What is the Anime Award-winning anime Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War?

The school love comedy “Kaguya-sama wa Kurerasetai ~Geniuses’ Love Brainstorm~” is getting into the swing of things with its TV anime adaptation and movie.

Although it is serialized in a young adult magazine (Weekly Young Jump (Shueisha)), the main character is not a harem boy, and there is not a single panchira in the story. The series has sold over 8.5 million copies by volume 16.

What exactly is the appeal of this manga?
In addition, the second season of the TV anime has been decided. Now is the time to catch the big wave!　In this article, I will introduce the basic information and charm of “Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War” as well as readers’ impressions.

This article contains spoilers.

|What is “Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War”?

What kind of work is the romantic comedy manga “Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War”?
I will explain the charm of this manga that catches you off guard with its youthful story that is basically a gag and sometimes a serious one.

The protagonists of “Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War” are Shirogane Miyuki, the president of the student council of Shuchiin High School, and Kaguya Shinomiya, the vice president. The theme of this work is the love between the two ……, and in fact, the two are already in love with each other from the first episode of the first volume.
However, their love philosophies are all wrong. In fact, they are already in love with each other from the first episode of the first volume. What is their philosophy?

”Love is war! The one who loves is the one who loses the ministry.”

Their principle of action is that if they don’t get the other person to confess, they lose, and they are willing to use any trickery to do so.
The basic format of this manga is that the winner of the head-to-head romance battle is determined by the chaos that ensues each time a crooked character from the outside intervenes.
This is the basic format of the story, and if you read it, you will ask yourself, “What is love? If you read it, you might have a gestalt collapse of romantic comedy, and that is what “Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War” is.

|Information about “Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War”.

After being serialized in “Miracle Jump” since 2015, this work was transferred to “Weekly Young Jump” in 2016. It was adapted into a TV anime in January 2019, and a movie was released on September 6, 2019, both of which were big hits, and the second season of the TV anime will be aired in April 2020. The series has sold over 8.5 million copies in its first 16 volumes, making it a very popular work.

|The Story of”Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War”.

The story takes place at Shuchiin Gakuen, a high school for promising elites. The vice-president of the student council, Kaguya Shinomiya, who is the daughter of a conglomerate, and the student council president, Miyuki Shiragane, who is a brilliant student and the undisputed top student of the school, are two people who are the center of rumors in the school. Both of them are aware of each other, but due to their overly high pride, nothing in particular develops over the course of the day. In the meantime, their romantic feelings have somehow shifted to “how to get the other to confess”.
They define “losing” as confessing, and “winning” as getting the other person to confess, and their barren brainstorming game of love begins.

|The characters of”Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War”.

The two main characters, as well as other unique characters, support the charm of this title. Let us introduce you to the delightful friends of Shuichiin Gakuen.

■KAGUYA SHINOMIYA

Vice president of the student council at Shuichiin Academy. She is fond of Shirogane.
She is the eldest daughter of the general manager of the Shinomiya Group, one of the four largest conglomerates in Japan, and is an all-round genius who is good at both the arts and sciences and has no weaknesses.
At first glance, she appears to be a demure young lady, but she hates to lose and will not hesitate to invest her fortune in order to win a head-to-head battle with Shirogane. Her signature line is “Oh, you’re so cute,” which she says while looking down on her opponent (though most of it is Shirogane’s imagination).

■Shirogane Miyuki

Student council president. She is very fond of Kaguya. Lives in extreme poverty with her father and younger sister in a 50,000 yen rent apartment, a 20-minute walk from Sangenjaya Station.
Her father applied for admission to Shuichiin Gakuen on his own, and was given a special scholarship. His grades are first in his grade and second in the national mock examinations, but he is not a born genius, but rather a hardworking genius who spends more than 10 hours a day studying.
In addition to his studies, he also works part-time, and due to his chronic lack of sleep and nearsightedness, his eyesight is poor.
He has all kinds of qualifications, from Eiken level 1 to being a chick appraiser.

■Chika Fujiwara

Secretary of the student council and a member of the table games club. Her trademark is the “ultra-black ribbon” in her bangs.
Because she is a natural and unpredictable, she often becomes a troublemaker and is often resented by Kaguya, who is supposed to be her best friend.
On the other hand, when Kaguya and Shirogane continue to fight over their pride, he has a side of him that breaks the ice with his oblique words and actions, and cannot be underestimated.
At first glance, she seems to be an idiot, but her piano skills are so good that she once won a gold medal at a national piano competition.
She is also multi-lingual and speaks five languages. She has a romantic mind and appears out of nowhere when she smells the scent of love.

■Yu Ishigami

The second main character of this work. Accountant of the student council. Although he has been a member of the student council since the beginning of the series, his first appearance was in the third volume.
He is not tolerant of criticism, probably because of his painful past as a truant, and immediately says, ” I’ m going to go home and die” when harsh words are spoken to him.
He is often disliked by the ladies because he is always saying too much, but he is a good observer of people and may actually be the most sensible person in the student council, which is full of weirdos. ……?

In volume 9, he reveals the reason why he stopped going to school in junior high school, and the “Sports Festival Arc” is a moving story that cannot be read without tears.
He overcomes his past and falls in love with Tsubame-senpai, a girl who is full of life, but what will be his fate? This is the No. 1 character that I want her to be happy for sure.

