Manga Review: Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Volume 2, by Aka Akasaka

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: May 2018

Volumes: 11+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 3.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Two high school geniuses scheme to get the other to confess their love first.

Two geniuses. Two brains. Two hearts. One battle. Who will confess their love first…?!

Will a mysterious love letter to Kaguya make Miyuki jealous? Is drinking from a coffee cup with Kaguya’s lipstick on the rim a virtual kiss? How will Miyuki react when Kaguya says she’s “done it” before?

Then, Miyuki’s phobia is revealed, the VP of Shuchiin Academy’s sister school in France displays epic Gallic rudeness and the student council tries on some costumes…

Nobody can resist cat ears.

Review:

There are moments in this series, where it tries to make the premise seem so dark and dramatic, and those moments just do not work for me. Thankfully, those moments only seem to happen at the very beginning of the volume, in the set-up. It lasted longer in the first volume, and this one starts in the same format, but then it drifts into the more silly stand-offs that this series is better at.

Kaguya and Miyuki are both rather full of themselves, very cocky and think they're above everyone else, and so they both refuse to admit their weaknesses to each other. As the story progresses, we're starting to see their actual feelings growing. Kaguya's crush on Miyuki is growing, much as Miyuki is finding her more and more appealing. It's a fight between their own pride and their feelings for each other. And so far, neither is winning.

In this volume, we see them attempt to make each other jealous. They almost share an indirect kiss. Kaguya is forced to consider her growing crush when she gives another girl relationship advice. They exchange phone numbers, and struggle on how to communicate first. When they try cosplaying, they come to see how cute cat ears can be.

While these struggles are growing on me, I still think that Chika is my favorite. She really can't see the tension between them, aside from when they glare from trying so hard to conceal their excitement. Seeing her dressed up as Sherlock Holmes was adorable. And honestly, seeing Kaguya get annoyed with her at times, annoys me. How dare she not see how great Chika is? (Even if Chika is quite bad at reading a room, and probably at keeping a secret.)

This series is odd and serious in a silly way, and it's growing on me. This volume was better than the first.

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!