Anime 43608 Kaguya-sama Wa Kokurasetai Ultra Romantic Reviews Filter Check 3

Ha Ha Ha.

What do you think is better?
Option a: create a movie of 2 and a half hours so that it can have all the necessary drama, storytelling and conclusion.
Option b: Make 13 eps of repulsive garbage until the last few episodes, where basically everything important happens.

It looks like they went with option b. Good job.

To cut the crap this is an ok love story. The art is great and music is decent. Enjoyment was not that good, but still ok. Characters also.
However, wasting of time is 10/10. I think every main title should look up to this. Create as many meaningless episodes just to ... have some form of anticipation, some form of desire.
To just speed up the process, watch the last 3 episodes. They have everything important, and you won't miss much. Thank me later.

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Ultra Romantic is a 3rd season of beloved Kaguya-sama series. It is a battle between two characters of who will make who confess their feelings first. It is a interesting idea, with a very OK-ish comedy and romance points. It deserved some quality ratings for the first two seasons as it did. However this drastically changed in this season. In this season, there is no comedy aspect due to complication of the plot itself but also because of the lack of jokes themselves. The romance was also restricted due to it being the last season; something had to happen. So it did. On the last episode as it was supposed to. I don't mind that, on the contrary, I also expected that. But what is not good in this anime that makes it 3/10?

Wasting of time. As I said in my original review, "Make 13 eps of repulsive garbage until the last few episodes, where basically everything important happens.". It is exactly that. The season begins in a new note of "When will he/she confess?", but the expectations are "In the last few episodes". The note that it begun with has literally been overlooked in the first 5 seconds of watching the first episode. After the first 5 seconds, to me, it was just dragging. Dragging the plot, so that we can have some sense of wonder. But with comedy not supporting it it collapsed. Episodes got monotone, repulsive. The later on episodes (11-13) were ok, and worth to watch so that you can finally finish with this dragging.

I dislike my time being wasted, I really do. And, when a familiar series starts to waist my time so that I can just get a ok ending, I am very disappointed. I can't give a higher score for 3 valuable episodes that turned out to be mediocre.

It's sad that such potential came to waste. Not by the nature of it, no. But because it was forced to meet the criteria. I hope you enjoyed it more than I did. I really do. I hope that I am the only one who just can't stand watching the same episode with different flavor. Because, this season is exactly that. Repeating until the very end.

Thank you for your time.

Going into Season 3 of Kaguya-sama I already had high hopes for it to live up to the hype. Both of the previous seasons are 10/10 in my opinion, and I already knew that "you know what" was happening this season from everyone spoiling it in every single Youtube comment section. The expectations for this season was even higher consider that we had to wait TWICE as long between S2/S3 (taking 2 years to make) compared to S1/S2, which was probably because of the pandemic but it was still something to consider as a fan.

So I had no reason to suspect anything would be wrong ... or that this season wouldn't be as enjoyable as I expect from this series.

Unfortunately, Kaguya-sama Season 3 drops the ball hard in terms of what gave the series it's charm.

To get the good out of the way, the animation is still good. They really went the extra mile in certain episodes, and the rest is what you'd expect from the series. Music is still on par, although the opening is probably the weakest of the 3 both in terms of music and visuals but it isn't bad by any means.

Now for the bad...

Kaguya-sama has always nailed it with its comedy. Every single episode in S1 and S2 has me bursting out laughing from how creative and unexpected each joke was. So it brings me no pleasure to say that I barely chuckled throughout Season 3. None of the humor lands, and any attempt at a joke is so sparse now since this season is more focused on the "Storyline" and introducing a bunch of new characters that we've never seen before. It might get a snicker from me every once in a while, but after 24 episodes most of their jokes are either repeats from what they've done before or "Character reacts in a overdramatic way". It just isn't funny and it seems like they've run out of tricks to pull so they resort to trying to tell a dragged out story instead of setting up comedic scenarios to build up actual jokes.

(Vague Spoilers Below)
I'm not going to go through any specific plot point, but like I said before this season is more focused on establishing background characters and less so the main 5 we all know and love. It just feels like a waste because they don't actually develop these characters in any meaningful way. The show states who they are and then constantly repeat whatever cliche they are given before making the audience care about them. I don't even remember any of their names to be quite honest because they were all forgettable. There are exceptions to this, but as a whole focusing on new characters instead of the ones we actually care about was a mistake.

