Love Is War

CHARACTERS:

KAGUYA SHINOMIYA: Kaguya Shinomiya (四宮しのみや かぐや, Shinomiya Kaguya?) is the titular protagonist of the Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai series. She was a student at Shuchi'in Academy[2], a member of the Archery Club, and the Vice President of the 67th and 68th Student Council.

Kaguya is based on Nayotake no Kaguya-hime (名夜竹の輝夜姫), the main character of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Her cold personality is based on Aka Akasaka's interpretation of how Kaguya-hime charged her many suitors with impossible tasks.[1]

Kaguya is a beautiful, fair-skinned young girl with long black hair that is usually tied by a black-red ribbon (her hair appears to be mid-back length when she lets it down) with bangs/hair strands hanging on either side, large, almond-shaped red eyes (that can look sharper, depending on her mood), thin eyebrows and a slim, but feminine build, with a noticeably small chest. She is described in her manga character profile as possessing 'stunning beauty'.

In the past, and at the beginning of her time in the Student Council, she always wore her hair down, without her iconic red ribbon. As 'The Ice Princess', her eyes appeared sharper, darker, and lifeless, giving her the aura of a gloomy, cold, unapproachable, and unattainable beauty. This reflected her mental state, influenced by her ruthlessly strict upbringing, where she acted cold towards others, pushing them away because she feared hurting others.

Later, as she became closer to the other members of the Student Council, (in particular, Miyuki Shirogane) and other students, she asks her maid Ai Hayasaka to make her "cute". The ribbon is her attempt at making appear less imposing and cold to others and marks a shift in her personality. Rather than coldly pushing and distancing herself from others, she starts to form meaningful relationships and becomes brighter, cuter, and happier overall. This change is particularly reflected in her eyes, which no longer looked vacant and distant. Now, her eyes appear wider and livelier.

She is typically dressed in the Shuchi'in school uniform. However, Shinomiya family policy requires her to have an extensive wardrobe at all times.

Kaguya was a very cold and rational individual, but she slowly changed after joining the student council. During her earlier days in council, she considered Miyuki Shirogane as one she would be fine to be in a relationship with if, and only if, he confesses first, thus she constantly plays mind games in trying to get him to confess. Later in the series, her actions imply that she is starting to accept her feelings of liking Miyuki, but won't openly admit it.

Due to being part of a wealthy and important family, Kaguya is sometimes seen arrogant and is very confident about her intelligence and incredible skills. However this is only an image she displays on the outside. Deep down she is always accompanied with an immense pressure for accomplishing her family's expectations, feeling desperate to do things her friends are able to do on a daily basis.

While she is a genuinely selfless and kind person at heart, given the unhealthy environment she grew up in, she doesn't consider herself a good person and as such, has a longing for true kindness that borders on obsession which she found in Miyuki. She cares about the members of the student council and considers them as treasured friends. Kaguya has a bad habit of immediately turning to money to solve her problems.

In general, she tends to address people in a formal manner, and almost always uses their last names in a conversation.

Because of having a very protected childhood, Kaguya rarely had interacted with people apart of Ai Hayasaka who's served her since a very young age and Kaguya considers a sister rather than a servant until she joined the student council. She also lacks of what could be considered as common knowledge or doing common things from people of her age such as going to shopping in group, watching the fireworks at night, and taking photographs with her friends. She also doesn't know much about using the internet, had no idea that websites like Twitter existed and only found out about it when Hayasaka told her.

Kaguya suffers from mood swings, which is a result of her upbringing, with the various moods having their own distinct pseudo-personalities that occasionally act out mental court cases in her head, serving as a visual representation of her psyche. There is Ice Queen, taking form with a Kaguya's pre-council hairstyle and being the prosecutor of other representations. The Moron, appearing with a flower sprouting from her head and deformed to a chibi in later appearances. And finally, the Kaguya Child version takes the role of the judge.

