Kaguya-sama: Love Is War ~ Ultra Romantic Episodes 12 + 13 [Final Impressions]

Episode 12

TWO EPISODES???? I expected an hour long episode, not TWO EPISODES. Whatever, it still works. Especially since I’m glad that they didn’t try and cram all of this content into one 24 minute episode since it was A LOT. I do like how deeply we get into Kaguya’s mind space. Though it also makes me wish we got to see Kaguya when she was at her worst when she was ice cold queen she was before the start of the series. It’s sad because it feels as if she hasn’t grown all that much while she has grown quite a bit comparing to how she was in flashbacks.

When she left after Shirogane told her about his transfer, I half expected her to start crying. However, she actually held it together for the most part. While she was still freaking out over the fact that all of the plans she had were crumbling in front of her. Guess it just goes to show that the two should have just been upfront with their feelings at the start. Since they never got rewarded by using their underhanded schemes. So now Kaguya is trying her best to figure out just how to confess while Hayasaka shows her the plan on how it will all go down. But by this point, we should all expect cunning plans often just do not work in this series. And despite Kaguya’s progress she still defaults to very tsundere answers during practice. Though Hayasaka trying to coach Kaguya in what kind of confession felt counter intuitive towards the notion of giving a genuine confession.

I think the most heartwarming part of this whole scene was when Kaguya actually went into detail about why she likes Shirogane. She admires him so much. Especially with how he keeps moving forward Yeager! so it would break her heart even more to tell him to not go even if it hurts that he’s leaving. And I really have to appreciate Kaguya in that moment because even though she can be very selfish, even she knows that she shouldn’t hold him back. It’s such a selfless action and it just shows how her feelings are genuine as she wants what’s best for him. And I’m glad that Hayasaka realized her mistake in prodding Kaguya too hard, understanding just how hurt Kaguya must be hurting. Initially it did seem like Hayasaka was just kind of making fun of Kaguya for not being able to confess, but once she sees the levity of the situation, she comes around and genuinely wants the confession to be a success.

Unfortunately, the plan they had immediately goes sideways when they can’t even find Shirogane. So the first part of the plan is already a bust since they couldn’t find him so Kaguya has to shoot the campfire without him watching how cool she is. However, she wasn’t the only one making extravagant plans as Shirogane ends up being the phantom thief Arsene and sends Chika and the two reporter chicks on a wild goose chase to try and find him. But Kaguya seems to have caught on as she seems fairly familiar with how Shirogane thinks and is able to correctly deduce where he would be waiting. She even shows a bit of growth on her part for wanting to take up the challenge of confessing on her own without Hayasaka’s help… only for that to fly out the window a moment later when the vending machine wouldn’t accept Kaguya’s freaking 10,000 yen bill and she goes through a mental breakdown. I lost it when Kaguya couldn’t figure out why the vending machine wouldn’t accept basically her $100 bill all the while believing the machine broke down XD. Oh Kaguya… you sweet summer child. And then to top it all off, she ended up losing the heart keychain. Because of course she did…

Speaking of going sideways, Ishigami’s situation with Tsubame is going… in an interesting direction to say the least. Not only did Ishigami give Tsubame a large amount of time to think about her answer to his “confession” all the while thinking she meant if she’d want to see the cherry blossoms bloom, but he figures it out that he “confessed” when he realizes the meaning behind giving someone a heart-shaped item. I was starting to wonder if the miscommunication would continue further, but I’m glad that at least Ishigami realized the misconception so at least he’s caught on now. I also have to give credit to Tsubame for not being swayed by the other first year girls who badmouth Ishigami. And just like what she’s doing about his “confession,” she’s taking the time to know him and see with her own eyes just what kind of person he is. And thankfully she sees the good in him. So maybe there is hope for him yet since he is a sweetie at heart.

Also they freaking went HARD on the animation for that play. It’s always hilarious how they put so much animation into things that aren’t necessarily that important. But it makes it all the more hilarious.

