The story of Chuunibyou is centred on Yuuta Togashi, a high school student who has started out at a new school with a fresh opportunity to make friends. In the past, he had few, due to his Chuunibyou (eighth grade syndrome) which left him absorbed in his fantasy world while others laughed at him. However, Rika, his fellow student and fellow resident of his apartment complex, is still suffering from Chuunibyou, leaving Togashi feeling threatened that his past may come crashing down on him. Initially, this story focusses on introducing the audience to the main cast through comedic interactions, which serves both as effective episodic light-hearted enjoyment and lays down the foundation of character motivations and relationships. However, though these episodes are relatively airy, they still have rather dark subtle undertones that occasionally, though not unmistakably, present themselves to the audience. As a result, the more dramatic, emotional second half is flowed into naturally without feeling forced or uncalled for. Over the latter 50% of the series, mysterious characters are illuminated, and character relationships are altered in a rather predictable, though organic and entirely justified, development. On the whole, Chuunibyou’s tight nature works heavily in its favour, though not entirely; some of the side characters’ motivations don’t seem entirely fleshed out, and the series does feel just slightly too short.
The characters of Chuunibyou, much more so than the story, are what it is likely to be remembered for. Yuuta Togashi is very relatable (specifically for me, embarrassingly) though doesn’t feel like a shallow place holder. He has, at the beginning, very specific and unambitious goals, so as a character on his own, he isn’t too interesting, though his interactions with Dekomori, Rika and Nibutani more than make up for this. His exasperation towards Dekomori, his growing concern for Rika and his envy and admiration for Nibutani all add character to him, though admittedly Rika’s older sister, Tooka, are the most hilarious. (On a side note, Yuuta also manages to retain likability in spite of the fact that he regularly beats up younger girls and reading women’s magazines.) Rika, the show’s poster character, is memorable, well developed and extremely engaging to watch. The anime succeeds in making her a likable character at the beginning, establishing that she has been the way she is for a very long time, but the best character work is done with her in the second half.
Dekomori also has a lot of development, acting as the archetypal good-intentioned, yet nonetheless extremely troublesome and immature, friend. Her character is secondary, though thankfully is addressed in a way that feels sufficient in the context of the story. Nibutani doesn’t have the same level of watchability as the other cast members, though she is also a well-established character who, though changing little over the context of the story, adds a lot to it through her believably wise advice and experience. She strikes a good balance between being mature and kind, while also being stern and serious when the situation requires it. However, she isn’t completely consistent. At the beginning of the story, she seems somewhat self-absorbed and doesn’t listen to the others as much as she should. Though this isn’t bad, her more selfless, kind attitude in the second half doesn’t quite seem to gel with the more juvenile attitude shown earlier. Additionally, her decision to join the club seems more like a device to get her to interact with the rest of the cast, rather than being a justifiable decision of her own. Had the story devoted just a few more minutes to her, she would have felt more complete. Another character who may have benefitted from more time is Tooka, Rika’s older sister. She serves her job well, is a great supporting character who flits naturally between being serious and funny, though her more forceful attitude isn’t quite explained, which could have been helped greatly by showing her with her mother of Rika a little more. Other than these characters, the others are fairly static, though Kumin and Makoto breathe a bit of much needed comic relief into the latter half of the show.
In terms of overall aesthetics, Chuunibyou is a high quality production, as is expected from Kyoto Animation. The characters are well-lit and shaded, regardless of the time of day, and the backgrounds are consistently detailed. Everything is lit a little more lightly than it would be in real life, giving the anime a much more youthful and optimistic look that fit well with its themes and characters. Much of this can be attributed to the highly skilled and experienced key animator Masaya Makita, a veteran of Kyoto Animation with a distinct visual style. However, the character designs are a bit lacking in originality because of this; the heavily reflect those from K-ON!, Clannad and Haruhi Suzumiya, particularly in the case of Nibutani. Thankfully, Chuunibyou is extremely light on fan service, which is greatly appreciated given the nature of this series’ tone. The character models are nearly never off, the movements and fluid and each character is given a visual identity through the way in which they move, be it Nibutani’s more upright, respectable stance of Dekomori’s more juvenile, energetic expressions. The highlight of the series would have to be the short, yet very fun and vibrant battle sequences (which, ironically, bear an uncanny resemblance to those if Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (2014)). On the whole, Chuunibyou is great to look at, though isn’t the pinnacle of artistic integrity of originality.
In the sound department, both the opening and ending are catchy, upbeat, fitting and memorable, which seems to be a running theme throughout this anime. The opening sounds very nice, though the over-choreographed nature of it may have some viewers scratching their heads. The ending is even better, with the cast members contributing their voices to a rather nonsensically written, though still extremely fun, tune that doesn’t quite feel as in place towards the end of the series. The OST serves its purpose well chiming in to uplift the comedic scenes, though quieting down a little too much during the emotional ones.
Regarding the voice acting in the series, both the original Japanese and the Sentai FIlmworks English dub serve their purpose well, though the former does have an edge over the latter. For Yuuta Togashi, the much more experienced and iconic Jun Fukuyama brings much more energy to the role than the otherwise fine Leraldo Anzaldua. The various supporting characters, to varying degrees, manage to retain their essence and seem to understand their characters enough the match up reasonably well to their Japanese counterparts. Rika, however, has been tampered with in a very interesting manner. In the original Japanese, she sounds very down-trodden and pathetic, as is appropriate for her character. In English, however, she has a surprisingly deep voice, which effectively contrasts her age from her very childish and naïve attitude. Both artistic decisions work relatively well, though it may be difficult for one who has already been exposed to one language to view this anime in another language. Ultimately, though, the Japanese edges ahead slightly simply because, being set in high school, the Japanese mannerisms and word plays work much better in the native language. Also, the English script can be too literally translated at time, resulting in unusual sentence structure and confusing puns.
On the whole, Chuunibyou is a tight series with well-developed characters that is pleasant in sight and sound, memorable, and, in spite of not feeling like the most original story ever told, will likely work for all but the most hardened of viewers.
