The funniest anime on the air is finally back, and its third season is a bit different compared to the first two. Not bad, mind you, it's another great season of another great anime, but it is different.
Season 3 of Kaguya-Sama goes for a bit of a slow burn approach this time, focusing almost entirely on the buildup towards a culture festival that the school is holding. So much of the season is spent setting the stage for the event, from Kaguya and Shirogane coming to the decision that they want to finally confess, to a love interest for Ishigami getting introduced, to the reveal that Shirogane might be moving away. And course, the last four episodes of the season all chronicle the actual cultural festival itself, which makes for a pretty fantastic climax. That season finale was especially great, paying off everything the season had been setting up. Due to the added focus on plot, this season is a lot more dramatic than the first two, which I pretty much saw coming after the last two episodes of Season 2. Thankfully, the people behind Kaguya-Sama have proved they can pull off these dramatic moments incredibly effectively, and as a result, some of the most memorable moments of the season were the dramatic ones. It's also worth noting that this season has a subplot for much of its first half about Hayasaka wanting to befriend Shirogane (and Kaguya predictably thinking they're dating). Hayasaka increasingly becomes my favorite character of the show with every passing episode and I love that this season fleshed her out a bit more.
However, Season 3's extra focus on drama does have a bit of an unfortunate side effect, and that's that it just isn't as funny as the previous two. Not to say that there aren't a lot of strong comedic moments, many of which I'll mention in the usual highlights, but it definitely feels like this season of Kaguya-Sama was more of a dramedy than a comedy. However, I did feel like a few sketches weren't quite dramatic or comedic, rather solely being focused around setting up for the culture festival to the point of coming off as unmemorable. However, as mentioned above, the final few episodes were so good that I'm mostly fine that the earlier episodes were a bit more uneven. I'd rather have the consistency of Season 2, but I wouldn't say this approach is any worse. Although, one thing I can say has certifiably improved is that goddamn animation. Kaguya-Sama was always a well-animated show with some very creative visuals, but Season 3 takes that up to eleven in pretty much every episode. Moments like the rap battle, the Karekano homages in episode 8, and the haunted house scene are really elevated the shifts in animation style, and the whole season remains visually interesting regardless of what's going on. And don't even get me start on all the video game references, the last two episodes alone had Persona 5, Resident Evil, and Touhou references, and those are just the ones I managed to catch!
Highlights:
Chika Fujiwara Wants To Beat A Rhythm/Ai Hayasaka Wants To Talk/Maki Shijo Wants To Help: Resolving the Hayasaka/Shirogane subplot, this episode takes the running gag of Chika struggling to teach Shirogane stuff and amps it up to eleven, with Shirogane's initially funny attempts at learning to rap culminating in a downright hysterical rap battle. But it's Hayasaka who steals the show when she finally opens up and reveals how much she wants a friend.
Kozue Makihara Wants To Have Fun/Chika Fujiwara Wants To Unmask/Miyuki Shirogane's Cultural Festival: This episode had the perfect balance between comedy and drama, with the haunted house sketch being probably the funniest and most unique in the season, only for Ishigami's accidentally confession to Tsubame to suddenly darken the tone for the rest of the episode.
Kaguya Wants To Confess/Dual Confessions/The Shuchiin Afterparty: This is the first double-length episode of Kaguya-Sama and it shows. It's grand and climactic, utilizing the entire cast, and it feels like a massive culmination of everything that the season was doing. The Arsēne mystery was a ton of fun, the rooftop confrontation was super climactic and grand, the way the finale references and reuses scenes from previous episodes to put them in a new context was super clever, and the entire ending montage that wraps things up for all the characters is very satisfying. This could have even worked as a series finale, but I'm glad we're getting more Kaguya-Sama later down the line.
Overall, this was another great and visually inventive season of Kaguya-Sama, and while it took a bit of a slow burn approach, it all paid off with that phenomenal finale. However, because of that approach, as well as a general increase in drama, this was also probably the least funny season yet. Still a great season of a great anime, but not my favorite.
4/5 Stars
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