Some of the greatest works of art are those that somehow manage to fit multiple molds at the same time. Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2 moves beyond the comedic super-focus of Season 1, combining the genre with what so many quickly identify as dramatic elements. Any show, however, that attempts to serve two distinct genres simultaneously runs the poignant risk of split focus, preventing the show from portraying either field effectively. Regrettably, Love is War Season 2 is an excellent example of this pitfall, with writing that fails to commit to either comedy or drama, and fails to meaningfully integrate the two together. Whilethe former season focused largely on building the comedic elements, but struggled with some lackluster drama integration at the end, season 2 attempts to pull this drama into the comedy more meaningfully, but ultimately comes up short in doing either well.
Let me provide a bit of personal context. I saw the first episode of S1 as part of my then-college’s anime club, and having spent way too much time going through Key works and needing something to lift my spirits, decided that following up on the rest of Kaguya-Sama would be a decent choice. I was not disappointed by the incredible opening and appreciated the generally-funny skits, slapstick as they were, and adored the integration of an excellent narrator who prevented the show from becoming yet another stereotypical comedy. I did, however, question the sudden and disjointed integration of the final few episodes, which forwent the comedy entirely to focus on a dramatic arc, which I felt was out-of-place given the lack of former character development requisite to good dramas. I also felt that the remainder of the soundtrack was somewhat forgettable, and the art, while consistent, was not outstanding. Most of all, I was frustrated with about half the characters, who seemed hopelessly stereotypical – suitable, sure, for a comedy, but extremely lacking for a good drama. With the advent of Season 2, I decided for the first time to watch a show during its airing, hoping that the writers could return to the solid comedic standing that attracted me to Season 1.
That being said, having now watched the second season in its entirety, and accumulated the community’s extremely-positive disposition towards the show, I’m very confused as to why it seems to be generally better-received than the first season. As I mentioned before, great works can blend two disparate topics together, using the juxtaposition of themes to improve the message of both. This does, however, open up the work to criticism of both themes, allowing shortcomings that might have otherwise been ignored to come into full view. That, of course, is what I plan to do next, before discussing the ever-significant topic of how the themes interact with each other.
Let’s start with the comedy, because that’s where this show truly began. It needs no saying that the battle of the minds - Shirogne and Shinomiya – and an everlasting, overblown mutual desire to force the other to confess their love. The stakes are no different from any ordinary high-school romantic comedy, but it’s the presentation that gives this show a unique take in its saturated genre. Love is War integrates a narrator, who is in charge of announcing the daily battles, describing the internal machinations of each side’s psyche, and ultimately announcing the winner at the end of the incident. I have a very difficult time understanding why some people find the narrator distracting or unnecessary – in my mind, he provides a unique spin on the melodramatic confession trope, permitting the audience full glimpses into the minds of the two figures. Now don’t get me wrong – none of the skits, which generally stretch only part of one episode – are particularly funny on their own. It’s the combination of the setting with the announcer, the ever-changing art flipping across the screen, and the absolute seriousness in which each menial encounter is portrayed, that really makes this show funny. I won’t say it’s my favorite sort of humor, but the build of the drama surrounding each situation, coupled with a surprising amount of genuinely funny throwaway lines, actually makes this show really fun to watch when it happens to be in a good spell.
Oh wait – did I say drama? Yes, the use of dramatic elements to build the comedy is perhaps the only place where I can laud the writers in their attempts at integrating the two genres. The way in which trivial situations and menial encounters are built, integrated with gripping, shifting sound and art, and then finally brought crashing down into a crash of banality as the announcer states the winner is actually remarkably well done, and really makes each encounter that much more enjoyable to watch. Like I alluded to earlier, some of the one-off interactions, such as when Shirogane offhandedly remarks that he’s done absolutely nothing but work and study, somehow manage to come with good timing and are probably what I laughed at most in this show. In summary, the comedy is certainly good, mostly thanks to the unique narration and juxtaposition between the trite and the serious.
Unfortunately, as could be expected, some of the jokes and skits do become repetitive and predictable by the end. Perhaps it’s just the familiarity with Season 1 fresh in my mind, but Season 2 seemed to be struggling for comedic ideas by the time it came to an end. There’s some unique skits, but there’s also a lot of repeating what we saw in the previous season, and sometimes of earlier parts of the same season. It almost gives me the impression that someone’s scraping for ideas. Last time the student council played a game it ended up funny? Let’s repeat that multiple times this season. Last time Chika taught helpless Miyuki a new skill or talent? Why not have her do it twice within a few episodes. I will admit that the similar skits tend to come out to different resolutions each time and still retain most of the humor, but they definitely dry slightly with each passing iteration.
