KAGUYA-SAMA WA KOKURASETAI: FIRST KISS WA OWARANAI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ComedyKaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensaitachi no Renai Zunousen
ANIME ComedyKaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Ultra Romantic

REVIEWS

• 

  Alicemagic18

  96/100
  The Epic Conclusion to the Geniuses' War of Hearts and Minds

  Have you ever thought if Kaguya-sama is pure romance rather than so much comedy?

  Behold! The most beautiful and romantic movie of the year. This is the greatest story of Kaguya-sama has been told. The epic conclusion to the main storyline since the first season aired in 2019. Ending the war once and for all in this merry Christmas gift offering from A-1 Pictures, Kaguya-sama ~ First Kiss wa Owaranai ~!

  After receiving a massive disappointment from the outrageous uLtrA RoMantiCC, I felt angry with this show because it left me with a bitter taste since I’m a fan of the series. I ended up picking the manga where it left off to find some answers but I'm really glad I picked it. It turns out, Kaguya-sama isn’t perfect. It has ups and downs but that is what makes it a manga, manga. An anime, anime. I witnessed the truly ultra-romantic in this story arc rather than in the previous season. I didn’t have expectations for the movie since the runtime is only 1 and a half hours, but this adaptation is the one that I wanted to see.

  So the story picked up after the events from the previous season. If you saw the ending scene from the last episode, you should ignore that. There are two things that you can think about that scene, either a fanservice or an easter egg from the ending of the movie. But let’s not talk about that and move forward. The members of the gang from the elite student council are back! But there’s one problem, Kaguya suffered from an identity crisis! I like the part when they thought about the kiss because it’s merely an unanswered question of mine. What is the meaning of that kiss? What were Kaguya’s intentions at that time? What will be their relationship from now on? The first act was cute when they adapted the chibi Kaguya while she still had THAT attitude to Ishigami. The pacing was so fine like they reduced the comedic moments and focused on the romance between the two main characters. It made me feel the pure romantic vibe of the story, rather than being a satire from the previous season. They removed some unnecessary scenes from the manga but it doesn’t feel rushed when I watched it. Yes, there are still comedic moments from the other characters and Shirogane himself. His expressions are so funny when he overthinks things around him, especially to Kaguya. The other characters had some moments but I’ll focus on the main storyline about the two, and how did I like their other sides of the story so far.

  Spoilers

  This is the part that I love the most. How did they deal their themselves at this moment? After the meeting of Kaguya’s personas, it is revealed that the original, or the ice-cold one is the one who truly loves Shirogane the most. While Shirogane, the perfect one, conceals his true self to stand by her side. This is one of the most realistic approaches in many relationships. We all know that to be liked by someone is to prove our worth. You must be a perfect person. You must conceal yourself and replace a self where that person can accept you. That’s the cruel part. We might end up having an identity crisis and find it difficult to find our true selves from the many selves that we made. I like the part when Kaguya’s original self enters the whole scene and shows her true self to her, while she’s scared because she might hurt Shirogane. She distanced herself from all the people around her because of her family name and nature. She isn’t really angry but the people around were angry at her. But the reason why she did that was that she didn’t want to end up hurting people. She also thought that when she was finally in love with Shirogane so she built an idiotic self and the current self from the previous seasons, in order not to hate her. So this time, she suppressed her other self because she just don’t want to be an idiot and be carried away, but she want to think about what will happen in the future. She wanted a normal life as a normal young girl. Same for Shirogane, to like and impress by Kaguya, he worked his ass off to become perfect. He poured almost his time to become perfect not just for her, but for other people. He only wanted to notice by Kaguya and the whole student body. But he realizes that it’s not his true self, but “a perfect self” that he made. Being nasty, spineless, a piece of trash, talentless, and a coward are his true self. He fears that everything is over the moment he shows any signs of weakness. He thought that there was no way that Kaguya is destined to be with him because she was just too perfect to reach.

