Watch this before you watch the anime!
I'm not gonna watch the anime soon, but I might as well check out the live action. And boy, I like it.
§ Overview
At the Shuchi'in Academy, a prestigious high school of the rich, there are two renowned students: 1) Shirogane Miyuki, the president of the student council who had transferred earlier, and 2) Shinomiya Kaguya, the vice president and heiress of the Shinomiya group.
Both like each other, but both deem a confession as a sign of weakness, which is why both will try to induce a confession from one another. Whoever confesses first loses.
§ Notes
1. The guy acting as Shirogane Miyuki, Hirano Shō, seems similar to the character design of the anime, but he doesn't capture how fierce he looks. He can make himself look silly.
The anime version of Kaguya-sama has a weird look, a petite but mysterious woman that I think no actress can really capture her look. To her credit, Hashimoto Kanna is beautiful, and her look as Kaguya is so cute that I don't mind if she doesn't completely nail down the Kaguya look. Her acting is rough around the edges.
2. If you think of a romantic comedy, you usually think of tropes such as a guy or girl being shy around their love interest. Or perhaps blushing around them and fumbling their confession. Also, the physical comedy is over-the-top.
Kaguya-sama Love is War, at least the anime and manga version, is praised by some as the best romantic comedy. Sure, it has over-the-top humour, something that's a staple in a typical romcom, but the dynamic is different. Both fancy each other. The question becomes, who will confess first? How do you force the other party to confess? This dynamic sounds like war and game theory, which is different and interesting.
3. It remains to be seen if I will really find the anime version the best romcom.
Note that the director of this live-action movie is also the director of Nisekoi live action. I rated that one an 8 out of 10, while this is just 7.5 out of 10. It's statistically tied, but perhaps I found this way over the top than my taste permits, even though Kaguya-sama the anime is better regarded than Nisekoi.
Be that as it may, putting up with its OTT comedy is worth it when you consider its game theory aspects.
4. Most anime viewers have judged this as trash and in no way near the anime. I don't know if that's true, but live action movies tend to be inferior to the anime. I recommend only watching this if you haven't seen the anime, or for someone like me who wants to see if the inferior live action version would captivate me enough to seek the better anime version.
Of course, I am also watching it to enjoy seeing the beauty of Hashimoto Kanna so there's that.
5. I won't be specific about this, but there are some events in the latter half of the movie that feel there will be no more movie 2 and that the story will end. But for some reason, they found some justifications for coming back to square one and resuming the game theory dynamics.
This is a bit of a letdown.
§ Conclusion
This is a decent introduction to what some feel is the best romantic comedy, at least the anime/manga version. It's generally enjoyable if you can overlook how over-the-top it is. Hashimoto Kanna is a beauty and might be a good enough reason for some to watch it.
§ Overview
At the Shuchi'in Academy, a prestigious high school of the rich, there are two renowned students: 1) Shirogane Miyuki, the president of the student council who had transferred earlier, and 2) Shinomiya Kaguya, the vice president and heiress of the Shinomiya group.
Both like each other, but both deem a confession as a sign of weakness, which is why both will try to induce a confession from one another. Whoever confesses first loses.
§ Notes
1. The guy acting as Shirogane Miyuki, Hirano Shō, seems similar to the character design of the anime, but he doesn't capture how fierce he looks. He can make himself look silly.
The anime version of Kaguya-sama has a weird look, a petite but mysterious woman that I think no actress can really capture her look. To her credit, Hashimoto Kanna is beautiful, and her look as Kaguya is so cute that I don't mind if she doesn't completely nail down the Kaguya look. Her acting is rough around the edges.
2. If you think of a romantic comedy, you usually think of tropes such as a guy or girl being shy around their love interest. Or perhaps blushing around them and fumbling their confession. Also, the physical comedy is over-the-top.
Kaguya-sama Love is War, at least the anime and manga version, is praised by some as the best romantic comedy. Sure, it has over-the-top humour, something that's a staple in a typical romcom, but the dynamic is different. Both fancy each other. The question becomes, who will confess first? How do you force the other party to confess? This dynamic sounds like war and game theory, which is different and interesting.
3. It remains to be seen if I will really find the anime version the best romcom.
Note that the director of this live-action movie is also the director of Nisekoi live action. I rated that one an 8 out of 10, while this is just 7.5 out of 10. It's statistically tied, but perhaps I found this way over the top than my taste permits, even though Kaguya-sama the anime is better regarded than Nisekoi.
Be that as it may, putting up with its OTT comedy is worth it when you consider its game theory aspects.
4. Most anime viewers have judged this as trash and in no way near the anime. I don't know if that's true, but live action movies tend to be inferior to the anime. I recommend only watching this if you haven't seen the anime, or for someone like me who wants to see if the inferior live action version would captivate me enough to seek the better anime version.
Of course, I am also watching it to enjoy seeing the beauty of Hashimoto Kanna so there's that.
5. I won't be specific about this, but there are some events in the latter half of the movie that feel there will be no more movie 2 and that the story will end. But for some reason, they found some justifications for coming back to square one and resuming the game theory dynamics.
This is a bit of a letdown.
§ Conclusion
This is a decent introduction to what some feel is the best romantic comedy, at least the anime/manga version. It's generally enjoyable if you can overlook how over-the-top it is. Hashimoto Kanna is a beauty and might be a good enough reason for some to watch it.
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