"Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai!" Romance

Welcome to Anime Questionnaire, the article where we talk with creators about the charm of their anime. Today's article focuses on the anime Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!. We'll hear from the supervisor from Kyoto Animation, Tatsuya Ishihara, about the appeal of Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!.

---Can you tell us a little about this work and why it attracts people?
"Chuunibyou" is a modern term that describes what's been called the "rebellious age" or a "troublesome puberty" in the past. Usually that type of behavior occurs around the second year in middle school, so that's why it's called "chuu-ni." Usually kids around that time will adopt a lifestyle that mimics their favorite musician or actor where they've adopted that person's posture/tone, but recently there's been a lot of influence from manga, anime, and video games. It might appear weird to older generations, but people working in the anime industry under 40 have experienced this phenomenon.

Our tale is a strange romantic story about a girl who's actively acting out this "chuunibyou" and a boy who has been cured from it.

---What did you keep in mind when working on the anime?
During the time when a person suffers from "chuunibyou," their mind is unstable and could easily fall into negative thoughts. Using this sort of adolescent theme would lead to very melancholic and gloomy visuals.

That type of gloomy atmosphere is not present in this work. We endeavored to make our heroine's chuunibyou actions cute and comedic. We also made the people around her, like the classmates, open-minded to her strange actions so that they wouldn't be mean to her.

---What made you happy when you finished this project? On the flip side, what troubled you about this show?
What made me happiest was taking a light novel from our company and making it into an anime. Just one novel would be nearly impossible to adapt, so we had to shuffle around the contents to make it easier.

As for what troubled me the most, it would be the work's main theme: the meaning of chuunibyou. Of course I would be expected to explain to the staff what we were trying to accomplish, but you wouldn't want to air out your own past when you're explaining it to them, would you? (laughs) As I remembered things that I had forgotten about my past, I started to sweat.

---Please tell us what to expect in the show from here onwards.


---Finally, can you give a word to the fans?
Though this series is about chuunibyou, it's not the "main theme" of this story. The show itself is an innocent romantic story. The phrase "chuunibyou" is a recent term to describe the uneasy mental state and actions felt/taken by boys and girls as they go through puberty. It's something standard for people of all generations. As you become more familiar with the characters, I would be happy if the fans became friends with Yuuta, Rikka, and everyone in the show.