Chunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai Review

Love, Chunibyou, And Other Delusions

misleading I know

Review

I believe we can all relate to the embarrassing moments of childhood.

As we grow up we begin to learn what's real and what's not; what's socially acceptable and what isn't. But even when we know these things that doesn't stop us from denying their existence, or making mistakes along the way. Imagination is a beautiful gift, specifically for a child still learning the world, and making things up along the way to add some flare to your adventure is what I'm sure most of us have done some point in our lives. Things like pretending to be something we're not, or saying something that sounded right at the time but was the absolute wrong thing to say. It might be minor - but then we look back on those moments and wonder "what in the world was I thinking?"

Growing up can be embarrassing - though unfortunately we never actually feel the full force of the regret and embarrassment until it's all been said and done.

Is this relevant? Well from an anime rightfully called 'Love, Chunibyou, and other Delusions' I'd like to think that yes, it is.

Chunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai - otherwise known as 'Chunibyou' - is a romantic comedy/drama series animated by Kyoto Animation. Directed by Ishihara Tatsuya, known for other Kyoto dramas like Air and Clannad, tries his hand at an anime that's relatable and also startlingly uncomfortable. You know those times when you pretended to be a hero saving the world, and strongly believed it with all your heart? Yeah. The series is about people who are going through that current stage.

So what is a Chunibyou? That's some sort of Japanese term that translates to 'Eighth Grader Syndrome.' As a kid on TV we may have seen a hero we admired and wanted to be, and pretended to act like him as much as we could. Well in the simplest way possible a 'Chunibyou' is a teenager/adult who does that, and strongly believes that it's true to the point of being extremely delusional. Otherwise known as Disorganized schizophrenia, where the person's severe delusions can go to the point of seeing reality itself in a different way.

This is what our protagonist Yuuta is. Or - at least - once was.

Yuuta being...well...Yuuta

Carrying cosplay swords, drawing manga of himself and going by the silly persona 'Dark Flame Master.' He was as delusional as they could come - but then he snapped out of it and was determined to have a normal life, putting his embarrassing fantasies behind him.

But Rikka? Well, she has other ideas. A current Chunibyou herself she's seen Yuuta in his delusional phase and has fallen in love with his persona. She's even more delusional than Yuuta - causing trouble for her sister, putting wings on a cat and calling it a 'chimera', pretending to be of the dark forces fighting against evil, dressing up like something out of an RPG. He's dragged around by her, all the while remembering all the embarrassing things that come with this phase, and so we have our slice-of-life/drama/romance/comedy. < yes, it's all of that and I'll get to the problem of clashing so many genres in a bit.

But first I'll speak of the animation because it is absolutely fantastic. The moments where Rikka is in her own world and it shows what she believes she's 'seeing' - those moments are some of the best, and make for some uncomfortable comedy and awe along with it. Specifically in the sudden change of colors that will happen in these transitions. For the most part the animation is fluid, clean and worthy enough of a high quality watch in blu-ray. The effects are well done too, more like something you'd see out of some sort of fantasy action anime rather than a comedy. 

Out of Rikka's fantasy world however the animation is laid back and normal. Backgrounds are fine, character movement is animated smoothly with a few jerky movements in between but nothing majorly out of place. It's relaxing and colorful and that's all I ask.

Unfortunately I had some confusion with the character designs. Have you seen the horror anime 'Another?' (not a good horror series by the way but whatever.) Have a close look at the character designs - they're eerily similar in the characters. 

I have a few speculations for this. One? Rikka is Haruhi and as her favorite series is Another she's unconsciously made every body look like the 'Another' characters' rom-com counterparts. 2? The entire world of Another (or Chunibyou) took place in Rikka's/Mei's head. 3? Chunibyou was actually going to be a parody of Another, but then they realized they were adapting a light novel with an actual plot and had to change their plans. Or it's a coincidence but hey, that's no fun isn't it?

Okay back on track. Let's get on to the plot now shall we? It's quite a simple plot, as described above, and makes for a comedic premise for a romantic comedy. There's a lot of hilarious - if not awkward - enjoyable comedy to be had from the series, and so for the first few episodes you're rolling with it, slapping your forehead at poor Yuuta reliving such an embarrassing phase, and having a fun time.

But then this is where my main gripe lays. At around half way through the anime changes its entire tone and goes from a comedy about the daily lives of these Chunibyous, and becomes a drama.

I love a good drama when I could find one but when it comes to drama and comedy mixed in...eh. It all depends on how you execute it but in Chunibyou when the drama happened it was good, and provided insight onto Rikka's back story and character, but it was such a sudden change and it just didn't mix well with all the comedy before it. Comedy, comedy, comedy, BOOM, drama, drama, drama, romance, some comedy, drama, romance, happy end.

