One of the most anticipated releases of Spring 2020 is here, and thankfully it was not delayed by the effects of COVID-19 which is spreading in Japan. Kaguya Sama- Love Is War Season 2 Episode 1 is out and the madhouse romcom does not disappoint one bit. The battle of wits between the two main characters, Shinomiya Kaguya and Shirogane Miyuki continues as the two tsunderes try to make the other confess their love. 

However, this season their feelings are much more visible and it would be fun to see how things progress, with the student council elections also playing a part in Kaguya Sama season 2 plot. 

Kaguya Sama Love Is War Season 2 Episode 1 Review:

Ai Hayasaka Wants to Stave Them Off 

Kaguya Sama season 2 begins with Ai Hayasaka (the best girl) expertly sneaking into the Student Council room and replacing Shirogane’s coffee. Next day, we come to know that Hayasaka had replaced the coffee with the decaffeinated one, as the student council president who is a caffeine addict and sleep deprived, falls asleep due to a lack of caffeine in his coffee. Kaguya obviously had some sort of plan for when Shirogane fell asleep, but before she could put it in motion, Miyuki fell on Kaguya’s shoulder, sleeping soundly. Surprised, flustered and excited, Kaguya can’t decide what to do next and asks Hayasaka to not let anyone into the student council room until she can come up with a new plan.

Thus begins Hayasaka’s struggle to fulfill the seemingly impossible wishes of her master. But she easily manages to fend off the people who try to enter the council room. This is a particularly fun part to watch, as Hyasaka comes up with different reasons for different people based on their personality. She also manages to keep a particularly unpredictable Chika Fujiwara away quite easily. After all the work when she returns to the council room, Hayasaka  finds that Kaguya is still too surprised and excited to do anything, with the president sleeping on her shoulder.

From the way things began, we might see Hayasaka and her struggles getting more screen time. We might also see Hayasaka complain about how she is not valued enough by Kaguya, even though they are both as close as sisters. This basic groundwork for Hayasaka’s dissatisfaction was laid in Season 1 and it would be fun to watch how that side plot progresses.

The Student Council Has Not Achieved Nirvana

In the next part, we see Nagisa’s boyfriend (who has gone through a surprising makeover in the summer) visit Shirogane and Ishigami (we are so happy to see him again) in the council room to ask for some love advice. The president, though quite inexperienced in the ABCs of Love, had previously managed to give advice that was so absurd and weird that it surprisingly worked out well for the couple. However, this time around, Nagisa’s boyfriend seemed to boast about how well he spent the summer vacation with Nagisa instead of asking for advice, thus ending up irritating both Ishigami and Shirogane who assumed that he had attained “nirvana” in his relationship. At this point Nagisa too shows up in the council room saying she had something to discuss with Kaguya.

What follows is typical high school student behaviour from the student council gang including Kaguya and Fujiwara, who spy on the couple out of curiosity to understand how close they have gotten to each other. Kaguya as usual, knows nothing about nirvana or what its supposed to mean. As Shirogane and Ishigami describe the various levels of closeness (holding hands, kissing etc.) equating it with the number of dates a couple could have gone on, Kaguya faints (not before she has that characteristic red face of hers) as she can’t take it anymore. 

Kaguya Wants to Get Married

The episode gets even better, when Fujiwara later invites Kaguya, Miyuki and Ishigami to a board game that she made with the members of the ‘tabletop game club’. Though initially opposed to the idea, Shirogane and Shinomiya agree to play the game after Ishigami convinces them.

Things begin to get hilarious, as the superfluous rules set in the game by  Fujiwara, knocks out Ishigami quite early. The game then gets more out of hand for Kaguya as she has to painstakingly witness Fujiwara and Shirogane marry and have kids. Though it was just a game Kaguya is visibly shaken by it in a very funny way of course. However, as the board game progresses further, Fujiwara and Shirogane get a divorce and Kaguya has to marry the President, making her all excited. But the rules of the game again play spoilsport as she ends up marrying Fujiwara (she is quite rightly called a natural disaster). 

It’s the small things in Kaguya Sama Love is War Episode 2 that add more depth to the comic stuff in the anime. For instance Ishigami offering sincere and straight views to improve Chika’s board game after having a disastrous game is nothing short of a brilliant scene.

Kaguya Wants to Celebrate

The last part of the episode is about Kaguya trying to bring up the topic of Shirogane’s birthday, which she wants to celebrate. But as the theme of the anime, she can’t openly come up with the topic and thus give away that she has feelings for the president. Kaguya seems to be in a tight spot as she can’t come up with a way to make Miyuki reveal his birthday in front of others, however, Fujiwara comes to her rescue. The unpredictable character, inadvertently, offers a helping hand to Kaguya when she shows a horoscope based mobile app which predicts your personality and compatibility with other zodiac signs. 

Did you know before that Kaguya is a new year baby, born on January 1?

Ishigami’s reaction to the app’s prediction of Kaguya’s character (which was kind of spot on in the end) and Kaguya’s reaction when the app predicts Chika’s character to be dedicated and affectionate instead of greedy and narcissist are worth a second watch.

It is also revealed that Fujiwara and Ishigami have the same birth dates, 3rd March.

But as Kaguya tries to get Shirogane to reveal his date of birth in order to check his personality (and also because she wants to celebrate his birthday) he vehemently opposes the idea of horoscopes. However, the truth is totally different than what he says, as it is shown that Shirogane has already checked his personality and compatibility with Kaguya using the app (which came out to be quite poor) and he doesn’t want Kaguya to see it.

Misunderstandings build up (ofcourse in a funny way) as Kaguya doesn’t know why Miyuki is holding back and Miyuki does not understand why Kaguya is forcing him to reveal his birthday. At the end, Kaguya assumes that Miyuki’s stubbornness to not reveal the date in front of the others is because he wants to celebrate his birthday alone with her. This thought makes her quite elated and she proceeds to plan for the event hopefully.

However, a visibly disappointed Ishigami is left wondering why no one would check his personality and compatibility even though he revealed his date of birth.Poor boy, after the treatment he has been receiving, we really can’t blame Ishigami for wanting to die, can we?

Hopefully, one of the upcoming episodes of Kaguya Sama Season 2 will deal with Shirogane;s birthday so that we get a conclusion to this open point in the plot. 

The story is crisp and well written and does not lag for even a bit. The animation is top notch and it is guaranteed to hook you right from the first minute. There couldn’t have been a better start to the season and we are definitely looking forward to how it will turn out.

Kaguya Sama Love is War Season 2 Episode 2 Release Date!

The second episode of Kaguya Sama Love is War will release on April 18, 2020 at 7:30 am PT (and at 11:30 pm on April 18 in Japan). The series will most probably have 12 episodes and will air till June 2020, given that there are no delays due to the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak in Japan. The second season is available to simulcast on Funimation, Crunchyroll and Animelab.

This season’s theme is focused on the upcoming student council elections, as the love war between the two main characters continue.