Review of Kaguya-sama: Love is War -Ultra Romantic-

All right folks, let's talk Kaguya. First, Kaguya-sama is a seinen series. That means that the target audience is young adult men. "But Alq! It takes place in a high school!" Right. It is written with hindsight in mind from the very beginning. The premise from Season 1 is about how over-dramatic and high stakes having a crush on someone feels when you're young and still in school and still trying to figure out your own identity among everyone else. There's a lot more social pressure that teens experience in asking their crush out than 20-somethings experience swiping right on Tinder or Bumble. That's the point.It seems really foolish in retrospect, but in the moment, these are critical, seemingly life-shaping moments for teens. Even the "Ultra Romantic" title is tongue-in-cheek and is used for ridiculously grandiose confession ideas that teens will come up with the express purpose of avoiding explicit vulnerability or putting themselves out there. Kaguya delivers on all those fronts: the embarrassment, then the trepidation, then the commitment to decisive action. The show achieves exactly what it sets out to do, with better all-around quality than any of the hundreds of other romance anime I have seen.

As a show, Kaguya-sama has a few things going for it that might appeal to you as a viewer as well:

>Pacing: faster than your typical anime at 3 ch/episode rather than 1-2 for most series (or ~0.3 for OnePiece)
>Animation/Art: started off good, got better with each season. 2D and 3D animation (sparsely used) are blended better and more seamlessly than most series (looking at you, sliding dodgeball Anya), and there are many moments where the animators are clearly flexing. I hope the in-betweeners survived.
>Voice acting: People were skeptical of Koga Aoi before S1's release. They changed their tune. The rest of the cast (from OPM Miyuki to Daddy Daddy Dio) is also phenomenal.
>Themes: It's written as a seinen, with all the retrospect of "lol remember when you were cringe and too embarrassed to even talk to someone you liked?" which is relatable for lots of folks. The issues they face seem trivial but are very real at the time. I'm not convinced that all the people here complaining about "lack of progress" were bold, insta-confession Casanova Giga-chads in high school themselves for all their supposed impatience.
>Character development: As we learn more about each character, they become more fully fleshed-out, rather than one-dimensional characters used for repeated gags. Their decisions and actions have consequences on them and the people around them, bit by bit, and all of their arcs make sense for them as people, rather than plot vessels, and the flashbacks at the end make it clear just how far everyone has come.
>Comedy: It's still funny, and it's even funnier for understanding why the characters are acting the way they are, rather than having them do so because of their assigned trope. The comedy has heart as well as humor.
>No BS: not a shounen ecchi harem. If you're looking for a seinen with a ton of panty shots and boobs/baths/beaches, this ain't it.
>Easter eggs: makes an absolute crapton of references to 70s/80s pop media and classics, both visually and in OST, and there's nothing adult guys like more than profuse references and in-jokes (looking at you, Marvel...).
>Extra goodness: This season got an entire extra episode, which was extra long, because it was aired without any commercial breaks. The producers and studio really committed the extra care necessary to stick the landing in this pivotal climax season.

This is a series to laugh at with your friends, bond over with your girlfriend or boyfriend, or just enjoy how the chaotic crucible of youth can forge resolute and more mature adults. It's not an overnight process; it's a day-at-a-time grind to face your fears and take care of yourself and the people around you while reaching for your goals. Kaguya-sama executes this arc masterfully. 10/10