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Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions

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So I Finally Watched: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!@ahmadmanga2131d

As a fan of anime for more than a decade now, I always heard a reference or another for a series called Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (Or it's western name: Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions!) While I barely hear any reference for it lately, it was always on my list of anime I'd like to watch one day.

So, on a whim last week I decided to binge the series. For its premise, it was better than I expected even though its story was mundane and more real-life-like than what I thought it would be. An anime so great at what it tries to do!

This is a Spoiler-free article about the 1st Season (12 Episodes)

The idea behind the series is the titular "Chuunibyou." Which can be translated as "Eighth-grader syndrome." It's a real-life mental condition that usually manifests in middle school teenagers so desperate to standout that they convince themselves they are special, like being a chosen hero or have the knowledge of the existence of another universe. Teenagers with Chuunibyou will believe such things ignoring any evidence that proves them wrong. It's also a condition that most grow out of with time...

The main protagonist of this anime, Togashi Yuuta, had Chuunibyou in middle school, believing himself to be the all-powerful "Dark Flame Master." By High-school, Yuuta had already grown out of it and believes that middle school was the most embarrassing period of his life. Wanting nothing more than to be normal, he went to a far high-school no one knows him would go to, and strives to make a lot of friends.

His plan was destroyed when he encounters Takanashi Rikka. A girl who still has her own Chuunibyou, believing she has an evil right eye. She knows about his Dark Flame Master persona, and is prepared to fight the dark world with him. Oh, and she moved to the apartment above his own just the day before.

Thus starts the adventures of Yuuta as he tries to live a normal life while keeping Rikka from compromising his identity. They make a bunch of friends, learn about each other's situations and maybe a love would bloom! (Definitely actually. "Love" is in the title after all.)

While Chuunibyou is mostly comedy and heartwarming stuff that develop into romance by the second half, the conflicts are very personal. There are no evil characters in this series (at least in the first season,) just a bunch of kids and their families trying to deal with their problems. Rikka has a legitimate reason for her "Tyrant Eye" persona, and if you're someone who experienced similar things to her, it might be painful to watch. Yuuta behaves more like a real person than a Light Novel/Anime protagonist.

The animators clearly did a great job with this anime. There wasn't a single frame that I would consider "badly drawn" or "off-model." There are fight scenes in Chuunibyou that made me wish that the same team draws the fight scenes of popular shonen anime! (One Piece?) ...I think the real-world setting and the limited cast of characters helped the animation a bit, but I didn't expect this quality from a simple anime like this.

Finally, I want to talk about the theme of this anime. It's "Individuality" and accepting oneself. It's about growing up and what does one sacrifices while doing so. Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai questions the view that strangeness and coping mechanisms are illnesses that has to be cured. This anime encourages escapism through and through! While I agree with the themes to some extent, I can't fully agree with the answer presented at the end.

I'm similar to Rikka in some way, and while the anime views her problem in different ways. It still ultimately treats her extreme escapism as a good thing. Still, in the context of the anime and its others themes I believe that conclusions ending makes absolute sense. Just as long as you don't apply it to real life. I believe that an Aesop of a work doesn't have to be something the audience agree with or even true, so it's okay in my book.

Now, I'm thinking of watching the second season but decided to write my impression. The first season is already a complete story in itself that doesn't need a continuation, so I'm not sure where the next season will take the story.

What do you think?

I hope to read your opinion on Chuunibyou and/or my impression in comments!

First image is taken from here. Second image from here. Third one from here. Last image is from here. All found with a google search.

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›"Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Movie: Take On Me" - The conclusion we've been waiting for?@ascheriit2873d
After it first aired in the Fall anime season of 2012, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! (Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!) has been one of the community favorite for its cute mix of romance, comedy and drama. With Kyoto Animation, one of the most renowned animation studio in the industry handling it, the animation quality was never an issue, adding to the show's list of strong points.

More than 3 years has passed since its last episode aired and we finally got ourselves a continuation of the story in this movie, a satisfying one at that. If you haven't seen the previous installments then watch them first and be warned that this article may contain spoilers so proceed at your own risk.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Movie: Take On Me

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama, Romance, School

Yuuta and Rikka are now in their third year of high school, however, Rikka is still not yet over her eight-grade syndrome and on top of that is not making much progress with her studies. Enter Touka, Rikka's older sister, that is worried about her sister's future and is proposing that they move to Italy and settle down there for good. This turn of events prompted the young couple to elope to prove the strength of their bond and their will as partners. However during their journey the problem that they are running from, starts to surface and they are forced to confront the conflict that they house inside them.

