Kaguya-Sama: Stairway to Adulthood was Pretty Good
Article at a glance:
- Stairway to Adulthood works as a highlight reel OVA that smartly adapts the post-confession “fluff” chapters without dragging things out.
- The OVA nails Kaguya-sama’s balance of comedy, wholesome romance, and small but meaningful character growth.
- While the narrative cohesion is a bit messy, it’s still a fun, sweet watch and a solid bridge toward the final arc.
Right. I know I’m a bit late to this, but I finally watched Kaguya-Sama: Stairway to Adulthood. And yeah, it was pretty fun. This was probably the best way they could’ve adapted this batch of chapters from the Manga. Because after the confession arc, all chapters are just filler-y fluff to solidify the status quo going into the final arc. Despite its flaws, this was a pretty good OVA, and I enjoyed it a lot. I wish there were a little more narrative cohesion, but still, the OVA nails the tone and the balance of comedy and serious stuff. It was quite wholesome.
With the final arc anime confirmed, I think this was a pretty good way to go about the filler-y chapters. This won’t be a full review since it’s just 2 episodes, but here are my thoughts on Kaguya-Sama: Stairway to Adulthood.
What did I think of Kaguya-Sam: Stairway to Adulthood?
Framing all the events as a highlight reel as Kaguya recollects memories, going over an album was pretty brilliant. And not gonna lie, both episodes have a pretty good mix of fluff, cute romance, the typical Kaguya-Sama comedy, and serious character moments. Kaguya and Miyuki’s growth is a pretty throughline throughout all these memories and highlights. Their interactions, even the small ones like talking late on the phones, are really sweet, and yeah, they do it in their own awkward way, but it’s nice to see, regardless.
My favorite gag in both episodes has to be Miyuki’s father becoming a streamer and making a shit load of money all of a sudden lmao. Like, he’s so successful that for once in his life, his children actually respect him. Even poor Kei starts getting affected by it, KEI, DON’T BECOME A CLOUT CHASER!!! They used a real-life pic of Takehito Koyasu and his other roles, like DIO at some point, too, which just made me burst out laughing. Honestly, Miyuki’s family in general was one of the best parts of this OVA to me.
Both episodes were great at what they wanted to accomplish. The main issue has to be the cohesion in the narrative. Oftentimes, it was hard to place what happened when. This, obviously, is a downfall of the highlight reel type arrangement. But again, I really don’t see how else they could’ve adapted all those random-ass Manga chapters because dedicating a whole season to them would’ve been idiotic.
That’s all for now
But yeah, I liked OVA overall. Simple, sweet, and thoroughly entertaining. Solid 7/10. I would suggest watching the OVA for the Kaguya Miyuki romance alone because their relationship is quite sweet now. And yeah, I do think that doing the filler chapters like this and jumping straight to the final arc was the right call. Now, as for the final arc itself…that’s a bridge we’ll cross when we get there. With that said, I will take my leave here. See ya!
