Greetings, fabulous people of the Internet! Hanime on Anime here, and welcome to the second review of this month’s romance-themed event! And for today’s anime, I’ll be looking at a popular anime comedy that’s been on my radar for a long while. It’s actually been recommended to me a few times. And I’ll admit, this was far funnier than I expected, which is great! But there was one significant element that I wish could have been better.
On that note, let’s jump right into part two of this month’s lovey-dovey anime theme with today’s review of Kaguya-sama: Love is War!
Shuichiin High School is the most prestigious school in the country, and the student council is at the height of the school’s hierarchy. In particular, many students view the president and vice president as the models of the school’s refinement. The vice president, Kaguya Shinomiya, is the daughter of a wealthy Japanese conglomerate who excels in various activities at the school and is super intelligent, rivaled only by the student council president, Miyuki Shirogane. While not from a wealthy family, Miyuki is exceedingly clever and meticulous, allowing him to excel academically and rank at the top of his class. In addition, many students see these two as a hot item, and ironically enough, the two do have crushes on each other. But do they know about it? Nope!
According to the show’s hilarious opening segment, there’s always a dominant figure in a relationship, and neither Kaguya nor Miyuki wants to be the submissive party. And so, they go to great, ridiculous, and hilarious lengths to get the other to confess their love. That’s the show; it’s episodic, with most episodes containing three to four stories. But in each one, Kaguya and Miyuki go to great lengths to get the other to confess in a hysterical, albeit pointless, game of cat and mouse.
Getting right into the review, the best aspect of this show is that it’s a fantastic comedy with an almost deconstructive premise. I jokingly stated that this show was if Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass and Satsuki Kiriyuin from Kill la Kill had the hots for each other but didn’t want to make the first move. These two are too smart for their own good, but neither wants to show that tender side and confess their love. I mentioned last week in my review of My Love Story!! that a popular concept with romance anime is the whole thing where the main characters fall in love with each other but don’t necessarily want to admit it. In a way, Love is War mercilessly mocks that in the best way.
Like I said, Kaguya and Miyuki go to great lengths to get the other to confess their love, but it is constantly foiled by either the secretary or the treasurer or some other third party/situation interferes, proving that these two are idiots and don’t have anything to worry about. The show is kind of deconstructive. However, it lacks one element that would have otherwise made it an actual deconstruction. Still, this was a hilarious show that had me laughing out loud more than once. The performances and concept play a huge part in that.
I watched the English dub for this one purely by choice, so I can’t say whether or not the Japanese was superior. But what made the English dub work, in my opinion, was the performances. Believe it or not, my favorite performance in this show was the narrator.
Ian Sinclair does a fabulous job narrating the story to get things moving and adding commentary to some of the ridiculous scenarios. At times, he doesn’t even feel like the narrator but an audience member openly stating the obvious problems with Kaguya and Myuki’s antics. There are some moments in the first few episodes when he goes into Jujutsu Kaisen Shibuya Arc awful as he often speaks in moments when it’s better to be quiet and let the characters act the scene out, but that gets better as the show progresses.
Chika and Ishigami are also fun side players, with Chika being an especially wild card. But I admit, Ishigami was hilariously portrayed by Austin Tindle, which I thought expanded his range and had me rolling here and there. Even with the characters on their own playing significant roles in the overall plot, their performances definitely add to the comedy.
So overall, as a comedy, this show works. And as far as great characters and even great performances, it works. But what doesn’t work is probably one of the biggest elements of what this should be.
Honestly, I didn’t really buy this as a romantic comedy. A comedy? Yes. A romance? No.
Not that it’s entirely the anime’s fault. I believe the show’s nature makes it hard to buy as an actual romance. Still, I would have liked to have seen more romance. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are a few sweet moments here and there that add some calm to the storm. But that’s all I’d call these moments: sweet and not romantic.
I couldn’t help but think of last week’s My Love Story!!, which is, in fact, a romantic comedy. Even though I see it as more of a romance than a romantic comedy, it knew how to balance the two to craft a story that not only was romantic but was funny with some pretty outrageous moments. With Love is War, I saw more of these outrageous comedic moments than I did the romantic ones.
Now to give the show some more credit and apologies for the spoiler, but apparently, Kaguya and Miyuki confess their love for each other later in the show. So, the more romantic moments may come in the more you watch. But I’ve yet to notice a lot from what I’ve seen.
That’s not to say that this show failed in any way. Far from it! This definitely gets a two thumbs up and a high recommendation. If anything, this would be a great show to watch if you don’t like the more mushy-gushy romances because it doesn’t have that. I assume it comes later, but it gets you going with its funnier moments.
And that’s about as glowing a recommendation as I can give Kaguya-Sama: Love is War. It’s a laugh-out-loud comedy that pokes fun at the ridiculous lengths people will go to avoid being the first to say “I love you.” In addition to some great performances and narration, especially with the English dub, this show is comedic gold. But what the show forgets is that getting to that “I love you” does require some romantic moments, making this feel more like a comedy than a romantic one. It’s one funny show that’ll have you rolling even after the first episode!
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but mostly, you’ll laugh till you cry with this one!
And so that wraps up today’s review! Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned next week for a review that looks at a show I swear reminds me a lot of A Silent Voice but without the theme of mental health. There’s no pun for this one, but you can definitely see it when referencing A Silent Voice where this one heads.
Until next time, stay tuned for more swoon-worthy anime awesomeness, and enjoy the rest of your day!
-Hanime on Anime
Hanime on Anime 