Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: First Kiss wa Owaranai

*spoilers in marked section*

Have you ever thought if Kaguya-sama is pure romance rather than so much comedy?

Behold! The most beautiful and romantic movie of the year. This is the greatest story of Kaguya-sama has been told. The epic conclusion to the geniuses' war of hearts and minds since the first season aired in 2019. Ending the war once and for all in this merry Christmas gift offering from A-1 Pictures, Kaguya-sama ~ First Kiss wa Owaranai ~!

After receiving a massive disappointment from the outrageous uLtrA RoMantiCC, I felt angry with this show because it left me with a bitter taste since I’m a fan of ... the series. I ended up picking the manga where it left off to find some answers but I'm really glad I picked it. It turns out, Kaguya-sama isn’t perfect. It has ups and downs but that is what makes it a manga, manga. An anime, anime. I witnessed the truly ultra-romantic in this story arc rather than in the previous season. I didn’t have expectations for the movie since the runtime is only 1 and a half hours, but this adaptation is the one that I wanted to see.

So the story picked up after the events from the previous season. If you saw the ending scene from the last episode, you should ignore that. There are two things that you can think about that scene, either a fanservice or an easter egg from the ending of the movie. But let’s not talk about that and move forward. The members of the gang from the elite student council are back! But there’s one problem, Kaguya suffered from an identity crisis! I like the part when they thought about the kiss because it’s merely an unanswered question of mine. What is the meaning of that kiss? What were Kaguya’s intentions at that time? What will be their relationship from now on? The first act was cute when they adapted the chibi Kaguya while she still had THAT attitude to Ishigami.

The pacing was so fine like they reduced the comedic moments and focused on the romance between the two main characters. It made me feel the pure romantic vibe of the story, rather than being a satire from the previous season. They removed some unnecessary scenes from the manga but it doesn’t feel rushed when I watched it. Yes, there are still comedic moments from the other characters and Shirogane himself. His expressions are so funny when he overthinks things around him, especially to Kaguya. The other characters had some moments but I’ll focus on the main storyline about the two, and how did I like their other sides of the story so far.

- Spoilers –
This is the part that I love the most. How did they deal their themselves at this moment? After the meeting of Kaguya’s personas, it is revealed that the original, or the ice-cold one is the one who truly loves Shirogane the most. While Shirogane, the perfect one, conceals his true self to stand by her side. This is one of the most realistic approaches in many relationships. People know that to be liked by someone is to prove our worth. You must be a perfect person. You must conceal yourself and replace a self where that person can accept you. That’s the cruel part. We might end up having an identity crisis and find it difficult to find our true selves from the many selves that we made. I like the part when Kaguya’s original self enters the whole scene and shows her true self to her, while she’s scared because she might hurt Shirogane. She distanced herself from all the people around her because of her family name and nature. She isn’t really angry but the people around were angry at her. But the reason why she did that was that she didn’t want to end up hurting people. She also thought that when she was finally in love with Shirogane so she built an idiotic self and the current self from the previous seasons, in order not to hate her. So this time, she suppressed her other self because she just don’t want to be an idiot and be carried away, but she want to think about what will happen in the future. She wanted a normal life as a normal young girl. Same for Shirogane, to like and impress by Kaguya, he worked his ass off to become perfect. He poured almost his time to become perfect not just for her, but for other people. He only wanted to notice by Kaguya and the whole student body. But he realizes that it’s not his true self, but “a perfect self” that he made. Being nasty, spineless, a piece of trash, talentless, and a coward are his true self. He fears that everything is over the moment he shows any signs of weakness. He thought that there was no way that Kaguya is destined to be with him because she was just too perfect to reach.

In this part, they are scared of revealing who they are. They both had reasons for why they concealed themselves, and not showing all of it to each other. Their weaknesses and negative sides of themselves. But being who they are and showing who they are is one of the important key factors in having a romantic relationship. Accepting not only the good sides but also the flaws and imperfections that each other. And even, though everyone isn’t perfect you should embrace also your flaws and other selves to understand yourself.

The Christmas party in the last part is one of my favorite moments in the whole story. There are funny moments like the gift revealing that made me laugh. The Handmade Bombs gift is the weirdest and it’s funny because they executed it well. The bench part is the most romantic scene I’ve ever discovered. They confronted each other and revealed their true selves. Kaguya wants to know if Shirogane hates her true self, while Shirogane still hides it from the girl he loves. Kaguya being determined to show her true self marks her finest character development because she had nothing to fear, even though she carries her prideful family name. She gets his gift, and it was revealed that his gift was just a cheap toy. I didn’t expect that reaction from Shirogane when he was asked about his gift. In the end, she gratefully accepts it and his true self. They shared a romantic kiss under a half-moon. Not an ultra-romantic full moon, but still romantic.

There are many messages from this movie that I appreciated. It’s fine not to be perfect. Love doesn’t have to be perfect like making grand surprises, saying great lines, improving themselves just to be perfect, and even having a kiss in a romantic scene. There’s nothing more wonderful than sharing everything and completely understanding one another. Showing the plain normal self and people who are closest to us will embrace who we are. Having closure for these two characters made me feel romantic and somehow wanted to cheer them on their romantic journey.

