Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 8

かぐや様は告らせたい ～天才たちの恋愛頭脳戦～[Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen] #8

by Aka Akasaka

Will Miyuki’s hormones keep him loyal to Kaguya or lead him astray? Meanwhile, Miko is interpreting everything she observes in the student council as risqué. Then, a shojo manga makes everyone romance crazy. Somebody actually, finally asks somebody out! And Kaguya and Miyuki accidentally get locked inside a room together…

Lovesick: figure of speech or actual ailment?

Genres: Manga, Romance, Humor, Fiction, Slice Of Life, Seinen, Comedy

216 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 19, 2018

About the author

AKASAKA Aka
Name (in native language): 赤坂アカ

Zodiac: Virgo

Blood Type: O

Reviews

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out more reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...


Kaguya is the vice president of their prestigious academy’s student council and she's in love with, Miyuki, the president, and he with her! BUT both are well aware that in love there is always a winner... and neither wants to be the "loser!" As both are geniuses and quite proud they spend each day laying in wait for an opportunity to get the other to confess without losing face... only Chika, their secretary and Ishigami, their treasurer, seem ready to innocently mess up their careful machinations.


The Premise

Kaguya-sama Love Is War vol 8 brings back our student council for another term. They settle into their jobs again, joined by Miko Ino, the new girl who is passionate to change the vice riddled student body. I admit she adds a funny element to our established groups dynamics as she's always misinterpreting what is going on, particularly between Miyuki and Kaguya. Unfortunately she doesn't add enough of a change to be meaningful. YET! That ends sets us up for some major drama... Let the war begin!!

We're back to treading old ground with the council, our couple and their antics. They are super funny antics, but ones we've seen before. There is a touch of forward movement, a silly shoujo romance plot and a doctor that is quite amusing so don't count Kaguya-sama Love Is War vol 8 out yet, but we need to shake things up quick in vol 9.


The Buzz

What I really loved in Kaguya-sama Love Is War vol 8 is that we got to catch up a little with some of our favorite side characters. Ai, and Kei as well as Nagisa and her boyfriend. This is where I really think the series should change from the previous year in the student council... lets get these side characters to choose sides and work for or against the Kaguya and Miyuki relationship!

I also really loved how Yu stepped up as a character and has become a friend to Miyuki similar to how Chika is a friend to Kaguya! He has changed since he first appeared but I'm putting most of that down to him finally blossoming as he's become an integral part of the student council. I'd love to see Kobachi get involved more too! Friendship is such an integral part of high school life... its mentioned but lets push the envelope! It can be mocked as much as a romantic relationship can!!


The Feels

I also really appreciate how in Kaguya-sama Love Is War vol 8 Kaguya and Miyuki's interactions are a little more personal. So much so that Miko Ino can misinterpret them!! It's a fascinating way to explore the next level of a relationship without our couple having committed yet. Desire is a huge part of romance and these two are so analytical that seeing this side of them is super fun.

Kaguya goes through a crisis as her feelings intensify... and a doctor is called in!! It is absolutely hilarious what he tells her and how far she takes it. Ai sums up the entire chapter so funnily. This was my favorite part of the volume and made reading it totally worth it all.


The Visuals

While this isn't a shoujo manga and this not really about the romantic frames I do look forward to those few times when these two are being genuine about their feelings and we get that special romantic moment. I LOVED the shot in Kaguya-sama Love Is War vol 8 and wish that Kaguya would at least admit to herself what she wants. It really whet my appetite for more romantic but funny moments between the couple.

It was the moments in the doctor's office though that were visually stellar. The doctor has the funniest face and expressions EVER! I couldn't help but giggle and enjoy myself. And I loved how the doctor parts went back to Kaguya's rank in society and how totally serious he was due to that.

Kaguya-sama Love Is War vol 8 is a fun installment in this super hilarious series. Yes, the romance is slow, slow burn and our student council is so on top of things that there isn't much angst. BUT you will totally be rolling on the floor at all the misunderstandings and be touched by the friendships that are highlighted.


⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Authenticity
⋆ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tension
⋆ ⋆ ⭐⭐⭐ Plot
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Art

This is a multi-volume series and there may be references to the plot of those volumes... SO READ WITH CARE! Here is my review of 1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8 |


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. It has not influenced my opinions.

