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.