Let’s turn now to the drama. While Season 1 limited its real drama to the end of the show, Season 2 seems to integrate it from the get-go. It’s almost as if the writers, with the end of the successful season in the minds, decided it would be a good idea to put drama everywhere in Season 2. But in something that only has room for 12 episodes, something else has to go, and in this case, it’s the comedy. In a way, I see why – even already, I see some of the jokes and scenarios becoming repetitive – splitting up the humor with some dramatic episodes should be a good idea, right? Well, the opposite is true. You’ll know it when the narrator stops talking, because suddenly the quality of the show begins to hit some turbulence. Unlike the prior season, S2 switches quickly from humor to drama and back again, leaving me bewildered at best and reeling at worst. That’s something I can overlook if the drama is meaningful, well written and integrated – a question we’ll get to next. And what better way than to start with the characters that comprise it?
I feel like I’m repeating what I wrote in my Season 1 review, but talking about some of the side-characters is pretty much regurgitating what I wrote about a year ago. Fujiwara Chika is an incredibly one-dimensional character and absolutely nothing about her has changed for this new season. This sort of extreme flatness is very similar to the way I’ve described other characters in other shows, and isn’t always a bad thing. However, I really struggle to see how it assists the drama here. Flat characters can be good for comedies as they provide a consistent, predictable touchstone to return to. However, unless masterfully integrated, they tend to completely fall apart, as Fujiwara tends to here. Sure, her antics may be funny the first time but tend to be annoying the second or the fiftieth. It’s never difficult to predict what she’s going to do next, what’s she’s going to say, or how she’s going to react. Maybe this is intentional, but if so, why try to provide a pretense of depth around the other four main characters? Season 2 certainly attempts to provide a deeper look into Shinomiya, Ishigami, Shirogane and Iino’s heads, but decides entirely to forego Fujiwara, perhaps realizing that they’ve already gone too far at stripping her of any depth at all. She can’t even decide to support Iino when Shirogane and Ishigami mistreat her for more than approximately 2 minutes.
Why not move onto Yuu Ishigami next, the one character who I feel was slighted the most by the lackluster drama development. I noted in Season 1 that I definetely preferred the two males to the female members of the council, as their personalities actually demonstrated some sort of character development and redeeming qualities. Ishigami’s character is actually developed significantly in Season 2, but done so in a way that I can’t wrap my mind around. Generally, we become exposed to his background and the way it drives his character through a series of moments and flashbacks. I’ve heard it said that Ishigami has an “arc,” but I think calling it that would be an insult to legitimate character arcs. He has a bunch of timeslots previously left unfilled by the writers, who realized with about 1 episode to go they had brought no closure to his story so they decide to develop a whole episode to it, in stark contrast to the multi-episodic nature of Love is War. It’s frustrating, as I seriously feel like the drama surrounding his journey could have been super interesting if it wasn’t awkwardly placed in and around a show that’s purported purpose is comedy. It was unfair, and I’d also argue that its resolution through the godlike, brilliant Shirogane was banal at best and patronizing at worst.
Speaking of patronizing resolutions, it’s pretty clear we need to look at Iino’s arc next. Notice I didn’t put quotes around it this time, as I feel that her story, unlike Yuu’s, actually involved a dedicated, though short, slot in the show. But why? Almost more than any other character I’ve ever seen, I feel like Miko simply doesn’t need to exist. She’s portrayed as a stoic, determined, straight-edged girl, the only character to exist to provide legitimate competition to Shinomiya and Shirogane, but after the arc ends, she turns into a complete throwaway, existing only to walk in at critical moments or exasperate Yuu. Her story, like Ishigami’s, is resolved in a way that only makes Shirogane look more angelic and Shinomiya more crafty, strenghtening my proposition that her arc really isn’t about her – which is a shame, because I also felt like it could have been quite strong if in a different context. If the context doesn’t fit, why does she need to exist at all?
