Chika Fujiwara Steals The Show! Kaguya-Sama 3-Episode Test

Alright, so just pointing out that this is still going to be a biased review for the show. Even with the insanity that is my bullshit personal life, work (the government is a harsh mistress), and grad school I am all too eager to write this review of what is by and far my most anticipated show of the season, maybe even the year. While this season is starting well with such new comers as Shield Hero, returning shows such as Mob Psycho 100 and continuing amazingness like Jojo’s and Slime Isekai should really help frame how hyped I am for this show. More so, I’m really glad it seems to be doing well and being well received by fans and newcomers alike. (Subject F is getting way more hype than I expected.)

Right off the bat, I’d like to point out that the subbers have gone about the work of correcting Kaguya’s tagline to the appropriate “How Cute.” Upon returning back to episode 1 to double check, I noticed that they did in fact go back and edit the first episode to the correct translation. Its one of the few moments that the uproar of such a quick response led to real change that I’ve seen and that’s fantastic to me. Honestly it surprised me more because the community is so small. Over the course of the last couple weeks the subreddit has jumped about 20% in subscribers, which is really only a 1K jump to over 5K, but with this most recent episode it seems that the hype growth is not stopping there.

These last two episodes have been great, with episode two further showing just how crazy Kaguya can get with all her scheming. In a convoluted high-level mind game, she had a number of her servants follow around President Shirogane to subliminally encourage him to get a new phone so that she would be able to get his number and text/call him. Of course this goes poorly as its revealed Kaguya, while rich, has been using the same old flip phone since kindergarten, and is otherwise unable to use Line, a famous messaging app in Japan/Asia. On the other hand, these episodes have gone to show us the endearing aspects of the President with him rushing to get himself and Kaguya to school on time and trying to maintain the air of authority and respect that he has obtained with the common students, to great comical effects. (TL;DR, Dating advice from a virgin, and it is funny) My favorite part of all this is that the synergy of the characters is shown very well, with Fujiwara being the chaotic disruption to ruin all the machinations of Shirogane and Kaguya. Whether directly or indirectly, she tends to be the whirlwind that is reaped to the audiences’ amusement. Without spoiling things, I would like to point out that many of the supporting characters/side plots that are shown will come back later on as recurring and entertaining call-backs, and watching the show right now is making me giddy with joy for how they’re going to execute this. That being said, even without the elaborate set ups, one of the greatest skits in the show is done in the beginning of episode 3, where the student council begins to discuss the concept of 34% of people reporting their “first-time” being in high school, with Kaguya saying hers was much, much sooner to the shock and horror of the President.

For the most part, the anime has been faithfully following the hilarious series of gags, jokes, jabs, and mental warfare that the manga had and more. This is honestly one of those rare times where the adaptation not only captured, but enhanced the work done in the manga. The animation is constantly and consistently amazing, as would be expected of A-1, with the episode 3 ED being a real and true testament to this fact. The VAs, especially Kaguya’s, are exactly what I’d hope for as Aoi Koga pulls a great range from distinguished lady, to sarcastic/sadistic aristocrat, to swooning teenage girl almost seamlessly. Not to be the only great VA, Makoto Furukawa, who also did Saitama in One Punch Man, has been doing a great job of jumping between stoic/deadpan and shocked/exclamatory at the drop of a hat. The real surprise was how adorable and amazing Konomi Kohara did as Chika “Subject F’ Fujiwara and the great meme potential that ED has provided us. I for one am going to be sticking with this show (obviously) and am hoping others will follow suit. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and discuss in our Discord server!