The animation and music are amazing so far and the adaptation is well done. As expected from A-1 Pictures, they gave me reasons why this studio will remain my favorite. The theme Love is Show made it to my second favorite song from the whole Kaguya-sama. It is not catchy but it’s lively and lovely. The seiyuus did a very good job of voicing the characters. The background music from this movie skyrocketed my impressions and they were made a great job with it. Probably my favorite soundtrack so far.

Overall, this movie is a sweet treat for all Kaguya-sama fans. The movie gave justice to the manga, and it made one of my favorite romance movies. It made me believe again that romance stories are still a thing, after the disastrous adaptation/ending of 5-toubun no Hanayome. It is marked on my list as the pinnacle of romance from the whole Kaguya-sama story, and I hope that this marks the conclusion of the main storyline. The next stories from the manga felt flat actually but who knows? A-1 Pictures might start milking the cash cow.

Once again, it’s time to say farewell to the war that lasted a few years and moves forward to a new stage for the two main characters. As the happy couple emerges, a first kiss will never ends and will last for a lifetime <3

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

Story: 9.6/10
Animation: 8.7/10
Characters: 9.3/10
Sound: 9.1/10
Entertainment factor: 9.6/10
Enjoyment: 9.8/10

Until now the anime's production earned a reputation of making miracles come true. It was impressive how much of a well-done adaptation Season 3 was considering the various production hurdles. This 'movie' would look like an even harsher challenge, since the announcement frankly came out of nowhere and it was delivered so quickly after season 3. For the most part, this release looks like another miracle. However, this time there are parts of the adaption that have been lackluster and some that are pretty bad.

I won't go into specifics in order to avoid spoilers. But basically, the movie is mainly adapting an arc of the ... manga that's usually competing for the title of the best arc in the manga. And for the most part, the adaption of that material is quite good. In a previous review I used words like 'perfect' or great. But upon a second rewatch and trying to be more analytical about it. It's not really perfect.

There are things to consider. Although it was advertised as a movie. The animation quality is more like a continuation of what you'd seen in the later episodes of season 3. Not bad at all but not exactly what you'd expect in a silver screen release. This is more of a case of the advertising being confusing. As there are parts of the marketing material that really avoid saying the word 'movie'. The more accurate promotions describe it as a "special advance screening before the TV release".

Another aspect is the pace. These are some of the most content-dense chapters and 96 minutes is a rather tight limit. You could say that as such the number of scenes skipped or shortened is understandable. I don't agree with it. I don't think it needed to be released as a movie, and I certainly don't think it needed to be released as a 96-minute movie that also spends too much time teasing another arc between secondary characteres that was not actually going to be properly developed in the movie. There were many ways to adapt this arc differently and avoid these pacing issues.

But the source content is still incredible and there are still many situations where A1 went above and beyond in the adaption. The two main characters are facing their worst inner demons and have to help each other out in order to continue their romantic story. The previous paragraphs were mostly nitpicks, although really the intention is to fight the common claim that this part is 'perfect' and deserves the highest score.

As for the most troublesome part of this movie, after the main arc is finished, the animation production made the bizare decision of adapting a much-later chapter. The transition from the end of the movie's arc to the later chapter is really jarring. And in order to have some context it has to show scenes from skipped chapters as flashbacks or as short moments. All of this is done in less than 5 minutes. This was simply not the correct way to adapt this chapter. Specially because it is a really pivotal chapter in the manga. From what I could see out of anime-onlies, they either missed that there was a strong message there and would instead focus on the better part of the movie or got completely confused by this scene.

So, "mixed feelings". I think most Kaguya-sama fans will enjoy the way the main arc was adapted and will get their fee fees kicked into overdrive and I can recommend that part. As for the end, my recommendation is to not pay a lot of attention to it if you are anime-only and if you are a manga reader, you might like to leave the theater. We can hope that maybe this is a result of time availability issues and that this thing will be corrected as part of re-cutting this release for TV.

A different cut, either making use of a lot more screen time and giving all the arcs adapted justice or sticking to 96 minutes but avoiding wasting time in parts that don't belong to the main arc would have been truly worthy of 9/10. Add Movie-quality animation to that and we would have a good 11/10.

As a moderate Kaguya fan who's never read the manga I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Was it was wacky and goofy as the series? No. But that wasn't a bad thing. In fact I found the rather serious moments between Kaguya and Shirogane quite good and shows a different side of them. Don't worry though there are still plenty of comical moments. My only critique of the film is how little we got to see of the other characters. This truly focuses on the President and Vice-President's tangled, confusing relationship. As it should becuase, at the end of the day, they are the stars of ... the show. It's just, they hinted at developments for the other characters but never expanded on them. I wonder if I'd get more details in the manga. Anyway, definitely watch it if you have a chance....Oh yea and the soundtrack was great too!

Like the genre, this movie had a perfect balance of Romance and Comedy. It probably made me laugh the most compared to all the anime I have watched. The romantic part kept me excited to see what was going to come. If you are a かぐや様 (Love is War) fan, this is a must-watch. However, if I were to criticize one thing, it will be the lack of pacing in the last part. I think I could have been improved but I digress. By the way, this movie takes right after "Ultra Romantic" so make sure to watch that first.
P.S Watched it at the ... theatres twice. It's that good.

