I kinda feel the opposite about the comedy and drama. I wasn't frustrated at first because I mostly saw each as an Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist, but as they were fleshed out, I wanted to be invested, but they're moving at a glacial pace and I'm uncertain whether the story will pay off in the end. The last bit got relatively dark, so to have everything snap back to status quo was anticlimactic.
Normally I dislike a lack of communication, but here I'm mostly okay with it because the lack of communication is the point. They're not chiefly miscommunicating because of contrived coincidences, but because of their own pride, which seemingly ties to their personal lives, and hopefully they'll grow out of it. But that has yet to be seen.
You make some reasonable points. It sounds as though we both agree about the pacing, and only differ in what we\'re hoping to get out of the series.
So, as I approach what I think is the end of the first season (episode 13), I also largely disagree with this review.
The fundamental problem I\'m encountering is that the comedic parts of the story complement many of the silly and over-the-top parts of the setting and characterization, while the dramatic parts, because drama needs some level of downbeat realism to be relatable, and therefore to hit the audience properly, clash with them.
I also disagree about the pacing being slow for the comedic episodes, since the over-the-top animation captures the over-the-top emotions of an adolescents cast. It is when the show is being dramatic and having a plot that things drag along at a snail\'s pace, every instance of possible drama milked until the udder spurts blood.
All of that said, I don\'t mind the parts I\'m eh on because I enjoy the comedy so much, and unlike seemingly both of you, there\'s no doubt in my mind that they\'ll end up together in the end. Heck, on some level, I think of them as already dating and these weird mind-games and battles of wits just their weird way of showing each other affection; it\'s not like either of them have any eyes at all for anyone else, and they haven\'t done any stupid or trite things that actually make themselves miserable like entering committed relationships with other people to make the actual subject of their affections jealous, or something cruel and heartless like using someone they don\'t love for sex while giving them not the tiniest piece of their hearts and continuing to pine for the other party, or any one of a number of other terrible romantic drama cliches.
(I really hope I won\'t have to eat those words eventually...)
I don\'t know if I have enough thoughts to make my own review yet, but just couldn\'t hold back my opinion about a review I have come to disagree pretty strongly with anymore!
By \"pay off in the end\" I didn\'t mean whether they\'ll end up together (that seems inevitable) but more whether the story has a satisfying end, and doesn\'t fall into those cliches you mentioned even if they do. Star vs. the Forces of Evil comes to mind
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Season 1 and 2 Review(Edited)
Edited to include Season 2, as well as my thoughts after rewatching Season 1
When it comes to romance stories, it's generally likely that almost any storyline you can think of has already been done before in some other work. Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War goes for a relatively novel approach, and mostly handles it well.
The premise of the series is that Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, vice president and president of the Shuchin Academy student council, are in love with each other, but are determined to make the other confess to them, going through all sorts of zany schemes to get the other to tip their hand. Each chapter, many of which are adapted into a third or fourth of an episode, adapts one such "battle" betwen the two leads, with the narrator giving a play-by-play analysis, and announcing the outcome of the "battle" at the end.
As strange as it may sound, I enjoyed the comedic portions less than the serious portions, which help flesh out Kaguya and Shirogane's characters and explain why they act the way they do. Because of this, I liked the somewhat ore serious Season 2 more, especially the episodes about Ishigami's backstory.
The supporting cast, which consists of Kaguya and Shirogane's fellow student council members, a few schoolmates, their families and others, are generally colorful and add to the story, whether by complicating the main leads' schemes or helping flesh out their characters. In Season 2, the characters take on more of a life of the own, helping the show develop a healthy ensemble cast.
The pacing can be rather slow at times, and it seems as though not much happens as of the end of the first season. Without spoiling too much, Kaguya and Shirogane still aren't a couple as of the end of the second season, but it feels as though they're making progress, however subtle or slight it may be.
If you're the kind of person who gets annoyed at romance stories that would end much sooner if one or both of the leads were honest with each other (e.g. Recovery of an MMO Junkie), Kaguya-sama may not be for you. If you're willing to be patient, you should give the first season some time to grow on you, and stick with the series until at least a few episodes into the second season. While I found the first season a bit slow, I gave the second a second chance, and I'm eagerly waiting for the third season.