Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions Anime Review

LOVE, CHUNIBYO, AND OTHER DELUSIONS SCORE: 9.75

INTRODUCTION & SYNOPSIS

Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions starts out as a light hearted, comic, and animated romance series, which in later episodes develops into a feels-fest sure to touch anyone’s heart! I absolutely adored this anime, and recommend any rom/com fan to watch the series promptly. However, I want to make clear that this review will be reviewing the first season alone. I’m doing this because the first 13 episodes were wrapped up with no loose ends. There is a very clear ending; heck, it even brings in a narrator like the end of a movie to wrap things up and say “The End.” Additionally, Season 2, “Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions: Heart Throb,” introduces a new major character, and it seems like they are going to do a love triangle which I don’t think will turn out great, so I don’t want that to ruin my love for the series; thus, I want to write this review now before my heart is potentially shattered by a bad second season.

Our story begins with a boy named Yuta. It’s Yuta’s first day of High School and he wants to forget the embarrassments of his 8th Grade years. Like anyone else, right? Wrong! Yuta had a serious case of what is known as “Chunibyo.” Chunibyo is a syndrome in which an 8th Grader believes that he or she possesses magical powers. They dress up, talk in a strange manner, and create their own reality. To get away from this, Yuta has picked a high school far away from his middle school so not to run into any old classmates. However, on the night before his first day, a cute girl with an eye patch and elaborate dress comes down on a rope to land on his apartment balcony. The mystery girl, Rikka, ends up having Chunibyo still even in high school, and as it would turn out she lives above Yuta and they end up going to the same school. From day one, Yuta is stuck with Rikka since they travel the same path to school and have the same homeroom; thus he is forced to constantly feel embarrassment about his past. From then, the pair band together with a few different students to create a club dedicated to Rikka finding the “Invisible Boundary Line.” As time passes, we learn what that really means to her, as well as secrets of other members in the group in comedic, dramatic, and sometimes ridiculous fashion. Yuta and Rikka forage a bond, growing closer as friends and possibly more?

PROS

In my opinion, the best thing about this series is the chemistry between characters. I felt like the entire group worked great together and bounced off of each other perfectly. There wasn’t any one character that I thought didn’t belong or work well with the others. The group consists of varying personalities to create a well-blended and dynamic mix. Every character had their own personality, and none of them were one-dimensional or flat. Even the side-characters had vibrant personalities; particularly Nibutani and Dekomori. Dekomori is an 8^th grade girl who calls herself Rikka’s loyal servant. She has long pigtails to the floor and a book of magic. Nibutani is an ex-cheerleader and the class president who has something (which I can’t reveal due to spoilers) against Dekomori, so the two are always fighting and it makes for some really hilarious moments. You can really see how well the cast shines together in the “extra episode” that comes after the last episode. They all visit Dekomori’s “base” (AKA Huge Mansion of a House) for a Christmas party. It was the perfect light and fluffy ending after such a serious “Last Episode.”

Speaking of, the Last Episode was superb. This series timed everything perfectly. They didn’t throw any emotion in too soon before you become attached to the characters, but rather just when you completely fall in love, they hit you right in the heart with the emotional back story and suddenly it all makes sense. I’m not gonna lie, come episode 11, I definitely shed some tears. That’s when you know the character development was well done. Rikka’s character, by far, gets the most development, and you truly understand and feel for her character by the end. I just found her to be the most adorable female lead I have ever seen. Rikka and Yuta’s relationship completely melted my heart. It was definitely the sweetest relationship in an anime that I’ve witnessed; it’s so pure and innocent, and you can feel how much they care for one another. Just thinking about the two of them makes me so happy!

Lastly, the animation was on point. It was perfect for this type of anime, even a little bit more upgraded than it needed to be – which is in no way a discredit. It was so beautiful to look at. All of the character designs were great, and the fight scenes were well done too. Upon different occasions throughout the episodes, we got a look into the Chunibyo world, and got to see what they were imagining, which was totally awesome. The animation especially shines in the Extra Episode, when they go into the Candy Land Fight Scene. The opening was serene and the ending was creative, good on for this animation!

CONS

I have really searched in my soul for negative things regarding this anime, and it was difficult. After completing this series, I simply felt great about it, feeling as though it was 100% worth the watch. So the cons that I have gathered here clearly didn’t disrupt the watch experience for me at all. With that said, the only thing I can think of is possibly a lack of development for side characters and Yuta. They developed Rikka really well, which was perfectly done, but Yuta is also a main character. We don’t see much at all of his past or why he became Chunibyo, and we never understand what pulled him out of it. This could have really added to the anime, yet somehow, his personality still comes across well even with little back story and he never seems flat. Same goes for the side characters, they aren’t given much development or backing, but it doesn’t ruin their depth or personality whatsoever; you will still feel like you know them. Last to note, the musical tracks didn’t stand out much, with no one song being worth downloading; however, the music selection fit the pace of the anime fine.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions is worth a watch. The title totally describes it all, this is a series literally revolving around Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions. This series spoke to me, made me laugh, cry, and fall in love with the characters. Therefore, I give thee a 9.75 out of 10 - You should certainly watch this series immediately! There's even a great English Dub for the Dub fans out there.

Watched on: Dubs2go.net