KAGUYA SAMA LOVE IS WAR (EP 1 REVIEW )

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War (Japanese: かぐや様は告らせたい ～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～ Hepburn: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai - Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunōsen, lit. "Kaguya Wants to be Confessed to: The Geniuses' War of Love and Brains") is a Japanese seinen manga series written and illustrated by Aka Akasaka. The series is published in English by Viz Media. Two spinoff manga launched in 2018, and an anime television series adaptation by A-1 Pictures premiered in January 2019.

There are no words to describe how great the first episode has been: amazing narration and voice acting as well as good directing and quality animation. The battle of wits between the two elite Student Council members has finally begun!

SYNOPSIS:

Synopsis

Synopsis:
Kaguya and Miyuki are the heads of the student council at their elite private high school. Both of them have bigger fish to fry than love…until rumors that they'd make the perfect couple start circulating the school, at which point they begin to notice each other. Before long they find themselves crushing hard, but neither of these elites is willing to make the first move. In fact, both have decided that he who makes the first move loses, and so they're going to ensure that the other party confesses first. All's fair in love and war, right? But also, isn't war supposed to be hell…? Episode Highlights Kaguya is a mixture of everything: I really liked how she has so many different sides in her character and doesn’t just stick to the tsundere ‘Arara’ type as a female protagonist. I loved her reactions to everything involved in this episode, especially her ‘Miss Innocent’ skills. Her quote: ‘If he can offer his body, soul, and hometown, I could consider training him to be a man who measures up to me’ killed me. It will be very interesting to follow the dynamic between her and Miyuki. I thought Kaguya was going to slaughter Chika: Poor thing. She seems so nice and naïve but she doesn’t seem to get the war that is happening between the other two, so she will end up ruining a lot of situations for them. Nevertheless, she was so cute at the end when she shared the octopus sausage wieners with Kaguya. But damn, those Kaguya stares and legit hate when Chika was fed by Miyuki were really terrifying: ‘If your life was in danger tomorrow, I wouldn’t even lift a finger to help you out.’ Damn… Miyuki seems to be more in control: I mean it’s only the first episode, so I can’t really say much but he seems to be more behaved than Kaguya, because let’s all agree on the fact that Kaguya is thirsty as HELL for some romance. I mean her eyes when she saw that couple feeding each other… Her eyes dropped blood from envy and desire. REVIEW: Kaguya-sama: Love is War is definitely one of the more unique rom-com premises out there, although bizarrely enough it shares a theme with Mai Nishikata's josei manga Game – Suit no Sukima, which is being serialized as an e-book in French, and even odder, both series began in the same year, 2015. Coincidences aside, the idea that whoever falls in love first loses makes for an interesting shake-up of the usual storyline, if only because each character individually knows that they're in love, but thinks that they have to convince the other. It's a bit of a comedy of errors, and while it can get repetitive, it is still entertaining. The two in question here are Kaguya, the scion of an old noble family, and Miyuki, the smartest boy in school. Neither of them at first seems to have much interest in romance, but since they're always together, they spark a lot of speculation among the student body. Before long rumors are circulating about their relationship, and, interest piqued, the two fall for each other. However, neither of them are willing to admit it – somewhere along the way, both Kaguya and Miyuki formed the opinion that love is weakness, and to admit to love is doubly so. Therefore neither of them wants to be the first to confess, operating under the assumption that the one who does so will be considered the weaker party for the duration of the relationship, if not their entire lives. Needless to say, this is not the world's healthiest view of romance, and if this were a less comedic story, we perhaps would have to worry about these kids. Fortunately for us, what results instead is an increasingly ridiculous series of events based on their one-upmanship. From attempting to trick Miyuki into an indirect kiss via lipstick stain to worrying over how to get someone's Line information without explicitly asking for it, each plot that Miyuki or Kaguya comes up with is ludicrous…but still somehow exactly like what a teenager with limited (or no) romance experience would think is a good way to snag the person of your dreams. That neither of them realize how over the top their plans are is part of the fun of these two books; in their minds, they are taking reasonable steps to ensure that they come out as the stronger party in the eventual couple. There's enough fun had with the concept, however, that it still works, and if you're looking for a different take on the shounen romantic comedy, this is a very good place to start.