Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren
Muse: I love it when I watch a sequel and all of my love for the original comes flooding back.
The first season of Chuunibyou was a pleasant surprise for me, since I was only expecting romantic comedy but also got a well-executed plot arc that dealt with loss and what it means to grow up. It wrapped itself up pretty well, which is why I was as confused as I was pleased when the second season was announced. Where could the story go from here? And how were they going to reconcile it with the previous season’s ending?
The extra episode addressed that pretty well, so I do recommend watching that for more of a bridge from season one to season two. But the new episode does do a great job of reestablishing the status quo while still making it feel fresh and new. The plot of the episode deals with Yuuta and Rikka living together after both of their families move overseas and Rikka suddenly loses her apartment. Since this would lead to obvious misunderstandings, they try to keep their temporary living arrangements under wraps while still trying to get used to their new relationship status. In all honesty, this setup feels more like something out of a harem show and far too convenient — get rid of the families, nobody cares about them anyway! — but since it’s more or less resolved at the end of the episode (read: Rikka’s older sister is cool with it) it acts mostly as an excuse to round up all the characters to see how they’ve changed before the new school year. Kumin likes puns now, Isshiki got rad hair, Dekomori proves she knows how to behave in the real world, and Nibutani…wait…
Nibutani’s transformation is easily the biggest surprise of the episode. I’m not sure how long it’s going to stick–some girls wondered if she had high school chuunibyou, which was the opposite of what she was going for–but I do expect her to go back to her usual look eventually. Unless KyoAni has a separate OP and ED waiting in the wings with her new appearance…
Aside from that, my personal highlight from the episode was the fantasy battle sequence, where everybody joined in. Just like last time, this is when KyoAni really gets to show off it’s creativity in the animation. We’ve got Utena castles coming out of the sky, ridiculous outfit changes, impossibly huge weapons, and hilariously great attack names. Just like the sequences from the previous season, the whole scene was really exciting to watch, even though it was a fiction within a fiction.
So while it wasn’t the most substantial or original of episodes, it did do its job in getting me excited for the season. I’m looking forward to getting context for the pink haired girl and how she and Rikka treat each other. The OP portrayed them as rivals, so I’m expecting some solid romantic comedy. If you enjoyed the first season, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be watching this.
Strange +
Justin: Oh hey look, the token unfunny 3 minute short to start the season. Boy how I’ve missed you~
Ok, I’ll give Strange+ this: I thought it nailed the joke where, after they pulled a Lupin joke by introducing a Phantom Thief, a rolling ball comes down the stairs, and Takumi gets just about everyone to move to the side, thus stopping the ball, but crushing their bones. Only Takumi, voiced by Jun Fukuyama, manages to emerge unscathed, and you get the reaction above. Other than that, this episode was thoroughly mediocre, with some poor looking animation, mistimed jokes, and pretty unnoticeable sound presence. This will have to get better quickly if it thinks I’ll check this out on a weekly basis.
Onee-chan ga Kita
Dude.
Onee-chan ga Kita, unlike Strange+ though, immediately gives you a warning that you’ll live with it after one episode. And aside from making fun of the main character Tomoya for being too young to have a girl say she loves him, this was not very funny at all, and doesn’t look all too good. I’m almost certain though people will at least fall in love with the show since Ichika’s triangle shaped mouth never changes, but I think I’ll politely pass. If it’s even possible to politely pass on an imouto who loves her little brother show.
These series are streaming on Crunchyroll.
