Manga 90125 Kaguya-sama Wa Kokurasetai Tensai-tachi No Renai Zunousen

Kaguya-sama: Love is War is the king of romance manga without question. There is simply no other manga of the same genre from which I remember the names of almost every character; from which I’ve both laughed and cried audibly while reading; from which I’ve derived so much happiness from every serialized chapter. What started off as a cute and funny manga with a great premise evolved into a character driven drama with many monumentally emotional character arcs, each of which continue to resonate with me beyond belief.

Though I’ll admit to some personal bias, I would like to point out how deeply invested Aka ... (the mangaka) has made me as a viewer/reader to his characters. There wasn’t a moment in the manga where a character’s pain didn’t translate to my own sadness. There wasn’t a moment when a character’s development after a truly emotional scene didn’t move me to tears (being the crybaby that I am). There was always a laugh to be had with the witty psychological battles and silly bouts between characters. A win for the main cast felt like a win to me. Over these last 250 chapters and 2+ years that I’ve been reading, I feel as though I’ve been through a journey.

Quickly before the nitty-gritty plot things begin, I would like to mention that the visuals for the manga are wonderful, and the sharp style is basically perfect for what the manga is. The character designs and background art are also both awesome. The excellent art has actually even led me to buy some volumes on a whim!

The semantics of plot development can be expressed by dividing the progression into two categories. The first one is the comedy / “Love is War” parts, where our protagonists (and often others as well) engage in a psychological duel to gain an advantage over the other in the confession rat race. This occurs more often towards the beginning of the manga and (in addition to the pure entertainment factor) gives insight to general characterization of the cast and introduces us to big ideas that become important later on. The other is more difficult to define. This category refers to the story arcs where there are larger stakes at play, and a character’s entire basis is on the verge of change. The emotional arcs, the thrilling arcs, and the downright badass arcs all come together under this umbrella to serve some sort of greater purpose in helping characters grow. I honestly think that this is one of the best things about Kaguya-sama.

Character growth is limited not to a single event or person, but extends as far as the story continues. Each and every main character (well…) has some kind of internal conflict underlying their goofy dynamics with the others, and must deal with their values being confronted. In this process, we emotionally invest ourselves in that progression, laughing, anguishing, and loving with them. Though this is not necessarily unique to Kaguya-sama, I believe that as far as I’ve read, Kaguya-sama does it the best.

Now, with all of this praise, one would believe that my assertions warrant a 10/10 score. This is not the case only because of the inevitability of the last arc being too quick. In comparison to the previous character arcs, each warranting hefty praise for what they accomplish as standalone arcs, the final arc of the manga lacks the same structure bent on emotional development, and we feel a sort of “urge to end the story” permeating the chapters. Though, this is understandable, given Aka’s situation with Oshi no Ko. Regardless, the journey from start to finish of Kaguya-sama has gotten me so invested as a reader that its post-finale chapters have left me debilitated to an extent.

With the conclusion of Kaguya-sama’s serialization comes one of the largest punches to the gut that I have ever felt from an anime/manga coming to an end. The final chapters were one of the hardest things for me to read due to my massive attachment to the story. I can’t even express how upset I am, even writing this review. All I can say is that regardless of your stance on romantic comedies, Kaguya-sama: Love is War is a must watch/read. The massive void that I felt at the end of this manga attests to just how much of an impact it has had on me as a reader.

The initial appeal of Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen was a funny romcom with great humour, and an interesting premise. I really loved the premise, which was to make the students try to make each other confess. I loved it. However, that was only until chapter 130 or so, the manga took a drama stage. Instead of continuing the relationship, it takes a big dive into garbage writing. The initial appeal had disappeared, and what I had been reading was filled with boring old rom com drama. If it had continued the humorous and romantic relationships, then I would've given Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: ... Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen, a perfect 10/10.

The story is simple. Shirogane and Kaguya, are in the student council. They both have this feeling for each other, and they try to make others confess. I was very interested in this idea. It was much different from your usual romcoms, so I had high expectations, y'know? Chapters 1-130 were a 10/10, no doubt, but straight after that, it gets horrible, as I mentioned before. Everything gets worse and worse. Drama was the thing that I did not want Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen to use. Well, unluckily for me, that happened.

Chapters that stop the drama, continuing the manga from chapter 262 and so on were trying to tie all of the screws that were loose, but it just didn't work out. The initial charm of the series had been gone. The humour was dry and unfunny, and most importantly, the side character's relationships were rushed. We never get a proper story for side character's relationships.

The ending: Horrifying. I absolutely despised the ending. We never get a proper conclusion for Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen, we only have the student council team graduating, that's it. We don't get to see the outcome of everyone's relationships.

The characters? Still likeable. Shirogane & Ishigami are my favourite characters. One positive thing I can say about the drama is that they didn't really change their characters, which was good. I basically liked every character. No characters were unlikeable, except for one of Kaguya's cousins, and her family.

The art is splendid. The coloured pages are awesome. Each panel had been taken the utmost care of. Nothing looked particularly rushed.

A 10/10 wouldn't be enough for my enjoyment. I loved every single chapter of Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen, and was just way too hyped for the next chapter. After chapter 130, things get negative, sadly. I get really bored, as Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen turns from one of the best (if not best) romcom anime, to an absolute garbage dumpster. All of the things that I loved, humour and story, were thrown into the bin.

Seriously though. I've seen so many anime that I loved so much, but just don't reach a good conclusion, or get trash later on. Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen is part of the "wasted potential" anime/manga. I really am disappointed. I don't hate Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen, I'm just disappointed straight after the duel confessions arc.

Most rom-coms follow the same trend: it starts hilarious and fun, then it gets serious and cringe. It feels like rom-com authors don't assume the comedy side of things, and only use it as a bait to tell an uninspired, boring story that was told billions of times before their own version appears.

Sadly, this description fits Love is War.


STORY
This is a mind game between a boy and a girl living a love story. At least... in the beginning.
The mind game side of the story is given up after 100 chapters, and the manga becomes the usual, boring love story like there are thousands of others.

The ... author is clearly less and less inspired, as the characters' stories take retarded routes (a nonsensical family clan wars ; a love triangle with no consequential development ; plot twists that cancels previous plot twists ; mafiosi being defeated by teenagers).

In the end it's just a rom-com : it started with a brillant concept, but quickly gave up on it and became the usual uninspired boring love story.



ART
The manga is beautiful, nothing to complain here.



CHARACTER
The characters have nice personalities, too bad they often become transparent. Poor Chika never lives any interesting story except when she must teach Shirogane. The only chapters revolving around her are boring, repetitive fillers about ramen.

The other main characters have deeper stories, but when the chapter isn't about them, they often completely disappear.

It's too bad, because the main characters are awesome. I love Miko, she's like Azusa from K-On as she's the 5th and new member of the main characters club. I loved the dynamic of the group after she joined. But like all the other characters, she's just transparent when it's not a chapter about her.


ENJOYMENT
Love is War had an incredible potential, and it shows in the first 100 chapters. Those are brillant and hilarious.
But the next 100 chapters become boring. It tries to be way too serious, and when it tries to be funny, it's just uninspired, repetitive gags.

I only recommend reading up until chapter 130. It's not all bad after that, but it's definitely subpar compared to the first part of this manga. What a horrible waste...