It has been shown that when Kaguya becomes sick or otherwise incapacitated, her basic human desires skyrocket as a result of her brain not being as sharp as it usually is, thus making her ego (self-control) fundamentally dormant while her id (animalistic desires) take over her. Chika describes this state as akin to a "baby" and Kaguya herself has no recollection of any events during this state. M

Due to her lack of sexual knowledge, she developed a rather immature sense of humor, especially regarding words related to sex such as "wiener"[5] and tends to laugh hysterically when such words are uttered. Like Miyuki, Kaguya is very popular and female students often ask her for love advices believing she has experience and has many knowledge about it. But turns out she's never had a boyfriend before, so she doesn't really know much about it but tries her best to hide that fact.

A member of Shinomiya Zaibatsu and the daughter of the Shinomiya group. She was born to a night worker, which created reputation and succession complexities within the zaibatsu, but her father insisted on keeping her within the family though he was largely absent from her childhood following her mother's death. A multi-talented genius who can do anything if she sets her mind to it (except, beating Shirogane in exams).[6] Because she has had the rules and expectations of the Shinomiya family drilled into her from a young age, her logical side always looks for ways she can use people for her and the Shinomiya family's benefit. This causes her to be wary of all potential friends, putting them through "trust challenges" to determine whether she should befriend them. She has had a very protected childhood, where she has been kept from learning things that are deemed "inappropriate". Kaguya's mother had hereditary heart problems leading to her untimely demise, but her own heart is "beautiful and healthy". Regardless, she appears to have a weak constitution as her physical state is easily affected by her mental turmoil.

Other than Hayasaka who has served her since childhood, she has rarely interacted with other people before she joined the student council, leading to her reputation as the "Ice Princess". She is a sheltered girl resulting in her lacking several pieces of what might be considered as common knowledge. Her mother died shortly after she was born, and she is shown to have a negative relationship with the rest of her family. As she is the youngest and born to a night worker, there was little hope for her taking ownership of the zaibatsu and originally, the oldest brother planned to enter her into an arranged marriage with the Shijo family to preserve relations and use her children as his pawns. While she has a relatively poor relationship with Un'yo Shinomiya, the third son who essentially raised her, she acknowledges he taught her how to survive the Shinomiya family succession and manipulation of her older brothers.

MIYUKI SHIROGANE: Miyuki Shirogane (白しろ銀がね 御み行ゆき, Shirogane Miyuki?) is the deuteragonist and male protagonist of the Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai series. He was a third-year high school student at Shuchi'in Academy[2] and the president of the 67th and 68th Student Council. He is currently studying at Stanford University.

Miyuki is based on Ootomo no Miyuki (大伴 御行), the fourth suitor from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, who was tasked with finding a Jewel from a Dragon's Neck.

Miyuki is a handsome young man with blonde hair, dark blue sanpaku eyes with long eyelashes. Due to his constant sleep deprivation and nearsightedness, his eyes appear to glare, because of the bags under his eyes.

He usually wears the regular Shuchi'in Academy black male uniform adorned with the Aiguilette, the golden chain-like accessory around his neck that is passed down by the previous generations of the Shuchi'in Academy presidents as per his authority as the student council president.

Miyuki is a diligent student who, despite his underprivileged background, climbed his way to the top of his class through hard work and determination. Miyuki holds himself in high regard, consistently working to maintain his perfect image. He is a textbook workaholic, enjoying his part-time job and often putting his own health at risk for the sake of his work and he always attempting to recruit new workers and make them join his part-time job. Due to his poor background, Miyuki doesn't mention finance much and goes to great lengths to not be wasteful, and generally dislikes expensive gifts. However, every time it is Kei Shirogane's birthday, he tries to sneak 2000 yen into her purse despite their frugal family agreement to not buy gifts for each other on birthdays, as he worries she will not be able to wear nice clothes. He also has a tendency to act like a mother to Kei despite her finding his overprotective attitude annoying, and later Kei acknowledges that he is not a bad person and wants the best for her. Despite his mother having emotionally abandoned him to favour Kei, he harbours no ill sentiment towards her and is very caring.

