Kaguya-sama: Love is War - Volume 10 (Review)
By: EyeSpyeAlex
Winter is here, and all I want to do is curl up in my chair and read manga. Which is precisely what I've been doing! Next on my radar is Kaguya-sama: Love is War Volume 10. Need to catch up? Check out my previous review here!
The Story
Volume 10 of Kaguya-sama: Love is War starts out with Miyuki attempting to get Kaguya to admit her feelings for him. His big plan this time is to keep complimenting Kaguya until she opens up. What he doesn't know is that Kaguya has been practicing her calming technique, creating an impenetrable force that even Miyuki's nicest compliments can't get through.
Things quickly change gears when Miyuki announces he is going on a group date with some friends to a karaoke bar. Absolutely panicking, Kaguya sends Hayasaka in her place to try to spy on Miyuki. What Kaguya does not prepare for is Hayasaka to make her own moves on Miyuki. Desperate, Kaguya calls in Chika for backup and the two storm the karaoke bar, only to find Hayasaka trying to flee Miyuki. As it turns out, singing is not Miyuki's forte, and the trio quickly leave him to croon alone.
But wait, the relationship woes have just begun! Nagisa once again comes to Kaguya and Miko for relationship advice. As it turns out, Nagisa believes her boyfriend is cheating on her, and has gone above and beyond to catch him in the act. With Kaguya's and Miko's support, Nagisa goes to confront her boyfriend, only to find out that he bought her a necklace. Not only that, Nagisa's best friend Maki helped him pick it out.
Seems romantic, right? Well, things take a decidedly more dramatic turn when Maki confesses to Miyuki and Yu that she has a crush on Nagisa's boyfriend. Maki helped Nagisa's boyfriend pick out the tackiest necklace she could find, hoping Nagisa would in turn dump him. It just goes to show you that you can't always get what you want.
A volume of Kaguya-sama: Love is War would be remiss with out some student council shenanigans. The group decide to have a cooking contest and play some party games, all which Kaguya views as a shot to get Miyuki to confess his feelings for her. Although she doesn't get a love confession, she does find out how deeply her friends care for her.
While taking some photos for a school brochure, Kaguya's flip phone unfortunately breaks. Because the phone is so old, there is no way to pull all of the photos she had saved on the device. She begrudgingly upgrades to a smartphone, but is heartbroken over all the lost memories. Sensing something is wrong, the rest of the student council send Kaguya all the photos they've taken over the year before taking the cutest group photo. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then all of these photos point out an incredibly loving and supportive group of friends.
The Review
It pains me to say, but I have a major gripe with this volume of Kaguya-sama. The comedic moments are hilarious, and I find myself hungrily reading the panels. But the less funny moments, such as the Nagisa and Maki encounters just seem to drag on. Having watched the anime, I think these are just moments that are better seen rather than read. This gives me hope that I will enjoy these moments more once season two is released, but I wish I could like them more now.
Speaking of the funny moments, I adore Chika and her face. She just has the most perfect response reactions to everything else the student council says or does. Any scene with Chika is an immediate winner in my mind.
Not every moment can be funny though, and Kaguya-sama handles those with grace and beauty. I felt Kaguya's pain when her phone broke and was overwhelmed with how kind her friends were for helping her through it. These little moments in the manga, just like life, are ones worth remembering.