Forum - View topic

REVIEW: Love, Chunibyo, & Other Delusions eps 7-12

Key wrote:

I will be very surprised if Sentai doesn't give this one both a dub and a Blu-Ray, as this is much less of a niche title than a lot of the stuff they pick up.

A rep of Madman (the Australian licensor) seems to be under the assumption that it will be dubbed, at least.

Blood- wrote:

Spleen wrote: But as soon as it decided to turn to drama, what you had was a show desperately trying to tell us that this wasn't about a boy seducing a mentally ill girl. There was no need to get serious and make us stop suspending our disbelief. I disagree. As much as I loved the comedy aspects, they were already beginning to pall by the time the series inevitably started exploring why Riika was the way she was. Maybe you could have gone on indefinitely enjoying variations on the same idea over and over again, but not me. I'm glad the show was smarter than that. And your characterization that the show was "desperately" trying to tell us this wasn't about a boy seducing a mentally ill girl is incredibly uncharitable. Their affection was clearly mutual and I never got the the sense she was mentally ill - merely unwilling to face a certain painful part of her reality.

Quote:

Blood- wrote: Spleen wrote: But as soon as it decided to turn to drama, what you had was a show desperately trying to tell us that this wasn't about a boy seducing a mentally ill girl. There was no need to get serious and make us stop suspending our disbelief. I disagree. As much as I loved the comedy aspects, they were already beginning to pall by the time the series inevitably started exploring why Riika was the way she was. Maybe you could have gone on indefinitely enjoying variations on the same idea over and over again, but not me. I'm glad the show was smarter than that. And your characterization that the show was "desperately" trying to tell us this wasn't about a boy seducing a mentally ill girl is incredibly uncharitable. Their affection was clearly mutual and I never got the the sense she was mentally ill - merely unwilling to face a certain painful part of her reality.

I find it hard to believe that you thought Rikka was mentally ill. It was either a tool to escape from reality or just one of the enjoyable ways a person spends his or her's spare time. When a person play's a an MMO and decides to be a badass looking giant or sexy cat girl does that make them mentally unstable? I took from this show that she was having fun and was quite courageous to be able to incorporate her fantasies in the public. The only problem with her actions was she also was using it as a way to avoid some of her family issues.

It is strange how there is a disagreement on whether the first half or second half is better because I thought the drama was more entertaining than the comedy portion, but at least everyone who finished it got something they enjoyed.

if they didn't have that predictable romance bs I could have watched this. what's wrong with the main teen boy and girl interacting without the need to eff each other?

I will be very surprised if Sentai doesn't give this one both a dub and a Blu-Ray, as this is much less of a niche title than a lot of the stuff they pick up.

MaxSouth wrote:

Theron, you are the kindest soul here, as always. I would be merciless, cracking reasons why the audience had this anime rated two levels lower than they could. But then many people would miss those good qualities this show has, even if I would list it. Once you see, get exposed to lacks of something, you can not "unsee". With more positive review the show has more chances.

Damn decent of you to nobly with-hold your doubtlessly influential opinions so that others will give the show a chance.

The series kind of glossed over the fact, but being a chunibyo was pretty much stated to be a an obsessive mental illness (according to Wikipedia, "chunibyo" even translates as "junior high school second grade illness)".

it's kyon ani they probably wanted an arm and a leg for the bluray rights.

@ Ryu Shoji - you have to set aside the reality of whatever chunibyo is in real life as distinct from what chunibyo is represented as in the show and how Rikka is intended to be perceived. As represented by the show, chunibyo is made to seem like a phase that some young people (8th graders, specifically) go through where they service their internal fantasy worlds to a mortifying degree. To a degree where outsiders cannot help but notice what they are doing. The show itself does not treat its version of chunibyo like a mental illness or a personality disorder. It's presented as an embarrassing phase that certain intelligent, imaginative, but somewhat emotionally immature children go through and grow out of.

I don't believe the show is trying to tell us that Riika is actually having psychotic breaks from reality. I.e. I don't believe the show expects us to believe that Riika is so immersed in fantasy that she literally cannot distinguish her imagination from reality. My interpretation was that she was using her imagination to keep pain at bay and was stubbornly sticking to that defensive strategy.

Now, there were real problems associated with this mindset. Her version of chunibyo was keeping her isolated from her family and a good chunk of her peers. But again, this was presented as more of an attitude problem as opposed to mental illness/personality disorder issue.