Even though he holds feelings for the vice president, Kaguya Shinomiya, her wealth and talents greatly intimidate him, leaving him utterly terrified at the idea of confessing to her. He fears that any action that can be interpreted romantically will cause Kaguya to look down on him, saying his trigger phrase "O-kawaii-koto", or "How Cute". This is true even after beginning to date her. He also maintains the illusion of a perfect person at all times, in order to prove to Kaguya that he is an equal, and project a proper image befitting the SC President of Shuchi'in High. He hates the thought of Kaguya finding out his less desirable traits, and hides them away. Another reason he studies so hard is that he considers himself an "impure" student of Shuchi'in Academy and holds no advantage compared to the prestigious family backgrounds of other students other than his incredible propensity to study. He believes that if his rankings were to fall under Kaguya in exams, it would prove he had no redeeming qualities and could not be seen as an equal, rendering a potential relationship with him impossible and undesirable in her eyes.

Miyuki has never had a girlfriend before Kaguya and is actually quite clueless when it comes to romance, though his dignified demeanor and popularity with the other gender leaves most of the students to think otherwise and they often seek him out for love advice. Although he excels at studying and is physically adept, Miyuki has proven to be painfully talent-less in a variety of other activities, such as sports, singing, dancing, and more due to a severe lack in coordination. However, he always strives to try and rectify these shortcomings, for his ego, unfaltering image, and generally at the expense of Secretary Chika's mental health, though never forcefully coercing her to train him.

Despite his massive pride and self-confidence, Miyuki is very selfless and helpful, unwaveringly kind and virtuous, never putting any of his goals above the well-being of others. He is extremely supportive and generous, willing to help any students with their problems, and will put aside his quest to get Kaguya to confess if it even has a chance of hurting someone else, such as when he wanted to help Yu to study but after seeing Kaguya took the initiative first he relaxed and said he had nothing to do there because he was in the most capable hands.

Miyuki's mother left his family when he was a child, taking his younger sister Kei Shirogane with her as she fell "out of love" with her husband, but Kei later returned to her father's household with Miyuki. As a result of his limited academic prowess, his mother lost interest in him at a young age and focused her energies on Kei, which is hinted to have traumatised him severely and contributed to major insecurities that later resurfaced in his thoughts about becoming Kaguya's boyfriend. Miyuki's father's factory was shut down and he did not have stable employment until the success of his YouTube channel. The lived in an apartment that costs ￥50,000 (Approx $450) a month, but moved to a larger ￥200,000/month house as a result of his father's YouTube success. Due to this hard past, he has been led to a frugal lifestyle of part-time jobs and hard work to support his family. He has a somewhat unstable but positive relationship with his sister, due to his overprotectiveness at a time while Kei wants to be left to her own devices. He passed the Level 2 Kanji Kentei exam and has passed Grade Pre 1 on Eiken. He has also got second place on the National mock exam.

Miyuki transferred into Shuchi'in Academy during his first year of high school on a scholarship. His first week was a disappointment in that a great majority of his peers were condescending to him because of transferring in and thus being "impure", as well as not descending from a zaibatsu or otherwise prominent lineage. Miyuki was being recruited to serve as the new student council general affairs officer by the Previous Student Council President and helped clean up a swamp. There, he saw Kaguya Shinomiya saving a girl from drowning, despite not knowing how to swim (though she had her maid to drag her back, the planning of which he also admired). It was at that moment where he was truly charmed by Kaguya.[6] At the advice of fellow student council member Momo Ryuju, he adopted the confident genius personality he is shown to have at the story's beginning in order to attract her.

CHIKA FUJIWARA: Chika Fujiwara (藤原 千花ふじわら ちか, Fujiwara Chika) is one of the protagonists in the Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai series. She was a third-year high school student at Shuchi'in Academy[2] , a member of the Tabletop Gaming Club and the secretary of the 67th and 68th Student Council.

Chika is based on Kuramochi no Miko (車持 皇子), the second suitor from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter who was tasked with finding the Jeweled Branch from Hourai. Kuramochi no Miko is generally considered to be based on Fujiwara no Fuhito (藤原 不比等) whose mother's maiden name was kuruma ji (車持).

Chika's habit of cheating during games is based on the fact that her counterpart attempted to present Princess Kaguya with a forgery.[1] Everyone in her family has plant-based names that reference the branch in some way.

Chika's surname "Fujiwara" is based on the actual real-life Fujiwara clan who were important figures in Japanese Politics throughout history.