■Ai Hayasaka

He is a mix of Irish and Japanese, and is a close friend of Kaguya.
Kaguya is so selfish and self-centered that she has a hard time keeping up with her, and even though she is a high school student, she has to answer “I want to change jobs” at the school’s interview.
She enjoys taking a bath and building her own computer. Her specialty is disguise. Since he has to act secretly while attending the same high school as Kaguya, she has many other faces in addition to those of a close friend.

■Miko Iino

A first-year student who joins the student council in volume 7 as a financial auditor, and is the heroine behind the scenes of this story.
She is the most brilliant student in her class, but her overly serious and inflexible personality makes her easily ostracized by others. She often overhears the words and actions of Kaguya and Shiragin at the most inopportune times.
In the beginning, he dislikes Ishigami, but after volume 15, when Ishigami falls in love with a senior girl, his behavior begins to change.

|The charm of “Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War”

“Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War” is a comedic romantic comedy with overly unique characters. Here is an introduction to its appeal.

■The game of love is interesting.

The most attractive part of the story is the psychological battle between Kaguya and Shirogane, who are both overly self-conscious and try to humiliate each other. But their feelings for each other are completely visible!

Miyuki’s attempt to get Kaguya to write a love letter to him is more of a catch. If Kaguya gets a love letter, he will try to keep her in place while maintaining his pride by talking about his position, saying that as the student council president, he can’t recommend impure sexual relations. They tend to always be on the defensive because they are reacting to Kaguya’s actions.

In opposition, Kaguya’s attacks are quite aggressive. He makes full use of the financial power of the Shinomiya Zaibatsu, and in order to make Shirogane realize the merits of the smartphone, he uses Shinomiya family servants as passersby and callers, and he fakes a prize movie ticket to make Shirogane ask him out.

However, even though they think they are in a head-to-head battle, from an objective point of view, both of them are just the most adorable people in the world.

■The relationship between the student council is heartwarming.

The relationship between the two students, who are battling for love under the water, and the student council, who both disturb and watch over them, is also very heartwarming.

・Shirogane & Fujiwara Secretary
Fujiwara Secretary can’t seem to leave the clumsy and disappointing Shirogane behind.
After inadvertently rescuing Shirogane, who is suffering from a lack of ability in sports, in the second volume, we find ourselves involved in all kinds of special training to help him overcome his weaknesses.
The bond between Secretary Fujiwara and Shirogane, who explodes with maternal love when she sees Shirogane’s growth after each intense training session, is kind of cute.

・Shirogane & Ishigami Accounting
Shirogane is the one who recruited Ishigami, a recluse, to join the student council.
This is the first time I’ve ever been to a school with a student council. In that sense, the “Sports Festival Arc” in volume 9, which depicts the origin of their bond, is an episode I recommend.

・Secretary Fujiwara -> Kaguya
Fujiwara has been Kaguya’s only best friend since junior high school, when she was called the “Ice Princess Kaguya” and kept everyone at bay. Despite this, he is cursed by Kaguya at every turn, which is a bit pitiful.

■Even the serious times are readable.

While 80% of the episodes are gags, the occasional serious episode will inadvertently bring you to tears, which is one of the unique characteristics of this work.

In the “Fireworks Festival” episode, Kaguya’s complicated family environment is revealed; in the “Election” episode, the student council unites to follow up on the weakness of Miko Iino, who appears as a snarky committee chairwoman; in the “Sports Festival” episode, Ishigami’s past is revealed; and in the “School Festival” episode, Shirogane and Kaguya try to seriously face their feelings. …… is full of divine episodes that will surely make you feel the sparkle and pain of youth.

|What do you think of “Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War” (Spoiler alert)?

Here are some of the comments that we received on BookLive!

A racy exchange of love.
A sharp gag unfolding in a student council full of personalities. The occasional seriousness may be a prelude to the gags that await in the next story! The laughter that doesn’t fade with each volume is nothing short of brilliant. But the main focus is romance. Yes, it’s about love. I don’t remember romance manga being this funny. Was it ever funny? The feeling of love itself is now the funny element. I highly recommend this work to anyone who wants to laugh.

A brainstorming game of mutual love
This is a story about two men and two women, both good-looking, smart, and proud, who are struggling to get their partner to confess his love for them, and it’s cute that they can’t be honest even though they are in love with each other. My personal favorite character is Chihana, who unintentionally intervenes in the fierce head-to-head battle between the two and makes it even more chaotic.

Kaguya-sama is so cute!
It’s like a high tension gag style shoujo manga, but Kaguya-sama is so cute that her development is very convincing. It’s a work where Kaguya-sama, who seems to be high-handed but has a disappointing side, and who seems to be a bad girl but is a purely cultured maiden, does her best to grab the reader’s heart. The slightly vivid and sharp illustrations are somewhere between shoujo manga and shonen manga, and I appreciate that I can read it without feeling embarrassed.

[speech_bubble type=”drop” subtype=”L1″ icon=”surprise.png” name=”Nazuna”] The second season of the TV series is now in production, and fans can’t stop being excited to enjoy the continuation of the episodes that followed the “Fireworks Festival Arc” in the first season. Fans can’t stop being excited to enjoy the continuation of the story, so be sure to read the previous volumes and prepare for the anime broadcast. In the main story, the relationship between the two changes dramatically in volume 14. It will be interesting to see how the relationship between the two, who have always said, “You lose if you fall in love with someone. In addition, the relationship between Ishigami, the main character behind the scenes, and Iino, the heroine behind the scenes, is not to be missed. [/speech_bubble]