‟I want to love all of you” -Kaguya Shinomiya

It's Love is War ! The funny show where they can't express their love for each others to not feel inferior. Of course, after 3 seasons you probably know the deal. And funny it was, some of the most hilarious moments happened in season 3 and it even became the highest rated anime on MAL for a moment, which is pretty epic for an anime that I really like. Love is War started as a episodic comedy manga, and even with that fact, the time that we dedicated ourselves to read/watch it made us appreciate the students ... council gang a little bit more every time (also the bunch of side characters that are useful to the story and development). At this point, when you know those characters that you love so much, thinking about going further than doing war for the funnie and go into the LOVE part, and oh boy did Kaguya-sama: Love is War - The First Kiss That Never Ends delivered this premise, as to absolutely enhance and hit the avid viewer with very tense and emotionally beautiful moments.

This anime is a RomCom (Romantic Comedy) after all, so let's talk about the comedy first (because I fucking can). I did say that the romantic part of this series, often considered as the staple of his genre, was very deep this time, and that it did hit me and appreciate those characters even more, but don't you worry, the comedy is still there, and it bangs ! While it might not be as significant as the regular seasons, there was a lot of funny moments in this movie, and most of the jokes were hilarious, made me jiggle a ton (but not really anybody else in the room, are those people apathetic !?) and was spouted reasonably over the course of the 90 minutes, the balance for the comedy was perfectly fine, it stays on it's initial roots while sprouting something more serious.

Now onto the big chunk, the golden part, it is obviously the romantic part. After the events from the last episode of season 3, our two main characters, Kaguya and Miyuki doesn't know what they should do afterwards if they want to further expand their romantic feelings towards each others (after all, they spent all of this time previously to not do that). I really liked how deep and psychological parts were executed, it's one of my favourites things in anime but did not expect them in Love is War, but when you see how big brain and how foreseeing they both are, it wasn't at all out of the realm of possibilities. Love, what IS love (baby don't hurt me), how to deal with responsibilities, what the future might holds, how you need to do crucial and definitive choices, how you try to be seen as perfect, how to expose your weaknesses, what true and genuine love feels like (hello Oregairu). Some part of this made me shiver, some part of this almost made me cry, but not out of laughter this time. This really encapsulates my opinion of the anime, and the best part of it. I don't wanna spoil you, I want you to experience it yourself.

Some people might say that it is very unfortunate that this anime has way less focus on side characters, like Ishigami, Chika or Miko and the rest. I kinda do agree that they are all very cool and that it cannot hurt to have them, but having a whole-ass movie length episode of some sort about the 2 MC really puts on the foreground what's important, while the other side characters are just spices made to make the meal more enjoyable and bring out the fun and comedic parts, which in itself is completely fine. Even if your favourite character from this anime isn't either Kaguya or Miyuki, it will still show up and has some sort of impact, the balance of it all is fine and isn't a concern to have in my opinion.

A-1 Pictures is known to do some pretty nice things generally (when it's not putting things on hold), it's such a massive studio making so many things, so you would expect the animation to be fine, even though it's just a romance, not a fighting anime, but as you saw with previous seasons, especially the third one, a romcom can in fact look fucking stunning and clean, and this anime follows it up very well, with some unexpected insanely clean and good looking parts. The color palette, the mastery of sunsets, night shots, the deadly and soulless crimson red eyes of Kaguya in the dark all makes it look stunning, especially on a big theatre screen. Funny thing is, A-1 Pictures did made another movie 2 months prior, the SAO progressive 2 movie, and I would argue that this looks better and got more polish and love than this sword fighting anime, but I digress.

Sometimes, you don't really care about the sound in an anime, even I do sometimes. It's probably a mix of many reasons, but this time I do wanna talk and review the sound of this movie, because there are very good things to say about it. The start of any good anime is the Opening, so it would be logical that I talk about it first. Masayuki Suzuki is loved by this anime community, because of his unique take on anime songs (I mean, he only does Love is War Ops in this sphere of music), it always goes hard and each of his 4 Openings are banger, this one included. Love is Show (the name of the OP) is probably my second favourite, but in reality all of them are probably 10/10, so you'll be sure to enjoy the start of the movie because of it. The OST that you might have heard previously in other seasons are also present, this + the piano musics really makes an emphasis of the emotive and dramatical parts, a mix made to make you feel the moments even more. The insert songs also does that I mentioned previously, but probably better. The one near the end is REALLY good. The Ending is neat, it gives you times to think about what happened, how good it was, share your opinions about it with your friend (if you can do that, but I can say that my friend enjoyed it as much as I have) and what to write in a review if that's your type lol.

This might have been a bit long, but I now feel satisfied with my duty, to share my hype about this movie, when I say it's fucking good, it is indeed fucking good. Hilarious, goes hard, looks stunning and with musics that makes you dance, I don't really associate A-1 Pictures with passion projects, but I feel that with this quality, it cannot be otherwise. The manga really is that good to make an adaptation that's such intricate and good/interesting to watch. I HIGHLY recommend you to watch it (even though it's probably too late for cinema showings, but you could wait for the BD release in a few months), it's the peak of Kaguya-sama : Love is War (maybe just so far, manga readers says it goes even harder and with how they left it at the end of the movie, there are many things that could be very (very) interesting to see) for me, if you have already watched 3 seasons, a movie couldn't hurt, except maybe your heart. It was hell of a ride, a very beautiful one. In the end, I just changed my favourites with the season 3 for the movie, because it did had something unique that wasn't in the other parts, while continuing on what makes this so good.