Chika is a cute fair-skinned young girl with shoulder-length silver hair (light pink in the anime) that has a black bow in the middle of her square bangs, blue eyes and she is just a few centimeters shorter than Kaguya Shinomiya. And as noted by Kaguya, Chika has a rather large chest size.

She is usually dressed in a Shuchi'in Academy high school uniform and occasionally she ties her hair in a slightly high ponytail.

Chika is a bubbly, eccentric girl who almost always has a smile on her face. Always looking to have fun with her fellow student council members, she is often the one to come up with strange activities and ideas that entertain herself and the others. She is mostly oblivious to the atmosphere of the room, resulting in her being an unpredictable element that ruins many of Kaguya Shinomiya's and Miyuki Shirogane's schemes to make the other confess, and Ai Hayasaka as Chika is a threat to her tasks.

Because of her lax attitude and childish antics, many of the council members seem to view her as simple-minded, especially Kaguya. Ironically, Chika is actually quite talented in a variety of areas, being an accomplished pianist while also speaking 5 languages. She can also be quite devious and underhanded, often attempting to cheat in a lot of the games she comes up with, though is exposed every time.

Chika is obsessed with anything that has to do with love, professing herself as a “love detective” and giving relationship advice to others (despite having never had a boyfriend before). She can be oddly perceptive at times, regarding Yu Ishigami's and Miko Iino's respective feelings, but is simultaneously oblivious to Kaguya and Shirogane's relationship.

The final omake chapter even directly calls her dumb, at the same time explaining that high intelligence can lead to suffering, while dumbness can allow a person to be happier and sincerely enjoy life.

Chika is the middle child of a family of politicians. Her great-grandfather was once the prime minister, and her uncle is the current minister of the right, making her lineage one of extreme prestige. While her family is overprotective of her, she was raised in a loving environment and has grown into a truly kind girl. However, since forms of recreation such as video games and otherworldly items were forbidden to her, she sought other means of escape and has developed many deep and unusual hobbies.

She is fond of German analog games, puzzles, and various other subcultures far removed from what one would consider mainstream. She hates lying, but when playing games such as Werewolf or Poker, she reveals a hidden side of herself and bluffs like there's no tomorrow. She has been friends with Kaguya Shinomiya since middle school, she has often stayed the night at her house. However, their closeness isn't obvious to others because of Kaguya's personality.[8]

In chapter 222 of the manga, Chika reveals that she played piano because she wanted to be perfect, and she becomes a prodigy at the piano. The expectations of her family and her fans rose, forcing her to practice more. She quit piano after Kaguya told her to just quit if she didn't like the piano. Soon after, Chika challenged Kaguya to a game battle and if she won, she would get to become Kaguya's friend. In the end, she becomes Kaguya's first friend.

Although the flashword suggests that Chika has become her father's political aide and is forced to endure replenishing her lack of teenage joys Hayasaka as a freeloader in her home, the epilogue as a whole provides little accurate information about her future after the story's conclusion. Instead, Aka announces that Chika didn't fall in love with anyone because all along she was "everyone's heroine" who made the lives of those around her brighter and happier. Following Japanese media terminology, this means that Fujiwara, at least at the time of the manga, was supposed to serve as a kind of platonic object of admiration and "idol" for all characters and fans.

YU ISHIGAMI: Yu Ishigami (石上 優いしがみ ゆう, Ishigami Yū) is one of the protagonists in the Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai series. He is a second-year high school student at Shuchi'in Academy, the Treasurer of the 67th and 68th Student Council, a former member of the Cheer Club and Culture Festival Committee, and the Vice President of the 69th Student Council.

Yu is based on Isonokami no Maro (石上 麻呂), the fifth suitor from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. His depressed personality is based on the fact that his counterpart attempted to obtain a cowry shell from a swallow's nest, only to fall to his death with bird poop in his hand.

Yu is a good-looking, albeit gloomy, teenage boy of a slim build with chin-length black hair that covers the left side of his face; he typically wears a dull expression further amplified by his black eyes.

In the past, Yu described himself as being a jock. He had an athletic build and short hair that resembled Tsubasa Tanuma's. However, years of inactivity led him to lose his muscle.