And even our main characters have suddenly turned into the most brainrot versions of themselves. Kaguya will go through a 10 minute monologue about how she will finally put her foot down and do what needs to be done, and then the next episode revert back to that "Boo hoo I want him to confess to me!!!!!!!!!" stick. It was cute when we first saw her, now it's it's unbearable because we already gone through her "Okay, I will finally confess" character development multiple times already. Iino barely does anything in this season, Ishigami goes from being an absolute chad to just a romance foil for Kaguya, Fujiwara barely shows up period and doesn't have her happy-go-lucky personality anymore instead just being straight up stupid at times. Shirogane is the only one that acts like he's supposed to, but he alone can't carry the entire show.

But my biggest complaint is how dragged out this show has become. In the previous seasons, you didn't really care if Shirogane and Kaguya confessed or not. The fun was seeing how the two tried to weasel a confession out of the other, and how their situations often blew up in their face. I personally wasn't ever frustrated when they got close to confessing and then something magical happens to interfere, as long as it was funny and entertaining then it didn't matter. But now that I've said that the show isn't funny anymore, all that we are left with is a painfully long slog till the end to get anything meaningful from this already drawn out game of cat and mouse.

Very often is there zero payoff and without the comedy to make the bait enjoyable, it just becomes around mediocre rom-com where the main characters don't do anything until the very end.

As someone who loved S1 and 2 of this series, Kaguya-Sama Season 3 is a massive disappointment. The comedy is gone. the fun of the "will they/won't they?" is gone. The main characters are gone. And most importantly, the charm is gone.

I hope Season 4 can somehow regain what it lost with this season, but I have zero hopes that the rest of the series will be good again.

3/10

Love is war is a good series, i won't deny that but season 3 kinda just flopped it upside down which is weird because i actually think the story is good, it's just that the execution wasn't perfect. Now season 1 and 2 were both perfect examples on how to balance your characters, the main characters (Shinomiya and Shirogane) are both entertaining and get a lot of screentime in the first 2 seasons, but this is also in season 3, the thing is with the main characters is that the side characters also matter a lot. I don't know why but i feel like the ... side characters got fully blown out of the the entire plot. Chika only really got 1 episode where she was prevalent in and Iino got fully blown out of the series. What about Ishigami though? He got attention, right? Well, yes but in my opinion, not really in the right way. Shinomiya and Shirogane are the main couple in this series but Ishigami now has a crush i guess... There's nothing wrong with having 2 couples in the same series but i don't like how they just randomly switched perspectives and called them 'parts'. Like bro, i just wanna get to the business already. Now onto enjoyment, probably the most important factor into rating an anime, i already mentioned this but the main characters should be supported by the side characters to actually be an entertaining character, if they aren't, 90% of the time the series feels empty and boring since the main characters are most of the show. And that 10% which is actually entertaining is usually very short, liw is also very repetitive, this issue also occurs in the first 2 seasons but i feel like its more prevalent here because the times where it is repetitive is with the 2 main characters. Now to the ending, the ending that made liw gain .20 points and make it tied with fmab, i'm not gonna spoil anything but all i would like to say is that it's a cringefest with very specific things that happens which ruins Kaguya's very specific plan. Personally, i don't like this season but entertainment and comedy is subjective (even though i feel like there was a lot less comedy and a lot more romance in this season). I can see why someone would like this show if they just loved romance but i don't really dig this style right now with Kaguya Sama, yes i do like my romance then and there but i think i would rather watch Squid Girl then oh wow i like this person now lets come up with this extremely specific way to confess to them which gets ruined by a extremely specific way.

What’s that meme about insanity? Like how the definition of “insanity” is doing the exact same thing over and over again expecting a different result? I’m not particularly up to date on internet humor, so I may very well be misremembering it, but either way, I’m definitely going insane. The universe keeps trying to tell me no one wants to hear me rag on this show, and I keep refusing to listen. The show is far too beloved at this point, and the only people still watching it are fans who have been watching since season one and now have a vested interest in being ... biased in its favor. Considering how repetitive this show is and how little anything in it has changed, any criticism anyone was ever going to make about it has already been made, and everyone has already decided where they stand. However, for some fucking reason, I just keep trying. I refuse to accept the suggestion that my complaints are as trivial as everyone says they are. For what it’s worth, I promise I’ll be nicer this time. I rewatched the entire series to review this season, and I’ve truly softened up to it over time, if only enough to give it a four.