The first part captured perfectly the eccentric, carefree atmosphere of the series. Rikka, Dekomori and Shichimiya are still at it with their delusions, Yuuta is still having flashbacks of his embarrassing past, the same applies to Nibutani, Kumin is still a sleepyhead. This is the show at its most normal state. Yes, eccentricity is what's normal for this show.

Viewers are still guaranteed a good laugh and the fantasy battles are still going strong, so strong that it would put many action anime to shame. However it is the romance part and the growth of the pair that got me real good in this movie. It is to change or not to change, to accept someone for what and who they are, that's what the pair, ultimately, had to deal with. And as I said earlier it was a satisfying closure (personally).

The 2 have been officially a partner for quite a long time but given their personality, they never really strike other people as one. Rikka is too childish that it looks like Yuuta is just babysitting her. Their relationship hasn't progressed that much even after 2 seasons, and even their friends are poking fun at their situation. This is later revealed to be one of the real reasons why Touka is insisting on moving away, because even after a year together, Rikka doesn't show any signs of changing/ growing out of her delusions.

Slowly, the reason for Rikka's aversion towards changing has been brought to light. It was a well grounded fear, the fear of losing people when you stop being the way that you've been up until now. You see, Rikka has been like that ever since her first appearance and yet Yuuta accepted her for who and what she is, but time is continuously marching forward and they would eventually have to face reality and wake up from their fantasy world. That is the dilemma that they've been put up against and it is something that I won't take lightly since I am the type that wants to keep the status quo, though at the end of the day it is still change that triumphs and we all have to live with that.

An aspect that made this show great for me is the male MC, Yuuta and how he handled the situation. He was once a guy that shared the same delusions as Rikka but is currently trying to live a normal life and leave his embarrassing past behind, but despite that he still chose to be with the girl that reminds him of that part of his life that he is trying to seal away forever. In the movie he is the one who served as the greatest support for Rikka, he didn't forced her to make a decision whether to change or not, instead he just made a vow to be with her forever. He accepted her no matter what she is or what she will be, and if that is not a portrayal of true love then I don't know what is.

Another thing I loved was how the show transitioned from a cheerful atmosphere to a light drama set up without losing the characters' flair. The transition was not an instant change, it was gradually built throughout the course of the movie that's why it felt more natural because it hinted the conflict slowly building up inside Rikka's mind.

The use of the first opening theme caught me off guard and was a nice touch to end the show. It gave me chills, it hit me right in the nostalgia and made the final moments more impactful. Playing the first song in the final part of any series, most of the time, magically makes it couple times better.

The after credit scene is also a nice touch, it is the same way the 2 first met but you can see how much things have changed and how much the 2 of them has grown since then.

I highly recommend the movie and the series for that matter. That does it for this one, I will be ending this article with the catchphrase of the series...

Explode, o reality!

Shatter, synapses!

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›Anime Review: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai@thatanimesnob3013d
VIVID IMAGINATION

This is yet another school comedy based on light novels, but with a twist. It’s about teenagers who suffer from chuunibyo, meaning a vivid imagination which makes them do weird stuff. I had no idea there was a term for such a condition; I assumed it was something all children go through for a couple of years before it goes away on its own. Apparently it sticks around to some people up until their adolescence and becomes a source a great embarrassment when you recollect all the stupid things you were doing during that time. This gimmick was more than enough to give an otherwise generic moeshit anime an identity of its own. It was full of imaginary superpower battles that made it stand out from others of its kind, and was also something everybody had experienced for a least a few months in their lives. But no matter how good the premise of a show sounds to be, it means nothing if they don’t do anything with it. And since this was made by Kyoani, guess what happened. Freaking nothing! It remained nothing more than a moeshit comedy.

SELF AWARENESS

If there was some credit to the show, it’s the initial attempt to be self aware, and in a superficial way to about anti-escapism. Since the protagonist was very ashamed of what he had done while he was role playing as Dark Flame Master, he was constantly trying to stay away from all that nonsense that was essentially empowerment fantasy. Later on he was also in a relationship, which made it seem like he was finally leaving behind his childhood and was moving towards becoming a far more serious and responsible adult. If the anime kept going with these themes, we would have a masterpiece of the likes of Welcome to the NHK. And we didn’t; because Kyoanus and light novel cancer.

