Kaguya-sama: Love is War vol. 24

Osaragi and Ino were once the best of friends.  Now their relationship is on the outs about how they feel about Ishigami.  It’s this fracture that drives vol. 24’s opening chapters as they slowly work through their issues in ways that are more dramatic than comedic.  The comedy comes back in subsequent chapters as Chika decides that she wants a boyfriend – one who’s totally rich, of course.  We also get to see how Kei Shirogane reacts to the new “closeness” in Miyuki and Kaguya’s relationship, Miyuki dealing with worsening eyesight and how it (naturally) leads to talk of an eyeball-licking fetish, and Miyuki trying to get some straight answers from Shuchiin’s headmaster about what he has planned for him.  It’s all solid work that’s neither the best nor the worst of what I’ve seen from the series.

Then “Kaguya-sama’s” final arc kicks off.  No, really.  There’s a full-page announcement to that effect before the volume’s final chapter.  While it does look to involve Kaguya’s despicable older brother being one of the final challenges for the couple to overcome before the finale (in vol. 28), some additional complications are introduced here.  The fall of the Shinomiya empire being one.  The reintroduction of a former antagonist being another.  As well as the (long-awaited?) introduction of someone close to Kaguya who we’ve only heard talk about before now.  It’s all interesting and there are some cute bits like Miyuki’s realization that even rich guys use the drive-thru.  Yet I’m not getting the sense that the series is going to prize comedy above all else here as it has previously done with all its major storylines.  There’s only one chapter here to judge, however, so it’s entirely possible that the funny will still be brought later on.