Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Otona e no Kaidan

Doesn't even feel real that we're finally getting more Love is War content. First of all, I wanna say that I love all the arcs that are in here and they were all very well adapted with the highlight being ABCs of Men and Women. However the did completely skip over some very important arcs in the manga like the school trip arc and Ishigami's Christmas arc. It's a little hard for me to view this with an anime only eye, having read the manga and knowing all the context, but there were some moments I noticed, like during the airport scene Mikado is there ... and I couldn't help but think how anime only viewers would have no idea who that is. Also during the airport scene Iino says something about viewing Shirogane as an older brother. That line has a lot less weight in the anime compared to the manga because we don't see Shirogane helping out and supporting Iino like we do in the manga. It's just a shame that all this context is completely cut out, and it doesn't seem likely for it to ever be adapted.

But again, I wanna say that the arcs that were in here I very much enjoyed Overall, a fantastic TV Special held back solely by the fact that a bunch of context is missing. Under the assumption that the arcs that are missing will never be adapted, I give it an 8/10.

Really happy to see Kaguya-sama back in anime. The episode itself is extremely funny, well-paced, and the chemistry still works perfectly. On top of that, the opening is an absolute banger, yes, again !

However, the way the adaptation continue is genuinely disappointing. It feels rushed of course, leaving too much on the table. Because of that, reading the manga becomes almost mandatory to truly experience the rest of the story and its proper conclusion. There was so much more that could have been adapted, especially the full arc around the family and, of course, Ishigami.

Overall, a very enjoyable and entertaining episode, but with a clearly ... mixed feeling due to how the adaptation ends. I'm so happy and sad at the same time.

Let me be clear about what I mean from the start: DO NOT WATCH THIS before reading the manga if you genuinely care about the animes storyline. It skips far too much essential content—over a hundred chapters’ worth, including multiple important arcs and significant character development.

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is one of my most favorite anime series during my teenage years. The previous seasons and films were genuinely amazing. So when I heard it was getting another movie, I was genuinely happy. But this time, they kinda messed up. This TV special can be good if it were an OVA dedicated to those skipped hundred ... chapters. The production quality is solid, just as funny as I remember it, if not more. The emotional moments still hit. Masayuki Suzuki’s songs are great as ever. Matter of fact, it’s still a pretty good TV special.

HOWEVER, as a Kaguya-sama fan who practically grew up with these characters—characters that are really special to me—I genuinely felt betrayed that they thought it was acceptable to skip such a huge chunk of the main storyline. This special crams over a hundred chapters of crucial content, multiple character arcs, and significant development between the Main and side characters into a single TV special.
You start watching this special, they drop very few moments from what felt like a long skipped period of time as memories, and before you know it, it’s over, which left me with an Bittersweet, empty and hollow feeling inside. I didn't even get the time to feel that nostalgia watching kaguya sama after all these years

For anime-only viewers, this is the worst position to be in: you’ll get spoiled on major plot points while missing the huge emotional, narrative and development context that makes Kaguya-sama so special in the first place.

Because of that, I strongly recommend reading the manga first. Even if you don’t usually read manga, this is the exception. You can start after the “First Kiss That Never Ends” arc and read through the skipped chapters. Once that’s done, the special works much better as an OVA-style epilogue rather than a full adaptation.

Despite its flaws, I still rate it a 10/10, not because it’s a perfect adaptation, but because Kaguya-sama is something I deeply love and cherish. This special had incredible potential as an OVA for those hundred chapters, and while it didn’t fully realize it, it’s still worth watching—just after you’ve read the manga.