ADVISORY WARNING: Watch both Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! and the Chuunibyou movie before watching this. This is a sequel series, so watching this right away would be confusing.
Story (6.19/10): While its predecessor had a decent story to follow, this series...does not. Following the events of the series after the movie, Rikka and Yuuta are now living together after a set of circumstances that were actually quite random, and the two begin their new lives together, sharing a base and being bound to the contract of lovers! Or as it is known in normal terms, living together in the same apartment, while also being boyfriend and girlfriend.
The series is mostly comprised in a romantic comedy aspect of itself. Compared to the drama that happened in the second half of the first season, (which I might add, I loved), the ren series focuses more on the relationship between Yuuta and Rikka as they awkwardly try and interact with each other in a way that most couples would.
What I don't like about this, is the presentation of it. The idea itself is quite cute and endearing to watch, but the execution in terms of how it was presented was less than average. For starters, the idea of the "contract of lovers" between the two main cast doesn't even really begin until about halfway through the series. Before that, it's essentially a load of episodic side stories and one episode characters that didn't really help the show at all. In fact, I think it hurt the show's credibility a little bit. After that, when the show finally tries to get itself together, they add in Shichimiya, a character I was DYING to see at the beginning, (since she is on the freaking cover art), and then go into this arc about her, which also didn't help the main story. It helped Shichimiya's character development, but from an overall story standpoint, not so much.
With that, the comes the end of the series, which does actually wrap things up well. All of the problems were cleared (mostly), it had a very cute scene, and well, it ended up like most romance animes do. (I'll let you figure that one out.) I was somewhat upset with the end due to the buildup resulting in just a rage inducing slap to the face, but I suppose it was somewhat fitting for the show, somehow.
Overview
+ Very cute story idea (especially with the characters)
- Side story episodes that didn't help anything
- lost main idea as the series went on
- TOO MUCH COCKBLOCKING
Characters (7.65/10): To make the story element of the series a bit less important in terms of why anyone would watch this, the characters certainly made up for the series a lot.
Togashi Yuuta. As the main protagonist of the Chuunibyou series, Yuuta comes back into the series, essentially more or less the exact same way he was in the original series; with the exception that he now accepts his alternate persona Dark Flame Master or DFM a little more. In terms of development Yuuta is mainly focused on in the series to "reach" out to Rikka more, so that they can get closer and improve their sprouting relationship. He certainly does get more development in the way that he cares for his Chuuni girlfriend more and more as the series goes on, but he still is rather the same in terms of who he was previously. That being said, I still like his character due to the way he "punishes" Rikka, cause in all honesty, it's pretty funny and enjoyable.
Takanashi Rikka. As the main female lead of the series, as well as being the Tyrant Eye, and just one of the more enjoyable characters in this series, Rikka, like Yuuta, hasn't changed very much. She still retains her Chuunibyou self, as well as gaining all sorts of weird things through ways that make no sense. (i.e. a pair of night vision goggles). Throughout the series, she is shown to truly love her boyfriend Yuuta, always mad at when she doesn't get his attention, trying her best to improve their very awkward but cute relationship, and even billowing comical smoke every time she hears or talks about their relationship. Beyond that, she doesn't really change much, as this particular series' development is so drawn out and slow.
Between these two characters, is the relationship that is the crux and most important part of this show. The interaction between these two characters is the main reason why I watched this second series. (Also, I just love this series in general). What they do, rather then trying to improve their relationship, is draw it out so long that they basically get nowhere. Sure there are little flagpoints and noticeable areas where the relationship gets a bit better, but it's just so drawn out that it is actually quite infuriating to watch. Even the other characters in the show are bothered by this. Yuuta even specifically states in the series that he and Rikka are taking things one step at a time, which basically is an excuse for the creators to drag things out as long as possible.