Yu is a reserved and somewhat gloomy student who would rarely show up to the student council meetings, preferring to do most of his work at home. He normally spends most of his time playing video games by himself, as he is generally be disliked by the other students due to an incident that occurred in his past.

Yu has an incredibly cynical and depressing outlook on life, often going on long rants against youth and the other students who he refers to as “normies”. This discontent very obviously comes from his own misery and loneliness as he seems very jealous of the guys who are popular and manage to get themselves a girlfriend. Yu can be quite awkward at times, making statements that cause others to see him as a creep. That being said, he is quite snarky and is often the one to make sarcastic remarks pertaining to the situations he gets in.

Despite his negative attitude, Yu is a kind and well-meaning student who suffers from an inferiority complex and he is ultimately willing to help others in need, even if it means sacrificing his own pride, and even advised Kaguya Shinomiya to not associate herself with him simply because it may lower her reputation.

Yu enjoys playing video games and reading manga. He also has wide knowledge about otaku culture, such as how mangaka or anime production works, as well as manga tropes. Despite this, he hides the fact that he is into anime due to a fear of being called an otaku and only ever discussed it with Miyuki Shirogane. He also listens to anime music.

Yu is the second son of the president of a small toy company who was able to enter Shuchi'in Academy thanks to the hard work of his father and is the only one that has a high school degree. Not academically driven, he can only put his effort into things that interest him. He possesses exceptional observational skills. However, this causes him to notice the things that other people are most insecure about; landmines people do not want to be touched on deep in the bottom of their hearts. These insecurities that other people hide are as clear as the clothes they wear to him.

He avoids obvious taboos that no ordinary person would dare to touch, but the observations he makes are not always immediately obvious to him as being landmines. He frequently disturbs and sets off these landmines because he cannot tell that they are, in fact, untouchable landmines. He used to skip school as a matter of habit, but Miyuki Shirogane scouted him for treasurer as soon as he entered high school, forcing him to attend.

He had beaten up Ko Ogino, the president of the drama club for not stopping his acts of cheating on Kyoko Ootomo back in middle school. In desperation, Ko framed Yu for beating him up because he was jealous of having Kyoko as a girlfriend, this has led to widespread rumors and flooding hate from people, as well as a long-term suspension that did not end until he wrote an apology. The hate from all the people, the suspension, and the effect of this on his familial relationships at home led to his self-confidence and self-esteem being replaced by misery and negativity. And in the end, he was never able to write an apology letter because he wouldn't let himself do it. Miyuki had investigated and had discovered the truth about his suffering and was the only one to understand and believe that he was not at fault. He was recruited for the student council soon after for his data analysis and processing skills.

As mentioned in the anime, Yu was the fastest member in the track club.

At some point, under pressure to participate in school club activities, Yu decides to join the Cheer Club, captained by his senior Kazeno. It is in the Cheer Club that he first comes across Tsubame Koyasu, an upbeat third-year student that is kind to everyone and he considered her to be one of the prettiest girls in the school, alongside Kaguya Shinomiya. Yu develops a crush on Tsubame that he inadvertently confesses his feelings for her at the school's cultural festival. Yu does not realize that his actions were perceived as a confession by the rest of the student body and is therefore oblivious to the implications of having given Tsubame a heart-shaped gift (considered akin to a confession in Shuchi'in tradition). After some convincing by Kaguya, Tsubame decides to seriously consider Yu's confession, with her original intention being to let him down as gently as possible. It isn't until Yu watches Tsubame's performance of the traditional play that gave rise to the aforementioned tradition that he realizes his actions had unintended meaning. Even then, Yu's thickheaded nature prevented him from recognizing the full meaning of his actions: a straight confession.

MIKO IINO: Miko Iino (伊井野 ミコいいの みこ, Iino Miko) is one of the protagonists in the Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai series. She is a second-year high school student at Shuchi'in Academy, the Auditor of the 68th Student Council, a member of the Public Morals Committee, a former member of the Culture Festival Committee, and the President of the 69th Student Council.