I also did a total of 10 hours of travel by car to watch this movie, AT LEAST IT WAS WORTH IT FOR THAT.

It felt incredibly average. There were some painfully average clichés and stereotypical romcom elements, but it really didn't feel like the same quality it should have been. Of course this dives further into the romance element than the comedy, but there was depth lacking in both. The only reason I rate this higher than a painfully average 5 is because of the deep internal struggles portrayed in the film. The way Kaguya could emulate a courtroom and incorporate all of her personalities and gather the whole idea as a reflection on who she truly is as a person and why she's choosing a different side ... to single out and portray was something that I really felt connected to and could understand thoroughly. Miyuki's struggle with how he is portrayed as a successful and intelligent person masking his insane and unhealthy amounts of effort and relentless devotion reminded me of some people I know and was something I could even relate to myself. The internal intense dogma mentalities that they set upon themselves as a way to reach their goals was something so deep and meaningful piece of art but shamefully painted onto a painfully average canvas with dull colors.

+ It's very funny and has great comic timing! I watched this in a fully-packed theatre, and the jokes got a lot of laughs and cheers from the whole audience.
+ A great thematic compliment to Season 3! While "Ultra Romantic" was outwardly flashy and idyllic, this movie is quite a bit more grounded and poignant.
+ I enjoy how they keep the pacing tight and free of unnecessary fluff; manga readers will notice how they cut out a few lines or scenes from the chapters to focus the story on our two main protagonists, Kaguya and Shirogane.
+ There are a lot of bits of visual flair, ... like scene transitions or inventive use of colour, that really elevate the source material.
+ Masayuki Suzuki returns with yet another opening track (Love is Show), and it is appropriately jazzy and catchy!
~ As a sequel to Season 3, it is definitely a movie made for fans of the series, people who already know and love the characters.
~ It's quite similar to the usual Kaguya anime experience, which might disappoint viewers looking for something more cinematic.

= As a filthy manga reader, I went into "The First Kiss That Never Ends" with... apprehension. It's not exactly my favourite arc in the series, but I'm happy to announce that the movie is a fantastic adaptation! Funny, light-footed, surprisingly emotional, and extremely enjoyable! Try to watch it in a movie theatre, or at least with a group of friends who also love Kaguya!

Edit / Updated thoughts:
I just rewatched it in 4 episode chunks and I can safely say that 3/4 of this special is top quality and excellent, but the breaking point for me is the 4th part. From what I understand, it adapts a chapter that is further down the line and while it does tie up the story point set up in parts 1, it also sprinkled in scenes from other parts, which no only screws up the pacing of the whole thing big time, but also spoils what's to come for season 4. This Christmas period should have been one entire season instead of ... 4 separate episodes/1 movie.

Old thoughts:
Is it good? Yes. Do I recommend it to fans? Yes. Do I like it? NO.

This should not have been a movie. The pacing is the main issue here, and the most glaring one. It feels like episodes slapped together to make "a movie". It takes place after the events of season 3 and primarily focuses on Kaguya and Shirogane. This is a problem.

We've spent so much time with the other characters that, while yes we do see glimpses of what they're doing, because of the nature of how this is structured, their parts are cut out entirely. So not only does it feel like it's going on for far too long, it also spoils what happens in the upcoming season.

Despite this, I'm still recommending it as the jokes are all still top quality.

Kaguya Sama has been quite highly praised throughout the years of its 3 season release, with the third season taking the internet by storm with how well-executed the climax of the story was. This movie aims to adapt one of the more controversial arcs of the manga, with some praising it for how great its themes are, and others hating it for its so-called "melodrama". I for one, found it to be my favorite arc in the manga, but while having some discussion about the arc in the source material on both /a/ and with my friends, I was kind of worried as to how ... the tone in this movie would be shown. Keep in mind, it's been almost a year since I've read the source material, so coming into it, aside from knowing a short synopsis of what happened in the arc, I had no idea what to expect. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this movie.

I have read others claim that this movie "Creates a non-existent problem just to create a solution to it in the end" and while that might have some truth to it, the problem doesn't seem to even really be a problem at all. From what I remember in the manga, the arc was kind of dramatic, even overly so, but the movie seemed to have a completely comedic atmosphere. In fact, this entire arc doesn't feel serious at all, and I think that greatly increased my enjoyment of it. This arc, while simultaneously maintaining the sharp comedic timing and wit which was prevalent in the series, was mainly tackling the issue of people trying to maintain their own picture-perfect image and how that could affect a relationship. To take a movie this comedy focused in a literal way would be retarded beyond belief, but that doesn't mean it is absent of interesting themes. One prevailing narrative I've started to notice in the anime community is that comedy somehow can't be deep, and while this gets proven wrong time and time again, even by shows these autists hold dear, Kaguya for sure puts the nail in the coffin.

