Kaguya-sama: Love is War -The First Kiss That Never Ends-

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - The First Kiss That Never Ends is the continuation of the hit romantic comedy anime Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. It is based on the manga by Aka Akasaka, which ran in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine and finished with 28 volumes. This story first came out as a movie in Japanese theaters on December 17, 2022. In April 2023 it was split into four episodes for TV and streaming, so on many sites it is listed as a short series. It comes right after the third TV season, Ultra Romantic, so new viewers should watch the three earlier seasons first.

The series takes place at Shuchiin Academy, a top private school in Tokyo for rich and gifted students. Miyuki Shirogane is the president of the student council. He works very hard, comes from a poor family, and is the best student in his year. Kaguya Shinomiya is the vice president. She is the daughter of a powerful, wealthy family and is good at almost everything. For a long time, both of them liked each other but were too proud to say so. Each one tried to trick the other into confessing first, because they believed the person who confesses "loses." Their silly mind games, along with funny friends like Chika Fujiwara, Yu Ishigami, and Miko Iino, made the show famous.

By the time this story starts, the two have finally moved past those games. They kissed at the end of the school festival. But there was a problem: neither of them clearly said "I love you" or asked the other out. So now they are not sure what they are. Are they a couple or not? Both feel awkward and nervous, and every small moment feels huge.

Then Christmas comes. In Japan, Christmas Eve is seen as a special night for couples, a bit like Valentine's Day in the West. Shirogane wants everything to go perfectly. Kaguya, on the other hand, has a different idea of what a real relationship should look like. At the same time, the story spends a lot of time on Kaguya herself, her family, and her feelings, with several chapters about her past and her inner world. Miko Iino also gets a chance to speak her mind.

Compared with the earlier seasons, this part has fewer quick jokes and more quiet, honest moments. It still has plenty of funny scenes, but it feels more like a real love story about two people learning to trust each other. The title points to this: the first kiss was not the end of the story, only the start of something harder.

The Kaguya-sama story continues after this. A TV special called The Stairway to Adulthood aired at the end of 2025, and a final anime film has been announced to finish the story.