Despite the weak final episode and getting a little over-dramatic towards the end, I enjoyed Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! quite a lot back when it aired (and on a subsequent rewatch), and so was rather excited at the news of a sequel. But then I’m a KyoAni fanboy; I get excited for anything they do.
I was a little apprehensive, however. While the first season didn’t end in a definitive, “this is all there is to the story and taking it any further would make no sense whatsoever” way (it’s a fucking slice-of-life rom-com, of course it wouldn’t end like that), it did make for a fairly rounded, complete package. In other words, there was never any need for a sequel and there wasn’t really anything left at the end that would provide a springboard for one. But it was clear from the promotional materials how they were going to go about it: throw in a new character to shake up the relationship between Yuuta and Rikka and watch the sparks fly. It’s a pretty standard, relatively uninspired route to take, but could be perfectly serviceable. That the new girl was going to be a friend of Yuuta’s from middle-school who also still suffers from chuunibyou did make it all a bit more promising, it must be said.
Of course, the addition of a new girl – Sophia Ring SP Saturn VII AKA Shichimiya, for the record – into the mix who would at first blush appear to be competition for Rikka does raise further concerns – namely, that it would create a love triangle. Considering how the first season panned out and Yuuta’s personality in general, a love triangle would have been unbelievably contrived and crappy. Fortunately those fears were put to rest before the series even aired, with the director outright stating it wouldn’t create one.
Even though she doesn’t cause a love triangle, she is still the cause of some romantic tension between them all. After all, she’s an old friend of Yuuta’s with a personal greeting that’s a little too intimate and a crush on him that died a while ago; is it a surprise that she would inspire some jealousy and frustration from Rikka? Indeed, her main role Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren is acting as a catalyst for some development for both Yuuta and Rikka, and while a fair amount of time is spent on her as a character, exploring her feelings and her attitude towards her chuunibyou, she does feel a little under-utilised. She’s not really introduced early enough, is not quite prominent enough, nor has quite enough impact to make a lasting impression and elevate herself above ‘visiting character’ status, which is a shame.
That Shichimiya’s primary contribution is adding to Yuuta and Rikka’s development is rather fitting, considering that there’s less of an overt narrative this time around as it instead chooses to focus on the pair of them growing closer as a couple. Now, this has been a bit of a divisive part of Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren, because while the development and progression is there, it starts from a pretty implausible state (it’s been 6 months since the first season and they are basically a couple in name only) and doesn’t make any immediately obvious or dramatic advances – at least not necessarily in any typical ways.
Honestly though, I do believe it’s handled remarkably thoughtfully and carefully. It’s not as simple and straightforward as “their relationship has developed because they said they loved each other then kissed” as many romances (and particularly romantic comedies) are content to do, because the focus is on their maturity and the emotional intimacy above all. They start out embarrassed to be seen together by their classmates despite the fact that they’re all pretty supportive about them dating and are too self-conscious to even hold hands. But over the course of the show they slowly learn to be more comfortable with just being with each other, their communication and trust as a couple gets better, and they become more open and honest with their feelings for the other. It’s more subtle and nuanced than you might expect, but if you compare how they are with each other at the end to how they started, the difference is clear; they undergo a pretty naturalistic, very rewarding progression that’s certainly better than a lot of other rom-com.
The first season was hilarious. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who could really contest the fantastic sense of humour it had in a reasonable way. Regardless of how you felt about the drama or romance, you can’t really deny that it worked superbly as a comedy. It was undoubtedly one of the big selling points of the first season, so the fact that Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren is possibly even funnier is just utterly fantastic. With all of the character establishment long out of the way and the new scenarios that have been set up there was a great potential for a lot of clever, fresh humour that they really succeeded in making use of, even throwing in some episodes dedicated to a single high-concept joke – things like the nap battle or one of the gang managing to pick up a stalker, amongst others.
It helps that Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren doesn’t go as overboard on the drama as the first season did, allowing more time to be dedicated to the comedy and preventing a disparate set of tones emerging. At the same time this, along with the aforementioned lack of an overt narrative, does result in the series largely feeling like a string of ‘fluff’ episodes, which is no bad thing in terms of entertainment value, but does limit the satisfaction and catharsis it could have provided.
Oh, and it also bears mentioning that not only is it funnier, it’s also a fuckton cuter. Like, oh my gosh I haven’t been so close to a moe induced heart-attack since Acchi Kocchi. So if this is something that’s important to you, then it’s also got that going for it.
As far as notable criticism beyond what I’ve already mentioned goes, there are a couple of things. Firstly, while it is largely devoid of a proper narrative or any significant drama, several times it did seem to hint at building up to something like that. Namely, both Shichimiya and Rikka question their chuunibyou tendencies at various points, and not in the way Rikka did in the first season, which was basically her just being forced to grow up and reject a fundamental part of her; it genuinely seemed like they were moving past it. Now, this could have made for a lot of great character development as they learn more about themselves and how it affects their relationships and so forth, even if it doesn’t result in them becoming ‘normal’, but each time it crops up it’s always concluded very quickly and weakly and little is made of it. It’s definitely a missed opportunity.
And while I feel the romantic development was handled excellently, it was probably a little too slow-paced. Had it moved along a bit more quickly it would have, I feel, been able to be quite a bit more satisfying without hurting what it was trying to do. As is, it’s actually proven to be relatively frustrating for quite a few people. Not myself, but I can understand why they’d feel that way.
Speaking of frustrating – hahaha, FUCK. If you’ve seen it you know exactly what I’m talking about, but god damn. There is a very real chance that you will be… uh… somewhat mad towards the end. As in, I’m also certain at least 50% of the negative criticism that has been levelled at this series post-completion is as a direct result of that. Frankly, I took my frustration as evidence of just how successfully this show got me invested in the characters and what was going on, which is a pretty good sign in itself.
There’s been a lot of negativity and even hate surrounding Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren since it finished, and I sincerely believe most of it is misplaced. The romantic development is really quite rewarding even if it’s not particularly overt, it’s funnier and cuter than even the first season was, and the introduction of a new character wasn’t a pointless and worthless act! There’s a lot of great stuff going on here, but for all the absolutely wonderful and memorable things that happen (and there are a lot) the combination of Shichimiya not having quite enough prominence, the lack of a proper overarching narrative despite the opportunities it presented for one, and the existence of that frustrating element just results in it lacking the oomph it needed to really bring it up to greatness.
But it’s certainly far better than the popular reaction might have you believe, and definitely worth a watch if you’ve been enjoying the franchise up to this point.
8/10
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