My previous gripes had always been with how disingenuous the premise was—with how what the series presents is not a recipe for a healthy relationship—but looking back on it, I’ve realized how foolish it must’ve seemed to take the show THAT seriously. I mean, I still stand by everything I’ve said in the past, but it’s not like anyone is legitimately looking toward Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai for tangible relationship advice, so it was stupid of me to tackle it from that perspective in the first place. All people really get out of this show is cute moments and funny jokes, and they’re right to do so, but even then, I think the series still fails to achieve anything even close to the greatness which its mountains of praise would lead one to believe. Anything I could say on this point would be subject to intense subjectivity, as comedy always is, but suffice it to say I find this series to be completely and utterly unfunny, because what are we supposed to be laughing at here? The same jokes we’ve been laughing at—or at least the same jokes that some of us have been laughing at—for three seasons straight?

This show has begun suffering from an issue many long-running manga adaptations suffer from, but an issue which, lately, I think has been best exemplified by Re:Zero. I call it the Otto Effect. The Otto Effect is what happens when a popular show exhausts its original premise and has to expand the scope of its scenarios and characters to unnaturally manufacture something “new” to watch. If you want to see a downright surgical example of this, watch Eromanga Sensei. It begins as a show about two people standing in a room talking, but you can’t really get much milage out of that, can you? So after the first few episodes, the author realizes he can’t keep going with such an uninteresting premise and such shallow main characters, so he confronts the main conflict (the incestuous love story between the step-brother and sister), uses a retarded misunderstanding to put a pin in their relationship so the series has an excuse to not just end there, and then he opens the flood gates, inundating us with new characters and new drama, random arcs with sudden and empty goals, and endless meandering.

Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai is that: endless meandering. If you like the side characters, then sidelining the main cast and keeping their relationship on hold should be fine, but I kindly ask that you please appreciate that in the eyes of some, this formula just sucks. It still feels like it's dying to be a SHAFT show, but it hasn’t the writing talent nor directorial talent to even warrant the comparison. If I’m going to make one anyway, though, it would be that it feels like one of the later seasons of Monogatari, after Shinbou, Oishi, and even Itamura had all functionally left the project, and it was clear all the books they were adapting at that point were being treated as jokes by NISIOISIN himself. The name “Zoku Owarimonogatari” comes to mind, literally meaning “The End Continued” [insert Attack on Titan: The Final Final Final Season memes here]. It also still seems to think all you need to do to be funny is have one of your characters scream like an autistic light novel protagonist, have your narrator explain what’s happening in an exaggerated voice, or add speed lines and “bazinga!” text on screen.

Speaking of speed lines, by far my biggest issue with the show is how janky and cheap it looks. The first few cuts of the new season are reused animation from season two’s two-year-old finale which itself included reused cuts from season one’s then-one-year-old, now-three-year-old OP. They’ll put in occasional effort for some visual gags, but most of the time, the show just looks shoddy. This is of course everyone’s main gripe with A1 shows. Since they hire on such random people for such sporadic freelance work, they can have an entire episode that looks like shit, but there will be one moment that’s suddenly well-animated. Someone will simply walk across a room or do something with their hands and look really good for a second, and you feel like you’re having a stroke or something. The one thing they actually put serious effort into is those special EDs they do, but even they just make you say, “Oh. That’s cool. Next time, please put that effort into the actual show.” Plus, the cynical bitch in me can’t help but feel like they’re only included for the sake of going viral again à la Chika Dance.

To try to close this review off with some positives and maybe establish a bit of crossover, I’m happy to say that after rewatching the entire series, I’ve managed to come away from the experience with favorite characters, a small handful of memorable jokes, and things I liked. After rewatching season two, for example, I appreciate why so much of the young, male audience identifies with Ishigami so much, and I found myself personally enjoying Iino as an addition to the cast in seasons two and three, because her chemistry with Kaguya seems much more real than Chika’s one-note airhead personality bouncing off Kaguya’s one-note tsundere personality. Generally, I think the issues the show suffers from on paper are more a problem with its sense of humor and its repetitive archetypes than with its actual ideas or dialogue. After all, I do have to admit, after overcoming the old issues I had with the depiction of their relationship, even I can’t deny that, after a few drinks, this shitty looking, unfunny, repetitive slog can actually, sometimes, be kind of endearing. However, to reach back to the Monogatari comparison from earlier, it must be said that when a show takes three seasons to reach the point that another far better written, far better directed, and far better animated show reached in five tightly-paced episodes, one has to wonder—even if they liked the show and were satisfied by the eventual progress—just how much of their time had been wasted.

Thank you for reading.

Let me begin by stating that I absolutely loved the first two seasons; I even watched them more than once. I enjoyed all of the jokes and the chemistry among the characters.

I am compelled to write this review while the show is still running because, based on all the reviews I have seen, I feel like I am the only one who believes this season is significantly weaker than the previous two. So far, I think it is far from being rated 8-10, but I hope it improves since there is still halfway to go.

