This review will mostly focus on Shirogane's and Kaguya's relationship throughout the story and during this season, how it connects to the story, themselves, and to me. Also sorry for the length lol

To get this out of the way, I'll already point out that this series is perfect in the directing department; the people that made this knew exactly what they were doing. The most visually creative show ever since Monogatari for me. With that out of the way, let's begin.

Kaguya-Sama: Love is War is a story about love. There's no argument to be had there, it's a romance about two geniuses trying to make each other confess, period. At the beginning, this is very much the case. It still is, even later on, but I've found that it's not just about love, but it's mostly about fear. It's baffling how long it took me to realize that considering the entire story revolves just around that: two teenagers who are so afraid of who they are and what might happen that they can't do the one thing that makes them not afraid.

Even though like I said, at the beginning this is nothing more than a romcom with an interesting twist, but as time passes and we see these characters being slowly dissected until we see nothing more than their pure, raw phobias and dreams. And the most prominent manifestation of that would be our protagonists, Shirogane and Kaguya.

It's really interesting how fate works. It seems to act its strongest wills when you barely notice its presence. One small event changes how you live your life, depending on who you are. Shirogane and Kaguya come from two very different backgrounds; one, the daughter of one of the richest families in Japan, taught how to be a proper member of the Shinomiya family. She grows into a cold, distant person, often seen by others as selfish and mean. Shirogane, in the other hand, was born in a normal family, but his mother had great expectations, enrolling him on many schools, only for him to fail each exam, prompting her to leave her family. Shirogane now saw himself as someone who wasn't good enough, and that his true self wasn't sufficient, pushing all his limits to be better. Both of them are incredibly caring and thoughtful, but their inner voices tell them otherwise. Both believe they can't be themselves, as it only leads to ruin. For them, being themselves is as selfish as they can be.

One day, however, those two enroll in the same highschool. While Kaguya doesn't even acknowledges Shirogane's existence, he is the first to truly fall in love; realizing she is someone who will take action, someone who isn't selfish like previously thought, she keeps herself distant in order not to hurt anyone with her icy personality. The reason I'm explaining all of this is because these 4 episodes are the culmination and the explosion of all those insecurities both harbor. The feeling that they'll both hurt those around them if they're being their true selves, as that was what they were thought. But, it is from the deepest parts on two people's mind that they find the most meaningful similarities, and that is when a relationship is born.

"I have such an awful personality. I'd forgotten about it for so long. That fact that if I'm myself, I end up hurting those around me."

When I first read this sentence on the manga, I thought it was Shirogane saying them, and I considered that to be his favorite moment, so it caught me by surprise when I heard Kaguya's voice saying those exact words. That's when I realized that it wasn't one of the other saying, it was both of them. And also, me.

After Shirogane's realization of Kaguya's true intent, and him getting a better grade than her, that is when their story began; Kaguya, who once thought others would only do good things for others in exchange for something else (as her family taught her), sees Shirogane doing everything is his power to help others for the sake of it, while he's desperately trying to never stop giving his all to be in Kaguya's sight, and to not have to keep calling himself a failure.

Even after much time has passed, and their love has grown exponentially, that fear of their true personalities surfacing again and hurting the ones they most adore is still present, preventing them from confessing. And when they do, and it seems it's all over, Kaguya's "Ice Princess" personality takes control of her body. Initially that is alarming for both the viewer and the couple, all afraid of what she might do, but it's actually the most tender thing ever: for Kaguya, who's upbringing made her a frosty person, showing the person she loves the most that same personality, her weakest form, is the purest form of love. She wants to be accepted by him, not just the happy Kaguya, but also the Kaguya who is afraid and alone, and that never got to be happy with Shirogane.

However, she fails to make him show her who he really is. He is so certain that he is a worthless, horrible person, that he is utterly terrified of Kaguya falling out of love with him after being vulnerable with him. That is the word that has been in the back of every interaction between these two, even before they even truly interacted: vulnerability. The conjunction of love and fear, as they really can't be separated in two. Vulnerability is what makes relationships things so magical.

They both know that, but years of pain have made them retreat behind masks they themselves made. And what an absolute relief it is, to finally put them down and look face to face with someone that you've yearned to be with for so long. Shirogane still can't show himself to Kaguya and she understands him, and so does he. As "A relationship in which you don't hide your soul" is what she yearns, he tries to do that, even if he is reluctant do to soThings won't change overnight, they'll slowly work out how to drop their masks and learn to be vulnerable. That's what a relationship is. Above everything, these two just want to love themselves after so long.

To love yourself is so, so difficult. It's something I still struggle to this day and will probably struggle for many years more. To accept you are who you are seems almost impossible. That's why this vulnerability is so important, this love is so important and even the fear. If it wasn't for the fear, neither of them would have such an intricate connection. And this is what this show celebrates; the absolute worsts of ourselves that mix with the bests that we one day feel completely comfortable to pass them on to someone else just as hurt as you.

Its incredible that no matter how lonely and alienated you might feel, somewhere someone is feeling the exact same thing you are. Its no exception. We are so interconnected to a level we cant even begin to comprehend. All of us have the same fear, the same love, that our ancestors had millenia ago. We are the product of years of people loving each other, product of centuries of connections, product of millions of years of nothingness and celestial beauty. We are bound by our very being. Even when we die, every single little thing we've done for others stays with them (even if not in memory, rather in themselves). We are interconnected to everything around us.

To watch this show and to see my reflection, as if I was staring directly into a mirror facing my soul, hearing the exact same thoughts ive had my entire life but cried out by someone else is so beautiful. I long to be a warm light on everyone around me. I try so desperately to be kind because otherwise I cant really be anything. And when I'm confronted with those same thoughts and told its going to be okay because all those years of fear lead to the most significant thing about love; vulnerability. To be able to rediscover what it means to be yourself in the presence of someone who seeks the same thing with yours. Love is so utterly profound that two silly little characters from a japanese tv show made me realize how amazing just being around people really is. It is for experiences like this that I love this medium so much, as well as why I love to live, in general.

So, yeah. These four episodes are the culmination of what Kaguya-Sama really is about.. To see something like this is beyond a blessing, really. It's about first passions, the weirdness of our teenage years, weight of expectations and even a damn good critique to modern masculinity. Above all, it's a beautiful exploration of our desire of love (as you can see from me repeating this word for the 20th time), warmth and the fear we feel of those. But our curses turn into our blessings, our scars turn into our entrances. Be it not what we fear that swallow us whole, neither that which we adore; rather, their blend into a sweet, warm soup that we share with someone, with warms hands interlocked, moist by tears of relief and acceptance.