Kaguya-sama seems like a show that should be too annoying to watch. Two rich teenagers going to a rich kid school looking like That and them both being tsundere to each other to the extreme…doesn’t sound like a good time. And I’ll admit, that plus the fact that everyone — narrator included — talked about every little thing at Mach 5 speed for the first couple of episodes had me considering dropping it. But thankfully the show gets a lot more fun and casual, and things move at a more digestible pace.

The main “couple” isn’t actually tsundere — they aren’t antagonistic to each other (beyond teasing). Still, you’d think this behavior being the whole plot would get annoying. But I found that it being the focus allowed the author to go deeper with the idea than I expected. The anime oftentimes uses a lot of common Japanese teenage romance tropes, which sounds like it should be boring. But the fact that both characters are so unwilling to actually go with the flow of the trope often turns it on its head and makes for creative and funny situations. Even then, a lot of scenarios are ones I haven’t seen before, so it’s not entirely about messing with tropes. And since episodes are usually comprised of two or three different subplots, these ideas seldom overstay their welcome as new ones are cycled in.

I’m surprised at how well every character ends up breathing freshness into this plot, too. While Kaguya starts as mostly cold and calculated (not a side of her I care for), she gets more silly and embarrassed as time goes on. Likewise, Miyuki seems annoyingly smug at first before opening up to be a socially-inept idiot (non-derogatory). Fujiwara, another member of the student council, is the perfect foil for both of them…which is made even better by her being completely oblivious that they love each other. Later on Ishigami gets introduced and I figured he'd be as unlikable as he is in-universe, but his down-to-earth mood comes off more as a bit of comedic “relief” from the silly fluff going on around him (the recurring gag with him and Kaguya wasn’t good, though). All of the side characters that unwittingly help facilitate the plot are all welcome additions as well. Hayasaka, Kaguya’s serious maid who knows of her mistress’s plight (and is not amused) is my favorite.

Also it’s worth mentioning that the Blu-Ray has a lot of fun with the subs, and the sheer amount of extra signs/writing that gets translated is impressive. The music is also surprisingly memorable.

Granted, I think there’s still the possibility that an anime like this will bounce off of people. Maybe you really hate these kinds of character and even the silly, competitive nature of it here is still annoying. Or maybe you’ve seen one too many shared umbrellas or fireworks scenes and the twist on them is still boring. But I still think it’s worth giving a shot past the first couple of episodes; you might be surprised! I ended up wanting to binge it!