A review by ellythehuman
Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War, Vol. 15 by Aka Akasaka

4.0

Right off the bat, I loved this volume! It is very specifically focusing on Kaguya and Shirogane’s relationship with not as much attention given to the side characters, but for good reason! I feel like I am constantly being impressed by the mangaka.

Be aware! This review will have spoilers for previous volumes. You have been warned…

If you do not know anything about Kaguya-sama: Love is War, here is a quick summary: This series follows our two genius protagonists, Kaguya and Shirogane, as they try to get the other to confess their love. In addition, there are side characters with their own romance struggles and goals. It's a sweet romcom manga that I think is able to play with traditional tropes while also subverting them. It's very good.

Okay. So, let’s get into it.

Volume 14 covers the Ice Kaguya arc. I have always heard the reddit peeps saying this is one of the best arcs of the series, and I gotta say that I totally see that. It is also a really good follow up to the culture festival arc. In this volume we see that there is something going on with Kaguya. She has seemingly regressed to her previous personality nicknamed Ice Kaguya. Shirogane has no idea how to approach her, what their relationship status is, or what she wants. However, there is a reason for Ice Kaguya’s reappearance that will push the couple relationship further and make it stronger.

In the beginning, Ice Kaguya felt very jarring because I did not know what she was trying to accomplish. I was right there with Shirogane in confusion. However, as the volume goes on, we begin to see Kaguya’s inner thoughts which really helped clear things up. The central issue or theme here is all about revealing one’s true self. Kaguya and Shirogane have to different ideas about it. One wants to reveal so the two parties can accept one another, flaws and all. But, the other one is insistent on maintain a façade because they are scared their true self will only cause the other to be uninterested. Seeing how this gets resolved in the volume was really nice and developed. Plus, it felt very shojo manga-esque and cute.

Overall, I am really happy to see the progress Kaguya and Shirogane are making with one another. I gave this volume a rating of 4.1.