This part of the final ends with both Shirogane and Kaguya both panicking for the respective issues at hands and are slowly losing their nerve to confess. But I do like how they’re going into this without their usual “weapons” or schemes, making way for a more genuine interaction rather than one with fronts and schemes.

Episode 13

I don’t think ANYONE expected these two to confess any time soon or even ever considering the premise. BUT HERE WE ARE. I even asked a few friends if they think that the two got together three seasons in and they all answered “no.” And here is Kaguya proving everyone wrong lol. It’s honestly really surprising that the two took such a big step in their relationship, especially when other romances take FOREVER to confess to each other. And here are the two biggest tsunderes making moves way before the series is even over. That most likely got a bunch of peoples’ minds blow. Enough to shoot it to #1 on MAL and surpassing that of FMAB which I don’t agree with but I digress.

Before I delve into the confession scene, I do want to touch on how they showed a deeper look into Kaguya’s feelings for Shirogane. Up to this point, we’ve gotten bits and pieces as to why Kaguya likes Shirogane. Even in the last part of the finale, we got a clearer image of what she likes about him and just how genuine her feelings are. However, it wasn’t until this episode where we get the bigger picture. The fact that she grew up believing that life was just about enduring pain is incredibly sad. And just like I said in an earlier post, her being in the student council allowed her to come into contact with good influences, changing her warped mindset that was forced on her by her family most likely.

It’s sad that the more she interacted with Shirogane, the more she started hating herself because she realized just how wrong her world view was. She only viewed people on their worth and how useful they’d be to her while Shirogane saw value in everyone, wanting to help them no matter the circumstance or label. The level of maturity to do a self reflection in this way is incredibly admirable and it’s sad that Kaguya felt like she was a terrible person that someone like Shirogane would never like her. I quote from Fruits Basket came to mind while watching this scene where Yuki talks about how people who hate themselves can’t hope to love themselves until someone else tells them that they love them. This is something that I feel relates to Kaguya’s situation as she wants Shirogane to confess to her for validation and that I’m sure she’d slowly start loving herself since she obviously can’t see the good in herself on her own. She needs someone to tell her the good they see in her, which is something I think is relatable to a lot of people.

While Kaguya has gone down in my personal rankings, this scene alone has made me a lot more sympathetic to her as a character. Despite her acting as a cunning person, deep down, she is incredibly insecure and can’t see her own worth. Especially since she grew up with the notion that she is to do whatever her parents dictate and was never allowed to choose what she wanted to do. She only did things because she was expected to do them.

And then in the most grandiose way possible, Shirogane somehow had the sky explode into a flurry of balloon hearts, showing just how much love he has for Kaguya. Though I think the best part of the whole scheme was him plotting how to keep Chika, Iino and Ishigami out of his way the entire time by keeping all of them occupied in one form or another. He certainly covered all of his bases with this plan and boy did it pay off lol. Despite already knowing Shirogane’s reasons for wanting Kaguya to confess to him, it did feel meaningful to reiterate it in this moment. Though it was pretty shocking that the thing that Shirogane did tell her was come with him to Standford. Which is A LOT to ask from someone. While I know there’s a lot of meaning behind this wish, personally, I’ve always been pretty iffy about people going to a specific school just because their love interest is close by. And of course in the heat of the moment, Kaguya agrees. How could she not considering to the insinuations of that request.

Both of them have so much respect and love for the other that they just aren’t able to properly convey them with words. So I think it’s very fitting for both of them to not confess using words, but through actions. Which is probably a good alternative if they feel like they can’t express their feelings out loud for their respective reasons. While Shirogane portrayed his feelings through this grandiose gesture, Kaguya responded in a way that broke the entire fanbase by kissing him. Though I wish they didn’t censor it with the balloon. But it was still a sweet action nonetheless, especially with how she said that was how she feels about him. Essentially reciprocating his actions and feelings towards her. UGH, it may not have been a confession through words, but it was a fantastic confession through action. And I love it. Though the downside was them not feeling a full sense of satisfaction of being confessed to. As neither of them actually said the words “I love you.” But come on, after all that, it should be clear enough. Though it seems they are official by the looks of them holding hands at the end.