Shichimiya Satone is the last character that I will be reviewing. As the Devil Magical Girl, and the newest member to the cast of Chuunibyou, Satone is a very interesting case. With a past with both Nibutani and Yuuta, Satone adds to the cast by being that character that appears out of nowhere, and breaks all hell. And that my friends, is the reason I love her. Satone, while introduced late in the series is given an arc all to herself towards the end, where she must, like Rikka in the previous season, battle the turmoils that dwell within her, albeit less morbid and saddening than Rikka's. She gets some nice character development during her arc, as well as trying to help Yuuta with his relationship, while just being plain awesome most of the time due to how ridiculous and loose her character actually is.
With these three, we also have Dekomori, Nibutani, and Kumin, all of which pretty much get their own episode in terms of their focus, and nothing else. They mostly play a supporting role and nothing much else. They're still enjoyable characters, retaining all of their traits from the last season, but in terms of anything more, there's not really much else.
The supporting cast for this series is rather small, consisting mostly of people that appear for around an episode or two. (Also, the only other guy named Makoto, yeah, he gets like zero screentime. He appears, then runs off. That's it.) They don't add very much to the show, except to give the side story episodes something that resembles a plot.
Overview:
+ Good retaining of the main characters and their traits
+ Good development and introduction of character
- Terrible romance development with excessive cockblocking
- Completely pointless side cast that appears for a singular episode most of the time
Art and Sound (8.89/10 and 7.31/10): By my standards, the art for this series is very nice looking and good. By Kyoto ani standards, I'm not too sure, since I don't know their rating scale.
Chuunibyou has its charm of having a very fluid looking color palette that involves eyes that look like gems, hair that flows like water, very simple, moe, and elegant character designs, and OMG the unneedingly epic scenes!
What Chuunibyou has that other animes in a similar category have, is the fact that it has these scenes that I dub unneedingly epic. Contrary to what they did this time, the Chuunibyou series has upped its visual effects by making the magical bullshit the characters do in their imagination a lot more epic and flashy, as well as adding in an extremely detailed background. From an art standpoint, Chuunibyou excels in the fact, that it is very awesome to look at.
From a musical standpoint, I would say that this time, it was average. The music wasn't all that fantastic, as the OST and ED sounded a bit meh in my opinion. It was still good, don't get me wrong, but I felt as though that it sounded a bit generic and a bit less memorable than the songs of the original series.
That being said, Chuunibyou does have its moments in the in show soundtracks, having beautiful flourishes and moments of sound that are quite awe-inspiring.
In terms of voice acting, the voices for the series remain relatively unchanged, and sound just as they did in the first season. With the addition of Juri Nagatsuma as Satone Shichimiya, the cast I felt improved because of the added in character. (Also, Satone's laugh is awesome.)
Overview
+ Godly aesthetics
+ Good voice acting
+ Awesome mystical backgrounds
- Average sounding soundtrack
Personal Enjoyment (7.01/10): You know that feeling when you anticipate something, and it turns out to be less exceptional than you once thought, Chuunibyou ren was this for me. When I saw that Chuunibyou was getting a new season, I was greatly ecstatic, as their return would make my high school days a bit more bearable. After watching this series though...I'm seeing that in a slightly different light.
My first impression when I watched the first episode, was the fact that this series was getting a sequel that would change the whole series for the better. It did the complete opposite. For several weeks, I had watched side story after side story, and I was greatly disappointed to see a series that was once on my favorites list turn into this. Bear in mind, I still watched it to the end.
I still continued watching because I thought that the story would take off more and more into oblivion. While I still did get to see some scenes that I enjoyed, as well as the story I was desperately hoping for, it still wasn't enough for the fact that the first few episodes were side stories, and the pacing was as slow as they come. But, Chuunibyou is still Chuunibyou, as the charm of the show is still retained even through this slog of a mess.
If you liked the Chuunibyou series, this is something you might like. Personally, since this was still Chuunibyou, I did kind of like it. But since there were so many troubles with the series, I can't really recommend it to anyone else, since sequel series' require watching the first one to understand. That being said, I, PyraXadon, the Phantom Avenger that steals the powers of immortal beasts, bid you adieu. (I just needed to put my own Chuunibyou schpeal in there.)
Overall Score: (6.99/10)