The name comes up again and again, so it’s time to talk about Shinomiya next. Let me preface this by saying that I know the community really latches onto some characters for good reason, due to their excellent writing, unique characterization, or other compelling aspects. I feel like the community has latched onto Kaguya for no good reason at all. I tend to look at “good” characters in one of two ways – those I like and those I respect. Sousuke Sagara, due to his admirable loyalty and insane determination, falls within the former category. Kyon, due to incredible character development and complex narrative qualities, falls into the latter. Shinomiya falls into neither of the above. She’s not likeable in the first season and even less so in the second season. In the first, I could explain away some of her mistreatment of the fellow council members, Chika and Yuu particularly, as reflecting her vague innocence and determination, but in this season, they just become positively confounding. I really don’t think that Shinomiya actually cares about anyone outside of Shirogane. She regularly demeans Chika, threatens Yuu, disregards Miko, and completely disdains Hayasaka Ai. There’s almost nothing about her that I can look up to, as her self-interest and compulsive desire for Miyuki governs everything else about her. But at the same time, she’s not worthy of respect either. All of her writing circles around the superficialities of her being in love, and even some of the better moments, such as her interactions with Kei while shopping or Yuu while preparing for his event, are cut short by the strange comedy/drama tension. The one moment where she considers whether she’s truly in love with the president is the single meaningful moment of character development in my mind, and the writers dash it against the rocks just a few minutes later. Kaguya is fine for the comedy but really stinks in the drama department, as she’s neither likeable nor respectable. It also frustrates me just how many scenes are dedicated to her freaking out alone.
Finally we get to Shirogane, the character who I would definetely describe as my favorite in Season 1 and less-definetely so in S2. Unlike Kaguya, I can actually both somewhat like and respect him – the former for his practicality and love for his eccentric family, the latter for his legitimate concern for the well-being of the student council and its constituents. I feel like, however, the drama seriously cheapened his character in this season. I ragged on this before, but both Yuu’s story and Miko’s arcs are both resolved with Miyuki saving the day, in an act that somehow surrounds the two with a group of laughing friends, which is all they ever wanted, right? I’m amazed with how little his character is actually developed, even given the amount of time that this show dedicates to the drama. Legitimately-interesting moments such as his interactions with father and sister are cut frustratingly short, and are laughed away by the end of the season.
So what else can I say? Of the five main characters, one is hopelessly flat, one gets shafted by the writing, one doesn’t need to exist, one is unlikeable and unrespectable, and one makes pretty much no progress. Sure, Yuu and Miko might have got some meaningful moments, but they seem more or less like distraction fodder for the fact that the actual drama between Shinomiya and Shirogane hasn’t progressed at all by the time the season ends. It’s frustrating to me, and I feel like if the writers had decided to stick entirely with comedy, they would not have fallen so short when attempting to integrate the drama, which is a true shame.
My last brief comments will be on the score and the music. The opening is good, I’d say, but with the incredible Season 1 opening to compare to, I regrettably have to admit it doesn’t stand out like it should. The ending is forgettable and a bit of a letdown, but at least the rest of the soundtrack is normally fairly solid, though not outstanding. The art is generally consistent, and I feel has improved over the first season, particularly in the overblown comedy scenes, which I legitimately appreciated this time around. The voice acting was definetely decent as well, with Aoyama Yutaka doing another stellar job.
In conclusion, I regret that I will have to rate this second season worse than the first, for now assigning it a 5 (which, in my mind, is average). The strange switch to drama at the end of S1 slightly damaged my rating a year ago, but the poorly-executed comedy/drama of S2 sincerely frustrated me this time around. I really wish that the authors had either focused more resources on reviving the comedy with more unique, non-repetitive skits – I feel like the unique take to narrated comedy is the standout aspect of this franchise, and I’d say even that was worse in this season than the former. If the drama had to exist, I wish that the writers had been more judicious in their decisions to introduce characters, thoroughly developing them rather than jumping to patronizing conclusions. And for heaven’s sake, if a third season does happen, let us get a conclusion making me fight the battle of getting through another fruitless 12 episodes.
Recommended
If someone shits on Kaguya-sama in front of me, I have only one reply for them. “Urusai, baaka!” Kaguya-sama: Love is War was a great show and one of my favorites of the year 2019. It had an entertaining cast of main characters, a group of just as amusing side characters that made an appearance every now and then, and to freshen things up, a simple yet compelling tale about two geniuses trying to outwit each other in a totally contrasting way to Light and L from Death Note, with top tier comedy to top it all off. It had certain elements that we’d previously seenbut the overall product of everything it offered was something very unique.