Miko was based off on Ishidzukuri no Miko (石作 皇子), the first suitor from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, who had been tasked with collecting the Stone Begging Bowl of the Buddha. Ishidzukuri no Miko is also written as (いしづくりのみこ), notably (みこ) is the same pronunciation as Miko (ミコ). Her fascination with sutras and poetry is likely based on her counterpart being a poet and his attempts to woo Princess Kaguya with poetry after failing his task.

Miko is a short, petite young girl with brown eyes and long brown hair that is styled in loose pigtails, with bangs covering her forehead. When in Shuchi'in Academy high school uniform, she wears black tights and a yellow armband on her left arm to distinguish herself as a member of the Public Morals Committee.

Miko is most notable for her strong and obstinate sense of justice and decency. She is convinced that the morality of Shuchi'in Academy has been declining, and thus wishes to impose heavy, though unreasonable, regulations on students. Because of her overbearing and borderline authoritarian attitude, she was generally disliked by the student body. Despite this, Miko’s determination never wavered, as she continued to confront those who she deemed were acting unfairly, even at the expense of her own reputation.

Like Miyuki, she holds herself at a high standard, being at the top of her class and even running for President of the 68th Student Council despite being a freshman. Though she rarely shows it, Miko seeks the validation of her peers and wants them to understand her ideas. She seems to have crippling stage fright.

Despite her no-nonsense attitude, Miko has her fair share of eccentricities. She has a voracious appetite in spite of her size, which she is embarrassed by. She also overuses emoticons when texting in contrast to her more professional demeanor. Ironically, while she is vehemently against anything lewd or perverted, Miko’s mind is actually quite suggestive and she has a tendency to misinterpret normal situations into being sexual.

Miko can be quite naive at times, having an unrealistic perception of love and believing that her ideal boyfriend will be a prince. She is incredibly easy to manipulate, as simply complimenting her or giving her praise is enough to calm her down and treat the one who complimented or praised her nicely.

When Miko dropped the good girl act to for a short while in order to pursue a relationship, she is shown to be capable of manipulating people with ease as well as being a natural liar.

Miko's father is a judge in the Supreme Court and her mother works in an international humanitarian support group. Their vocations led to a lonely childhood for Miko. This set off her thought that "My mom and dad are busy because there's so many bad people". Due to this, she developed a strong personality that follows moral correctness; always being the first to come to school, doing the teacher's directive, and always at the top of her grade when it comes to scores. She adores justice and wants to set everything around her straight, even at the cost of her reputation. Her infamy for being obsessive in correction lead to her continuously losing during multiple Student Council elections.

Miko became a member of the Public Morals Committee in middle school and she was the best at her job. She told off anyone who was disobeying school regulations, popular students, scary upperclassmen, which led to piercing gazes and haunting grudges from them. Her idea of justice is stifling to most of the people she encounters. Yet, despite all those speaking negatively of her, she never shed a tear in public. She described this point as the hardest time of her life. During this time, she received a letter and a pressed flower (which she still preserves to this day) from an anonymous person. Her ideal of pure love stems from this incident.[4]

After her loss in an election to Miyuki, Miko was grateful to him for helping her present her speech while being frustrated at the fact that she lost at the same time. Miyuki invited her to join the 68th Student Council as the Auditor while continuing to participate in the Public Morals Committee. Miko, though elated, declared that she needed some time to decide. The next day, she officially became a member of the 68th Student Council. After joining, Miko frequently butted heads with Yu, and witnessed several awkward moments between Kaguya and Miyuki, having walked in on the two in compromising positions at the worst possible time; which lead her to think that the 68th Student Council's leaders were immoral.

The hostility between Miko and Yu continued until the school's Culture Festival. As Miko was the student most in favor of having a large bonfire, she decided to miss the festival and patrol the surrounding area in order to comply with fire safety regulations. Yu, noting Miko's absence, went to find her, and presented her with a heart-shaped pendant (possibly the one that Kaguya lost), citing school regulations which state that any objects found on school grounds should be returned to the discipline committee. Yu then showed Miko pictures of the other students enjoying themselves at the festival, in an effort to cheer her up. It is hinted that Miko's feelings towards Yu change at this point, at least internally.[5] In later chapters, she is implied to have a crush towards Ishigami. Finally, in Chapter 190, she openly reveals her crush and states that she is jealous of Yu's relationship with Tsubame.