Love Is War Anime Season 4: Kaguya-sama Stairway to Adulthood & Complete Watch Order
There's no Season 4. There's a time-skip special and a final film instead. Here's what Stairway to Adulthood covers, the full Kaguya-sama watch order, when Kaguya and Shirogane get together, and where to stream the English dub.
| Category | Anime |
|---|---|
| Published | OCT 8, 2026 |
| Read time | 8 MIN |
There is no Love Is War anime Season 4. Instead, A-1 Pictures followed the story with Kaguya-sama: Love Is War -Stairway to Adulthood- (Otona e no Kaidan), a 52-minute TV special that aired on December 31, 2025, and a final theatrical film, The Final Chapter, which is in production with no release date yet. The special starts after the rooftop kiss that ended Ultra Romantic. Shirogane is headed to Stanford, Ishigami's feelings for Tsubame Koyasu are out in the open, and Kaguya and Shirogane have to learn how to be a couple after two years of mind games. The special covers a lot of ground quickly, and it skips a big part of the manga to do it.
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War Season 4 & "Stairway to Adulthood" Status
No Season 4 has been announced, and the way the franchise is wrapping up suggests one won't be. The special aired on Tokyo MX and other channels at 10:00 PM JST on New Year's Eve 2025. Right after it aired, the franchise announced Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - The Movie: The Final Chapter, an anime-original finale built from a new story draft by creator Aka Akasaka.
What Is the Kaguya-sama "Stairway to Adulthood" Special?
Stairway to Adulthood is a time-skip special. Years after graduation, Kaguya finds an old photo album and looks back on the early days of dating Shirogane: two people so used to scheming against each other that they have no idea how to just be a normal couple. In the present day, they live together, and the special includes one of the manga's biggest moments for them as a couple.
It's also controversial. Reviewers estimate the special skips roughly 110 chapters of manga to get to its ending. The romance survives the cut. The supporting cast mostly doesn't, and Ishigami, Iino and the rest of the council lose most of the character development the manga gave them. That includes the full resolution of Ishigami and Tsubame's story, one of the most-searched storylines in the fandom.
Is Season 4 Still Happening? The Manga Chapter Roadmap
Aka Akasaka's manga ended in November 2022 at 281 chapters, so the story has been complete for years. When the special was announced, about 130 chapters remained unadapted. Those chapters include Kaguya's family conflict with the Shinomiya household, the arc that tests the relationship more than anything else, and the special jumps past most of it.
There's enough unadapted material for a fourth season, but A-1 Pictures has chosen a different ending. The Final Chapter isn't a straight adaptation of those skipped chapters. It's an original story by Akasaka, made for viewers who have watched since 2019.
With a TV series, an OVA, a film and a special to keep track of, the order matters.
Complete Kaguya-sama: Love Is War Watch Order
Watch it in release order. Release order and chronological order are the same here:
| # | Entry | Released | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Season 1: Love Is War | Jan–Mar 2019 (12 episodes) | The mind games begin, and neither of them will confess first. |
| 2 | Season 2: Love Is War? | Apr–Jun 2020 (12 episodes) | Ishigami's backstory, and Iino joins the council. |
| 3 | OVA | May 2021 (bundled with manga Volume 22) | A short bonus between seasons. |
| 4 | Season 3: -Ultra Romantic- | Apr–Jun 2022 (13 episodes) | The culture festival, the confessions and the rooftop kiss. |
| 5 | The First Kiss That Never Ends | December 17, 2022 (film; also aired as a 4-part TV version) | The direct fallout of that kiss. |
| 6 | Stairway to Adulthood | December 31, 2025 (TV special) | The time skip, with Kaguya and Shirogane as a couple. |
| 7 | The Movie: The Final Chapter | TBA | Akasaka's original finale. |
The OVA is the only optional entry. The First Kiss That Never Ends is not. Ultra Romantic ends on the kiss, and the film shows what happens right after. The two of them have to work out what the kiss actually means, and neither handles it well at first. Without it, the couple in Stairway to Adulthood seems to come out of nowhere. Kaguya's growth into someone who can say what she wants happens in that film.
Once you know the order, the next question is who you'll be watching.
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War Character & Voice Actor Spotlight
The main Japanese cast has stayed the same since 2019, and the English dub cast has been just as stable. Here's the core group, with Japanese (CV) and English (EN) voice actors.
Kaguya Shinomiya (CV: Aoi Koga / EN: Alexis Tipton)
The student council vice president and heir to the Shinomiya family. She spent three seasons trying to make Shirogane confess first, and the time skip finally shows her happy without a scheme.
Miyuki Shirogane (CV: Makoto Furukawa / EN: Aaron Dismuke)
The student council president, who earned his place through relentless effort. His Stanford acceptance makes every decision about their future harder.
Chika Fujiwara (CV: Konomi Kohara / EN: Jad Saxton)
The council secretary, and the person most likely to wreck a carefully planned scheme without realizing it.
Yu Ishigami (CV: Ryota Suzuki / EN: Austin Tindle)
The council treasurer. He started as a gloomy shut-in, and his feelings for Tsubame give him one of the best arcs in the series.