Again, the drama was good and I loved how it showed why Rikka is a chunibyou and gave insight into her as a whole. But it just didn't transition right and that compromised the flow of the story. After the drama the show introduces it's main conflict with only a few episodes to go. It's all fine and dandy but then the anime just...ends.

It ends in a way that just felt rushed. Still a satisfying ending, however. I respect the message it's sending about how we all have that inner spark of a child inside even if we don't know it, and we should never lose it, no matter how embarrassed it makes us feel. It's a good theme and it's right - we should never lose our inner child and imagination. It's what gives color to our world. You see a bit of the inner conflict of the characters, knowing they should grow up and leave their fantasies behind but they really don't want to leave such excitement and just 'mature.'

It may seem like I'm bashing Chunibyou but I'm not. Let's just get the flaws out of the way first because in the end Chunibyou is still enjoyable. It's the type of show that if you've had a childhood you'll relate to this anime. (Or at least I did.) It can get a bit uncomfortable at times but it's still comedic, amusing, and while the drama doesn't have the smoothest of transitions I see why they did it. Drama was still needed to give the story backbone otherwise it would just be another generic comedy...set in a high-school...with random people doing random stuff. While I wouldn't go as far as to say it ventures out of that zone it at least gives the genre a nice twist.

As for the characters Rikka is the cutest character I've seen in a long while. You laugh at her antics, your heart goes out to her when you learn of her past and see why she uses her fantasies as a coping mechanism. She denies reality and honestly in these parts I teared up a bit

 Yuuta is our cynical protagonist by the way, who warms up to Rikka and grows to care for her as a person. He's left his 'delusional phase' behind and has extreme embarrassment and regret when being reminded about it, so you can imagine it's to his everlasting shame when he's around Rikka and knowing that's just how he was once. He isn't really the shining highlight of the show however - that spot is for Rikka and Rikka alone.

Along with our mains we have a colorful, stereotypical cast of a girl that's little miss perfect but in reality she's a real bitch (and also a former chunibyou) underneath; Rikka's loyal follower who spouts nonsense with her wherever she goes; Rikka's hardened sister who tries her best at handling a stubborn and difficult to deal with Rikka; as well as the cute girl who's just in it for the ride and pretty much sleeps and eats for the entire show. Props to the cute girl.

Oh and a cat too. How kawaii~

Unfortunately while for a comedy these characters work for a romantic drama they lack that certain depth and realism needed to have the show certainly make an impact. Instead they tend to be more on the cute and moe side, rather than the serious one, and while emotional at times the show doesn't have that strong punch of emotion I would have liked. So in the end? The characters are fun, yeah, but I think KyoAni needs to understand that when you're doing a drama your characters are going to be your main focus.

I will say with all the female characters it isn't an obvious harem. So thank you KyoAni. Thank you for sparing us the lewd fanservice boob-shots and silliness that could have come with this premise. KyoAni always does 'pure' work after all, so thank you. <3 A good change of pace.

On the musical side of things the anime has a very catchy, albeit a bit generic, opening sung by Rikka's voice actress and an ending theme that's all sorts of hardcore rock. It all depends on preference at that point but I preferred the opening to the ending. Mainly because of Rikka's striking Haruhi pose and her 'WHOOP WHOOP' finger spinning.

Yep. Gotta love that opening.

As for background music it's alright, for the most part. It suits though it never really makes an effort to stick out in your mind like something from the soundtrack of Wolf Children or Haibane Renmei. I've no complains but I've also no praise for this area.

 So let's wrap it all up. Is Chunibyou good? Yes, it is. It's enjoyable, relatable, funny if not awkward, and dramatic if random at how it transitions and throws the drama at you with no time for adjustment. Rikka was definitely the highlight of the show for me and the animation was pure 1080p eyecandy, however the anime is lacking some well-needed substance and a good emotional punch. Whilst it isn't something you have to watch at this very second it is a good show and one I do recommend specifically if you're into things done by Key.

From me I'd say Chunibyou gets a

7.66/10

Recommended

Positives;; Rikka and Yuuta...hnng; eyecandy animation; a good message; fun characters and awkward but amusing comedy; relatable, if you've ever had a childhood and an imagination

Mixed;; A satisfying but rushed ending; embarrassing, but it's supposed to be

Negatives;; The transition from comedy to drama leaves no time for adjustment and is far from smooth; it starts to get a bit convoluted near the end in terms of balancing the genres; characters lack much depth for a drama

And now for SCREENSHOTS WOO~