Now, take everything I said above and add a progressive plot, some more characters who’re just as delightful as the ones introduced last season and the previous cast getting development as well as becoming even more charming. All this executed so spectacularly that even the first season that I liked so much pales in comparison. Oh, and also, add sick animation, a captivating OP and OST, and you’ve got what Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2 offers.
In short, this season has all of what made the first season great and does it better. To me, Kaguya-sama S2 is almost a perfect Slice of Life/romcom. This season has taken Kaguya-sama to the top echelon of romcom or heck, even SOL anime in general, in my list.
The first season was an introduction to the characters, focusing more on telling the tale in an episodic fashion without a lot of story progression. This season instead, focuses on the plot moving forward. Instead of hilarious episodic stories, we get hysterical episodes with the plot progression every inch of the way. The academic year is about to end so tensions rise during the student council president election as a new foe appears, Shirogane’s family is explored more and Ishigami’s character is fleshed out in the latter half of the season. The anime is not about just making you laugh now. It’s about trying to make you cry before having you burst out laughing, rolling on your couch.
One of the (many) reasons why Kaguya-sama shines over other romcoms is because it’s not afraid of doing where most of them would falter. You want the main protagonist being called a manwhore for multiple episodes? It’s got you covered. You want a Monogatari scene reprised? Gotcha. You want a guy’s father saying how his high school son is still a kid and his hair down there hasn’t even sprouted yet to a girl’s father? Sure, it’s there. You want the female lead to think about all the intricacies of the male’s underpants? Oh, you’ll get that. Point to remember, Kaguya-sama is still rated as PG-13.
Misunderstandings are the source of a lot of comedy and that’s one thing that you’ll find in a lot of romcoms. Kaguya-sama though managed to create amusing moments not in spite of them, but because of them. I could watch entire episodes on the same jokes and still wouldn’t get bored. But no, we don’t get the same joke used over and over. You’ll have tens of new ones every episode.
In this season too, Kaguya continues in her quest to make Miyuki Shirogane confess his love to her. Same goal but the approach has changed. Or rather, evolved. She’s a lot bolder in this season using tricks as well as other people, to be put Shirogane into difficult situations. And sometimes, this puts her in situations that she loves yet fears. This is when, the best girl of the season for me, at least for the first few episodes, Hayasaka Ai comes to her aid. Oh, how I’ve loved every moment of watching her. She shows us a side of her personality that I didn’t think she had. And then turns into another character who’s almost unrecognizable. Frightening!
Now, let’s talk about Miyuki Shirogane. Out of all of the main characters in the series, he’s the least talked about and the most underrated. Ishigami-kun is everyone’s best boy while all the girls are contenders for best girl. But our protagonist just doesn’t get enough love from the fans. To me, he was the hero in this season. And he was the hero to the characters as well. He goes out of his way to help people; people whom he doesn’t know that well, and helping them in a way that wouldn’t really benefit him. When, in the biggest moment of her high school life, Iino Miko faces a problem that’s haunted her all her life, Miyuki comes to the rescue, disregarding the fact that it puts his own reputation and image on the line. When Ishigami can’t deal with his problems, current and past, Miyuki gives him a shoulder to lean on. And of course, he’s always there for Kaguya. His acts of selfless heroism made him the character I most enjoyed watching this season. Of course, the others had their arcs and moments but in all of those, Miyuki was the focal point at the most prominent moments. He’s the hero this world needs but doesn’t deserve. Truly a chad!
The character who got the most development was undoubtedly Ishigami Yu. As I said above, he’s best boy for a ton of fans and for good reason. The Ishigami arc in S2 had been hyped up by the manga readers and although I personally wouldn’t put it on a pedestal over the other arcs in S2 (to me, the entire season was top notch and I can’t put one arc over the other), delving into his past and exploring his character was fantastically handled. We not only get to see why he’s become so afraid of associating with people, but also him overcoming that and recognizing that the people around him are not as awful as he’d thought they’d be. There’s so much room for growth with him and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of the same in the future.
The best aspect of the show? I was in quite a conundrum when I asked myself this question. The season is so well rounded that neither could I think of a real weakness, nor could I find something that I could put over the other aspects that easily. The clean and smooth animation, a deep dive into the characters’ past and personalities, the use of a pretty good OST, Daddy Daddy Doo and everything I’ve mentioned earlier were all so brilliantly executed. Even so, I can’t help but applaud one thing over all of these: the voice acting. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the other facets lacked in comparison. No, no. It’s just that I don’t think I’ve ever come across an anime or a show in general, in which I could so easily make out that the level of voice acting I was experiencing was exemplary.
