Hello everyone, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time! Today I’ll be continuing a journey through one of the most acclaimed recent shows that I haven’t already seen, as we explore the second episode of Kaguya-sama: Love is War. So far, Shinichi Omata’s creative, energetic direction has been Kaguya-sama’s strongest feature by far, with nearly every gag earning itself a unique style of visual embellishment. Building off the base color scheme of Kaguya’s own design, Omata has created a spy-versus-spy reminiscent aesthetic that gives the whole show a sense of cohesiveness and cool, acting as a perfect tonal counterpoint to the show’s absurd conflicts.

Visually, I don’t really have any complaints. However, the show’s initial premise already feels it’s wearing thin for me – meaning for this episode, what I’m really hoping for is some expansion in terms of the show’s scope, and particularly in terms of its emotional punch. I know Kaguya and Miyuki like each other, but I don’t really know them well enough to know why they like each other, or see their relationship as something to actively root for. I’ll forgive a lot in a show if it has a compelling central romance, and if Kaguya-sama can match its stellar visual execution with some endearing character writing, I’ll probably be hooked. Let’s see what’s in store in the second episode of Kaguya-sama!

Episode 2

This show’s high-contrast color scheme is so distinctive. It’s all about these massive binary contrasts, echoing the central narrative conflict – white against black, and the red of Kaguya’s eyes against the blue of Miyuki’s, with even their weapons in the OP gleaming with their signature colors

They are reiterating the heck out of this show’s premise. Basically the first four minutes are repeated

Miyuki has just gotten a smartphone! The show keeps alluding to his humble upbringing, and I’d like to see more of that contrasted against Kaguya’s own family situation. Given the massive differences in their circumstances, there’s a lot of room for potential friction there, opening the door for conflict, comedy, and eventually a greater mutual understanding

“But sometimes you might not get a reply, so joy can turn to sorrow.” One of this show’s most reliable gags is the narrator’s bombastic interpretation of all these mundane events. The narrator and director are aligned; in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the tone of the manga’s narration that inspired the show’s precisely over-the-top visual execution

Nice dramatic use of shadow and contrast here, as Miyuki fades into a black silhouette with a blue eye for his devilish plan

Chika is so crucial to this show. She’s the instigator; the other two would just sit there laughing ominously at each other without her to stir the pot

When Miyuki panics, he’s set all in blue, emphasizing his emotional vulnerability through the dominance of his signature color. Both of this show’s leads are trying to express their feelings while simultaneously keeping them hid, and their control over their signature colors seems to echo their current mental state – Miyuki all in blue seems to imply his feelings are leaking out, rather than being constrained within his tightly narrowed eyes

This color work stuff is less of a “this equals this” style of symbolism, and more a natural way of visually echoing the show’s emotional intent, so the audience feels that emotional intent more emphatically even if they don’t know why. The unity of narration and visual design achieves a similar effect

I like this dramatic cross-hatching effect they use for when characters are in deep distress. It naturally conveys the sense of an immense mental burden – it’s like a visual migraine

The Miyuki effect is mirrored over on Kaguya’s side, as her obvious rejoicing paints her whole face in the red of her eyes

Ahaha, once again, it was actually Kaguya who got Miyuki a phone. Her elaborate plans to bring them closer are her most direct way of showing affection, and it’s genuinely pretty charming

And a brilliant play by Miyuki, as he dangles the potential of seeing his childhood photos by sharing them with Chika. A play like that only really works when you know the other person is also into you; they’re in that particularly fraught “we know we like each other, but can’t take the plunge” moment

This show is tremendously good at reformatting the dramatic conceits and flourishes of spy and detective fiction into romantic comedy conflicts. Miyuki has essentially created a hostage situation, where his baby pictures are the hostage, and him changing his profile is the bomb timer

Kaguya throws a hail mary, and just starts crying and saying how terrible the president is. A low blow!

Oddly enough, it feels like one of this show’s particular visual specialties is background patterns. It uses visual static, grid layouts, and Ben-Day dots to remarkable effect

Once again, Chika panicking in the center really sells the gag

They seem to be the most honest with each other once the official battles conclude. I like hearing their uninhibited bickering after Chika announces Kaguya’s phone can’t use LINE

Oh my god, this cut of just Chika’s smile appearing like a flower blooming is adorable. Kaguya-sama often seems to take the SHAFT integration of abstract geometric imagery, and put it to direct, immediate dramatic effect like this

Everyone sure loves Altair and Vega. I’ve probably seen more interpretations of Orihime’s story than any other fable

I like how even in his lofty romantic fantasies, Miyuki still has those heavily lined dead fish eyes

“Please let me revolve around you, President!” Oh my god Miyuki

Oh no, Miyuki can’t swim. A key weakness

That reveal leads directly into “let’s use a private beach owned by my family.” I know Kaguya-sama is likely not the place to be looking for an interrogation of the intersection of romance and class, but there’s so much dramatic potential there!

Kaguya reveals she’s made a massive series of documents detailing anything Miyuki might say to counter any of her ploys, which is pretty romantic of her

Upon achieving victory, Kaguya is immediately reminded that Chika has big boobs. A catastrophic oversight

This feels like the rare boob joke that actually feels appropriate for the narrative, since Kaguya, of all people, would absolutely stress about this contrast

Wonderful art style shift for Chika’s dark fantasies of Mount Osore. Subdued colors, grainy filters, and heavy ink work with hatched shading all create an appropriately menacing tone

Miyuki encounters another classic high school experience – attempting to give a friend romantic advice without revealing you have zero romantic experience

Pretty funny to think Miyuki is concerned about being revealed as a virgin, considering he spends most of his afternoons freaking out about the possibility of touching hands or an indirect kiss. Dude, don’t worry about hiding your virginity, you’re like fifty years away from that stage

Miyuki’s advice is bullshit psychology, but to be honest, “be confident in your feelings and express yourself honestly” is basically the one piece of advice all insecure high schoolers need to hear. Even if Miyuki is arriving at “be confident” via bullshit, it’s still the right advice – after all, only the bandaid-ripping experience of declaring your feelings and being rejected will help you get over the initial terror of expressing vulnerability

This is good stuff, actively riffing on the misconceptions that teenage boys frequently have about girls. Considering so much of anime is written from a perspective of still believing those misconceptions, it’s refreshing to see a romantic comedy toy with them like this

Miyuki is actually worried that Kaguya hates him, which is understandable – most of the time, she expresses her “love” by sending him ominous death stares

And Done

That was a very solid episode! I actually did enjoy this one a fair bit more than the first, which might just come down to the naturally evolving chemistry between the leads. The two of them are still largely communicating through absurd spy schemes, but the margins of their clashes provide a decent amount of room for illustrating what they actually like about each other. And Chika continues to be the show’s most valuable asset, consistently introducing major doses of whimsy and chaos to their sparring matches. I’d still personally like some less overtly farcical material, and in particular would love to see either Kaguya or Miyuki navigating the other’s home life, but on the whole this was a charming and visually inspired slice of romantic comedy.

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