IT LOOKS WRONG

Eventually the show betrays all its good aspects and crawls back into the mud hole that is defining modern anime. For a premise that is about anti-escapism, every girl in the show is super cute. And I mean every girl, from babies to milfs. And typical to Kyoani tradition, there is a lot of fan service to keep the audience drooling over animated cartoons. How can you take the theme seriously when it is presented in the exact opposite way of how it should? Where are some ugly, fat, deformed people to give us a sense of depowering reality? The real world looks as beautiful as the imaginary one. Where are people who are supposed to be annoyed by all these nonsense? If you notice, nobody besides Rikka gets scolded for the crazy stuff they constantly do. Friends and family around the major characters don’t care, they don’t even bother to laugh or shake their heads in contempt. They just look puzzled for a few seconds before going back to whatever they were doing, completely forgeting the whole thing. There is no reason to feel embarrassed if nobody cares. So where is this anti-escapism theme you kept yapping about, show? Nowhere!

IT BECOMES WHAT IT SCORNS

Some tried to excuse that as being part of the subversion the show was going for. It makes it seem like it’s moe, only to turn the tables later on, and surprise the audience by addressing the theme of anti-escapism. It would be excused and it would be an amazing twist, if the theme of anti-escapism was going somewhere. But it didn’t. Despite all the efforts of Yuuta to stay the hell away from all these stupid illusions, he spent the entire show being surrounded by cute moeblobs, doing non-stop silly things as a running joke, and at the end he even accepted to turn back into his Dark Flame Master persona that he despised so much, for the sake of a delusional chick. He joined the dark side, instead of bringing the girl to the light side. Thus the show embarrassed what it was shooing away at first.

IT REFUSES TO MOVE ON

Some tried to excuse him reverting to his chuunibyou period, as part of saving the girl he liked. Rikka, as the only person with people who gave a damn about her crazy antics, was escaping her cruel reality, and when she was forced to face it towards the end of the first season, it was too much for her. She was even about to commit suicide if Yuuta hadn’t calmed her down by pretending to believe all the nonsense she kept spouting all this time. Ok then, let’s roll with that. He saved her, became her boyfriend, gets the chance to understand her, and now we are promised with watching how a relationship plays out in anime. If you didn’t realize it yet, almost no anime that is about romance has established couples in it. Most of them fool around until they say I love you and then end without showing us anything. But not this show, it established a couple midway and had the whole second half to show us how Yuuta and Rikka become more responsible and mature by being in a relationship. And guess what, NOTHING HAPPENED.

IT ENDS AS A SHADOW OF WHAT IT WAS

Not only the relationship resets to zero, but typical to harem formulas they even add more girls, maintained the status quo intact, while not forgetting to throw in yuri shipping. And even during the finale when we would finally get at least a kiss, to believe these two are in a relationship, THEY CHICKEN OUT and we are left with blue balls. Thus the show ends by destroying the last thing that was good about it. Some say that it was never about the romantic relationships, as it was about identity. You need to love someone for who he is and even accept him the way he is. There is no need to change if there is nothing wrong with the way things are. And since their chuunibyou personas are essentially who they want to be, then you might as well accept their silly illusions. It’s a good theme alright, but again, they didn’t do anything with it, and thus it goes to waste.

PRETENTIOUSNESS

I bet there are still those who will say that the show was never trying to be a subversion. It was always a generic moeblob comedy with the themes being there simply as a joke generator and nothing more. I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The cast is made up of one typical blunt dork protagonist, a dozen typically cute girls surrounding him in ways that feel like they dig him, and a minor male student who is there only to address the horny side of the protagonist. Those are traditional trademarks of harems; why would you assume there is more to it? I don’t know, why does most of the anime community still thinks SAO has an amazing romance and a realistic videogame world? Oh, I know, it’s because the show keeps telling us it is all that! It pretends to be things that it isn’t, and thus it makes complete sense that we will be looking forward to what we are promised and be very disappointed when we don’t get it. And the reason we never get it is simple. Because Kyoanus and light novel cancer.

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First image is taken from here. Second image from here. Third one from here. Last image is from here. All found with a google search.

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2 more reviews

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Movie: Take On Me

Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy, Drama, Romance, School

Explode, o reality!

Shatter, synapses!