Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai

http://imageshack.us/a/img211/3249/chuunibyouss.jpg

"High school freshman Yuuta Togashi was once a "chuunibyou patient" i.e. an overly self-conscious middle schooler. He wants to bury this embarrassing past and begins a new life in high school -- unsuccessfully. His classmate Rikka Takanashi, a "current" chuunibyou patient, has found traces of residual symptoms on him and used the fact to force Togashi "making a contract" with her." -ANN

Genres: comedy, drama, romance, school

Episode 1 - gg
Episode 1 - URW (UTW+rori)

AniDB | ANN | Official







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This is the KyoAni moe show of the season. Visually closer to K-ON than Hyouka, for example, but maybe even still rounder. This might also be the show with the most embarrassing scenes that KyoAni has made. Aside from that, production values were as expected from KyoAni, even though I got the feeling this was closer to their average than their best. The main roles are voiced by none else than Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch) and Maaya Uchida (Rea Sanka), and I think they pulled the roles off splendidly.

This looks like a pretty wacky show, but also highly moe and it isn't afraid to rely on that a lot. I hope the plot itself stays as strong as in this first episode. I'm not really looking forward to another K-ON, only with some guys and parents mixed in.

I have a pretty good record of finishing KyoAni shows, so I don't expect to drop this, even though embarrassing shows are far from being my forte.

I hope the whole fucking studio dies of space AIDS.

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Originally Posted by Archangel

I hope the whole fucking studio dies of space AIDS.

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You can keep hoping that, but I hope they get bored with moe for a moment and animate more of FMP.

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Originally Posted by Kraco

You can keep hoping that, but I hope they get bored with moe for a moment and animate more of FMP.

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I don't even want them to be the ones to animated the sequel, the whole company ruins everything it touches.

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Originally Posted by Archangel

I don't even want them to be the ones to animated the sequel, the whole company ruins everything it touches.

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Indeed. Gonzo's character designs were a hell of a lot better, despite being the terrible studio that they are.

It's pretty disgusting that KyoAni doesn't even challenge themselves anymore, they just crank out the exact same types of shows, and quite honestly, they were getting worse at animation quality every season. At least this seems like one very tiny step forward after all the steps back they've taken. Hyouka was them taking cues from Shaft's playbook but doing it properly at the least, unlike K-ON (where KyoAni displayed their mimicry of Shaft's overwhelming laziness) and their Haruhi work was very environmentally friendly with all the recycling. Nichijou was them ripping off Azumanga Daioh.

Still, the sad truth is I have a weakness for eyepatch characters...so in a way, you could also say they're stealing from shaft here too.

It sure does clone lots of details from many shows. It was nice, did forget it too quickly though.
I'm not that much into pre-teen characters, that I can confirm with that show.
VAs do sound too mature for the characters though.

Episode 2 - URW




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A bit more action than in KyoAni shows of late. There isn't overly much to talk about in this show, but I found pleasant and interesting how the "random" student who should have only been interested in checking the cat got suddenly all interested in the foolishness surrounding Rikka and lying just under Togashi's surface.

I'm actually enjoying this show quite a bit. I like the embarassing and face palm lame type of humor.

Episode 3 - URW




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Still very much a moe show, but I'm genuinely enjoying the bizarre scenes. Just the setting that some people would naturally act in such a deluded way is really weird but pulled off successfully here, generating endlessly embarrassing scenes.

It's entertaining.

I get why Rikka continually drags Yuuta into her insanity, she finally found a kindred spirit when he was re-enacting his Dark Flame Master speech. I suppose what I don't quite understand is why Nibutani is attracted to him as well, hiding in the bushes to catch him as he left for the day and now joining their circle. Was that single moment at the train station in the first episode really all it took?

I get the rest of her behavior (waving at him at class or cheerleading tryouts, etc.) but she was basically stalking him in this episode. The four in the group were the only ones left at the school aside from maybe a teacher, and Nibutani was waiting in the bushes at the park across the street. I take it there some side to her than people don't suspect when they rank her the cutest in the grade.

Really enjoyed the teacher scene when Rikka tried to pretend she had a British second personality. I much prefer the crafty/clever token teacher characters to the cliché "Can't ever get a boyfriend" zany ones, as enjoyable as the latter are. They're adults, they should be able to manipulate children/teens more often than the other way around, they've seen the tricks before.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

I suppose what I don't quite understand is why Nibutani is attracted to him as well, hiding in the bushes to catch him as he left for the day and now joining their circle. Was that single moment at the train station in the first episode really all it took?

