Kaguya-sama: Love is War (2016)
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Volume 1
Author/Artist: Aka Akasaka
Publisher: Young Jump Comics
Synopsis:
At the elite Shuuchi'in Academy, the president and vice president of the student council engage in a battle of wits to get the other to confess their love.
Story/Characters:
I was quickly won over by the premise of this series: two proud, intelligent people made fools in their overwrought efforts to win one over each other. I love the contrast of Shirogane and Shinomiya's well-crafted personas and their true personalities and this contrast and this is one of the main sources of comedy. And then there's the spacey Fujiwara as the perfect wrecking ball for smashing through the schemes of our leads. I do like how Akasaka teases that Shinomiya isn't guaranteed to win and is presented in her profile as the "heroine" of the story in contrast to Shinomiya as "one of the protagonists". When you see how much more easily Fujiwara interacts with Shirogane, it puts some pressure on Shinomiya and keeps her from being complacent in her pursuit of Shirogane. We also introduce Kashiwagi and her boyfriend as a parallel romantic subplot to highlight the progress of Shirogane and Shinomiya's relationship (or lack thereof).
One interesting thing about this volume is that it has several chapters that didn't make it into the anime, so that should give some extra inducement for anime-first viewers.
Art:
The art is a little rough at first, but you can notice an improvement as soon as the second chapter. Shirogane looks a bit more haggard in the beginning to emphasize his sleep-deprived ways. The reaction shots are always great and it's one of the main draws of the series. The harem dream cover for Chapter 10 is amusing, especially because it features Hayasaka before her character is given much establishment (and certainly before she should be on Shirogane's mind).
Other:
At the end of each chapter, we either get character profiles or stinger images. An exception is Chapter 4, which features the solutions to the puzzles stumping poor Shirogane.
Conclusion:
This is an outstanding romcom with a good premise and appealing characters. This first volume gets the ball rolling and establishes our main couple and Fujiwara. We get an idea of the good things to come. This one deserves a place in your collection. Get it.
Rating:
Own It