Romance anime are dime a dozen, but perhaps none are as perilous as the events shown in Kaguya-sama. Subtitled Love Is War, the series turns matters of the heart into a psychological battlefield. Featuring two tsundere protagonists who refuse to admit defeat, i.e. their feelings for each other, Kaguya-sama shows just how far some people will go to avoid love.
Though the original manga of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War may soon be ending, the anime is once again charging full speed ahead. With the release date for Season 3 finally announced, here's what otaku should known about Kaguya-sama and where they can watch and read the series.
The Plot of Kaguya-sama
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War centers around Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguma Shinomiya, who are both top-performing and well-off students at Shuchiin Academy. Everyone (including themselves) seems to think they would be the perfect couple, but both Miyuki and Kaguya are too proud to simply admit their feelings for one another. Thus, they devise plans, traps and tricks to try to goad the other into confessing first, turning the matter of a few simple words into an all-out war of the minds.
The series is written by Akasaka, who was inspired by his own lack of success in the arts of love in high school. He also wanted to write a thematically strong but easygoing series that would be popular with office ladies. This made Kaguya-sama focus more on the romance than anticipated -- originally, he wanted to instead make the series a sort of cat-and-mouse game, similar to works such as Death Note.
Where to Read the Kaguya-sama Manga
The Kaguya-sama manga began publication in 2015, switching from Miracle Jump to Weekly Young Jump the following year. The series is still running and so far has 23 collected manga volumes, 20 of which have been translated and released by Viz Media in Western regions.
All of the chapters have somewhat comical titles such as "Kaguya Wants to X...," or "Miko Iino Wants to Y...," showcasing the changing perspectives throughout the story. After returning from a hiatus, the series was announced last month as having entered into its final arc, though the spinoffs Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Dōjin-ban and Kaguya-sama o Kataritai have yet to be localized.
The entirety of the localized series so far is available digitally through Comixology, but physical versions can be ordered online through Amazon and Right Stuf Anime, or in physical retailers like Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million. Walmart also carries the title, although some earlier volumes are out of stock and certain stores may not physically carry them.
Where to Watch the Kaguya-sama Anime
A-1 Pictures handles the anime adaptation of Kaguya-sama, which debuted back in 2019. So far, the show has two seasons, both of which are 12 episodes long. In 2020, the show's third season was announced alongside the premiere of an ONA episode, and more recently, Season 3 was revealed to be releasing in 2022. The staff and cast behind the first two seasons will return for this one, though it's unknown so far which streaming services Season 3 will be exclusive to.
Crunchyroll, Hulu and Funimation handled the simulcast for North America, though Funimation acquired exclusive streaming rights for Season 2. Amazon Prime Video also allows viewers to purchase individual episodes or the entire first season digitally. In terms of physical media, the aforementioned Amazon, Right Stuf Anime and Walmart carry the Blu-ray collection of the first season, though viewing the series this way is rather expensive.
