Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Ultra Romantic | A little bit of backstory in my life.

This was an episode I enjoyed because you do not get to see the ‘humble beginnings’ of our characters. What makes this episode even more special was that we got to see how Shirogane-kun was when he first started out. It’s no secret that the Shuchiin Academy is supposed to be prestigious, where only the children of the elite go for schooling.

Given Shirogane’s background, he doesn’t come from a prestigious family. If anything compared to all his peers, he’s probably the poorest one. However, what sets him apart from the rest was that he had to work to get into the Academy in the first place. Somehow, some way we go from a person who questioned whether or not he was way out of his league (getting into the Shuchiin Academy) and lacked self-confidence. To someone who is full of self-confidence and sits at the top of Shuchiin Academy as the Student Council President.

The same can be said about Kaguya, she goes from being universally known as the ‘Ice Princess’, showing no emotion whatsoever. To probably one of these most animated and emotional character of the series. Quite the character development I must say.

Anyway, what were my thoughts on the episode? You can tell that the mood of the anime has definitely shifted. Like for me, it definitely feels a lot more heartfelt and genuine. We also haven’t heard from our beloved narrator for quite some time, we also have been subjected to pure comedic scenes like the ones in episodes prior. Is that a good or bad thing?

I think it can be viewed as both. I’m very happy that we’re getting close to what could be a confession type deal between Shirogane and Kaguya. But I also fully expect that this sort of thing be left out intentionally just to prolong the series but to also tease the fans of the series. On the other hand, it’s a little disheartening that it feels as though we’ve toned back on the comedy side of things. For a purely entertainment standpoint, all the comedic scenes have been my favourite. I enjoy listening to the narrator declare a winner and loser. So hopefully that makes a return sometime soon.

Aside from that though, I’m looking forward to seeing Ishigami’s ‘resurgence’ if you will. Now that he has mustered the courage to approach a girl that he likes without getting rejected immediately after. I know for a fact that his second wind will be a very interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing how it progresses, if it gets animated in the near future that is.

Overall, for what it is worth. Episode nine was good, but it did lack a little bit of the fun factor. So I’ll have to give it a 7/10 for me.