It's very easy to see why this anime is as popular as it is. It ticks all the boxes for what to expect from a romantic comedy for a lot of people.
That being said, this anime leans much heavily into comedy than it does romance, despite the title. Watching those two geniuses try an outsmart each other makes up the bulk of the main conflict in the show and holy shit, they went all out.
Dramatic reactions, crazy camera angles, a VERY effective narrator backed by an energetic OST, all of these elements combine to make that outsmarting, inner dialogue sections really interesting to watch. Sure, the conflict is predictable, but they try their best to keep it fresh by introducing different situations and making use of uncontrollable variables, namely Fujiwara.
It is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. If there's one thing that this show gets right, it's the comedy. Despite a few okay repeating gags, most of the comedy is kept interesting throughout. There definitely some laugh out loud moments that are quite memorable.
Another strong point was the art style. The mind conflict scenes makes use of very pretty looking backdrops that really do add a lot to the visual character of the show itself. Reactions of the characters can really be felt by the viewer, which is a job well done in my book.
I especially liked Kaguya's eye design. It almost looks like there is a blood red city in her eyes, which enables her to be cute and terrifying based on context. She somehow manages to be more expressive in emotion that Fujiwara somehow, despite her being the more reserved type. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for Shirogane.
This brings me to character personalities. What Shirogane lacks in design, he very much makes up for in the personality department.
While Kaguya also manages to keep up an interesting persona, ultimately it's hard to NOT view Shirogane as the underdog as he tries to swerve and dodge his way through Kaguya's plans. Shirogane has MUCH more comedic value than Kaguya however. This leads to me being much more endeared with Shirogane's character rather than that of Kaguya.
All the other characters also manage to have enough of a personality to keep up with the two MCs. In my opinion, four well fleshed out characters will always be better that many interesting characters.
The anime does seem to fall into the typical rich person cliches a lot. This is not helped by the fact that there isn't that much romance for most of the series before we get slapped with it at the end. Still, I enjoyed it.
At last, the AMAZING intro deserves a mention. Everyone's absorbed by the Chika Dance, but the intro has a great music track that goes super well with the whole James Bond style aesthetic. Never skipped it once.
Overall, it's important to consider what you WANT from a romantic comedy. That will help you determine your affinity towards it.
I wanted a hilarious anime to watch that would have interesting characters with a great art style. I couldn't care too much about the romance.
Based on that, this anime is PERFECT. It does what I wanted to an exceptional degree and that's probably why I've given it a 10.
As for you the viewer, assuming your views doesn't line up with mine, I would still recommend giving it a watch just plainly because of how funny the show is. It's THAT good.