______________________
You can find this manga review and many others on my book blog every Monday @ Perspective of a Writer. See my manga and graphic novel reviews at the bottom of the page.

Please like this review if you enjoyed it! *bow* *bow* It helps me out a ton!!

[Anushka Malik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter-wise breakdown slash review for Volume 8 is heere....

Chapter 71: Kaguya Wants to Produce - Kaguya gives Shirogane a massage. Sounds romantic right? Agh. I wish. Damn this girl. She's too naive. She almost pulverized his bones with her superhuman strength. Haha.

Chapter 72: Miko Iino Wants to Restrain - Miko just wants to make everyone as boring as herself. Not a fan.

Chapter 73: Miyuki Shirogane Wants to Read - A filler chapter where everyone reads a manga and loves it. And we find out Fujiwara is a blabbermouth who gives spoilers. No big surprise there. Miko misunderstood the situation. Again. So, a bit predictable. But I didn't mind that.

Chapter 74: Kaguya ♡ Aquarium - Okay. NO. Just noooo. I don't know what this chapter was. Was it real? Was it a parallel universe imagination? Because that's just not how Kaguya would ever behave. And her relationship with Ishigami is strictly friendly despite her having tutored him. Come on! What was this?

Chapter 75: Kaguya Wants to Collect - Why do they listen to Miko's suggestions?

Chapter 76: Nagisa Kashiwagi is Complicated - Why do they give so much page-space to secondary characters I don't care about?

Chapter 77: Chika Fujiwara Wants to Get Information - Fujiwara drags the focus away from my two favorite characters.

Chapter 78: Kaguya Isn't Frightened - Of course she isn't but I'm finally getting some Kaguya-Miyuki moments and I'm heereee for ittt! Agh why oh why did Miko have to come in when she did? This slow burn is getting to meeee!

Chapter 79: Kaguya Wants To Be Examined - Shirogane removing that bit of lint from Kaguya's hair? Ah. I'd have had the same reaction as Kaguya. That was wow. I'm glad someone finally told this girl what I've been yelling at these pages from Volume 1.

Chapter 80: Thus, Yu Ishigami Closed His Eyes, Part 2 - I'm glad Ishigami has a friend in Kaguya but please don't everrr let it be anything more. Please. I will lose my mind if that happens.

-end of volume-

This one will have to be rated lesser stars because I was quite annoyed most of the time.

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The student council’s hormones and romantic feelings are in overdrive after all getting obsessed with the same Shojo (romance) manga! 😅
This was a really good, funny, and chaotic, volume! 🖤

[Eressea · Rating 5 out of 5]

20200802 2nd read
不知不覺西雅圖真旅遊假出差也是一年多前的事了
西雅圖的客人雖然沒倒店，但也沒讓敝司賺到什麼錢Orz
現在疫情仍然嚴重，想再去一次也不可能，真是恍如隔世啊
--
20190528 1st read
美國出差期間買的，現在補記
紙電不同步等得好痛苦
不過東立電子書城改版後電子書畫質大幅提升
總算是有點進步
只是改版前的電子書畫質更新曠日廢時
更不知道KOBO何時才會更新改版前的東立電子書
也只能等了

回到漫畫來，因為書出太慢又在C洽追蹤最新進度
現在回頭看算是早期的劇情還是挺搞笑的
跟現在最新進度認真推進劇情差好多
有種反差萌的感覺~

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

That shoujo manga chapter...! I love how Akasaka even made fun of the way shoujo mangaka do their sidebars.

[Alyson Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book: Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War, Vol. 8

Author: Aka Akasaka

Rating: 4 Out 5 Stars



I don’t know why this series puts me in such a good mood. It’s just one of the things that brings a smile to my face. It’s just a nice escape.



We are still following our characters as they go through their day-to-day high school lives. There’s a lot of drama and immature moments. However, it works. I feel like I keep saying the same thing repeatedly, but it does work for the story that the author is trying to tell. There is just something about following these characters that brings a smile to my face and makes me feel good. I still am struggling with the larger cast. There isn’t anything all that wrong with it, but I don’t know. I just liked having our small cast and making it work with that.



The artwork, again, is simple but works for the story. I like the simple nature of it. The facial expressions of the characters are nailed, and it only adds to the story. Sometimes the simple nature of things is what makes the story work the best. I don’t know how else to put it.



