Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - Stairway to Adulthood

Really happy to see Kaguya-sama back in anime. The episode itself is extremely funny, well-paced, and the chemistry still works perfectly. On top of that, the opening is an absolute banger, yes, again ! However, the way the adaptation continue is genuinely disappointing. It feels rushed of course, leaving too much on the table. Because of that, reading the manga becomes almost mandatory to truly experience the rest of the story and its proper conclusion. There was so much more that could have been adapted, especially the full arc around the family and, of course, Ishigami. Overall, a very enjoyable and entertaining episode, but with a clearlymixed feeling due to how the adaptation ends. I'm so happy and sad at the same time.

Doesn't even feel real that we're finally getting more Love is War content. First of all, I wanna say that I love all the arcs that are in here and they were all very well adapted with the highlight being ABCs of Men and Women. However the did completely skip over some very important arcs in the manga like the school trip arc and Ishigami's Christmas arc. It's a little hard for me to view this with an anime only eye, having read the manga and knowing all the context, but there were some moments I noticed, like during the airport scene Mikado is thereand I couldn't help but think how anime only viewers would have no idea who that is. Also during the airport scene Iino says something about viewing Shirogane as an older brother. That line has a lot less weight in the anime compared to the manga because we don't see Shirogane helping out and supporting Iino like we do in the manga. It's just a shame that all this context is completely cut out, and it doesn't seem likely for it to ever be adapted. But again, I wanna say that the arcs that were in here I very much enjoyed Overall, a fantastic TV Special held back solely by the fact that a bunch of context is missing. Under the assumption that the arcs that are missing will never be adapted, I give it an 8/10.

The episode itself was very good, if you ignore the blatant skipping of about 100 manga chapters and an entire character arc for Hayasaka. Just no explanation whatsoever as to why Haysaka changed her hair and how her relationship to Kaguya changed. Not to mention skipping all the way to the end of the series and leaving out the entire character of Mikado, who is just a random side character that anime onlys don't know. AND leaving out Iino and Ishigami's entire character arc where they start to grow feelings for each other and develop more as characters. Wait...this episode actually sucked if you're amanga reader. For those who don't know, the anime ended around chapter 160. This episode takes place during chapter 220. THEN they skip from chapter 220 to chapter 267 where Shirogane actually leaves for America. In total, over 100 chapters are completely skipped. Now, I don't know what the plan is for the rest of the series, but I absolutely hate how this series is being done. If they are going to continue the series as normal and this is just a special episode or something, the audience already knows everything turns out fine in the end. Decent episode for anime onlys, terrible episode for manga readers who want to see the whole series animated.

Picture this: a bunch of teenagers fight against one of the most powerful and influential families in Japan to rescue a friend they care for. Yeah I know right, sounds like your average forgettable children's movie. Yeah, YOU HAVE seen similar nonsensical narratives like that before. Wouldn't it be laughable if one of the most witty, charming and nuanced romance animanga ever written contained such abysmal writing. Yeah, could never be Kaguya Sama. Akasaka wouldn't dare conjure up such mediocrity. Never in a million years. Don't read the manga. Please dont. Don't listen to any ill-willed Kaguya Sama fan who wants you to. It is amercy that you dont have to watch a great anime like Kaguya Sama contain such uninspired writing. This is the best possible experience for Kaguya Sama if you like good writing where characters dont simply exist as plot devices to force a dumb love triangle and Shirogane doesnt need a billion yen for a rescue mission. Hey, remember, these bozos are 17. That's not to say this adaptation is masterful. Its pretty good, but it contains a lot of flaws, especially because it skipped over a bunch of good stuff. There's a lack of consistent continuity: Kaguya lies to the rest of the student council about her and Shirogane are dating, yet towards the ending of the movie, it seems everyone knows without Kaguya or Shirogane telling them("Romance is a matter of the mind."). Yes, it is annoying they fastfowarded Kaguya and Shirogane's relationship to the moment they have sex. One of the best parts of the lacklustre second half of Kaguya Sama was the intimate and shared moments between Kaguya and Shirogane. Them trying to be a 'normal' couple—which is why I love that they adapted them staying up and talking all night. Yes, it is unsatisfactory they skipped over really funny arcs like Maki's Enlightenment(my counter point is they adapted the Youtuber arc which is funnier) and also skipped arcs that progresses the friendships between characters. Like arcs that involve both Maki and Shirogane. They become closer still, and it would have meant a lot more if they had adapted that when you see her at Shirogane's farewell. And yes, it is somewhat(key word) bad they skipped one of the most important arcs in Kaguya Sama: Ai's arc. The arc greatly contributes to the main theme of this anime: true love. Kaguya and Ai free themselves of their restrictive relationship of mistress and maid and share their true selves as best friends. It's really good. At times. I say at times, and I say somewhat bad, because you dont get the beauty of Ai's arc without getting the ugliness of it. The ugliness being that Ai's arc massively introduces the rest of the Shinomiya family. The reason why, despite its flaws, this special/movie was good is because it skipped over everything(almost everything) relating to Kaguya's family. It was a sacrifice that had to be made for the greater good. I liked everything this movie contained. I liked all the arcs they adapted, I liked every anime original scene, I liked every piece of dialogue spoken. Except one line. See, I was happily dancing in jubilation, elated that my enemies were sobbing due to MID being removed from Kaguya Sama, when all of a sudden I heard a line. I dont understand Japanese, so the raw gravitas of mediocrity this line foretold was enough to draw me in. Kaguya was yapping or something when all of a sudden, she says that a new assistant had been hired. By her BROTHER. My heart sank, and I screamed in horror. The mere allusion to the spawn of Satan was shocking, but thankfully there were ZERO mentions of ANY of Kaguya's bloodline going forward. This special becomes ass if the anime original movie coming out contains an arc similar to the Shinomiya Rescue arc or just any major arc past Ai's. Why risk possibly butchering a great anime by skipping some good content if your just gonna definitely butcher it by including mid. I can only hope the movie coming out focuses on Ishigami, Maki and Tsubame. It would be a great disservice to skip those arcs too. But aforementioned, this really was the best possible outcome for Kaguya Sama. And if you disagree, I dont know. I dont really care, I'm just very happy right now. Thanks for reading.