To this point, my experience with romantic comedies has been unremarkable. It's no surprise why. I'm quite picky with how I like my romances, and romantic comedies have a handicap from the get-go. The balance between being comedic enough to get laughs while also being dramatic enough to emotionally invest is incredibly delicate and inherently contradictory. For all the hours I've spent watching and laughing at comedies, I've seldom reacted with any sort of care for the characters. I was skeptical that any work could create the balance needed to make both comedy and romance work for me.

It's for this reason I was long disinterested in Kaguya-Sama. It was only after seeing some amusing YouTube clips and hearing the anime come highly recommended that I decided to give it a go. I expected it to be goofy, perhaps with some unexpected depths, but certainly nothing to get worked up about.

How wrong I was. I laughed of course. I laughed hard. But watching the ending left me misty-eyed as well, a reaction I very rarely have.

Kaguya-Sama works. It works better than it has any right working, and for one simple reason: it puts the story and the characters ahead of the comedy.

Events aren't just used for a joke and then cast aside like they never happened; they drive the story forward and continue to be relevant. A conversation will serve as a comedic set up in one episode, only to come back up ten episodes later as a plot point. Time and time again I was reminded that no matter how funny a scene was, it still matters and could still be important. To this end, it's worth noting that Kaguya also isn't a stagnant series. It can be episodic, but the story absolutely progresses. It's building up to a central point, and this build-up creates a tension that is all the more satisfying to see released. What exactly the story is building to is hardly a shock, but it doesn't need to be.

As for the characters, they were similarly consistent. The humor flowed from their personalities, flaws, and dynamics, building off what has been established while also continuing their development. I never felt like I was being expected to hand-wave a character acting completely OOC for the sake of a joke. The awkward moments and misunderstandings were connected and interwoven with the characters, who were also fantastic in their own right.

Take the main couple. I initially wrote off Shirogane and Kaguya's romance as a mere power play for status between horny teenagers who cared about their ego first. Their battles of wits are an impressive and amusing show of skill and talent, but presumably lacking in any deeper feeling. However, over the course of the series, it becomes clear this initial presumption is very incorrect. Not only do Shirogane and Kaguya love each other deeply, showing this in both big and small ways, but their central conflict isn't even actually about ego at all. It's the mutual fear that, for all the other means to them, they will never be worthy of their love. It's a dynamic I've long been a sucker for, and Kaguya-Sama does it extremely well. What aspects of these characters draws them to one another, and why they are thus so afraid of the other's rejection, is portrayed masterfully. Not since the classic deconstructed tsundere relationship of Asuka and Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion have I seen a romantic based conflict so developed, though I currently lean towards saying Shirogane and Kaguya have Asuka and Shinji beat.

The rest of the characters are suitable. Chika develops opposite of Shirogane and Kaguya, starting off as a wholesome ditz before gradually revealing her arrogant and manipulative side. Ishigami is the relatable sort who would be the self-insert protagonist in a lesser series, but here acts as a fitting deconstruction. Hayaska (best girl) serves as the straight woman to all of Kaguya's dramatic antics, yet she too is often tempted into the fray. Kei is a realistic and heartfelt depiction of a rebellious little sister who cares about her family yet is angered by their dysfunction, though sadly her character doesn't feature much. The side characters work as they should, to supplement and contrast the main characters while also being likable in their own way.

To say I went into Kaguya with low expectations is probably an understatement, yet I was absolutely blown away. Kaguya-Sama is not only easily the best romantic comedy I have ever seen, it's one of the best comedies and best anime I've ever seen. For all the goofy antics and cheesy romantic tropes, I can completely understand and stand by the people willing to die on a hill defending this series' quality.

You'll soon find me among them.