THOUGHTS ON LOVE IS WAR
(P.S This is my first ever time making a review on an anime I enjoyed)
Love Is War was a rollercoaster of emotions watching it. I loved every second of the show and I loved how the show gave me a connection with all of the members of the student council. Everybody in the student council always uplifted each other up and tried help better themselves. For example, I really enjoyed Ishigami and Kaguyas friendship, how Kaguya always tried to make Ishigami the best version of himself in the show. She tried giving Ishigami that confidence that was lost in himself in his past, and help him push himself to do his best in everything. In the show, the characters feel extremely real and I feel like I could connect my personal life stories to the characters in the show. Shirogane and Kaguya's relationship was extremely well thought out and how the characters acted towards each other made me think about my own personal life. In life whenever you do an action you always have second thoughts and overthink about what is going to happen next and what are the many possibilities. In the show, Shirogane and Kaguya had plenty of moments where they were both overthinking about what would happen to their relationship due to their actions, showing how they are both not picture perfect, and showing vulnerability like us people. Moments like these made me fall in love with the show, just
being able to relate to a show really has a big impact on the one who is watching it. I've never seen a show that associated with my thoughts so deeply until Love is War. Love is a confusing topic to think about on your own, and I feel like Love is War displayed some of the emotions that love can give to people. Love is War gave me a feeling of bliss and pure enjoyment from every episode that no other anime has given me.
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STORY/PLOT
10/10
In the beginning, we are introduced to Shirogane and Kaguya, both being top students in their class. In the school, most of the students are sons/daughters of wealthy families. Shirogane on the other hand, came from a family with little to no social standing, and he had to compare to the daughter of the noble Shinomiya family. Shirogane, (the student council president) has a love interest in being Kaguya (the vice president) but doesn't realize that the feelings are mutual with her. Later on, we are introduced to Chika and Ishigami both being respected members of the student council, and later on Miko. As the story goes on In Love is War, Shirogane and Kaguya slowly start to get to understand how they are feeling about each other. They slowly do little actions to try make the other person confess their love first. In the end of the story they both "win" by confessing their love to each other nearing the end of the culture festival. In the end it both showed how Kaguya and Shirogane were selfish, how Kaguya wanted Shirogane to stay, and how Shirogane wanted Kaguya to study overseas with him. Compared to other animes, the way they waited until the last season for a confession felt much better executed instead of animes like Rent-A-Girlfriend, which make the confession and story feel much more stretched out. The pacing on Love Is War was unbeatably perfect, not too fast and not too slow.
In the end of this simple, yet heart touching story, we are left with a loving cast and a beautiful love story.
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________CHARACTERS10/10Shirogane: Before going into watching Love is War, I watched quite a lot of Romance Comedies, and most of them had the same typical main character, in them being a typical high school student. Take for example, Miyamura from Horimiya, he is just a typical high school student that had a high school life. On the other hand, Shirogane was not just "typical" he was an above and beyond student that always tried his best for Kaguya. He sacrificed his social life to be the best for her, in result of this he doesn't really know how to take his feeling of love towards Kaguya. But as the show goes on we see that Shirogane was able to comprehend his feelings about her much better and was able to come up with little plans to make her confess her love to him. Shirogane is a caring, outgoing, persistent character that always looked out for his fellow council members and students by helping them with their problems.
Kaguya: Just like Shirogane, she didn't fit the criteria for the typical high school girl. She was always one of the best in her class, and she always worked her hardest to try to make her parents notice her. She came from a noble family (the Shinomya family) and was always treated like a queen. Her character is very complex, nothing super confusing and nothing really special. Kaguya shows how she is a emotional wreck by always venting to Hayasaka about how she is feeling about Shirogane and more. She is really stubborn, and really likes to keep things to herself. For example, it took her a very long time to finally admit that she was in love with Shirogane. Kaguya also shows glimpses of selfishness, by always getting jealous when thinking about other girls talking to Shirogane. Her complex character is one of the many examples on why Love is War has an amazing cast of characters, and why the show is a 10/10.
Ishigami: After suffering a rough past on trying to make his middle school love not get hurt, he lost all self confidence in himself. Losing self confidence is a hard thing to overcome, and that is what Ishigami was trying to accomplish in season 2 and 3. Ishigami was a hopeless person until he met Shirogane, who helped him get back on his feet. Despite the whole school hating him, he learned to not care and still live life. Ishigami struggled to do whats best for him, always finishing last in grades and never trying his best. Despite his negative thinking process, Kaguya was willing to try to help him become the best version of himself. Ishigami is a pure soul trying to care for others and trying to make everyone happy that cares about him. Ishigami's character teaches us that if you have someone that believes in you, you can always improve yourself and be the best version of yourself. All we need in life sometimes is someone like Kaguya to help us get to the best version of ourselves.
Chika: The wholesome friend we would love to have. Unlike Kaguya, Chika did a lot of the things normal high schoolers would do. For example, hanging out with friends. Chika in the student council was always there to try to uplift everybody and make everyone's day much better. She put time out of her day just to teach Shirogane things that he struggles at. She always provided games/activities that the student council would do together. In general, Chika just brought the whole student council together, she made the student council feel like a family. Without Chika the student council members would not be as close and we wouldn't feel the love around all the characters.
Miko: Being a character recently introduced in the anime she was a great addition to the show. Even though she may be very serious at times, I as a viewer enjoyed her company. I always would find it hilarious on how she would get mad against "inappropriate" behavior and the weird things she listens to. I love how she is a hard worker and always tried to be the best she can, and her moment in the election with Shirogane was a huge turning point for her. Later on in season 3 we can see how she felt "left out" by not being at the campfire but instead looking out on campus. In that moment we could see how she was very jealous and wanted to feel like everyone else. Once season 4 comes out, Miko's character would develop into a lovely side character.
Hayasaka: Being Kaguya's personal maid must be a very confusing job. Always getting random requests, dealing with Kaguya's emotions, and being a dude and a girl at the same time. Hayasaka is the most perfect friend anybody could ask for. She always gave Kaguya advice on what to do, which shows her caring nature and doing above and beyond in her job. Hayasaka did so much for Kaguya, trying to help her comprehend her feelings. She always bailed Kaguya out of many situations, for example when Kaguya was about to confess her feelings while being half awake. She shares a trait with Kaguya in being jealousy. Hayasaka ended up envying Kaguya at the end of the show by how Kaguya kissed Shirogane. This sparked Hayasaka into wanting to be in a relationship and wanting someone to love. Hayasaka is another complex character that a viewer could easily love and create a relationship with.
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ANIMATION10/10img750
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Honestly, just let this gif speak for itself, the studio did a splendid job.
_______________________SOUNDTRACK10/10
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▶The soundtrack to this anime was great. I liked the music on the part of the confession, and I really enjoyed the openings to all of the seasons. :)
______________CLOSING/TLDRMy whole review is basically me reviewing every aspect of Love is War, and why I think its a 10/10 romance, and I think its near perfect. If I like any other animes, I would most definitely take the time to make a review on it. (Please keep in mind this is my first ever review so its prolly not very good) Thank you and have a good day! :D
