Kaguya-sama: Love is War (2019)

Kaguya-sama: Love is War is a sharp, fast-paced romantic comedy set at the elite Shuchiin Academy, where Student Council President Miyuki Shirogane — a hardworking prodigy — and Vice President Kaguya Shinomiya — a beautiful heiress — are admired as the perfect pair. Despite their growing feelings for each other, both are too proud to confess, treating love as a battlefield where the first to admit weakness “loses.” The series follows their increasingly elaborate, often absurd schemes to force the other into confessing first, with each episode mixing clever one-upmanship and sight-gag humor. Watching the show, you’ll experience quick-fire comedy rooted in psychology and pride: exaggerated inner monologues, dramatic musical cues, parodic anime tropes, and cinematic reenactments of each character’s fantasies and failures. The supporting student council — the bubbly Chika Fujiwara, the brooding Yu Ishigami, and Kaguya’s composed aide Ai Hayasaka — supply running gags, unexpected subplots, and genuine warmth, so the series balances slapstick and farce with surprisingly sincere emotional beats. Visually expressive animation and smart editing amplify the comedy, turning small social interactions into theatrical battles of wit. Expect lots of laugh-out-loud moments, inventive gimmicks, and tension that oscillates between hilarious posturing and touching vulnerability whenever the characters’ defenses slip. Overall, it’s an entertaining mix of romantic tension and satire of elite youth culture that rewards both casual viewers looking for comedy and viewers who enjoy character-driven romantic slow-burns.

Actors: Aoi Koga, Makoto Furukawa, Konomi Kohara

Genres: Animation, Comedy, Romance

8.5 /10 8.5 /10