From the first 6 and a half episodes I have watched, ... I feel that this time the anime simply recycles old jokes from previous seasons. In almost every episode, there is some similarity or a copied joke from prior seasons. These similarities and jokes just aren't as funny or entertaining anymore. The whole "Shirogane is bad at something" joke is overplayed at this point. While those consecutive jokes were effective earlier, this time they feel overdone.

Furthermore, it places a much greater emphasis on other characters instead of the main duo. These side characters are not very interesting, and every scene with them feels like it's filling time before the main duo gets together. When you compare this to the dynamic of the 4/5 main characters from seasons 1 and 2, there is a significant drop in enjoyment. On top of that, the "will they/won't they" dynamic has lost its effectiveness, since the whole show gives off the "vibe" that it's coming to an end, thus answering that question. I believe this anime has lost its charm, at least for me.

I really don't know what all the hype is about and to me it makes absolutely no sense that people are judging this show based on their experience with reading the manga..

To me, this entire show, except for maybe the last 3-4 episodes, just feels like fillers. Little story arcs that end as fast as they have begun. I find this show really bland and boring, the characters do not resonate with me at all, Kaguya is super annoying and the rest of the characters are just really uninteresting and/or forgettable.

I do like myself a good rom-com from time to time, but this is definitely ... not a show I would recommend to people who are looking for a show in this genre.

This show is definitely below mid imo :-)

Season 3 of two people too passive and prideful so each is hoping the other will make the first move.

This joke was wearing thin by season two and the writing got worse and worse with character inconsistency and repeated gags.

Season three is that BUT throw in cringe, out-dated pop culture references and annoying sounds.

The show went from bad to barely watchable. The only reason I'm not lowering the score is because (3) is my lowest for a bad show that is basically harmless and inoffensive.

Plot/Story = 2/10

The writing is so bad now that most episodes are just re-run jokes from season one ... or/and pop culture references. There is an entire episode that is a rap battle ending with (Mom's spaghetti!) Another with an A-ha reference for their song (Take On Me). This isn't a passing reference or one time gag, it's the episode, that's just lazy writing.


Characters = 2/10

Somehow they managed to get worse. For most of the season attention is taken away from the mains and given to Yuu of all people. They even went out of their way to give him not one but multiple love interests and just throwing themselves on him. This author should stay away from social media, it's clear they're easily influenced by public opinion.

Because of lazy writing Miyuki (male MC) went from hardworking honor student to... barely functioning human. There was a gag episode in season one where Chika was teaching him how to play volleyball and it was cute, less cute in season two when it was repeated with singing, down right cringe here when repeated THREE TIMES for various episodes.


Art / Sound = 3/10

This was clearly made in crunch. The budget restrains show and somehow the sound is worse because of the overly exaggerated responses.


Fun Factor = 2/10

This was the worst yet. Cringy, cliched and REALLY bad writing. The one reason I kept watching was because I was on a dare with a friend, that's it! That's how bad this was.


Overall = 3/10

It got got some pity points out of me simply because I think 2/10 is reserved for something offensive or bottom of the barrel. This one was just bad and cringe.
Stop after season 1. No reason to keep going what so ever.

"The first to fall in love loses!"

"If I go out with him, I'll probably fall in love!"

Never before have such pretentious phrases been uttered unironically...wait, this is anime. Never mind, happens all the time.

This season was by and large a massive disappointment. I have always believed 'Love is War' to be an overrated romcom, but nevertheless found the first two seasons serviceably decent. You can check my profile, if you don't believe me: I gave the first two seasons a 6/10. Although drenched in romantic tropes I despise, the comedy was consistent and the execution was at a very high level.

And yet this season falls ... flat on it's face, because it focuses on what has long been the weakest part of the series: it's drama.

Now granted, I have not read the manga (nor will I ever). But why does Kaguya/Shirogane's romance need to be dragged out so incessantly? Three seasons in (that's nearly 15 hours of your life, folks) and it takes until the very end for just the smallest amount of progress in that department. Why drag it out? The drama? The tension? Sorry, but who in their right mind thought these two were never going to get together? There is no tension. For the laughs maybe? The pair's tsundere schtick stopped being funny by the end of season 1. There are literally hundreds of tsundere couples in anime. That is not unique in the slightest.

Then there's this new Tsubame/Ishigami love thing going on. Now again, I have not read the manga. But the instant this Tsubame girl was introduced, I thought "There's no way this is going to work out." And yet that plot element gets dragged on, episode after episode. Just axe it already and stop wasting my time.

