Togashi Yuuta is a regular boy entering high school with a somewhat dark past. Back in middle school, he imagined himself as the Dark Flame Master, a powerful being who controlled dragons and flames. With the sudden realization that such delusions were uncool, he is determined to leave all of that behind in middle school and start afresh in a totally new high school where no one knows him.
Enter Takanashi Rikka. An eccentric girl who is plagued by the same delusions that Yuuta once had. By an off chance, Rikka finds out about Yuuta's past as the Dark Flame Master, and using this as leverage, blackmails him into going along with her crazy ideas and stories.
This is the basic story of Chuunibyou. The adventures of these two kids and their friends make it weird, wonderful and fun. The pacing is slow at times, but every moment is worth it. You learn to see the world from the eyes of an innocent child again. You see that the world used to be much simpler, and that you miss the childhood that you once had. That's what this anime is. A lot of nostalgia packed into a season. But in no way is that bad. It makes for very pleasurable viewing for the fan.
The art is definitely moe, and in all honesty, I'm actually pretty fond of it. The color palettes are soft but vibrant. The characters have decent designs, even if they are somewhat bland. At some crucial moments in the anime, the backgrounds actually enhance the scene to greater heights. So overall, there's actually not much to complain about the art itself.
I'll be honest. I absolutely loved Rikka's voice. It had the air of innocence, playfulness, and an absolute boisterousness that made me fall in love with the character, even if she was absolutely cringeworthy with her delusions. In all honesty, the voice actors really did their job well, and that's the main reason I'm giving the sound an 8/10. The voice actors did their job splendidly. You absolutely cannot expect anything better from them.
Characters have clearly defined personalities. Yuuta, who regrets his past, but has become a responsible teenager dedicated to bettering himself and focuses on enjoying his high school life as much as possible, without as much interruptions from Rikka and her antics as possible. Rikka, who enjoys her life in the moment and doesn't care about what other people think about her. Nibutani, who faced a similar development to Yuuta, etc. All of them are interconnected by the one defining concept of this anime, which is childish imagination. But there isn't stagnation. Absolutely not. The characters, mostly the main few, develop from who they were in the beginning of the series, and move forward to a path which takes them towards adulthood. And that's what this anime is, the growing pains of a teenager trying to become an adult, whether they want to or not. It's an awkward phase, as most of us have endured ourselves. But if there's a point that I took away from the anime, it's this. Just because it's an awkward phase, doesn't mean it's not fun.
Overall, I enjoyed the series a lot, and still go back and rewatch it at times. It's a series which reminds us all that there is good in the world, and within each of us. It tells us not to lose our childish selves just because we all have to grow up. Age is just a number, and you're only as old as you think you are. At the time of writing this review, I remember reading that there will be a third season for this anime, which left me pleasantly, but anxiously surprised. I do hope that the third season turns out to be as good as the first two were.
