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Dec 16 2012

Categories: chuunibyou demo koi ga shitai, episodic review
Tagged: chu-2 byou demo koi ga shitai

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“Have you ever summoned a weapon?”

(Waterworks. A Kyoto specialty.)

“If it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exist!”

The whole series basically comes down to this scene. Yuuta has to eventually make the decision that, hey, maybe denying Rikka her Unseen Horizon changes who she is… into someone no one (except her sister and mom) wants her to be. And they only want her to be that because she seems superficially normal on the outside, but, well, it reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Marge tells Lisa that all she needs to do is nod and smile. Because that’s what she did. Then when she sees Lisa actually taking the advice and nodding and smiling and letting others walk over her, she tells her that she was wrong. It’s okay not to nod and smile and okay to be yourself. I mean, that was from, what, the early 90s? I betcha in the final episode, Yuuta is going to realize this, and tell Rikka to be herself, irregardless of who that is. And that he might like tolerate her and stuff.

All the scenes of Dekomori desperately struggling against the real… wow… it’s like this episode took the normal fun and energy of this series and turned it into sadness. It reminded me a bit of the scene in Clannad when the twins finally realize (and come to accept) that they lose to Nagisa. Just the heartbreak of it all.

I guess in that way, this episode is more about Dekomori than either Yuuta or Rikka. She is much like Rikka having her fantasy forcibly torn away from her by someone else. I can see that maybe they both feel a bit betrayed by someone close. Rikka wanted Yuuta to support her and even let him help her find the Unseen Horizon, only for him to tell her, “Nope, doesn’t exist.” Dekomori followed Rikka like a puppy, and Rikka basically just turned her shoulder on her. They’re both similar stories, only Rikka accepts her role while Dekomori does not. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

(I still feel a bit cheated we don’t get episodes that focus on Tsuyuri or Nibutani. Nibutani has this transformation, and we don’t see it. She quits being a cheerleader, hangs out with Rikka and Yuuta still, and she is comfortable with herself, yet it all seems to happen in the background. It’s like in Game of Thrones when they talk about Rob’s victories. Also, Tsuyuri… while she is adorable, she has played zero role in the plot. It’s almost like the writer struggles to find a role for her and jams her into the episode just because she needs to be there. She’s a moe filler character. I would be totally alright about this if we got a Tsuyuri’s Day OVA.)

I’m not a fan of the past few episodes ending on a cliffhanger, and the we don’t see the resolution of it but instead a slight time skip. Bah humbug. I did notice that Kyoto went with a really grey and dull palette (the same palette used for the fantasy scenes) that seems more fitting for a funeral than a “Rikka’s cured! I’m going off to France!” scene. It’s almost as if a part of Rikka died. Mmmmm.

Rikka’s room reminds me a lot of this room. I just wonder how she can afford all this stuff… skulls, replica guns, clocks, antique furniture ain’t cheap.

The Melancholy of Rikka Takanashi. Teenagers being emo and dark? Why is this such a popular topic. Oh, wait… nevermind.

(I saw The Hobbit this weekend, and it is a bit too long. It’s a book half the length of Return of the King being turned into something three times longer than Return of the King. But I liked the dwarves, I liked Saruman trying to cockblock Gandalf, and I liked the bro hug Bilbo gets at the end. It was fantastic. Best bro hug of the year. Anime could use more bro hugs… I think Yuuta could use one about now.)

(Also, I remember last year when almost all the movie trailers dealt with drug lords like Savages. There were a lot of post-humanity movies in front of The Hobbit like Oblivion and After Earth. Hollywood just loves any excuse to blow things up.)

Weird seeing Rikka without her eyepatch. It makes her so normal and uninteresting. It’s like she’s been put on ritalin.

Final thought: Would I have enjoyed Chu2 as much if the series was 80% emo and 20% genki instead of the other way around?