-- 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.
