中二病でも恋がしたい
中二病でも恋がしたい (Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai - Don't ask me exactly what it translates to; my Japanese isn't up to snuff and it's not the easiest translation. According to Luke it sounds like a real Japanese sentence which adds fuel to the fire that it's hard to translate
) is a twelve episode slice of life anime based on a popular Japanese light novel series. I'm not usually a huge anime person so this is out of my "range" so to speak. If I AM watching anime it'll usually be more mainstream at least: Naruto, Soul Eater, Eureka 7, Dragon Ball, stuff you'll find on Toonami. I was fiddling around with YouTube and found this little gem:
...which made me crack the !@#$% up and Google what anime they pulled this from. So I started watching it while doing laundry late at night. (Bad things happen to me when I watch anime and do laundry at night but we'll save that for another day) Since it's only twelve episodes, I ended up finishing the whole thing in two days.
THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET AROUND IT WITH THIS ONE - IT'S A SIMPLE WATCH SO GO SEE IT FIRST IF YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT GETTING SPOILEDOverall, it was a very cute watch. It's a very well written Romantic Comedy but it has two major flaws: First off, it's a classic example of plot leading the show with characters along for the ride. Ideally, you'll have characters driving the plot or plot driving characters. Characters become more real to the viewer when they're forced to react to the circumstances around them, and they also feel more real when they guide their own paths by virtue of being themselves. This show unfortunately is just trying to get from Point A to Point B. You start with Yūta as a protagonist and the end goal is how to get him to hook up with Rikka and learn something about himself. Every episode has a new "goal" for the characters to reach and anyone who is not Yūta or Rikka will change personalities just to adapt to the show's goals. The second major flaw this show has is it sticks way too close to anime stereotypes to create a baseline for characters--they feel like empty molds whose only purpose is to fill in details to reach the plot's goals. Unfortunately this applies even to the two protagonist characters. Yūta gets a really deep voice when he becomes Dark Flame Master and has a pretty one-track mind when it comes to his social life. Rikka has the "silly person" cowlick and acts like an autistic (Yes, I mean actual autism) child. Sanae has loli pigtails and is obsessed with death which I'm reasonably sure is a thing anime does. Kumin is the sweet girl airhead who just wants everyone to be friends and goes with the flow. Shinka I can't pin a stereotype on besides "love interest" but she is the most shallow character of the bunch all the same; I'll get to her later on. Makoto is the best friend character who is obsessed with women yet always strikes out with them and is constantly acting goofy. You've seen all these characters before, there is nothing special or original about them.
So the show is pretty focused on telling a great story, right? I mean it'd have to be considering it put nothing into the characters. 中二病でも恋がしたい delivers on that front fairly well. There are a few scenes that are particularly powerful, such as Yūta's revelation that Rikka acts the way she does to defend any sort of hope that she'll meet her dad again. There are points that took me back to high school and the general pressure felt at that age to fit in. And above all, since it's a love story, you can relate with how the characters feel. It's pretty easy to smile while watching this show, and that makes me glad they're doing a second season (Although I have no idea what kind of subject matter they could possibly tackle at this point)
The story revolves around the protagonist Yūta Togashi and his new neighbor Rikka Takanashi. Rikka's sister has lived above Yūta for many years. Yūta believed himself to be an anime dark master of flames the year prior, and now is trying to live his past down. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the way you look at it) Rikka laid eyes on Yūta the same day her dad died, while Yūta was still in his Dark Flame Master phase. She becomes infatuated with him because he stays so true to who he is. She instantly starts mimicking his Dark Flame Master act with her own weird thing--the Wicked Eye. Japan has some kind of eye fetish or something I don't know. She ends up convincing her grandparents (Her mom is out of the equation for some reason the show doesn't really elaborate on) to let her move in with her big sister who happens to live above Yūta, and she starts stalking him RELENTLESSLY. High school begins and Yūta goes way out of his way to a new school to escape from his past, and Rikka shows up and starts calling him Dark Flame Master and telling him he's bound by contract to be with her and all kinds of weird !@#$%. For as strange as it is when you really think about it, it does ring true to high school for me at least because I remember girls were like that. The whole "I always get what I want" attitude and deciding for the guy they're going to be a couple is pretty common. SO ANYWAY, Yūta bumps into this girl who he thinks is really cute. Her name is Shinka. Shinka is the prettiest girl in school according to his new best friend and orientation deskmate, Makoto. The boys did a poll afterall and she came out at number 1, while Rikka is a measley number 4. Shinka is a cheerleader (Or becomes one anyway) and is pretty much the Student Council President for the freshman class. (First year for you picky people) She is altogether an unobtainable love interest, and yet she seems drawn to Yūta for some reason anyway. They're putting away books for the teachers and she mentions how they seem like they're the same and they should be friends. Rikka shows up and kind of ruins the moment though. Eventually they introduce Sanae, Rikka's best friend from the internet who is also really into magic. Rikka decides to start a Magic club on campus and signs Yūta up for it without asking him, and they end up recruiting Kumin who wants a nap club, Sanae who shouldn't be eligible because she's an 8th grader, Rikka's cat which she calls a chimera because she put some toy wings on it, and mysteriously enough Shinka who has no easily ascertainable reason to want to join. Yūta reckons she may be in love with him as she HAS been particularly flirtatious and kind of a rival to Rikka for his attention. Well, it turns out she was big into magic last year just like Yūta, and Sanae has logs of everything she had ever written on the internet about it (What the hell?) with her name attached. She wants to be the popular pretty girl so she is hellbent on destroying every copy of that writing. She calls Yūta a loser for being into magic and is generally a terrible, flat character for a while, like she was just suddenly assassinated to make a clear path for Rikka to be the love interest. She stays in the group to get a hold of the rest of the copies of her old writing but that REALLY doesn't make any sense why she'd hang out with them past the bare minimum if she really can't stand them all. Makoto ends up joining them later and has to shave his head for silly anime reasons, and starts to crush on Kumin because she wants to feel his head. What's twisted about this story is that despite them being an obvious pairing in this romantic comedy they never end up being a couple. Kumin's sole purpose in this entire thing is to make Yūta feel bad about telling Rikka to grow up after the two start dating down the line, and make him realize it's ok to be yourself. If that doesn't scream throwaway character I don't know what does. Shinka changes personalities after the summer vacation scene and realizes before either of them do that Rikka is really into Yūta. She confronts Rikka about it and they end up dating officially. Sanae is depressed she lost her friend to this relationship (A dynamic I wish they'd explored more) and Rikka mellows out with the magic stuff, although she still wears the eyepatch. Rikka's sister tells Yūta to make her grow up so she can live with her mom because she's going to Italy and Rikka would have to move away otherwise. Yūta does so and Rikka responds by visiting her father's grave and then moving away without telling Yūta. Shinka being the most intune with people's feelings tells Yūta he's trying way too hard, and so is Rikka. Gee thanks, I thought you hated everyone? She also quit cheerleading because they're backstabbing bitches apparently. Yūta goes on a really romantic (and utterly pointess) chase between cities to grab Rikka from inside her house while her grandpa calls the cops. The cops chase Makoto who is a total tool and too easily influenced after pretending to grope Shinka, and the two protagonists vow to be true to themselves. And that's the show in a nutshell even though I glossed over quite a bit.
Overall I would give this show an 8/10. I can see why it's beloved but I feel like it could've been a really powerful story if it was more character driven.
