Love, Chunibyo, & other delusions | Series Review
An anime all about a guy liking a girl but doing nothing about it because she comes off like a weirdo due to her infatuation with a “make-believe” fantasy world (also known as Chunibyo).
In season one, Rikka uses Chunibyo as a defense mechanism to cope with the sudden passing of her father. But we find out that she only started to do so after watching Yuta from afar in the past.
As fate would have the two (Yuta and Rikka) realize their feelings for each other due to a near-death experience but struggle with expressing those feelings to each other due to the friendship they’ve shared while role-playing.
When they finally express their love for one another, it’s by role-playing as the character’s Dark Flame Master and Eye of the Wicked Lord. Despite Yuta’s reluctance to role play, he does it to build their friendship.
Yuta put away his Dark Flame Master make-believe persona at the beginning of his high school years, but still indulges Rikka because of her inability to function well otherwise.
That made sense in the first season, but in season two not so much. The two had been “dating” if you can really call it that, for a year without any intimacy and they never truly reach a level of intimacy beyond hugging during the show.
I came to the conclusion that while in the first season, Rikka used Chunibyo to cope with her father’s passing, season two she using Chunibyo to cope with puberty and hold on to her innocence.
Rikka openly talks with her other friends about her developing feelings and the pressure of progressing with Yuta. But, Yuta is such a laid back caring guy, that he pretty much tells her she can take as much time as she wants to warm up to him. In the meantime, they are in a relationship but without the obligation to be intimate to the dismay of their group of friends.
Most Memorable Moments:
This anime has some of the funniest scenes I’ve ever seen in it. I especially appreciate the fight scenes that are all in the character’s imagination. But, it’s even better when Dekomori and Nibuya (two classmates of Rikka and Yuta) actually slap box because Dekomori is still very heavily into role-playing and Nibuya (Just like Yuta) has decided to move on from it.
I also appreciate Yuta and Nibuya’s willingness to participate in Chunbiyo when it came to the well being of one of their friends. For example, Dekomori was in danger of being taken advantage of by a clear pedophile, Nibuya took on her Morisummer persona to save her.
Also, every encounter that Rikka has with her older sister in season one is gold. They do nothing but fight. The best part about that is the Rikka is in full Chunbiya and the fights are grand in her head, but then we’ll cut to her sister or onlookers’ perspective and her sister is literally fighting her uses a chef soup spoon. It’s truly hilarious.
Honestly, this is a cute anime. The kids are in high school, so I find this anime deals perfectly with showing the awkwardness that comes with entering your first relationship and all of the feelings that come with it. Love, Chunibyo, & other delusions deals with certain mature topics, but again it’s all about the awkwardness of growing up.
A movie was released for this franchise in 2018. I’ll probably watch it just to see how the group progresses as a whole.
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