If you like somebody, does that mean you have to like all aspects of them? If you have feelings for someone, how much of them is just a front and how much of them is the genuine article? The movie excellently juggles these thought-provoking true-to-life questions with its already hilarious and enjoyable comedy almost perfectly, and this theme of real vs fake is often rarely explored by modern romances. Often what will happen in an anime romance is that the male or even female lead will just be the genuine article from the beginning, either that or they will already get to know most of their love interests' secrets before confessing. The thing is, reality doesn't really work this way, and Kaguya sama portrays this in a realistic yet entertaining and endearing way.

One thing that might serve as an issue for fans of the manga is that there are a couple of chapters that were skipped at the end, but I think that was the right decision to make. Ending the movie on the bench scene would feel somewhat inconclusive, and adding drama pertaining to Ishigami when this is a movie that clearly emphasizes the relationship between Shirogane and Kaguya while keeping the same pacing would have made the movie feel a lot more messy and unfocused, as they don't add to the message of the movie itself.

The audiovisual aspects of this movie are nothing short of great, as already demonstrated by Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Director Shinichi Omata. The SHAFT-esque directing, coming from an ex SHAFT member himself, greatly enhances not only the source material but this arc in particular as well, considering how many weird dream sequences there are and the odd surreal nature of the arc. A1 pictures are quite a controversial studio and have made a lot of shows which I vehemently despise, but they made Space Brothers (albeit 10 years ago) and brought magic to this series, enhancing the already great source material and bringing it to a whole new level of quality, so they've gleaned a bit of grudging respect out of me.

Kaguya sama, whether people like it or not will definitely go down in history as one of the greatest romantic comedy animes ever made. The anime seems to have concluded with this fantastic movie, and I wouldn't have it any other way, as the manga goes downhill after this arc. The anime seems to have preserved the greatness that the manga once had, and this movie reminds me of that. If you are a fan of the Kaguya sama anime so far, this movie will be nothing short of a treat, and I recommend watching it in theatres if you can.

Thanks for reading.

The First Kiss That Never Ends is a direct continuation of the ending of Season 3 and shouldn’t be viewed on its own or skipped over. It also continues the more slice-of-life presentation that the series evolved into. However, while this movie has the same type of writing and visuals as its anime, the actual plot becomes the most serious Kaguya-sama’s tone has ever been by far. Plus, it returns to focusing on Kaguya and Miyuki’s relationship again which is welcome (even for someone who loves the side characters and their stories like me).

The first half or so of the movie is the usual Kaguya-sama ... goofiness. Maybe it was because everyone in the theater was laughing, but I had a great time with the jokes in this one.

Then the plot starts shifting, focusing on Kaguya’s past and insecurities. While these are touched on throughout the series, this was a surprisingly deep dive into Kaguya as a character. Personally I’ve always been in the camp of wanting to see Kaguya be cute and silly instead of a Shinomiya, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed all of the time spent on that other side of her. It’s very well-executed, using discomfort to great effect. Her backstory also hit me pretty hard personally. Miyuki has a similar light shown onto why he’s the way he is that’s also great to see, though not as much as Kaguya. While this is a bit of a shame, I don’t think he needed it as much. On one hand it’s a bit unfortunate that it took this long to really flesh these two out, but on the other hand I think using a “separate” movie like this to really highlight it was a great move.

The movie also has a very strong and lovely theme. Considering it’s basically the plot of the movie I don’t want to spoil it, but I think it carries a great message that also perfectly encapsulates the series as a whole. (While it seemed to contradict itself near the end, ultimately I think it actually helped reinforce the point by being more realistic about it.)

One criticism I could see people disliking more than me is that the writing can be pretty verbose and thick with what it’s having the characters convey. At times even I thought “I caught that before you spelled it out”, and a few sentiments from characters didn’t feel like something a 17 year-old would actually say. However, I personally don’t think it was egregious enough to detract from the experience that much. Plus, I’d rather have it be like that instead of obscure anyways. The movie makes up for it somewhat by actually having a good amount of little clever showcases of its theme in the first half before making it obvious.

Another criticism (that’s not new to Kaguya-sama) is that the movie will throw in jokes right after a dramatic segment without giving emotions enough time to really settle in. Fortunately this only happens a couple of times and isn’t bad enough to linger on, but it’s especially unfortunate here considering how much more meaningful these moments are. (Though admittedly I still laughed at them...)

Regardless, The First Kiss That Never Ends successfully focuses on and conveys its message about what it means to be in a relationship. It blows out even the series’s best “drama” moments while still having the charm it’s loved for. It might not be perfect, but it’s the most solid representation of Kaguya-sama as a whole.

"If that high-maintenance, unpleasant half of Kaguya Shinomiya... were to receive a kiss from Pwesident... I'm sure we'd die of happiness."