Miko Iino (CV: Miyu Tomita / EN: Madeleine Morris)
The by-the-book disciplinary committee member who joined the council in Season 2, and one of the characters who loses the most to the skipped chapters.
Ai Hayasaka (CV: Yumiri Hanamori / EN: AmaLee)
Kaguya's personal maid and closest confidante, whose many disguises hide some of the series' most serious conflicts.
Tsubame Koyasu (CV: Haruka Fukuhara / EN: Tia Ballard)
The popular third-year Ishigami falls for. His accidental confession at the culture festival puts her in a difficult spot.
Narrator (CV: Yutaka Aoyama / EN: Ian Sinclair)
The overdramatic voice that declares a winner and a loser after every exchange, and one of the most recognizable parts of both the Japanese version and the English dub.
Every character on this list spent three seasons pretending not to care. The real question has always been when Kaguya and Shirogane stop pretending.
When Do Kaguya and Shirogane Officially Get Together?
Kaguya and Shirogane finally act on their feelings in the two-part finale of Ultra Romantic (Episodes 12 and 13), on the last night of the Hoshin Academy culture festival. Both confess in their own roundabout way. Kaguya plans to confess over canned coffee after the campfire is lit. Shirogane, dressed as the phantom thief Arsène on a rooftop, tells her about his Stanford acceptance and asks her to apply with him. She says yes and kisses him.
That kiss isn't where they become a normal couple, though. The First Kiss That Never Ends picks up right after it. Kaguya has spent her whole life hiding her emotions, and once they come out she doesn't know how to hold back. Shirogane, who planned every step of his confession, is caught off guard. The film is about two people who were very good at winning arguments learning to be honest with each other instead. That's why Stairway to Adulthood works: by then the mind games are gone, and the time skip shows a couple who are comfortable together.
Ishigami's arc runs alongside theirs. At the festival he wins a heart-shaped cookie and gives it to Tsubame Koyasu without knowing that doing so is a public confession. Tsubame doesn't brush it off. She thinks it over and gives him a real chance. How that ends is mostly left to the manga.
That leaves one practical question: where to watch all of it, in Japanese or in English.
Where to Watch Kaguya-sama & the Love Is War English Dub Cast
Crunchyroll is the main place to watch outside Japan. It began streaming Stairway to Adulthood on December 31, 2025, within hours of the Japanese broadcast, with subtitles in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese. The English dub followed on August 20, 2026. In Japan, Prime Video carries the special.
The dub is popular with fans, and Ian Sinclair's narrator is the main reason. Sinclair plays the narrator like a sports commentator, overreacting and announcing who "lost" each scene. Yutaka Aoyama does the same job in Japanese, and both are a big part of why the comedy works.
| Character | English Voice | Japanese Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Kaguya Shinomiya | Alexis Tipton | Aoi Koga |
| Miyuki Shirogane | Aaron Dismuke | Makoto Furukawa |
| Chika Fujiwara | Jad Saxton | Konomi Kohara |
| Yu Ishigami | Austin Tindle | Ryota Suzuki |
| Miko Iino | Madeleine Morris | Miyu Tomita |
| Ai Hayasaka | AmaLee | Yumiri Hanamori |
| Tsubame Koyasu | Tia Ballard | Haruka Fukuhara |
| Kei Shirogane | Heather Walker | Sayumi Suzushiro |
| Narrator | Ian Sinclair | Yutaka Aoyama |
That covers where to watch and who's in it. The FAQ below answers the most common questions in one place.
Frequently Asked Questions About Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
Is there a Kaguya-sama: Love Is War Season 4?
No Season 4 has been announced. The story continued with the TV special Stairway to Adulthood on December 31, 2025, and the franchise will conclude with an anime film, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - The Movie: The Final Chapter, which has no release date yet.
What is Kaguya-sama: Love Is War - Stairway to Adulthood?
It is a 52-minute TV special by A-1 Pictures that aired on December 31, 2025. Years after graduation, Kaguya looks through an old photo album and remembers her early days dating Shirogane. It jumps ahead in the manga, skipping roughly 110 chapters.
What is the chronological watch order for Kaguya-sama: Love Is War?
Season 1, Season 2 (Love Is War?), the OVA, Season 3 (Ultra Romantic), The First Kiss That Never Ends, Stairway to Adulthood, and then The Movie: The Final Chapter when it releases.
When do Kaguya and Shirogane officially get together?
They act on their feelings in the Ultra Romantic finale, Episodes 12 and 13, at the culture festival: Shirogane asks Kaguya to apply to Stanford with him and she kisses him. The First Kiss That Never Ends covers how they become a real couple.
Who voices the English dub narrator in Love Is War?
Ian Sinclair voices the narrator in the English dub. Yutaka Aoyama narrates in Japanese.
Related Videos
Start with the main PV for Stairway to Adulthood, then the official Ultra Romantic trailer.
Kaguya and Shirogane are together, but Akasaka's original finale is still to come, and there's no date for it yet. Until then, find your next watch in our Fall 2026 anime schedule, or check Upcoming Anime for The Final Chapter and other announced titles.
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