Chuunibyou takes this idea and executes it wonderfully as a slice of life/comedy/drama that features kids with childhood delusions that they are battle shounen characters.
Story 8/10:
The story begins with a guy who's already gone through his "chuunibyou phase", he's beginning a new life at a high school far away so he doesn't have his past follow him. Yet this quickly happens as one of his classmates and neighbor is in the midst of her chuunibyou phase and antics ensue.
It's well paced and felt like a breeze watching through. The most impressive thing about chuunibyou's story would be that the drastic and fast tonal shifts in the last third never feel too jarring due to the foreshadowing throughout that doesn't quite give it away. Chuunibyou has comedy, drama, and romance and it handles them all equally well. There are several moments where it feels as if the writers wanted to make you cringe out of embarrassment or sympathy for the characters on screen, and these scenes got those reactions out of me.
Art 10/10:
It's Kyoto Animation, do I need to say much else?
Everything in Chuunibyou looks and feels great to watch.
There's the great beat for beat slice of life feel with slapstick comedy KyoAni is known for, but there are also battle shounen segments where the characters will "fight" but you're always treated to an outside view of what is actually happening, keeping the show firmly grounded in reality.
Sound 8/10:
VAs were all great. The background music was fine and the insert songs were nice if not just a little too loud where they were played. I feel the sound design team handled to sound effects for the world around the characters really well.
Character 8/10:
Chuunibyou sells its characters well. The MC is believable because he's done a lot of dumb things in his past and wants to forget about them and the female protagonist is a girl that keeps reminding him (and the others around them) of his past. There's slow and subtle character development. It's entertaining and endearing to watch the characters goof around and still manage to grow as people.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 8/10
This first season was a ride, and a fun one at that.
It manages to do everything it sets out to do and kept me entertained the entirety of the run time. Once again, KyoAni has managed to impress me even when I felt their work had peaked.
