Anime Recommendation: Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

Laylyn · 2023-07-03T14:16:58Z

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive." -Sir Walter Scott “The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself” ― William Faulkner Most adults watching anime will get sick of the premise that most anime seem to be set in a high school premise. This could seem like a generic piece about youth; however, this Romantic comedy is a near masterpiece on how most human beings unconsciously act in relationships for their lives. This isn't mocking our human flaws. It is showing some of the dark parts of all of us, doing so with Heart, Comedy, Imagination, and Understanding. After all, to the people we are the most vulnerable too, our instinct is often to hide our vulnerability. People who have been married for more than 50 years will still do this. Thus, we enter the story where there are two potential love birds: Miyuki Shirogane, the student council president and Kaguya Shinomiya, the vice president. Both are brilliant, proud and accomplished. There is a reason that pride or vanity is a sin after all. Pride is making both of them completely miserable. Rather than one or the other admit how they feel, they are locked in trying to scheme the other into doing so. The very theme of the show is that the person to do so first is believed to be less than the other person. Thus, this is where love is war. Each sees themselves as brilliant. There is little reason for them not too. Each has reached the highest levels of academic and social accomplishment in a school that most people could never score high enough to get into. This is a high school living up to what the Ivy league schools were in the last century. Each is totally devoted to the first to confess their love is the loser hypothesis. Sure of their brilliance, they are completely locked into it. By twisting an act of courage into one of defeat, both have locked there days into this pointless and miserable standoff. Further, they leave themselves vulnerable to another taking the object of their affection away from them. It seems silly on the surface. I'd ask you this though. How many relationships never started because people had some silly advice on how soon you should call back? How many people judged another for not calling back quickly after a date? How many judged another for being too eager to call them back? In the games men and women play, we frame any action as the wrong action. Worse, in the endless advice of the blind leading the blind, we only seem to be struggling harder with each passing year. We tend not ask those who have been married for decades how to make love work. We tend to ask our peers who are right around our own level of experience. In the varied games men and women play against each other, it is no wonder why so many people are miserable. It is also no wonder why divorce rates are so high. The genius of this anime is letting ourselves laugh at something anyone who has dated has done. Further, to those who have never dated, it shows why this has happened. There is a quiet message here that we only really connect to those that we are vulnerable too. Further, that connection only exists while we are vulnerable. Being vulnerable is scary as hell though. No one really likes feeling defenseless against another. This is several seasons of a near perfect Couples anime. You can find on Crunchyroll. To quote wiki, "In the senior high school division of Shuchiin Academy, student council president Miyuki Shirogane and vice president Kaguya Shinomiya appear to be a perfect match. Kaguya is the daughter of a wealthy conglomerate family, and Miyuki is the top student at the school and well known across the prefecture. Although they like each other, they are too proud to confess their love, as they believe whoever does so first would "lose" in their relationship. The story follows their many schemes to make the other one confess or at least show signs of affection." /salute