  In this part, they are scared of revealing who they are. They both had reasons for why they concealed themselves, and not showing all of it to each other. Their weaknesses and negative sides of themselves. But being who they are, and showing who they are is one of the important key factors in having a romantic relationship. Accepting not only the good sides but also the flaws and imperfections that each other. And even, though everyone isn’t perfect you should embrace also your flaws and other selves to understand yourself.

  The Christmas party in the last part is one of my favorite moments in the whole story. There are funny moments like the gift revealing that made me laugh. The Handmade Bombs gift is the weirdest and it’s funny because they executed it well. The bench part is the most romantic scene I’ve ever discovered. They confront each other and revealed their true selves. Kaguya wants to know if Shirogane hates her true self, while Shirogane still hides it from the girl he loves. Kaguya being determined to show her true self marks her finest character development because she had nothing to fear, even though she carries her prideful family name. She gets his gift and it was revealed that his gift was just a cheap toy. I didn’t expect that reaction from Shirogane when he was asked about his gift. In the end, she gratefully accepts it and his true self. They shared a romantic kiss under a half-moon. Not an ultra-romantic full moon, but still romantic.

  There are many messages from this movie that I appreciated. It’s fine not to be perfect. Love doesn’t have to be perfect like making grand surprises, saying great lines, improving themselves just to be perfect, and even having a kiss in a romantic scene. There’s nothing more wonderful than sharing everything and completely understanding one another. Showing the plain normal self and people who are closest to us will embrace who we are. Having closure for these two characters made me feel romantic and somehow wanted to cheer them on their romantic journey.

  The animation and music are amazing so far and the adaptation is well done. As expected from A-1 Pictures, they gave me reasons why this studio will remain my favorite. The theme Love is Show made it to my second favorite song from the whole Kaguya-sama. It is not catchy but it’s lively and lovely. The seiyuus did a very good job of voicing the characters. The background music from this movie skyrocketed my impressions and they were made a great job with it. Probably my favorite soundtrack so far.

  Overall, this movie is a sweet treat for all Kaguya-sama fans. The movie gave justice to the manga, and it made one of my favorite romance movies. It made me believe again that romance stories are still a thing after a series of dreadful romance animes aired this year. It is marked on my list as the pinnacle of romance from the whole Kaguya-sama story, and I hope that this marks the conclusion of the main storyline. The next stories from the manga felt flat actually but who knows? A-1 Pictures might start milking the cash cow.

  Once again, it’s time to say farewell to the war that lasted a few years and moves forward to a new stage for the two main characters. As the happy couple emerges, a first kiss will never ends and will last for a lifetime <3

  A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

  Story: 9.6/10
  Animation: 8.7/10
  Characters: 9.3/10
  Sound: 9.1/10
  Entertainment factor: 9.6/10
  Enjoyment: 9.8/10

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• 

  ameesaka

  100/100
  "I always end up hurting people I care about...when I'm the real me"

  My review cannot do this movie justice but let's try.

  ---

  The First Kiss That Never Ends, a rom-com story title can never go any raw than that. This arc is widely believed to be the best and where Kaguya-Sama truly reached its peak and that is what I believe too. When I first read the manga, I was genuinely in shock at how this manga could portray the theme of "Persona". We all hide our true selves in front of our loved ones, friends, and even family members but a relationship with the love of our lives could never work if we never show our "perfect" side and also our weak vulnerable self and that is the main conflict for both Shirogane and Kaguya which takes place directly after the ultra-romantic confession.

  This was the arc that made me truly in love with Kaguya-sama and the way how A-1 adapted previous seasons with gorgeous visuals, symbolisms, and the directing as a whole made me have high hopes for the movie. I dare say that this movie suppressed the manga for me and it's crazy for me to admit that because of how I hold this manga in high esteem. Despite knowing that the staff would go all the way out for the Kaguya anime, I still managed to gasp in awe in the second half of the movie. They elevated everything with breathtaking visuals ESPECIALLY the hospital scene. The comedic timing in the series has improved massively even though that was one of its strongest points.

  Now, Kaguya and Shirogane.

