There's no story here: every single episodes starts and ends at the same place. The characters spend most of their time within the confines of the student council room, and little, if any, character development ever happens. The plot, of two characters attempting to convince the other to confess their love, is held together by the flimsiest twine possible The story relies on the cast acting like caricatures of real people, and the jokes fall as flat as the story.
But most of us need mindless entertainment, something to turn our brain off and enjoy. It's why sports are such a spectacle, Twilight's explosive and continued popularity. And two of my recent favorites can only be described as dumb: Kamisama Kiss and Promare. Promare is dumb, wholesome testosterone in an explosion of colors. And it is glorious.
But Kaguya: Love is War fails even when watching it with a single brain cell. Even if you ignore the barren wasteland of a plot and how the story falls apart at the slightest look, it still sucks when watching it nearly unconscious after a bender. We are constantly shown something and told another. We are told Kaguya is cold and calculating, only for her to freeze and collapse at the faintest hint of affection from Miyuki.
Chika is Schrodinger's idiot: the plot relies on her chaotic nature and her intelligence being the barren wasteland after nuclear war. And yet, she is likely the most intelligent member of the group, shown to be fluent in French and calculating in cheating at every board game she plays. She reads the emotions of others before they do, and designs scenarios for them to express these feelings.
Even if you fried every single brain worm you have, Kaguya still would be an insult to your intelligence. The only redeemable points, which are woefully average, are the art and the music. You know the intro soundtrack was crafted by a lounge singer with a wardrobe filled with a kaleidoscope of colors and the most ill-advised bowtie just by hearing his voice. And yet this soundtrack is quite possible the most original thought this show has ever contemplated.
