Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is most well-known for its comedic hilarity and the cute relationship between Kaguya and Miyuki. However, one of the things the show and manga heavily lean into is its psychoanalytic lens that truly examines the inner workings of the main cast. With direct references to some of the most pioneering psychoanalysts in history like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, as well as referencing phenomena such as the suspension bridge effect, Kaguya-sama is as smart and witty as it is funny and charming.
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is a romance franchise consisting of a 200+ chapter manga, three anime seasons and a recently released film adaptation. The story focuses on Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane, two teenage geniuses who, despite being in love with one another, refuse to confess their feelings. Instead, they concoct elaborate mind games and battles to try to force the other one to confess. Adding in the psychological element that is so paramount to the story helps to elevate the stakes of each battle and make the two leads more sympathetic.
The Freudian Ideas Present in Kaguya-sama
One of the earliest and most common references to psychoanalysis and psychology in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is the work of Sigmund Freud. In Episode 9 of the anime, Miyuki visits Kaguya, who is sick, as he feels he’s responsible for her standing in the rain and catching a cold. Kaguya’s maid and mistress, Ai Hayasaka, tells him that when Kaguya is sick, she devolves into a more child-like state, her id taking control of her mind. Freud’s division of the brain states that the ego regulates desire, while the id is responsible for base desire and impulse and the superego acts as the conscience, guiding a person away from rash decision-making; all essential aspects to understanding the human brain.
This is not merely a one-time reference in the anime, but rather a concept that comes up time and time again in regard to Kaguya’s character. Later scenes of the anime and the movie depict Shinomiya’s brain as a courtroom, with her id and superego usually playing plaintiff and defendant respectively and her ego acting as the judge, mediating disputes between the former pair. Not only is this an efficient and expedient way of explaining the mental struggles Kaguya faces, but it also gives a deeper understanding of the ways in which her life as the daughter of a wealthy conglomerate often forces her to repress her natural desires, such as dating Miyuki.
Taking on Personas Is Second Nature for Kaguya and Miyuki
Of course, other psychoanalytic figures are important to the narrative of Kaguya-sama as well. Carl Jung’s theory of personas in particular is a major motif in the "First Kiss That Never Ends" arc of the anime movie and the manga. Jung theorizes that all human beings wear certain masks to hide their self-perceived inadequacies. These masks may change depending on who is around; one may act one way around a boss, for example, and a completely different way around friends.
In Kaguya-sama, this feature of human psychology is present in both Miyuki and Kaguya’s journeys as characters. For Kaguya, the "Ice Princess" persona is one that she uses to protect herself from hurting others and from being hurt in turn. She mostly ditches this after growing closer to Miyuki and the rest of the student council, but it returns following her first kiss with the president, as she finds herself unable to reconcile all her feelings about the situation. With this particular persona, she is outwardly cold and commanding to those around her, and this manifests in her relationship with Miyuki as a sort of denial of romantic significance. She uses it to avoid hurting her own feelings and assuming that her relationship with him holds importance -- a method of aversion.
On the other hand, Miyuki’s persona is defined by a go-getting, confident, over-achieving attitude -- one that he feels is very different from his true self. He believes he can only be worthy of Kaguya if he pushes himself to his limits, constantly overworking himself to be the best student he can possibly be. Both of them eventually come to the realization that even if they feel they need to hold onto these personas to feel safe, they also need to feel safe leaning on each other and dropping the mask sometimes.
The Suspension Bridge Effect Ratchets Up the Tension
One of the other prominent psychological phenomena on display in Kaguya-sama is the suspension bridge effect. This is also known as the misattribution of arousal, and it occurs primarily when a person mistakes physiological symptoms such as a racing heartbeat or shortness of breath for romantic arousal when the actual feeling is fear.
In Season 2 of the anime, Miyuki and Kaguya both fall victim to the suspension bridge effect when they find themselves trapped in the school supply shed, both assuming that the other set the situation up to try to force a confession. The fear they feel heightens their attraction to one another in the moment, with an almost-kiss happening before a classmate comes just in time to interrupt it and set them free. This use of the suspension bridge effect heightens the drama and tension of their interaction, as they find themselves in both close proximity and potential danger. This psychological experience serves as a powerful tool within the narrative to force the couple’s feelings to the surface.
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is an undeniably funny and sweet series, with its more lighthearted and romantic moments delivering solid laughs and doki-doki feels. At the same time, its more psychologically driven moments help to solidify the tension between its leads, grounding the story during serious story beats that need to amp up the drama. It’s really remarkable how Kaguya-sama manages to deliver on both without stumbling, simultaneously existing as a superb rom-com and an excellent drama. For these very reasons, Love Is War’s psychoanalytic tendencies are essential to what the story is all about.