Review of Kaguya-sama: Love is War -Ultra Romantic-
(very light spoilers ahead) Currently as I am writing this review, Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Ultra Romantic (or what I’m going to call it, Love is War S3), is the top rated show on MAL. This means that it is rated higher than some of GOATs like Code Geass and Steins;Gate. This begs the question, does it deserve this spot among some of these legendary shows? The short answer is no, it doesn’t stack up to these shows. Being just a good show doesn’t automatically make it legendary. That’s right. I don’t think Love is War S3 is bad at all. In fact, I reallyenjoyed the humor, character developments, and character interactions in this new season.
The humor felt like it was on point and anytime Chika was on screen being herself, it always made me smile. Although Chika didn’t really get many developments in her character, one character I was very pleased to see get more development (as a B plot) was Ishigami. Throughout season 1 and 2, Ishigami is built up to be the type of character the audience wants to root for. He is supposed to be relatable to the audience and misunderstood by his peers to generate sympathy from the viewer. Although we get some good Ishigami backstory in S2 of Love is War, he was really delegated to a side character role for most of the season. I am happy to say that in the third season, my man finally gets his time in the spotlight with his own romance story finally blooming. Even though it is just a B plot intended to run parallel to the main romance story, I think that this season sets up Ishigami’s romance plotline to be a lot more interesting and engrossing than the Kaguya/Shirogane plotline ever was and ever will be. I love that Ishigami’s story keeps the viewer guessing throughout its blossoming arc in this season and it makes me look forward to seeing where it will go next season.
At this point in the review, you might want to ask me, “Sounds like you really enjoyed this show, so why are you disappointed to see it on the top?” Well, the truth about this season of Love is War is that it really doesn’t do anything extraordinary. None of what it does dazzles me and it doesn’t give any lasting impressions other than, “oh it’s pretty good.” I think that the main reason for this is the lack of interest that the Kaguya/Shirogane romance plotline generates. S3 of Love is War feels like more of the same from S1 and S2, which in turn, has made the constant love tug-of-war between the two of them lose its suspense factor and charm. It is not a spoiler to say that the romance story and goals of both Kaguya and Shirogane ultimately do not develop by the end of S3. Some might chalk the appeal of the show up to the repetitiveness of the series but in reality it just makes it more boring as time goes on.
In the end, I will always recommend Love is War to any rom-com fans out there. This new season does a fantastic job with the “com” part but definitely lacks in the “rom” part, which puts it below the other two seasons in my opinion.