I am having a great time still. I am getting down to the final volumes that my library has and I don’t know if there is anymore out.

[Lucía · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casi un año después, por fin lo he acabado. No ha estado nada mal.

[LALa · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many amusing shining moments, I enjoyed pretty much every "battle" in this one.

[Teeny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead at 'LOVESICKNESS' LOL

Also, Ino is a prude who hates everyone except Fujiwara who's the biggest troll of them all lol.

[MxMorganic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly my favorite yet! Had an excellent mix of jokes and emotional moments, and I was particularly impressed by the art in this volume, especially battle 74. Excited for what’s to come!

[Judyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

~4 Stars

Now that Miko Ino is part of the student council, she gets to settle in with the cast and find her place. And the others aren't setting a great impression.
She's still too strict, and somehow idolizes Chika. Chika in turn tries to make her loosen up, get her to relax some of her uptightness. But then there's all this talk of love, and she's starting to think Miyuki is a sexual deviant. She's beginning to think this student council isn't the place for her. When she talks to her best friend about it all, that changes her opinion completely, and now she might be on Yu's side, actually.
Some of the plots between Miyuki and Kaguya are getting a little tiring, mainly because I think I want some progress. Plus, the chapter where they got trapped in the gym closet—it would have made more sense if they'd worried the other person thought they'd fixed this up themselves, as opposed to assuming the other one had done it.
But I do still enjoy the craziness of this series, and I like the addition of Miko Ino. She's an interesting character to me.


A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

[The Book Dragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Previously on Kaguya-sama: Love is War
Shirogane is a man whore.

This week on Kaguya-sama: Love is War
Shinomiya is evil incarnate.

Anyway, the student council adopts a new member, Miko Iino as Financial Auditor / Disciplinary Committee Member, and try to help her loosen up and oh my gosh this child is precious. Meanwhile, Shirogane employs a new weapon to get Shinomiya to confess: SHOJO MANGA!

And can I say that Ishigami is my favorite? He's an introverted potato with anxiety issues who gets mocked for being himself.

This series has 28 volumes.

[Josh399 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aka Akasaka continues to delve into drama at the Student Council, now with renewed effort after the student elections arc. The greatest change is the introduction of new student Miko Ino to the group dynamic.

While K:LIW continues to be riotous and hilarious, my concerns are growing. Gags are good, but this story shines as a tale between two brilliant and arrogant students, each trying to coerce a love confession. With Ino (and in general), the story avoids the inherent fun of these stories and instead creates humorous misunderstanding (e.g. Shirogane appears caught in a compromising situation, Kaguya says something accidentally).

It's still good, but it isn't why I buy Kaguya-sama. Kaguya sold me early on with elaborate planning, psychological mumbo-jumbo, and brilliant arrogance. A simple gag manga about a student council feels like a bait-and-switch. I hope Akasaka rectifies this in future books.

I complain, but there's a bunch to love in this book. #1 is a well-deserved and well-placed Yu Ishigami moment. Oregairu fans in particular will get a kick out of this sarcastic layabout. Chika's story is also funny, and Akasaka NAILS the neurotic and devastated expressions of the girls!

Kaguya has a fun plot to make Shirogane fall for her, though Shirogane's plot is more so an excuse to introduce gags.

Overall, I am continually impressed by Akasaka's ability to tell and re-tell this love story and vol. 8 is a great jumping-on point for curious readers. Still the funniest sit-com manga on the market.

[Ruthsic · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the blurb suggests, the chapters in this volume are a bit all over the place. The only common thread connecting the story is the Ino, and the last chapter, as she tries to make sense of what she is seeing in the student council - twice finding Miyuki and Kaguya in compromising positions, once finding Chika being held while they are taping her mouth, and other random and bizarre occurrences from the previous volume. The situations are hilarious by themselves, but they read like a series of one-shot extra chapters, often with some characters *cough*Ishigami*cough* going out of character (seriously, the guy who creepily told Chika he remembers her perfume smell as any sort of authority on girl psychology is a reach) and the 'shojo-manga-vision' chapter being overlooked as a potential arc. And its not disparate like it was in the earliest volumes, where even though they had different stories in each chapter, it still connected. Now, it feels like it is just circling around the same thing, like Kaguya still vehemently denying that she is not in love.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Viz Media LLC, via Edelweiss.

[Christyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another hilarious installment in the Kaguya-sama: Love is War series, Volume 8 brings more laughs and more teenage crises that we've come to expect. I enjoyed all the bonding moments in this book. It really isn't just about the romance, I really love the friendships and other relationship dynamics with these characters. And these teenagers are all such awkward beans in different ways. Some of the highlights of this particular volume include the student council (except Ino) being infected with Shojo manga brain (and the sparkles and crazy one-off love triangle), Yu as the "woman whisperer", the "it's a trap (it really wasn't)" chapter, and of course Kaguya struggling with her feelings. As always, looking forward to the next volume!

[Rowan Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

TLDR: If you've read it up to this point, then you seem to like the series. This volume is a bit more exaggerated than some of the previous ones, but I feel it is still very enjoyable.

Longer Review: More comedy, more romance. I would recommend it if you enjoyed the first 7 volumes. If they weren't your thing though, this volume likely won't win you over either.

Spoiler Review: Not much to say. I really liked a few of the stories here. One of my favorites was the opening story with the massage. The story with Kashiwagi was really good too. Overall I think this volume was solid enough. 4/5 stars.

[Đức Nhật · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tập này hay, nhiều khoảnh khắc buồn cười không chịu được.
Sự gia nhập của Miko tăng thêm nét thú vị cho tương tác giữa các nhân vật. Từ lừa nhau đọc truyện tranh thiếu nữ, cho đến những hành vi (mà trước đây mình cho là) bình thường, thì dưới con mắt của người mới nó thiếu đứng đắn và đậm mùi quấy rối dã man. Hội học sinh bất ổn và mình đồng cảm với Miko về điều đó ^^.
Chuyện tình cảm của hai nhõi Kaguya - Shirogane vẫn tằng tằng tiến tới. Hai cảnh "đè nhau" trong tập này dễ khiến con dân hoảng loạn lắm đây :)).
Một tập truyện rất ổn.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how last volume ended with the whole “Manwhore” misunderstanding. It continues and we are see the toxic environment within the student council. I truly enjoy the misunderstandings as they make for some serious chuckling, but it also progresses the characters along the journey. This has been a very fun story which is hitting its stride. The manga addiction chapters are also so entertaining I cannot get enough of this volume. It is a great volume full of fun moments and Aka Akasaka delivers another excellent volume.

[Tache D'Encre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vraiment une super lecture comme d'habitude. Ce tome est encore plus drôle que le précédent et le personnage de Miko s'adapte très bien à la dynamique du BDE et vient rajouter un élément perturbateur de plus pour nos deux amoureux préférés. Encore une fois cette série reste une série coup de cœur et ce tome, tout comme le précédent, vient redonner un coup de boost à la série. Hâte de lire les prochains ✨️

[Anshul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funniest volume yet

I really like how this series is going. They're developing the other characters enough to have chapters which don't feature the protagonists (which are just as enjoyable). Also, I paused while reading this quite a few times to just laugh. The humour is really growing on me.
I love the direction the author is taking and can't wait to read the next volume.

[Ade Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otro gran tomo con capítulos que el anime no adaptó, muy divertida la parte en que Chika le quiere dar su gorro a Ishigami. La parte de Kaguya negando el amor que le tiene a Miyuki me ha vuelto a divertir un montón. Y creo que el último capítulo puede ser una pista para una futura pareja. ¡Qué ganas de leer el tomo 9!

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

My idiots continue to be idiots ❤❤ Poor Miko keeps walking in on the student council in questionable situations

also the student council reading shojo manga and crying while wishing they were in love? FELT THAT

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh the crazy situations these characters get into. From an art class drawing portrays, to Kaguya and Miyuki getting locked in a storage closet, and having to go to the doctor to explain Kaguya's heart speeds up only when she is around her crush. It's amusing to say the least.

[TinTin Kalaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for those Kaguya and Hayasaka moments :')

[Colin Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again C h i k a

[Kathryn McConaughy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like this volume as much as the previous ones. Still, a fun read.

[Andrea Legarrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

[Martin R · Rating 5 out of 5]

We're getting closer and closer to the famous switch from com-rom to rom-com! Can't wait!

[Mark Trenier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as some of the others but still worth a few laughs.

[Anthony Toto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in love with this series.