But gosh dang it Nagisa, you set a bad example for Kaguya as she kissed Shirogane using their kiss as a basis… But goodness… french kissing someone for the first kiss is sure… not usually how things go lol. Oh Kaguya… Though I did laugh really hard when the labeled Nagisa as a “war criminal.”

As for the other characters, I did think it was very sweet of Nagisa to choose Maki over Tsubasa for the dance, showing why Nagisa always wants Maki to hang out with them. While it is insensitive for her to do so, she only does it because she genuinely wants to be with Maki as well as she gets to spend time with two of her favorite people. Not to mention she even states that she likes Maki more that Tsubasa. Something I’m sure Maki didn’t even realize and might even feel guilty over thinking so lowly of her at times. But it was cute to see them spend time together without Tsubasa around.

I don’t care what anyone says, Ishigami is a sweetie. He definitely went out of his way to get that video of the campfire for Iino because he knew she’d be busy patrolling rather than watching it despite being the most excited about it. But ehhhhh I’m just not into the Ishigami and Iino ship so I wasn’t too ecstatic about the hint towards a growing relationship with them with him unintentionally giving another girl a heart shaped object. But I at least hope Iino can be less abrasive towards him and not always be at each others’ throats.

But man, I absolutely LOST IT when one of the reporter girls got shot through the head with a laser all the while yelling “Canaan.” For a moment I thought she was yelling CANON XDDDDDD. I just went into a straight up giggling fit at that part LOL. There always has to be that one insane scene at the end of the season that just has me laughing by the pure absurdity of it all.

Final Impressions:

They definitely went out with a bang this season. While the premise stays the same as both still want the other to confess verbally, the status quo has officially changed between the two. As now, it seems as if the two will start being more open about their affections with one another and are most likely “together” at this point. But they may still make up some hair brained schemes to try and get the other to say the coveted, “I love you.” This was roughly around where I stopped reading the manga, so I don’t have the foreknowledge of what is to come. I know bits and pieces and some major events, but I don’t know what leads up to those things. So next season will definitely be a ride upon seeing what goes down between the two now.

This season was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The first half of the season was great and I enjoyed it, but as soon as they started the Culture Festival Arc, it kind of lost me a bit as it felt like it dragged at times. And while the last two eps were fantastic, especially with the expansion on both Shirogane and Kaguya’s feelings towards each other, the build up to the finale felt almost unnecessary. Especially since the episodes before the finale felt like filler. The series even acknowledged the fact it was filler! Despite my gripes, I still have to acknowledge the good this season with Kaguya and Ishigami’s friendship, the rap battle (my absolute favorite this season) and of course that finale kiss. I don’t think this season was as strong as say the first two seasons, but it was still a fun ride.

It was nice that they focused a little more on Kaguya as opposed to the second season even if it feels like she hasn’t changed all that much compared to the others. But we did get some pretty good insight on her these last couple episodes where I was able to feel a bit more sympathy for her as opposed to how I felt during the second season and the majority of this season. Thank goodness too since it allowed me to actually root for her during the clock tower scene. I was starting to get worried that I was beginning to feel more apathetic towards her so I’m glad she was fleshed out a little more before that.

Overall, I still enjoyed this season, but it definitely was a bit lack luster compared to the previous season. And I don’t think it deserves to be ranked quite as highly as it is on MAL currently. The highs of this season felt like an 8/10 but the lows felt like a 7/10. So I suppose I’d give it a 7.5/10, which is definitely lower than what I’d give the first two seasons. But I feel like not all seasons can be bangers and there will be dips here and there. The rap battle episode still has to be my absolute favorite this season as it had me laughing the hardest and actually had good development for some of the characters. Hopefully the next season will be stronger. Until next time!