Have you ever thought if Kaguya-sama is pure romance rather than so much comedy?

Behold! The most beautiful and romantic movie of the year. This is the greatest story of Kaguya-sama has been told. The epic conclusion to the main storyline since the first season aired in 2019. Ending the war once and for all in this merry Christmas gift offering from A-1 Pictures, Kaguya-sama ~ First Kiss wa Owaranai ~!

After receiving a massive disappointment from the outrageous uLtrA RoMantiCC, I felt angry with this show because it left me with a bitter taste since I’m a fan of the series. I ended up picking the manga where it left off to find some answers but I'm really glad I picked it. It turns out, Kaguya-sama isn’t perfect. It has ups and downs but that is what makes it a manga, manga. An anime, anime. I witnessed the truly ultra-romantic in this story arc rather than in the previous season. I didn’t have expectations for the movie since the runtime is only 1 and a half hours, but this adaptation is the one that I wanted to see.

So the story picked up after the events from the previous season. If you saw the ending scene from the last episode, you should ignore that. There are two things that you can think about that scene, either a fanservice or an easter egg from the ending of the movie. But let’s not talk about that and move forward. The members of the gang from the elite student council are back! But there’s one problem, Kaguya suffered from an identity crisis! I like the part when they thought about the kiss because it’s merely an unanswered question of mine. What is the meaning of that kiss? What were Kaguya’s intentions at that time? What will be their relationship from now on? The first act was cute when they adapted the chibi Kaguya while she still had THAT attitude to Ishigami. The pacing was so fine like they reduced the comedic moments and focused on the romance between the two main characters. It made me feel the pure romantic vibe of the story, rather than being a satire from the previous season. They removed some unnecessary scenes from the manga but it doesn’t feel rushed when I watched it. Yes, there are still comedic moments from the other characters and Shirogane himself. His expressions are so funny when he overthinks things around him, especially to Kaguya. The other characters had some moments but I’ll focus on the main storyline about the two, and how did I like their other sides of the story so far.

Spoilers

This is the part that I love the most. How did they deal their themselves at this moment? After the meeting of Kaguya’s personas, it is revealed that the original, or the ice-cold one is the one who truly loves Shirogane the most. While Shirogane, the perfect one, conceals his true self to stand by her side. This is one of the most realistic approaches in many relationships. We all know that to be liked by someone is to prove our worth. You must be a perfect person. You must conceal yourself and replace a self where that person can accept you. That’s the cruel part. We might end up having an identity crisis and find it difficult to find our true selves from the many selves that we made. I like the part when Kaguya’s original self enters the whole scene and shows her true self to her, while she’s scared because she might hurt Shirogane. She distanced herself from all the people around her because of her family name and nature. She isn’t really angry but the people around were angry at her. But the reason why she did that was that she didn’t want to end up hurting people. She also thought that when she was finally in love with Shirogane so she built an idiotic self and the current self from the previous seasons, in order not to hate her. So this time, she suppressed her other self because she just don’t want to be an idiot and be carried away, but she want to think about what will happen in the future. She wanted a normal life as a normal young girl. Same for Shirogane, to like and impress by Kaguya, he worked his ass off to become perfect. He poured almost his time to become perfect not just for her, but for other people. He only wanted to notice by Kaguya and the whole student body. But he realizes that it’s not his true self, but “a perfect self” that he made. Being nasty, spineless, a piece of trash, talentless, and a coward are his true self. He fears that everything is over the moment he shows any signs of weakness. He thought that there was no way that Kaguya is destined to be with him because she was just too perfect to reach.

In this part, they are scared of revealing who they are. They both had reasons for why they concealed themselves, and not showing all of it to each other. Their weaknesses and negative sides of themselves. But being who they are, and showing who they are is one of the important key factors in having a romantic relationship. Accepting not only the good sides but also the flaws and imperfections that each other. And even, though everyone isn’t perfect you should embrace also your flaws and other selves to understand yourself.

The Christmas party in the last part is one of my favorite moments in the whole story. There are funny moments like the gift revealing that made me laugh. The Handmade Bombs gift is the weirdest and it’s funny because they executed it well. The bench part is the most romantic scene I’ve ever discovered. They confront each other and revealed their true selves. Kaguya wants to know if Shirogane hates her true self, while Shirogane still hides it from the girl he loves. Kaguya being determined to show her true self marks her finest character development because she had nothing to fear, even though she carries her prideful family name. She gets his gift and it was revealed that his gift was just a cheap toy. I didn’t expect that reaction from Shirogane when he was asked about his gift. In the end, she gratefully accepts it and his true self. They shared a romantic kiss under a half-moon. Not an ultra-romantic full moon, but still romantic.

There are many messages from this movie that I appreciated. It’s fine not to be perfect. Love doesn’t have to be perfect like making grand surprises, saying great lines, improving themselves just to be perfect, and even having a kiss in a romantic scene. There’s nothing more wonderful than sharing everything and completely understanding one another. Showing the plain normal self and people who are closest to us will embrace who we are. Having closure for these two characters made me feel romantic and somehow wanted to cheer them on their romantic journey.

The animation and music are amazing so far and the adaptation is well done. As expected from A-1 Pictures, they gave me reasons why this studio will remain my favorite. The theme Love is Show made it to my second favorite song from the whole Kaguya-sama. It is not catchy but it’s lively and lovely. The seiyuus did a very good job of voicing the characters. The background music from this movie skyrocketed my impressions and they were made a great job with it. Probably my favorite soundtrack so far.

Overall, this movie is a sweet treat for all Kaguya-sama fans. The movie gave justice to the manga, and it made one of my favorite romance movies. It made me believe again that romance stories are still a thing after a series of dreadful romance animes aired this year. It is marked on my list as the pinnacle of romance from the whole Kaguya-sama story, and I hope that this marks the conclusion of the main storyline. The next stories from the manga felt flat actually but who knows? A-1 Pictures might start milking the cash cow.

Once again, it’s time to say farewell to the war that lasted a few years and moves forward to a new stage for the two main characters. As the happy couple emerges, a first kiss will never ends and will last for a lifetime <3

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

__Story: 9.6/10
Animation: 8.7/10
Characters: 9.3/10
Sound: 9.1/10
Entertainment factor: 9.6/10
Enjoyment: 9.8/10__