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That's a good question. Maybe she's repressed behind the "must act like the cutest girl in the grade" character that others impose upon her. Everybody has seen Rikka behave in a weird manner, yet Yuuta is sort of understanding, so Nibutani might think she could be herself in his (their) company. At least I hope it's something like that and not love at first sight...

[gg] Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! - 04

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While it was fairly obvious from Nibutani's first suspicious glance about the Mabinogion that she was secretly a closeted freak just like the Dark Flame Master, the star of this episode was Dekomori. She rose tremendously in a short span of time from a really obnoxious side character to a power player. Her stone-headedness (both figuratively and literally) made for some really great comedy in those scenes.

I'm kinda glad Nibutani turned out to be such a bitch. Rikka and Dekomori are far more entertaining.

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

I'm kinda glad Nibutani turned out to be such a bitch. Rikka and Dekomori are far more entertaining.

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She sure turned out to be a bitch under the smiling surface. But then again, Yuuta is indeed a loser - for helping the ungrateful bitch. Although on the other hand even if Nibutani is a bitch, she's still an "enemy of my enemy is my ally" kind of existence for Yuuta in the club, nonetheless. Rikka and Dekomori both being wackos and Kumin only sleeping, he's quite lonely in trying to defend sanity and fight embarrassment.

That's kind of what I mean. Characters like Nibutani's fake personality are so dull. He can give up on the whole "maybe she secretly likes me..." delusion right now. Normally, we'd get some annoying, last minute confession and the viewers would be meant to feel sorry for Ms. Perfect for waiting so long and being such a pure-hearted maiden. Thankfully, Nibutani is really a bitch who has only been thinking of herself this whole time (making sure none of the other complete weirdos knew about her previous life).

What I really like about this series is that it is really about one of those token Occult Clubs that only have two members. The kind you see in pretty much every school-based series around cultural festival time.

Only here, the two members have blackmailed other people into their circle, and an upperclassman girl is selfishly using the club for her own purposes as well.

I like the comedy and all, but I wonder if this will ever develop a more meaningful plot? I imagine the repeating Dark Flame Master jokes are going to get old pretty soon.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

I like the comedy and all, but I wonder if this will ever develop a more meaningful plot? I imagine the repeating Dark Flame Master jokes are going to get old pretty soon.

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Oh yes i'm absolutely fucking sure.

I downloaded ep 03 to confirm my suspicions that this is a well animated bland piece of shit. I love being right.

Despite my every effort to not like this show, I'm enjoying it. That makes me kind of sad, because the the way the main character treats the girl reminds me of how I used to treat my brother back when we were kids and I was too damned fucking cool for fun stuff. Wish I could go back and punch my old self in the face indeed :(

edit: Just watched the opening few seconds of episode 5...LOL! Innuendo galore, did not see that coming.

Ren episode 1 - HS




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Chuunibyou is still very much chuunibyou. I have to say Yuuta and Rikka living together was nice development. I guess the sister had to return to make it more plausible, though, and especially to gain Touka's acceptance, since she's so envious of her little sister already having a boyfriend that she would otherwise have never accepted it. Nibutani was in as much denial as ever: She even changed her hair colour, clothing style, and way of speaking to distance herself from her past mistakes, but is still stupid enough to keep associating with the most troublesome people, voiding all of her efforts.

As with last season, the true highlight of this series is Nibutani versus Dekomori. Nibutani schemes and schemes to try to make herself look good while abusing the other delusional fools from the shadows, but Dekomori knows precisely how to really twist the screws and make her lose her composure. Meanwhile, Dekomori can present herself as a perfectly normal student and get away with it, while still enjoying herself to the fullest. No one seems to care that she's sometimes absolutely crazy, just like Rikka.

Not to mention that in her "perfectly within regulation" outfit, behavior, and appearance...Nibutani still looks like a fool playing around and fantasizing. Like the episode of Lucky Star when Konata came back too school after watching too much Marimite. She's her own worst enemy, trying way too hard to fit in, to the point it inevitably backfires.

Rikka is cute and all, but the bickering of those two is what I watch the series for.

I really love the distinct direction KyoAni does for its series. The black and white rotating slow motion shots are a nice addition to that. There are a lot of good ways to direct a show, but KyoAni seems to specialize in good ways of directing an anime show.