Life can be boring, lonely and even painful at times. We humans naturally tend to avoid these feelings because of the discomfort they give us. We try to run away from them, but it is no use. Reality is all around as, and there is no place for us to hide. Our only option is to blast reality..and burst it into shreds!
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai focuses on a girl who does just that. She cannot accept reality, so she denies the fact that it's there. This girl opposes reality by being a Chuunibyou. But you might be wondering...what is a Chuunibyou? By definition, a Chuunibyou is someone who pretends like they are in junior high/8th grade. 8th graders are believed to discover new self-awareness at this time in their life. They often pretend to be something they are not. For example, a super hero or an evil villain. By being a Chuunibyou, these people can successfully escape from reality by being the someone or something that they want to be.
Our story starts with a boy by the name of Togashi, Yuuta. Yuuta has spent his 8th grade year pretending to be the Dark Flame Master. In other words, he was a Chuunibyou. Now that he is a high-school student, he looks back at that time in his life shamefully. He is extremely embarrassed about being a Chuunibyou and even moves to a faraway high-school to avoid his classmates in middle school. Yuuta just wants to be a normal student now, and make new friends.
Then we have Takanashi, Rikka. She is a girl who has just become a Chuunibyou. Rikka is in the same class as Yuuta and takes an interest in him. Of course, Yuuta wants nothing to do with her. He wants to seem as normal as possible to his new classmates in high-school.
And so the two's hilarious little adventure ensues.
Chuunibyou goes through two major shifts in its story. The first half of it is a happy going tale about Yuuta and Rikka's interaction with each other. This slowly builds up an understanding between the two, and that understanding eventually builds up in to love. The second half is a more dramatic and meaningful story. The theme is clearly visible in the second half as Rika comes to terms with growing up and accepting reality. That is to say the first half was more happy and silly, while the second half was more depressing. All in all, the story can be summed up as short, sweet, simple, and silly. It is told near flawlessly with many laughs along the way. The relationships were not rushed, and everything progresses smoothly.
Moving on to the characters... this is what i loved most about Chuunibyou. They have fun personalities and very entertaining dialog. They are all a lovable bunch who develop naturally in their own ways. My favorite of the bunch would definitely have to be the heroine, Rikka.
Rikka has become one my favorite anime characters this year. She can be defined just like the story. Short, sweet, simple, and silly...well not really simple. She is very complex in the way she acts. It sometimes becomes difficult to understand her speech without Yuuta there to translate it, but that is just how she is. Rikka pretends that she wields a power called "The Wicked Eye", and she uses it to search for a place called the "Ethereal Horizon". That is her Chuunibyou. She diligently follows this idea throughout the story until we reach the shift as i like to call it. We discover why she acts the way she does as the plot moves in to its more dramatic side. Rikka shows much character development here as she learns what it means to love and fit into society. This is all done at a reasonable pace that the viewers can enjoy. It becomes very entertaining to watch her fall in love and learn what love is; however, it was very sad seeing Rikka force herself to stop being a Chuunibyou. She becomes a relatable character because everyone has problems that they want to escape from. Most of us tend to want to escape to a different reality as well. Isn't that more or less why we watch anime?
The most lovable part of Rikka's character was probably her Chuunibyou acts and her interactions with Yuuta. Rika would go around the streets swinging an umbrella around and yell weird phrases. She would do the goofiest things while looking extremely cute. Rikka did not care what others thought of her actions. Because of this, Rikka goes on to do weird and comical things that may seem stupid to some. For example, she would yell out "BANISHMENT... THIS WORLD!" and get into a imaginary battles with people. I like to say that " it's so stupid, it's funny". Her interactions with Yuuta are also very amusing to watch. Yuuta would hit her on the head whenever Rikka did something wrong or weird. This causes Rikka to make the cutest little moaning sound. When Rikka starts to fall in love with Yuuta, she begins to blush a lot and act more "girly". If i had to sum up Rika in one word, it would have to be ADORABLE.
Yuuta, the other main character, has a little less going for him. He is far from boring, but Rikka's dynamic character simply seems to overshadow his. Yuuta goes crazy whenever someone mentions his pass "Dark Flame Master" identity.This is what makes him realistic because people are naturally embarrassed about doing things that society deems unnatural.He wants nothing to do with Chuunibyous, but Rikka slowly begins to change him. He starts to become more understanding and ends up being a very good match for Rikka.
Character designs further increases the characters likability, especially Rikka's cuteness. They are simple and plain, yet very appealing. As expected from Kyoto animations. A wonderful job was done with the scenery and the animations. Lights in the horizon and the imaginary Chuunibyou fights looked spectacular. Everything was wonderful to the point of breathtaking. The only problem i had was the repeated flashing and dancing in the opening that was quite seizure inducing.
There is not much to say for the sound quality. I enjoyed the catchy opening song, and the ending song had a nice beat to it, but i did not feel like the ending song fit the mood very well for the last few episodes . The episode would end on a sad note and then this somewhat goofy song would start playing, and that kinda killed the mood for me.The opening song went well with the whole twelve episode though. The BGMs were all plain and nice. They fit the simple high-school days mood very well. Voice acting was also spot on. Uchidia, Maaya brought out Rikka's adorableness even further with her delighful voice.
To sum it all up, Chuunibyou is simply an amazing anime. The concept is so simple yet so unique.It is a love story with themes about growing up and being yourself, but they tell it in the most amusing of ways. A fine example for all romantic comedies out there. Definitely check it out, and i'll see you in the Ethereal Horizon.
