from anyone like Iino, Ishigami, or Chika. ESPECIALLY CHIKA! So, he came up with the guise of a festival phantom so Chika could be busy with that. Miyuki planted calling cards as a lot of items went missing. Chika bought it hook, line, and sinker. OKAY, CONFESSION NOW, PLEASE, RIGHT?!

The end result of Miyuki’s ultimate plan was one of the cutest moments in anime rom-com history as the duo is surrounded by heart-shaped balloons at the top of the clock tower. Miyuki asked Kaguya to go to Stanford with him. Kaguya gave Miyuki a great big smooch on the lips. It was perfection! Chika didn’t catch on, Ishigami didn’t have a foul mood to bring everyone down, Iino enjoyed herself, the school enjoyed themselves, and everything was a success. Post-festival, Kaguya was on cloud 9 after the kiss and Miyuki was freaking out. But the end result is no one said “I love you” and yet…they’re holding hands.

Today’s winner: The audience!

Loved this ending! Loved that Miyuki and Kaguya did something impulsive and still remain so cool on the outside! Now let’s see how this upcoming movie will handle the next round of trials for these love-birds. As of November of 2022, the Kaguya-sama manga has reached its conclusion. So, there should be more Kaguya-sama anime…I hope! As I have not read any of the manga, I’m only speculating what would come next in terms of the story. Does Kaguya get permission from her father to go to school in America? Does Ishigami get together with Tsubame when she graduates? I’m leaning towards no on that one, but I think he’d get something from her like a kiss or something. I guess we’ll find out with the manga’s ending and the upcoming movie that’s going to hit Japan. Not entirely sure when we in the U.S. will get it, but it’ll be faster than normal since they said they’ll air it on TV after airing in theaters. That’s promising.

And what’s even more amazing…the trolls on MAL left the score to this alone (for a while at least). As most of us are well aware, ANY ANIME that has a higher score than Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood on My Anime List’s website, fanatic fans come from nowhere and suicide-bomb that score so it stays lower. Dude, FMA is one of my favorite animes of all time. But come on, this is fucking ridiculous! Leave others alone! Let Gintama, Your Name, Fruits Basket: Final Season, and Kaguya-sama have their praise, they’ve earned it.

I’m always down for more Kaguya-sama, whatever it may be. I am concerned as I heard “someone” in the manga got freaky. I think you all know who I’m referring to if you’ve read the manga. And I can only imagine Kaguya’s facial expression when hearing some freaky things. The girl has been so repressed. But aside from what I’m thinking is going to go down in the upcoming projects, I always give my stamp of approval for Kaguya-sama and for anyone interested in a good rom-com anime.

If you would like to check out this or any other season of Kaguya-sama, Crunchyroll and FUNimation have nearly every episode available for streaming and in several different languages. Hulu has the series too, but only season one currently. Some OVA’s might not be available anywhere yet.

#anime review #kaguya-sama: love is war #kaguya shinomiya #miyuki shirogane #yuu ishigami #chika fujiwara #ai hayasaka #maki shijo #tsubame koyasu

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