-- the following is a discussion on love and life, my personal take on it and how it relates to kaguya as a whole, as well as my overall thoughts. slight spoilers concerning how our leads handle love and a late-movie conversation b/w them. reader discretion is advised. --

Love isn't an easy thing to commit one's self to. There's a reason why the shiftiness of marriage or settling down or a simple label is so prominent in media: it's real. Even if your partner is ... a perfect fit and every circumstance is accounted for and the sun and the moon align in the sky, there could still be hesitation. Committing yourself to one person goes far beyond just being exclusive, it's presenting imperfections, the nooks and crannies, the parts that you're ashamed of. We're all far-from-perfect when it comes to self-reflection, there's always one thing you wish you could change regardless of the situation. "I should've worn black today" to "damn it, I need to focus!" to the simple statement of "I wish I wasn't me." It's hard being yourself, there's no shame in realizing that. Yet, when you've found someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with, the want is to have even that neglected side feel the warmth. Even if that you is imperfect, which it most certainly is, it deserves to be loved just the same.

Kaguya doesn't think she's a good person. She's carrying the baggage of a troubled past full of regret and hatred and misinterpretation and more, and thus, when she falls for Shirogane, she tries to be more open. Yet, there's still that past weighing you down. We all evolve, we all get past those hard times, but it's still apart of you. The burden continues to persist, we can't escape it... it's us. Kaguya is the opposite of Shirogane at this stage. He, too, is afraid of the self hidden from the world but he's also resisting the exposure. While she believes that for their love to start, he needs to accept and embrace the nasty, he believes that the nasty will scare her away. There's a beautiful moment near the end where Shirogane notes that without him being the over-the-top President persona, Kaguya would never notice him. She agrees with the shift, saying that he probably would've lost interest if she remained completely closed-off, but only to an extent. She refuses to accept the idea that that means the less-than-pretty side should be hidden forever. They should share that with each other, even if he's only willing to do so slowly. This difference in character creates a thrilling story presented in the Ice Kaguya arc - two people madly in love with the other, handling it in their own way - and makes me excited to see what comes next.

Although failing as a true 'movie' experience with segment cut-offs being incredibly obvious (even showing end-of-chapter transitional panels), and the cutting out of content that should be crucial to this arc, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: First Kiss wa Owaranai was a blast to watch and could be my new favorite part of the show. It blends that humor / romance that the entire series has excelled at perfectly while also delivering the best drama thus far. A1 continues to prove that they were formed to adapt Kaguya, Masayuki Suzuki was destined to hold Kaguya OPs at chokehold, and that these VAs couldn't have been cast better. God, I need to read the manga.

Oh and I got to see Kaguya's "how cute." on the big screen, instant classic.

68/100

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War -The First Kiss That Never Ends develops the characters better than the show could do across three seasons. It dives deeper into who Kaguya and Shirogane really are, not just the lovey dovey, over-the-top versions we usually see, but two people hiding behind their masks. The show has the opportunity to really explore what love means to them and why they both feel the need to be the first to confess, but it never fully does. The movie at least tackles the first part, especially with Kaguya, how she wants Shirogane to take the kiss and what that means for her. ... But the reasoning behind Shirogane's obsession with confession still feels underexplored.

It also helps that the movie takes its time with these moments. The Christmas setting and the quieter atmosphere give everything more weight, making it feel less like a battle of wits and more like an actual relationship developing. The comedy is still here, but the emotional beats hit harder because of how much more vulnerable the characters are allowed to be. It makes you wish the show had slowed down like this more often instead of always focusing on the next mind game which gets boring after a while.

At the end of it all, behind the mind games, neither of them really wants to win. All they seek is something normal, something real, something ordinary.

P.S I also wanted to see more of Ishigami and Tsubame, but that's just me. In the end, though, this movie is about Shirogane and Kaguya

It feels like watching a bunch of anime episodes at once, though with how the story goes, I guess it's fine as a movie since the "episodes" are cohesive with the next. You would definitely need to watch the previous 3 seasons before you watch this movie, it picks up right after the end of the last episode of season 3.

It was a great movie that heavily focuses on Kaguya's and Miyuki's problems and how they go about them. You have your usual Love is War moments just like in the animes, which is nothing to be surprised about but still pretty good. There are ... several scenes that have a lot of impact and you can really catch the atmosphere/vibe of those moments too. That also goes to the scenes that have more of a moodier feeling.

Overall, this movie is a fun watch, and a solid 9/10 from me.

First of all, just watch the whole show and watch this movie. If you don't watch Kaguya-Sama, you might not regret it but I would regret it for you :(. This thing is a masterpiece. I really really liked the whole show itself but this movie was on another level. Yes, I hated Kaguya in first and sometimes inside the show but in the end I think that she was just a lonely girl that didn't even have a time to understand how she feels about herself and others. She was just an ordinary girl but her family was not ordinary. So it traumatized her ... and she became the person who she is or she taught who she is. I have a girlfriend that kinda similar to Kaguya's case but not completely same. She is traumatized by her family like Kaguya and acted differently until we meet. And now she is an ordinary girl with non-ordinary family but who has an ordinary, wholesome, lovely relationship.

"I lack the confidence to share my emotions… I want to be ordinary”

Kaguya truly has gone above and beyond in telling a story worth your time. It's filled with moments of hype, laughter, and gloominess, but in the end, a love story that makes you feel warm.

Kaguya first has impeccable writing for this movie to tie the knot, from where we left off in S3. Most of us fans are happy that they got together, yet this story has so much more to offer. Even more of a suprise is the depth we continue to get from our main couple.
It has great pacing throughout ... the movie, and side characters are still cleverly written throughout this story. They aren't overbearing to the main couple and add great balance to the more serious tone of this movie. But we still get hints of more relationships to come. (Got me all excited for Ishigami)

The soundtrack is a bop. I cannot complain at all about it. They definitely got me hooked on “Love is Show”. A great OP and it feels just right for the movie.