The Japanese voice acting industry is brimming with talent and we see extraordinary performances from these guys all the time. But the level of voice acting from all of the people involved in Kaguya-sama S2 and the range that they exhibited just made me appreciate that what I was experiencing was the makings of something truly special. I feel that most voice actors are able to show their true talent in a show in which they’re able to convey a multitude of emotions and SOL/romcom have the most freedom in that regard. Some of my other favorite comedy shows have had superb voice acting like Saiki Kusuo, Grand Blue, Great Teacher Onizuka but I felt that the voice acting in Kaguya-sama S2 surpassed all of those. Could it be recency bias? Possible but I still can’t find any that I’ve watched that I can say has an undeniably better voice acting performance than this. The cast for Kaguya-sama is very young. For most of them, Kaguya-sama is like a breakthrough anime through which could take that leap which makes them one of the top names in the industry. And I honestly believe they’ve done that. The ones who impressed me most were Yumiri Hanamori and of course, Aoi Koga, the VAs for Hayasaka and Kaguya respectively. The range of tonal shifts that they displayed is fascinating and a treat to listen to. Just watch a video of them voicing Kaguya and Hayasaka and you’ll understand exactly what I mean.
Kaguya-sama is easily my Anime of the year thus far. And right now, I can only see two anime, both sequels that could potentially take that title this year, for me at least. Oregaieru S3 and Attack on Titan S4, if it does indeed air this year, are the two. And if they manage to surpass or even equal what Kaguya-sama S2 did, then we’re in for something epic. I’ll miss watching Kaguya-sama every week until Season 3 comes out. It was an anime that truly enhanced the source material and turned it into something very, very special.
JoJohan__Liebert_
June 27, 2020
Not Recommended
Kaguya sama wa kokurasetai season 2 is the disappointment of the season. It has its ups and downs, the ups being the final three episodes, and the downs being the rest of the season. Only the final three episodes provide any sense of progression, be it for the characters or for the plot. Ishigami’s long awaited character arc was freaking fantastic, but the same can’t be said about the other characters'. Even after 24 episodes have aired, many of the characters are as bland as they were in the first episode of the first season. I was able to overlook this in season 1, because Idon’t expect the author to be able to completely characterize and develop the personalities of four main characters in the span of 12 episodes, but I do expect that, or at least half of that, to happen within 24 episodes. If I don’t even know or understand the characters, and if I’m not even the least bit acquainted with them, how can you even expect me to give two shits about their romantic feelings for each other?
All the female characters (and I do mean all) are basically reskinned versions of various “-deres”. Kaguya is a tsun-dere, Hayasaka is a kuu-dere, Iino Miko is a baka-dere and Chika is an annoying-dere. The female characters have no personalities of their own, but have inherited their dispositions, if you can even call them that, from stereotypes. Chika’s character is just to be “cute”; I prefer the phrase obnoxiously irritating but whatever. The entirety of Kaguya’s character revolves around Shirogane; if we were to remove Shirogane from her life all that would be left is an empty husk of a high school girl. Indeed, if this is what the anime intended for her character to be, then I would’ve had no qualms with that, but that is definitely not the case. She’s supposed to be one of the leads, and all we know about her is that she loves Miyuki and has daddy issues. Do we know what caused her daddy issues after two cours? Nope.
Hayasaka has been Kaguya’s maid since her childhood, and that’s her character done for the series. I did feel myself liking Miko initially when she was introduced, because she was actually given a purpose, a purpose that wasn’t relied upon any other character, until that very purpose was daddy-daddy-dooed into oblivion. She was an interesting character and her struggles – public speaking and isolation – were well established. These are complications that I’m sure most of us could related to at some point in our lives. I was invested. I wanted a resolution for her character, not some sort of catharsis but something that would be satisfying and relatable, but all we got was a 5-minute scene where she overcomes it all through nakama power. I wish I was making this up.
A small pep talk from Shirogane is all it takes for her to overbear her fear of public speaking, fear that has cultivated in her mind since her elementary school days, and all it takes for her to overcome it is a debate about why boys in their school should shave their heads in order to conform uniformity. Yeah, BS.
