Takanashi Rikka Kai: Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Movie

As the summary said, this is a recap movie. Which is actually pretty weird. Considering, why did they bother to make a full-length movie just for a recap of season 1? My best guess is, this movie consists 3 parts which shortly describe: a recap of season one, an epilogue of season one, and as a early prologue of season 2. All the main plot elements are served in this half and a hour movie, with a lot of cut towards the secondary plot/subplot, like "Isshiki's heroic moments" for instance.

This type of execution is not all that strange actually since Stand Alone Complex did ... just the same thing... twice. So, it is best to enjoy this movie as a sort of nostalgia rather than watching all 12 eps long of season 1. New elements do exist. Like a new footage during the prologue and epilogue. A new opening and ending and a bit of after-credit.

What you want to expect from this movie is, top notch animation, delicious sound direction and voice acting, top notch animation, and a bit of reminiscent of how sweet the Chuuni romance from season 1. Did I say animation twice? Well, because all the nuance which brought the show alive are mostly from this department. They also a bit condensing some of the unnecessary elements which helps a lot in enhancing the enjoyment. I found myself quite enjoying it during some of the scenes, and not so much in the other (this a recap, duh).

So, there is not much to tell from a recap. But if you enjoying the first season and want to be reminded why you liked the first season, Takanashi Rikka Kai: Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shita! Movie might help lead you to the world of season one without troubling you to marathon the whole season again.

If you're reading this, then I'm going to blindly assume that you've at least seen the first season of the Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai TV-series, and if you haven't you should go do so this very second as you should definitely not try watching this movie otherwise.

As the synopsis states, Takanashi Rikka Kai is simply a recap of the first season of the TV-series, however it is (naturally) shorted down immensely and also mostly seen from Rikka's perspective this time around. Most of the side stories are cut off, and the movie focuses almost solely on the relationship development between Yuuta and Rikka, which ... in the end is the most important part of the story, however in the very rushed format that the movie version has it definitely didn't come out as good in comparison in the end. Then again I guess that is somewhat to be expected when it comes to recap movies.


That is not quite all there is to it however (almost though), as you can roughly divide this film into three parts:

The first 10 minutes consist entirely of new content which tries to showcase just how good the "Chuuni-fights" will look when enhanced with modern day cinema-quality CGs (on top of KyoAni's typically high production values), as well as being just the good old Chuunibyou comedy and everything else that comes along with it.

The second part is basically the story itself which covers maybe 75% of the playtime, and it is pretty much simply what I stated earlier. If you've got a crystal clear recollection of the events of the first season of the TV-series you will notice some minor changes every so often regarding the spoken lines, music and shorter scenes but 95% of it is material you've already seen in the original anime airing.

Finally the third part covering roughly the final 10 minutes of the movie is partially an epilogue to the story thus far, and also a bit of a preview/teaser for the second season of the TV-series, which at the time this movie had its subs released had already started airing almost 2 months prior so most likely there won't be anything in the final part that will be news to you either if you're a fan of the series.


As a final verdict then, would I consider Takanashi Rikka Kai worth watching?
If you're a fan of the series, then yes I would recommend you to at least try it out. No, it is not as good as the TV-series, nor is there a whole lot of material that you won't already have seen but hey it's still Chuunibyou, and you can never go wrong with that.
If you're someone who merely thought the TV-series was alright but nothing spectacular, then I would probably recommend you to watch the first 10 minutes of it, as that was the only *really* new segment and since I'm going by the assumption that whomever reads this has already seen at least the first season, then with that taken into account the opening part was quite frankly the best part of the entire movie.

Overall, this is definitely not the best way to properly enjoy the Chuunibyou franchise, but if you're just looking for some additional icing on the cake, you need not look any further than this.

This movie markets itself as the story of "Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions" but through the eyes (eye) of the series' heroine, Rikka Takanashi. For fans of the series, they may hear this concept like I did and think the following:

"Oh, that sounds awesome! We can see things we've never seen before in the story and see multiple moments from the series remade to be more fantastical and unrealistic to fit into Rikka's Chunibyo."

But instead of doing something cool like that, this movie is just the bare basics of the "Love, Chunibiyo" story to be counted as a recap. Like a cake without any of ... the frosting or the flavoring. Honestly outside of a admittedly really great opening scene and a new ending scene, this movie has nothing of worth to offer. This movie for 95% of itself, doesn't have the soul of the original series and that is obvious with the story obviously feeling like just a random splicing of scenes from the show together that you could find on youtube.

I don't get how this movie has such a high rating, this movie is "Love, Chunibyo" without any of the charm or love the main series and sequel film have. So it doesn't even work as an entry point for new fans.

In the end, skip this movie. Just watch season 1 of the show, then look up the opening scene and ending scene of the movie on youtube and watch that. Then watch season 2, and then the Take on Me Movie because they are really good also. Besides that also check out the shorts, because they are also better then this movie. And boom, you did it! You just saved your self an hour of your time.