Story
It follows Shinomiya Kaguya our charming and lovable female lead. She is the vice president of the famous "Shuchi'in Academy," where you will find all kinds of an amusing character. Usually, the more famous people attend this academy having made a name for themselves in society. Kaguya is part of the massively influential "Shinomiya-Zaibatsu." She's a multi-talented genius add on, which has no trouble accomplishing anything she sets her mind to for the most part. Except, confessing her strong love without turning it into psychological warfare with our main lead, Shirogany Miyuki. He is someone who has worked himself from the ground to the top of the mountain and is now considered the top student. In a matter of wealth, though, he is quite disadvantaged and works many part-time jobs to help his family at home and himself moving forward. You might be asking: "but what is the goal or plot for this anime?". Both characters are in love with one another, and the purpose is to make the other admit that fact. But, whoever confesses first losses or at least is how our lovable main characters see it as. They are proud to do it first. Hence goes to every length to create opportunities to make the other confess to them first. But they always seem to get away in the wittiest and hilarious fashion.It never gets old either. I can assure you that just this one gimmick can amass forth many hilarious and wholesome situations with our cast in different ways. But you would assume that something so simple would become repetitive very fast. Although instead, it's entertaining all the way through and never lets up the fun. This one of the basis for many things, which makes "Kaguya-sama" so unique from other RomCom. On top of that, it's a psychological character-driven and relies heavily on our cast. It's not just about Kaguya and Miyuki coming up with all kinds of schemes to come out on top of in different situations. In return, leading them ever so closer to confessing their feelings to each other. It's not all rainbow and sunshine. The anime can go into some serious and emotional bits, which makes it stand out even more, plus making the experience a lot more fulfilling.
Yes, that's right. It does a most excellent job of developing the cast and remeaning a proper balance at the same time. Besides, this anime is more or less for both teenagers, and especially the mature audience might be able to appreciate it more. Some of the things it throws at you won't make you think otherwise, and the language proves that likewise. Every episode has some nice moment where our cast gets an explored or given growth, which can come from any situation you can experience in your everyday life. The standard formula is to expand on it and make our cast learn from it in hilarious ways. It never gets old and always feels fresh and new; you really can't help be drawn towards it. Despite the fact it's "episodic" in its core, it doesn't feel that way either, as mentioned above. Plus, If I didn't make it noticeable previously. The comedy is seriously top-notch, and never did an episode failed to make me smile or laugh out loud. Comedy is indeed subjective, and it does depend on the person. Still, I feel like "Kaguya-sama" might not fail you regardless of your preference. As for the pacing, it was spot-on, and never did I think the anime was rushing ahead. As they used everything viable for them to make the experience magnificent.
Art and Animation
The art is so lovely and works well with the vibe of the show and never had any flaws. At least I didn't notice anything significant that stood out. The derp was almost entirely non-existent, and the art always looked terrific and beautifully depicted. A-1 Pictures didn't cut any corners, showing how much love and care they put in animating this fantastic manga adaptation. They were successfully and accurately able to manipulate the art in any given situation and never failed to make me feel the genuine emotion. It is, without a doubt, one of the best works if not the best for the studio. After Kaguya-sama run, I have some profound respect for them and hope they can keep this up for the next anime adaptation they might get their hand on. About animation, for a "RomCom" it has very high production value. Some of the scenes, even the minor, gets such a massive upgrade and makes for a more meaningful impact. The animator knows what they are doing. It's over the top, but make you seriously enjoy yourself and sharpens the fun by an incredible margin.Sound
For starters, the voice actors did an excellent job during their roles. This also goes for the side cast and less important ones. How Kaguya's voice actor, Koga Aoi, was able to change her voice swiftly depending on her character's mood. And, It didn't feel off in any way. It was spot-on and how quick the change was left me quite damn speechless and impressed. It could be any state, ranging from "anger," "sadness," "happiness," and the voice actor never ceased to amuse me with her incredible talents. They all deserve a higher wage, no doubt. This is one of the most influential voice actings I have seen in recent years. For the more miscellaneous details, like the sound effect, the quality was high and didn't feel cheap one bit. The opening song was immensely addictive. At first, I started with not finding it impressive, but before I knew it, I was humming the whole tune in my sleep. I fell in love with it and still listen to it to this day. The ending song is beautiful and is an excellent piece to conclude an episode. My favorite would have to be the special one with Chika Fujiwara singing and dancing adorably. The song is super catchy, and the dance was just lovely. Studio "Kyoto Animation" animated this segment and nailed it no question about it. I adored every piece of music the anime dished out.Characters
Not short a fantastic cast as I had implied many times before. They didn't feel dull or tiring from start to end. I didn't dislike any. Only grew more attached to them as they gained built-up, and we learned more of their flaws and charm points. There's "best girl" and "best boy" material alike. No one is wast and is sufficiently fleshed out, and you can't help but grow genuinely fond. It's in someways rare in most media or literature, but "Kaguya-same" has even a strong side with main role potential. Although the focus was around them is mild. What we did get was satisfactory and enough to grow a strong connection with them. Of course, the character development is also vibrant and realistic in a sense. It's slow yet believable, and the pacing is not an issue, at least not to me. Something tells me everyone else who enjoyed this anime would agree. Lastly, you will find all kinds of amusing and quirky characters in Kaguya-sama. Every single of them has a distinct and big personality you can't help get drawn toward them.To give a brief introduction to our beloved cast:
Outside of the intelligent combo of Kaguya and Miyuki. You have the charming, but at the same time dangerous, Chika Fujiwara, who is more than meets the eye. If you think she is just innocent and precious, you are entirely right. But she can pack a massive blow when you least expect it; she is quite a secret savage in other words. Then you have Hayasaka Ai, who is the secretary to Kaguya. Some of her more impactful moments are much later on. Still, the anime managed to give her a satisfying intro. She is a delightful character who can speak in a charming accent, on top of being adorable. Her interactions with Kaguya is entirely wholesome. She helps her in many situations and is a brilliant wing-woman. Lastly, for this season, you have the otaku, Ishigami Yuu, with a fragile heart. He is ever so slightly socially awkward around other people. But, like Chika, he's hiding a secret side of his own which you might get to experience now and then if you are lucky. He is my favorite male in "Kaguya-sama," but Miyuki doesn't fall short either. I wanna give a brief mention to our lovely fiesty little cinnamon roll tsundere, Miko Iino, she'll make her debut in the sequel. I can tell you this. Miko's interactions with the group, especially Ishigami, are some of my favorites. She is quirky and so hilarious and adds even more comedy, substance, and emotional elements to the story.