Kaguya-sama is approaching its finale! And with an upcoming Ballroom Arc, the romantic subplots among the casts just couldn’t get any hotter!
Miyuki may have confessed to Kaguya a long time ago (during the Culture Festival). But the dilemma of going to the Americas with Miyuki plagued Kaguya so much that she rescinded her application to Stanford University. Shocking, I know!
Then, there’s still the brewing love story between the mischievous Miko Iino and her introvert crush — Yu Ishigami! What romantic revelations are still in store for their outrageous “Battle of Love and Brains” version?
Without further ado, let’s get into it and decipher the remaining romantic entanglements before the Kaguya-sama manga finally ends!
Is Kaguya-sama: Love is War over?
Kaguya-sama: Love is War is not yet over, but the manga is approaching its finale! Fans can see that the subplots are wrapping up little by little since the main casts have finally entered their senior year!
From the cast’s academic goals, friendship rivalries, and romantic conflicts, it’s a treat to behold how the manga is concluding.
Moreover, there are two new supporting characters introduced: Hikaru Oobayashi and Komari Machida, the homeroom teachers for Class 3-A (Kaguya, Chika, and Miyuki’s class) and Class 2-A (Miko, Yu Ishigami, and Kobachi Osaragi’s class), respectively.
Although these two supporting characters barely made an appearance in the series, it’s interesting to note how they draw readers’ attention (which means, they won’t be cut out of the picture too soon)!
Chapter 225’s endnote inquires readers, “The teachers’ war of love and brains also begins?” implying a miniature love and brain battle version between the homeroom teachers.
Moreover, new students come into the fray! The most prominent ones are Class 1-B’s Hifumi Abe (who hasn’t had a face reveal yet for 28 chapters from Chapters 211 to 238, inclusive) and Class 2-A’s Koromo Shiranui (a love rival to Miko Iino in winning Yu Ishigami’s heart)!
All 4 new characters debuted in Chapter 211. With this many character drops coming into Kaguya-sama this late in the game, the manga will probably last for likely another 80+ chapters in the next few years!
Why estimate 80 chapters? Well, it’s because fans noticed how the mangaka teased the finale at Chapter 161 (which was released on Sept 12, 2019), as well as the most exciting arc (the Ballroom Arc, yet again) on Chapter 238!
At the time of writing this article, Kaguya-sama has already released Chapter 238. Therefore, there were 78 additional chapters between Chapter 161 (the chapter where fans claimed that the mangaka is teasing the series finale) and Chapter 238 (the latest chapter)!
Also, it has been 2 years since Chapter 161 (the chapter that leaked the finale) was teased. But looking at Kaguya-sama right now, I’d give it a couple more years (probably 2 to 3 more years) before the series dives into its conclusion.
What is Kaguya-sama’s latest arc?
The manga is currently heading to its long-awaited Ballroom Arc.
As it stands today, it only has one chapter that will likely unravel the luxurious and ever-so-menacingly anticipated dancing chapters! And it’s menacingly because there will likely be romantic and platonic feuds in this love dramatic arc!
If Aka Akasaka fleshes out this arc well, fans will likely get to see the main cast flourish and dance in formal attire for at least 10 chapters! (Ooooooh, I can’t wait to see how the characters put on their gowns and tuxedos)!
As 3rd-year Japanese high school students, one thing’s for sure in the Kaguya-sama manga: the ballroom in the prestigious Shuchi’in Academy is equivalent to a prom dance!
The narrator of Kaguya-sama teased this Prom Dance or Ballroom Arc on the July 5, 2018 issue of the Weekly Young Jump magazine at Chapter 114 page 2 (a chapter which was included in Volume 12).
Twelve volumes later (or around Volume 24), the Ballroom Dancing chapters will likely show some extravagant scenes that fans have been anticipating for 3+ years: we’ll see Kaguya, Chika, Ai, and Miko in dazzling dresses and in neat bun hairdos, while Miyuki and Yu will be wearing dashing tuxedos!
How elegant and dashing would they get, I wonder?!
Long-time fans have also known how Aka Akasaka has been giving his fans several embarrassing, awkward, and hilarious moments. The Ballroom Arc will likely have some peak chapters that will “take the cake”!
Furthermore, fans will surely accumulate positive feelings while reading the dancing chapters. What a fun way to be tickled yet again by such a sweet and delicious arc!
What happened to the series’ romantic plots?
Nothing has been completely wrapped up yet when it comes to the cast’s romantic dilemmas.
Although, fans have seen Miyuki and Kaguya finally having sex in one chapter! Recently, it’s also been confirmed that the couple has been sleeping with each other for 2+ months!
As for Miko Iino and Yu Ishigami’s relationship, their friendship is slowly blossoming to love! And fans can’t wait to see their love unravel astonishingly in the Ballroom Arc!
Miko Iino and Yu Ishigami are emotionally and mentally maturing! Yu is now acknowledging Miko as more than a friend and has even invited her to go the dance with him (see Chapter 238)!
Meanwhile, Miko has stepped up, become braver, and manipulative (to a certain degree) to crawl her way into her crush’s heart. What intriguing character developments!
On the other hand, Hikaru Oobayashi and Komari Machida (the new homeroom teachers of the casts) parallel an alternative adult version of Yu Ishigami and Koyasu Tsubame (the popular cheer squad senpai whom Yu Ishigami adores very much)!
Many fans’ initial impression of Komari is that she looks like an adult version of Koyasu. Komari just had short hair, while Koyasu had shoulder-length hair which she always ties with a bandana.
Also, had Yu Ishigami remained apathetic in romance after Koyasu rejected him, he would have become like Hikaru — a man who had closed his heart on romance!
And with the emphasis of Chapter 225 on “environment”, it seems that Aka Akasaka kept his promise. He is changing the environment, setting, and tone of the manga from time to time to equip readers with heavy and emotional narratives!
For example, for 10 chapters, we get a heavy and melodramatic feud between Miko and Kobachi before Aka Akasaka brings fans to Miko and Kobachi’s heart-to-heart conversations at the rooftop. Afterwards, 3 lighthearted chapters follow to ease the tension as well as humor the readers again.
It’s those kinds of shifts in the environment that are “touching”. After all, they mold the recent Kaguya-sama chapters beautifully with nice characterizations and intimidating dialogues!
Without these subtle changes, Aka Akasaka wouldn’t be able to bring us on this wild romcom ride! It’s essentially thanks to him that fans have had over 6 wholesome years of Kaguya-sama goodness and deliciousness!
And even if Kaguya-sama concludes quickly, I will surely return to re-read my favorite chapters so the characters can “live” again in my mind.
About Kaguya-sama: Love is War
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is a Japanese seinen manga series written and illustrated by Aka Akasaka. It began serialization in Shueisha’s Miracle Jump in May 2015 and was transferred to Weekly Young Jump in March 2016.
Student council president Miyuki Shirogane and vice-president Kaguya Shinomiya appear to be the perfect couple. Still, both are too proud to confess their love and scheme to make the other confess their love first.
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