The battle to make the one they love admit their love first continues between Miyuki and Kaguya. It doesn’t look like it’s going to reach a conclusion any time soon. At least there is humor.
Creative Staff:
Art/Story: Aka Akasaka
Translation: Emi Louie-Nishikawa
English Adaptation/Editor: Annette Roman
Touch-Up Art & Lettering: Stephen Dutro
Cover & Interior Design: Izumi Evers
What They Say:
Will Kaguya and Miyuki outsmart a psychological test designed to reveal their true feelings? Is spoon-feeding each other cake the way to each other’s hearts? Then, Miyuki visits Kaguya’s home for the first time, but she is too sick to enjoy it. Kaguya tries to befriend Miyuki’s little sister, but Chika has beaten her to the punch. And summer vacation arrives, but the student council still hasn’t agreed on a destination.
Fireworks are supposed to be romantic.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As we settle into the fourth volume of the series, there might be one way in which it does begin to wear out its welcome: and that is the repetitive nature of the contests. While I do enjoy the twist that Kaguya, more often than not, has planned things well in advance, the fact that there is no movement, for the most part, between these two would-be lovers, does start to bore a bit. What we are getting is mainly variations on a theme: Kaguya wants Miyuki to confess and works out a devious plan…only to have Chika mess it up (unintentionally, of course). Miyuki and Kaguya get into a situation where it would not be unnatural for one or the other to express their feelings…only to have Yu appear from out of the furniture (where else could he be?). The biggest “plot” (for a constant “reset” episodic series) development is when Kaguya gets sick from standing out in a hurricane (another one of her “genius” plans gone awry).
Miyuki then has to battle Chika in order to win the right to visit Kaguya at home (here, we do learn a little more about Chika’s personality. For all of her seeming bubble-headed niceness, there is a dark underside to her as well, though this is comedy, so it’s not malicious…one hopes). When he arrives, Hayasaka sees to it that Miyuki gets to spend some alone time with the stricken Kaguya…which leads to them sharing a bed in the most innocent way possible.
Naturally, this just leads to yet another major misunderstanding between the two, which ends up in a cake fight (no, they just fight over a slice of cake) and finally a reconciliation. Can we call this relationship progress? No.
As the initial basis for the series begins to run out of steam, it must be time to introduce new characters. We do have one, right on cue, with the appearance of Miyuki’s younger sister Kei. You can the relationship immediately from her eyes (I will give Akasaka credit for that. His backgrounds are sometimes lacking, but the Shirogane siblings and Ai Hayasaka have very penetrating eyes). Kaguya, naturally, makes an attempt to befriend the younger Shirogane, but is thwarted in this, as usual, by Chika, who is already friendly with her as Chika’s younger sister is in the same class as Kei (they are both in the middle school of Shuchiin).
It’s not all repetitive drudgery however. There are still sparks of wit and humor sprinkled into the various contest of absurdity (to call them contests of intellect would be absurd). Kaguya’s reaction to learning how many children Miyuki would like to have in the future was well played. The card game between the student council minus Kaguya made for some amusing moments. Though perhaps the funniest part was Miyuki’s lack of musical talent.
There is still comedy to enjoy, but it might help to move away from the repetitive “you say it first” contest, which greatly constrains the kinds of situations we will find in the story. There were some moves to break out of that rut (by temporarily taking Kaguya out of the picture), but more effort may be necessary in future.
In Summary:
Shinomiya and Kurogane continue to go at it in their battle to make the other one say “I love you” first. We do get the occasional digression from that unrelenting war. Perhaps we could use some more. Time will tell. Still, there are funny moments to be had and I do wonder what will be coming next.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Package Rating: A-
Text/Translation: A-
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: September 4th, 2018
MSRP: $9.99