These are just a couple examples. When you have these tropey dramatic elements, they better conclude quickly, or I get bored and irritated. The older I get, the more these parts of anime have rubbed me the wrong way.

One of the stronger parts of this series is it's comedy and it's side-characters. The "Shirogane likes Herthaka, but Chika thinks Herthaka is a dude who likes other dudes and thus gives Chika a horny nosebleed" was one that genuinely made me laugh hard. It was a misunderstanding piled on top of another misunderstanding in a creative way that made sense.

But overall there is less comedy in this season, and for the first time I found some of it rather stale. Comedy in this series could be nonsensical at times, but it seems this season double-downed on it. For example, the coin game they play in one of the earlier episodes.

To summarize the coin game bluntly: group is putting coins under a sheet, using heads and tails to answer various questions truthfully ("Do you have a crush?" etc). No one knows who puts what coin under the sheet, and a lie detector is there in case anyone decides to lie.

Shirogane and Kaguya are both intimidated by the lie detector, so they tell the truth with their answers...why? They're both supposed to be super smart, so they should realize how incredibly unreliable those things are right? There's a reason lie detectors aren't generally admissible as evidence in court- they're notoriously unreliable.

Then Shirogane gets out of it anyway, by switching his coin with a 1981 coin in his pocket (because Kaguya was looking at the years of the coins to know who was answering)...how? How did he switch coins without Kaguya noticing? Why does he carry around a 1981 coin so conveniently? The suspension of belief is just too high for it to be either funny or dramatic.

The other part of this show that is one of it's stronger suits are it's side characters. Shirogane/Kaguya are a typical tsundere duo whom I've never much cared for, but I do have a soft spot for some of the others.

Ishigami's dramatic parts are the only good dramatic parts of the series. Even if it is tropey and predictable, I sympathize with his lack of confidence affecting aspects of his life. Just wish the romantic part of this was less predictable and less drawn-out. His comedic bits are on the weaker side too, but that's fine I suppose.

Chika is the show's most consistent comedy, but she's also the only one compeletely lacking in meaningful character development. One of the earlier seasons mentioned she has a family with a political background, which opens the door for soooo many possibilities given her personality. And yet nothing has come of it. Ditto for her younger sister, who was around for a short comedic part.

Hayasaka finally gets some decent character development here. She's cute and funny in a deadpan sort of way. But like Chika, I really wish there was something of more substance; give her a boy to pursue, or a hobby, or important friends...She needs something, anything. The entire point of her short arc at the beginning of this season was that she wanted to live her teenage life, instead of just being relegated to being Kaguya's maid...but then there's nothing. Some may say "wait until season 5" or something. Well, 3 seasons should be plenty. That's nearly 15 hours of show. Pick up the pace.

The art is colorful and gorgeous. The sound is...decent. I think that one track that reminds me of "You spin me round" by Dead or Alive was the best one. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but it got a chuckle out of me every time I heard it. The sub is great, although the english dub is kind of underwhelming unfortunately.

Given how season 3 ends, I'm guessing it's going to double down on the tsundere romantic parts, which is absolutely the weakest part of this show. Thus I'm undecided if I want to continue after this. I can understand why there are so many fans of this- even if it is a tropey romcom, the ideas are executed very well.

Bottom line, if you watched this show's first two seasons primarily for laughs, you may be disappointed with this one like I was. However if you want more ham-handed drama and tsundere, "misunderstanding" romance, you'll probably like this season more.

This having a 9, and being #11 is MINDBLOWING.
It is such a massive step down from season 1 and 2— 2 which was already a massive step down from 1.

There is quite literally, no point to this season. Much like with Komi Season 2, the main premise of the show, does not exist.

All of the time is spent on NOTHING. We move along plot points that are ultimately irrelevant to the main characters. The season is filler— and not the good kind. The first half of the season is nigh inconsequential, and latter half (I use half lightly, more like, last 3ish ... episodes) is the first half of what SHOULD have been a full season, but that was scooped out and squished into the sorry excuse of a movie that was First Kiss.

This show also seriously does not work as a drama/romance. Sorry to say, but Shirogane and Shinomiya are so underdeveloped and non-compelling, it's hard to care when things get too serious. They work MUCH better as a stubborn duo with a comedic, light tone. S2 was less funny than S1 by a mile, and S3 didn't get me to blow air out of my nose once. The jokes seldom land.

I'm guessing this has a 9 because they finally kiss but like, who cares? We all know that would happen eventually. It didn't make the slog getting there any better.

This show should have ended by season 2.

4/10 don't bother