Kaguja-sama wa kokurasetai: Tensaitači no ren'ai zunósen

This show feels like a rom-com meets documentary, it is such a stupid and weird combination of things that it could not possibly be anything but a ridiculous comedy... After all, a juxtaposition, combining the relatively incompatible, is both original and interesting to a certain extent. However, that is only if everything works and also depends on how funny it is. To be perfectly honest, I only occasionally found some of the gags funny, merely laughing at the absurdity of some of the situations, and occasionally (or perhaps quite a few times) at the running commentary. I can admit that I had quite a problem with the whole premise of this anime series, because as a closet romantic I am kind of convinced that a person in love is led by the instincts of his heart in certain situations because it is rarely the brain that ultimately decides what we do, and that the two characters could not have really fought their feelings like that, or lasted that long, and behaved the way they did in some situations (too often a voice inside my head was screaming: "This is bullshit" or "This is not how it should be"). A lot of things rubbed me up the wrong way as they were just not my idea of how romance works. Sure, it is meant to be a comedy and not to be taken seriously, although it felt like a documentary with a commentary that attempted to quite seriously rationalize most of the unacceptable romantic situations, which left me feeling very uncomfortable. I guess I just could not relax enough and get on their wavelength (except maybe the purely romantic scenes in the last episode, although it was once again very clichéd), or maybe it was really just a mediocre comedy anime series, with stand-alone episodes, featuring a few good gags, a juxtaposition of documentary and rom-com, and unfortunately, it was not that good and probably not that amusing either... To each their own, I for one am not going to award it more than 5.2/10. (07/04/2020)

Even though I was not too keen on the first season, the second season was much more up my alleyway. I felt like something was finally actually happening and that the characters, narrative and romantic elements were developing. Also, most of the supporting characters did not seem as throwaway and I was really impressed with Ishigami especially. I thought the eleventh episode, which was devoted to Ishigami in particular, was the best episode of the entire series so far. As with the first season, the jokes were not that funny although that could be more my fault due to my sense of humor. 7/10. (28/06/2020)

Honestly, I had mixed feelings about the first season, but Kaguya ages like a fine wine and it keeps on getting better with each new season. Ultra Romantic made the most of what it had been building up to during the previous episodes. It added something extra and delivered a finale that I'll fondly remember long after I’ve seen it. It took two seasons to convince me that the writers can work well with all the characters (and not just the main ones) and the third season keeps up this trend. In addition to the central couple and the wacky Fujiwara, there’s Ishigami and Iino again, whose stories and characters continue to develop in interesting ways. They are (newly) joined by Hayasaka and Tsubame. Even less important supporting characters have interesting things happening around them. To top it all off, the main storyline excellently builds up to a finely thought-out finale that fully deserves to be called Ultra Romantic. It wasn’t until the third season that I was fully convinced of the show’s exceptional romantic qualities. Yes, the first season already had a great moment in its finale, and the second season took it up a notch. However, the third season had so much romantic tension that you could cut it with a knife. It was a rollercoaster of emotions that I enjoyed to the fullest. In terms of romance, the finale is a 10/10. Plus, there was an increasing number of moments that had me laughing out loud. The fifth episode about rapping is the comedic top of the entire series so far, and probably the funniest episode in the entire spring anime season. Another thing I started noticing (with my increasing interest in Kaguya) was the awesome combination of different and original animation styles, filters, and movement... The animators did their best to sell every shot and emotion. I've only started appreciating it now (but better late than never). I'm curious about the next season. The manga is still running and the true fans who have read everything are saying that the quality doesn’t let up even after this peak, and there’s a lot to look forward to. Hopefully, they're right... Today's Battle Results: Kaguya wins! 9.3/10 (24/06/2022)