Its animation is still great, though at times there are some still shots, but its to be expected in a romance genre. Though the quality is never diminished and holds true to the past seasons.

*moderate spoilers*
The story of Kaguya and Miyuki though shine the most, gripping your attention, wanting to see them get to a resolve. We go right back to where Miyuki and Kaguya left in a trance of love. How can you forget the kiss, the kiss, the kiss. One’s thoughts roam when in love, overthinking things and overanalyzing what occurred. Both Shirogane & Shinomiya are filled with emotional instability. Miyuki is filled with a sense of stress to continue to keep this strong attitude he has always had. Wondering whether or not he made a mistake with the kiss, and its meaning. Kaguya is wondering about the kiss, that she committed to going to America, and if she truly loves Miyuki for who he is. These are all general thoughts one would feel after having such a moment. The back and forth of thoughts roaming one's mind and conviction in their relationship is extremely relatable.

We realize though that both Miyuki and Kaguya were masking their true self from one another. For most if not all of us, those moments of building that emotional connection for someone else, makes us hide the parts we don’t want them to see. We want to be perfect in their eyes. The anguish of knowing that they will see flaws in us, our hideous side, or how pathetic we are all valid reasons to hide. Though this story does more than that… It portrays how we continue to overthink our relationships. We fight to keep ourselves in a good light with others and that not only makes our relationship feel empty but rather a mask of what we truly feel. We are scared to hurt others and want the best for them.

Kaguya & Miyuki have continued to dance for these past seasons and seeing them get to this point of emotional strife has made them more relatable than ever. They give power to the viewer in realizing how words can pierce one another in more ways than one. The main idea we see throughout this movie is the idea of being normal. Having a normal relationship. Having normal emotions. Is that so hard? Well for our two protagonists we know the answer. They both live completely different lifestyles. One person lived in high standards with a maid, and the other living in an apartment building with his psychic father. They don’t have an ordinary relationship but yearn for it. Is that so wrong? That’s what is so beautiful about this arc, where we see that ordinary is never the same for each person. If we choose to love someone we give up what was ordinary to us by making it ordinary for them also. Kaguya & Miyuki get over this part of “puppy love” through their pursuit of finding themselves. It takes confidence to tell you're true feelings. It takes realizing people have their flaws to push past compensating for the superficial parts of the relationship. And rather accepting each other. Kaguya-Sama shows that “True love” is different for everyone but one that is especially a two-way street.

Each story of finding one’s self can usually be filled with pity and remorse, yet the movie is probably the most heart-wrenching it has gotten. I cannot recommend this show enough and how much this story has transformed the genre of rom-com.

Love truly is its own war...


Animation: 8.5/10
Sound: 9/10
Story: 9.5/10
Characters: 9.5/10
Enjoyment: 9.5/10

Simple Review. Went to the theatrical release on Valentines Day. Once I entered, I was surprised to learn that there were a bunch of dudes filling up the seats with a staggering 10:1 ratio of men over woman. Felt like I was watching with the bros so it didn't feel awkward watching a romance movie on my own.

As the movie started and throughout it's runtime, I'm having a blast and laughing my ass off! (I'll explain why shortly) At the start, it's simply good and great! It's basically how you would expect watching this regularly on your couch binging 5 anime episodes in, but ... that's not the case since you're just watching this in a movie format instead. That being said, I came in expecting to watch this in a normal viewing experience, but somehow, watching this with an audience in a theater made this movie comically funny. The common punchline, funny gags and bits from the plot/characters usually doesn't hit this hard, but when you're with an AUDIENCE, it goes hard. It has honestly provided such a good movie experience! In truth, I never thought I would laugh my ass off watching this series because usually, this series hasn't really made me laughed audibly. The extent I've given this series would just be a chuckle. That's why it was so surprising to me when I started laughing at these bits because it was just THAT fun. The audience reactions was honestly the highlight of the day.

It made me realise just how good Kaguya-sama: Love is War is the greatest, if not the best, romance anime to this age. All I have to say that it was so good! So good that I bought tickets to watch it again the next day.

Pros Strong Likeable Characters, Great Story Sequence , Doesn't Try Hard to Be funny , but is entertaining, light hearted , wholesome , funny. Realistic and Captivating moments , Not a single waste of a scene. Masterpiece fluid animations at times, great music themes. Couldn't have thought of a better ending. Deserving high rank for this romance series, and glad to have watched every season. Usually extra episodes or movies don't add much to the series , and I end up not watching most of them but I did for this series.

Cons- N/A , tried to think of something I didn't like about this ... show but couldn't come up with anything.