  She is a victim of her surroundings and that leads to the creation of an airtight persona that protects her real self. One thing though, she is not suffering from a disassociative personality disorder and that much is confirmed in the manga. But the fact remains that her mask is painfully dense that it can be fully seen as a different personality altogether. Her original self as we know in the series gets very carried away easily but Ice Kaguya is the one that thinks of the future and thinks things through properly and in a fight with her other personalities, Ice Kaguya awakens.

  Shirogane, on the other hand, strives to be perfect in any way he can be after his traumatic childhood and work himself till death. If not, no one would love him and he will be deemed worthless by himself. He has shown all his ugly flaws to Fujiwara, especially in the previous seasons but Kaguya never sees any of that.

  In the end, both of them are scared to reveal their true pathetic selves, and both of them have the right and good reasoning to conceal them. Despite that, both of them also know that their relationship won't work unless they lay bare naked of who they truly are. They know they have to be accepting of themselves and others but of course, it is easier said than done.

  Comes as the final act of the movie, arguably one of my favorite moments in the entire series where they finally confront what it means to reveal their true persona to each other and be an ordinary, flawed high-school couple and I find that very romantic in a sense where it contrasts the finale of S3 and that's beautiful.

  To sum it up, getting to watch Kaguya on the big screen was an opportunity I am grateful for. A perfect adaptation that went way beyond is what I'd been expecting and they delivered. The tone, atmosphere, ost, voice acting, visuals, directing, and everything you can think of honestly I'm no animation expert. The decision to make this arc a movie was the right choice because the week wait in a series would kill off the vibe that they are trying to go for. The character development is of course phenomenal and this is just the beginning.

  Perfect movie, perfect adaptation, would rewatch this countless times.

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• 

  jollyradtime

  94/100
  Kaguya-Sama does not disappoint.

  
  
  With a title like that (and having read the manga because I am a cheater) I think we all knew that this was going to be a little more rom than its usual romCOM style. Normally, when I think of this series, I think of the comedy. That is NOT to say that the romance and character development are bad, just that the comedy is pure, top tier genius, and in comparison the romance and character development can really only be called cute. Hopefully you all got that reference. Anyways. Even though this movie leaned more heavily into what is (in my opinion) its weaker side, it did it in a way that was very charming and heartfelt. It was a bit overdramatic for my personal taste at times, but what can one expect from teenagers in love who are still finding themselves and each other? It was very cute. Like cat-ear Miyuki in Kaguya's eyes level of cute. While I don't think it meets the amazing levels that were achieved by Ultra Romantic and previous seasons, it is still one of the best romcoms around and you simply can't skip it if you are watching this series. It is a critical part of the story. 
  
  ____Spoilers below____
  
  <span class='markdown_spoiler'><span>The War between these two was brought to an end. Kaguya finally decided to be the brave one and confessed her love. I remember reading this in the manga and thinking "Well what now?" and feeling slightly disappointed and happy and sad all at the same time because I didn't want this series to end there. It doesn't, by the way, thankfully. </span></span>
  
  The voice acting for this movie was (as usual) above and beyond what anybody would expect. Easily a 10/10. 
  
  The plot is something I want to take a few points off for, <span class='markdown_spoiler'><span>just because of my personal distaste for the drama.</span></span> However, I will remove my bias and admit that it holds its own against the greats like Toradora. 9/10. 
  
  Character development is good. Likely one of the weaker aspects of the series, but what does one expect when you focus so heavily on the comedy? Still, it feels organic enough and believable. 8/10.  
  
  The animation is also one of the weaker aspects of the series overall, although with this series I don't think any aspect is particularly weak. 8/10. 
  
  The opening song was good. Still very in theme with the past three. However, it definitely felt a bit weaker than the previous opening songs. 8/10.
  
  Even though the comedic aspects of this series takes a bit of a backseat in this movie, in comparison to its usual in the series, the comedy shines through and is as always, top tier. 10/10. 
  
  Overall, I laughed, I cried, and I felt extremely content by the end of it. The drama removed a small amount of my enjoyment, but do not let that deter you from watching this. I am just very relaxed about how my personal beliefs about how love should be and will not project that onto my scoring. GO WATCH IT.

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