After Action [COMPLETED]

[WS] "FORMAL REVIEW: 'KAGUYA-SAMA' "

Written 11 June 2019

Kaguya-sama: From the eyes of a fledgling Internet "mercenary".

Before I went on a trip to Ilocos Sur, attending a family affair―and failed at my sole objective, as anyone remembered―I have actually downloaded two shows to the SD card of my phone: 'Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai'; and the first season of 'River Monsters', featuring the old-yet-badass fishing personality, Jeremy Wade. (He ought to be knighted by the Queen for his impeccable and eye-opening research on the world's freshwater ecosystems, and the negative impact we humans have on all bodies of water, mind you.) And, as the title suggests, I will share my opinions on the former.

'Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai' is the animated adaptation of the mānga bearing the same title. It tackles the budding romantic relationship between Shinomiya Kaguya and Shirogane Miyuki, in a format that is somewhat "unique" to the rom-com genre. Here we are presented with two characters―in a romantic "battle" of minds, wit, and cunning―who, for more than half a year into their respective positions of power at the student council of the prestigious Shuchiin Academy, have slowly fallen in love with each other, but cannot―or, would not―confess their feelings due to both pride and paranoia on their part. Here, we also have a lively, outgoing, and love-crazed student council secretary―who have since been stripped away of her personality by becoming a meme, unfortunately, but we might come to that later; a gloomy, socially-anxious student council treasurer, whom you can trust with numbers ("The numbers, Mason―what do they mean!?"); a young "maid" in the "service" of the titular character; and a whole cast of other characters―inside and outside the student council―that one will encounter in both the original mānga and its animé adaptation.

This is the first time, in my numerous lonely years of watching animé, that I am actually supporting a romantic couple on their everyday struggle to say those three words to each other―"supporting", in the sense that I feel like I want to root for them, and become happy when they finally find their own happy place. It is totally different from my support on other romantic couples in other animé―or the lack of it, I suppose. The reason for this lies on a number of factors―"romantic compatibility", being foremost. There are couples that are being "shipped" as such, when in fact they're treating each other more as equals than as romantic interests. There are other romantic couples that give off the vibe of . . . being "forced" into a relationship by the omnipresent and unbending power of storyline (looks at the couple from 'Nisekoi', whose full names I've actually forgotten―and have no interest in knowing them, since I've dropped the animé after six episodes that were painful to watch). However, that's not all there is to 'Kaguya-sama': since this is a rom-com, all characters are, in some way, having an impact―both little and great―on the progress of the aforementioned couple. And all of them have their own battles to fight, albeit presented in a comic sort of way. They all have their fair share of awkward moments, pitiful moments, and proud moments. And each character present is interesting―in their own unique way. There's never a dull moment in all twelve episodes of the animé. Each episode was just so good, this fledgling Internet "mercenary" is hoping for the second season to come to fruition.

Overall, 'Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai' was a satisfying watch. Easily, a 10 stars out of 10 in my relatively low viewing standards . . . but―if there's one thing I'm kinda iffy about―you can call me a prissy fucker at this point, for all I care―it's the viewer's seemingly morbid fascination with Fujiwara Chika the meme, rather than Fujiwara Chika the character. Maybe the "Chikatto Chika Chikatsu" meme was so effective, it stripped away all of Fujiwara Chika's personality as a character.

And I've got to confess my own contradiction: I am morbidly fascinated with the relatively-new 'Iglesia ni Chika' Facebook group being a "major player"―read: "domestic terrorist faction"―in a so-called game that pits all characters from Shiela May Familaran's 'Montello High Trilogy', Cris Ibarra's 'QED University', and my original characters from 'Fear in the Cube', my own character renders of Shiela May Familaran from 'The Christmas Excursion', plus her boyfriend, Jopeth Roy Anonuevo (please don't ask me how I know the guy's name, for fuck's sake), and the main couple from my upcoming novel (shameless plug, I know)―together with my other original characters, in an all-out war for control of the global criminal underworld. (Fuck yeah~ )