This is the best movie in the term of romantic genre alright this movie is take place after the season 3 so before you watch this movie/ova you must watch the entire Kaguya sama series now for the review this movie has a same animation style with the series no difference however this movie did a great jobs with the angle for the character and the main story is only focus on Kaguya and shirogane after the end of the season 3 and without spoiling anything there a lot development between Kaguya and shirogane and not just that in this movie we also can see ... the past between Kaguya and shirogane and for the ost oh boy I like it overall this is a masterpiece movie for a romantic show and Kaguya sama fans I give this score 10/10 for how they treat this movie I hope they make season 4 of this series A-1 picture nailed it

Continuing on directly from the final episode of Kaguya-sama: Love is War Ultra Romantic, this film is all about the fallout—namely the complete and total destruction of the status quo. While neither of our main pair has said the words, their feelings are out in the open and it's impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.

Overall, most of this film is a character piece on Kaguya. The Kaguya we've come to know and love is one who has made a core group of friends that she doesn't need to keep at arm's length. While her pride still gets in the way, she knows ... none of them would consciously try and hurt her. However, this wasn't always how things were for her. To deal with the weight of expectations, she learned to bottle up her feelings and push away others who couldn't measure up. Unfortunately, because of the stress of her current situation, she regresses to her previous ice queen self from before she fell for Shirogane.

The result of this is that Kaguya spends the majority of this film being passive aggressive and highly toxic—expecting Shirogane to read her mind and punishing him when he doesn't. It's uncomfortable to say the least, and it paints her in a terrible light. But it also allows us to see the conflict at the core of her very being. What she wants more than anyone is someone who will accept her with all her problems and eccentricities. She also wants to know her partner in the same way—both the good and the bad. The problem is that Shirogane has built himself on becoming a man who is worthy of the unobtainable princess. His whole reason for wanting her to confess to him is to have proof that they are finally on the same level, and it's a misunderstanding of what she really wants.

Here's the thing: while it took an ultra-romantic gesture to break down Kaguya's walls, she doesn't want a high-class relationship filled with unparalleled romance. Rather, she wants what she has always been denied: a normal relationship. She wants to spend her time with a man who she never has to pretend in front of and won't pretend in front of her either. The question of the film is basically if the pair are capable of making themselves vulnerable like that—if they can finally put aside their own egos and defense mechanisms to get the love they so clearly crave.

Because so much of the film is spent on personal drama, there is far less humor than you would expect from the TV anime. Sure, there are a ton of jokes spread throughout, but gone are the one-off shorts about silly things happening in the student council room. That said, the film doesn't solely focus on Kaguya and Shirogane. It also continues the other plotlines setup during the anime's third season. We get more of Ishigami's blossoming love triangle between him, Tsubame and Ino, and lots of little updates with the rest of the supporting cast.

Sadly, the one person who gets largely left out of the film is Chika. While she pops up as comic relief in a few scenes, she doesn't have any sort of arc or story. Since she has no knowledge of what's going on between Kaguya and Shirogane and no interpersonal drama of her own, she's just kind of relegated to the background in a more serious story like this one.

On the visual side of things, this film doesn't feel like one. Rather it looks just like a normal episode of the TV show. The film doesn't go beyond what we've come to expect after three seasons of watching in either animation quality or art style. Of course, in a show as visually creative as Kaguya-sama: Love is War, that doesn't mean that the movie looks bad—and there are more than a few truly inspired shots scattered throughout. It just means that this feels more like a TV special or and OVA than a feature film. And as for the music, while it does its job, nothing really stands out beyond getting a new big band-style Masayuki Suzuki theme song for the opening.

In the end, while it may look and sound like just another episode of the TV show, Kaguya-sama: Love is War -The First Kiss That Never Ends- is a solid film and an excellent character piece that dives right to the core of why Kaguya and Shirogane are how they are. But more than that, it shows their tentative first attempts to grow beyond that and into a world where it's them against the world instead of them against each other. And given how they progress in this film, I'm excited to see what the new status quo will become—especially with the numerous challenges they have to face if they want to get their happy ending.

The First Kiss That Never Ends is a love letter and a romantic rollercoaster made for devoted Kaguya-sama fans. This is a movie that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside with deep, wholesome, and intimate moments. The film brings to life the most important plot points from the manga in a stunning and fun silver screen experience that's been years in the making. While the movie's presentation may not stray too far from the regular episodes of the show, it still manages to heighten the viewing experience with moments of elevated lighting that remind you that you're watching something special.

As I settled in ... to watch, I couldn't help but laugh and smile along with the rest of the enthusiastic crowd. This specific arc in the Kaguya-sama story-line brought out the most smiles, laughs, and heartwarming moments I've experienced in a long time. When the credits rolled, I left the theater feeling a sense of happiness and fulfillment that's rare in today's world.

Without giving away any details on the plot, the movie takes us on a captivating journey that reveals deep insights into the characters of Kaguya and Miyuki. While the majority of the character development screen time is devoted to Kaguya, it's still a treat to see Miyuki's character unfold. This arc is laser-focused on the main characters, allowing the side characters like Yu, Miko, and Chika to take a backseat for a change.

I had a blast watching this movie, and I don't regret a single penny I spent on it. The distribution was a bit of a letdown, with only a two-day release in the US and no word on a Crunchyroll release date, which had me binging half of Season 3 yesterday before seeing the movie. If you're a fan and want to see it, my advice is to mark your calendars once the news come out and catch it on day one when it releases on Crunchyroll. Trust me, it's worth it. I'm already eagerly anticipating the shenanigans we'll see in season four and cant wait to see what's next after such a satisfying conclusion!