That episode made me question something. Does this show want to be a comedy with serious moments, or does it want to be a serious show with comedic skits; because neither of the two seem to fit the show’s agenda, yet the show still tries its hardest to juggle the two topics. The comedy is more or less hit or miss. The jokes are predictable, 90% of them rely on some sort of misunderstanding between the characters, and frankly, though not a chore to watch, were a bit out of place at times. The joke about Shirogane being not very good at volleyball, and Chika having to teach him tirelessly worked in Season 1, but here that very same joke is repeated two different times; once with singing, and once with dancing.
There would be a moment or two where it feels like the show is actually trying to progress the characters’ relations, but then out of nowhere S Y K E, nothing happens because someone walks in on them.
I can’t go on berating the show as it does have some actual good humour. For example, my favorite in this season is when Kaguya, Ishigami and Shirogane are in a Shoujo manga parody. Now that was hilarious. Taking an already oversaturated genre and saturating it even more created some hysterical moments.
The actual witty comedic timings of the first season were lost somewhere and almost all the comedic moments in this cour are either forced, or mountains made out of molehills. For example, Shirogane approaches Kaguya in front of her classmates and explicitly asks her to PREPARE A SPEECH FOR THE STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT’S ELECTION, but somehow the absolute donuts in the supposedly prestigious school for elites, mistake that for a confession.
The male main characters, are what carry the show because they actually have emotions and act like friends. The show WANTS us to believe that the main quad are friends but shows nothing to instate said relationship between the characters. Let me give you a rundown of how the characters treat each other –
1.Kauguya, with
a)Shirogane – lovey dovey
b)Ishigami – same joke about her being a cold af devil is repeated a million times
c)Chika – considers her a cancer to society and then immediately does a 180 and suddenly she’s her bff
Chika is the same with everyone because she’s got no personality. Shirogane and Ishigami are the only ones who show some sort of realism in their emotions. I know that it’s an anime and all and it doesn’t need to be that realistic, but what gets on my nerves is that the show tries to conceal the lack of depth in the characters and tries to swindle the viewer, using poorly constructed recurring jokes, into thinking that maybe the characters aren’t just ink droplets on a piece of paper.
There’s a scene in this season where the Student Council is disbanded and the characters may never get to spend much time together, but the only thing I could think about is how much I don’t give a shit. The author tries to employ various techniques in order for the viewer to feel sad, which include but are not limited to – crying characters, other characters joining in on the crying, walking into the sunset and more crying. The characters also keep reiterating about how “nostalgic” the past year was as if to convince the viewer to feel the same. If you need to explicitly ask the viewer to have a poignant feeling during a scene, then you need to redo that entire part from scratch.
Show, don’t tell. That’s one of the main philosophies in writing, but unfortunately the show believes in “Tell, don’t show”.
We are TOLD that Kaguya worked the hardest to defend Ishigami, even though we are SHOWN that Shirogane was the one to pull Ishigami out of his “darkness”.
We are TOLD how Kaguya planned something, but we’re never SHOWN how or when she did it. For example, we are told, through Hayasaka, that Kaguya planned for two of the students to go to different schools after they graduated from middle school, only for Kaguya to later state “masaka, I am not that cold”. Is this the author’s way of building up Kaguya? Or is this the author just trying to give Kaguya’s character some edginess? Because, neither of them particularly worked.
The highlight of this season definitely was the handling of Ishigami’s character. The way his character arc was structured is praiseworthy. All the foreshadowing for his character, in Season 1 and the first half of this season, are finally compiled into two episodes and they were magnificent. The resolution was fantastic, the build up was fantastic, everything was fantastic. If only the author cared as much about the female cast as he does about the male counterpart.
The animation is as fantastic as it was in the season prior to this one. There is a sense of fluidity in the characters’ movements which go hand in hand fantastically with the amazing lighting and directing of the skits. There is always something in motion, be it in the foreground or the background, and if we get a still shot it’s usually accompanied with ambient music and gorgeous lighting. In terms of animation, there are no corners cut and there is almost never a dull moment.
The music is great. I like the new Opening and Ending songs this season, though I wasn’t particularly a fan of the previous season’s OP and ED. The rest of the OST is good.
I said it at the start of the review, I’ll say it again, “Kaguya Sama wa Kokurasetai Season 2 is a disappointment”. It has its highs sure, but the time used up in the detours it takes and the meandering it does in order to reach said highs, could’ve and should’ve been used more deftly.
![[Oshi No Ko]](https://myanimelist.net/images/anime/1812/134736l.jpg)
