AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

Warm Mist · 2012-12-23, 06:58

I'm just going to repost what I said in the general thread:

Spoiler for impressions:

The first that came to mind after finishing episode 12 was that Chuunibyou would have benefited from being a 2-cour series. As it is now, the side characters are not explored enough, some not even a little like Kumin and Makoto. Dekomori's supposed character arc was shoehorned in these last two eps and felt like a cop out more than anything, and Shinka, while she was adressed more thoroughly, could have been explored much more. None of the side cast has a personality developed enough, and many comedic scenes fell flat because they relied on these characters' charm, and they had too little to relate to at the time.
With 24 episodes, they would have been able to develop not only the whole cast including tertiary characters, but go much deeper on Yuuta and Rikka's relationship and flesh out the themes of the show at a pace that would flow much better. Particularly, Touka's character arc was non-existent, and that is a pretty big flaw I find with the show, since there were a lot of hints and little foreshadowing scenes that ultimately amounted to nothing.

For me, the peak of the show was the first half, focused on comedic interactions with a relaxed pace that allowed to know the whole club at once. Episode 5 in particular was really good at doing this, Hiroko Utsumi is someone to pay attention to.
I was expecting the drama and romance to kick in around the time it did, but something about the execution of it all was lacking. Episodes 7-9, 11-12 didn't manage to do anything for me, only Takemoto's 10 stepped up from these and tried to bring the show back to its highest points. I think this has a lot to do with the pacing of the show too. The developments felt too quick and rushed, and while particular emotional scenes were well done (except for that horrid camera thing they did at the end of 9 :P ), the narrative flow was too wacky and clumsy.

As for the technical side of the show, it's Kyoani, what more can I say? Well, in this case I think I can say a bit more. This was a step back from Hyouka, which had some of the best color design, photography and BG art in recent anime, if not the best. Chuunibyou was just Kyoani's standard fare, having standard color choices for the most part, and going back to the typical slapstick animation of Nichijou and the exaggerated expressions of K-On!. While this is not bad per-se, Hyouka's (and Disappearance) approach to acting and movement seems more suited for current Kyoani and it just strikes my fancy more.
The animation started to falter around the halfway point too, just by a bit, but thankfully it was saved by awesome color choices in the key scenes (episode 10's confession scene and the finale's "BANISHMENT THIS WORLD+Ethereal horizon" scene come to mind) and some nice sakuga from time to time (like, again, this episode 12's scene with all those superb FX and impact. I think it was Ishidate who did that, but he wasn't credited so I wouldn't know for sure).

All in all, the series was good and enjoyable for the first 5~6 episodes, but failed to make itself memorable when it got serious. My biggest complaint with the writing is the lack of thorough characterization and thematic exploration, and it seems like it was a direct consequence of having to work so many characters and situations in only 12 episodes. A 2-cour Chuunibyou show would have had just so much more impact and investment from me, especially if a studio like Kyoani is making it; they have shown me with K-On! and Hyouka that it's impossible not to get attached to their shows and characters after enough exposure to them, no matter what inconsequential plot may they be executing.

So whatever, this confirms Ishihara as my least favourite supervisor in the studio. His episodes are always a joy to watch, but when he takes on a whole show I always find myself having gripes and issues with it. I have enjoyed K-On! and Hyouka much more than Chuunibyou, the Key works and most of Haruhi. I won't count Nichijou because I'm too biased for its animation to make a fair judgement of its directorial and comedic merits.

All that's left now is to wait for nice eye-candy in the form of BD shorts, and maybe a good dose of the comedy and interplay that made early Chuunibyou great in episode 13.

If I had to rate it, I'd say Chuunibyou gets a 7/10. Good series, mainly for its technical merits and the good comedy of the first half. Could have gone up to very good or excellent if it maintained the level of the first episodes, and if the drama was handled with more tact.

2012-12-23, 06:58	Link #11
Warm Mist Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2011	I'm just going to repost what I said in the general thread: Spoiler for impressions: The first that came to mind after finishing episode 12 was that Chuunibyou would have benefited from being a 2-cour series. As it is now, the side characters are not explored enough, some not even a little like Kumin and Makoto. Dekomori's supposed character arc was shoehorned in these last two eps and felt like a cop out more than anything, and Shinka, while she was adressed more thoroughly, could have been explored much more. None of the side cast has a personality developed enough, and many comedic scenes fell flat because they relied on these characters' charm, and they had too little to relate to at the time. With 24 episodes, they would have been able to develop not only the whole cast including tertiary characters, but go much deeper on Yuuta and Rikka's relationship and flesh out the themes of the show at a pace that would flow much better. Particularly, Touka's character arc was non-existent, and that is a pretty big flaw I find with the show, since there were a lot of hints and little foreshadowing scenes that ultimately amounted to nothing. For me, the peak of the show was the first half, focused on comedic interactions with a relaxed pace that allowed to know the whole club at once. Episode 5 in particular was really good at doing this, Hiroko Utsumi is someone to pay attention to. I was expecting the drama and romance to kick in around the time it did, but something about the execution of it all was lacking. Episodes 7-9, 11-12 didn't manage to do anything for me, only Takemoto's 10 stepped up from these and tried to bring the show back to its highest points. I think this has a lot to do with the pacing of the show too. The developments felt too quick and rushed, and while particular emotional scenes were well done (except for that horrid camera thing they did at the end of 9 :P ), the narrative flow was too wacky and clumsy. As for the technical side of the show, it's Kyoani, what more can I say? Well, in this case I think I can say a bit more. This was a step back from Hyouka, which had some of the best color design, photography and BG art in recent anime, if not the best. Chuunibyou was just Kyoani's standard fare, having standard color choices for the most part, and going back to the typical slapstick animation of Nichijou and the exaggerated expressions of K-On!. While this is not bad per-se, Hyouka's (and Disappearance) approach to acting and movement seems more suited for current Kyoani and it just strikes my fancy more. The animation started to falter around the halfway point too, just by a bit, but thankfully it was saved by awesome color choices in the key scenes (episode 10's confession scene and the finale's "BANISHMENT THIS WORLD+Ethereal horizon" scene come to mind) and some nice sakuga from time to time (like, again, this episode 12's scene with all those superb FX and impact. I think it was Ishidate who did that, but he wasn't credited so I wouldn't know for sure). All in all, the series was good and enjoyable for the first 5~6 episodes, but failed to make itself memorable when it got serious. My biggest complaint with the writing is the lack of thorough characterization and thematic exploration, and it seems like it was a direct consequence of having to work so many characters and situations in only 12 episodes. A 2-cour Chuunibyou show would have had just so much more impact and investment from me, especially if a studio like Kyoani is making it; they have shown me with K-On! and Hyouka that it's impossible not to get attached to their shows and characters after enough exposure to them, no matter what inconsequential plot may they be executing. So whatever, this confirms Ishihara as my least favourite supervisor in the studio. His episodes are always a joy to watch, but when he takes on a whole show I always find myself having gripes and issues with it. I have enjoyed K-On! and Hyouka much more than Chuunibyou, the Key works and most of Haruhi. I won't count Nichijou because I'm too biased for its animation to make a fair judgement of its directorial and comedic merits. All that's left now is to wait for nice eye-candy in the form of BD shorts, and maybe a good dose of the comedy and interplay that made early Chuunibyou great in episode 13. If I had to rate it, I'd say Chuunibyou gets a 7/10. Good series, mainly for its technical merits and the good comedy of the first half. Could have gone up to very good or excellent if it maintained the level of the first episodes, and if the drama was handled with more tact.