Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren - Episode 8 Discussion / Poll

[Myssa Rei]

Hmm, the airing I watched didn't have the bite. Which station/sub used it? The Crunchyroll one?

[KLGChaos]

Not a fan of the Yuri stuff.... I prefer my shounen to by guy x girl, unless it's supposed to be a Yuri series.

And Yuuta's becoming a seriously bad enabler here... For someone who's moved on, he really seems to be pushing chuuni onto everyone else and will probably make Rikka WORSE in the end instead of actually helping her.

While I find the battle scenes amusing, it really makes me wonder how they're actually "battling"... I mean, how do you win a fake battle? Do they get into a fist fight or something? Do they throw tennis balls at each other and scream "Magic Missile"?

And stalker girl was just really annoying.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Originally Posted by Myssa Rei

Hmm, the airing I watched didn't have the bite. Which station/sub used it? The Crunchyroll one?

The ear nibble was definitely on Crunchyroll.

[R.LocK]

Originally Posted by KLGChaos

While I find the battle scenes amusing, it really makes me wonder how they're actually "battling"... I mean, how do you win a fake battle? Do they get into a fist fight or something? Do they throw tennis balls at each other and scream "Magic Missile"?

Have you ever been in a 'battle' when you were a kid? When you go all "I hit you" - "No, you didn't! I've put up a barrier!", etc.? That's the same deal. It's a battle of imagination. When they suffer a critical hit, it means that they've almost used up their ideas. The deal is just glorified in Chuu-2.

[Anime Online]

Originally Posted by KLGChaos

While I find the battle scenes amusing, it really makes me wonder how they're actually "battling"... I mean, how do you win a fake battle? Do they get into a fist fight or something? Do they throw tennis balls at each other and scream "Magic Missile"?

In season 1, part of the real battle between Shinka and Deko was shown. It was rather lame, actually. Shinka threw a gymnastics ribbon down at Deko, who proceeded to wrap one end around her arm and cry out at how Shinka got her.

[Gravitas Free Zone]

I mentioned on the previous page that my childhood fantasy fights were a lot more dull compared to having KyoAni pyrotechnics going off in my head.

Might there be an unspoken rule to minimize actual physical contact unless the participants know each other fairly well? The scenario with Nibutani and FakeFakeSummer could have gone to real blows, but it was all chuuni. Meanwhile, in the main characters' "normal" lives there's quite a bit of physical comedy violence.

Also, the show is staying in a narrow field of fantasy battling without a great deal of "real" weaponry. It's easy to fantasize the hair bolas and folding umbrellas, but add too many fake swords and guns, or too much actual fistfighting, and it would be veering much closer to realism. Or that strange middle ground that was Yamato Yura's reality-bending Imagine Spots in Stella C3.

[Frontier]

Well, for those who ship Nibutani and Dekomori, this episode was certainly for you .

I was expecting the stalker to be behind the website, but never in my wildest imaginations did I see her being in love with Dekomori. From a certain perspective, the situation in this episode was a more standard love triangle then what we have going on with Yuuta, Rikka, and Satone .

But wait was the stalker voiced by Mai Nakahara? It sounded like her, but hasn't she already done a character on the show, the leader of the opposing nap club ?

It was nice to see Nibutani revive Mori Summer again, even if she kinda dropped it again midway through the fight, and I quite enjoyed the Chuuni battle between the two Mori Summers .

Other nice moments in the episode were Rikka and Yuuta holding hands and Rikka suggesting they get help from Satone .

I think I get where Dekomori is coming from to a certain degree. She holds the identity of Mori Summer to this divine ideal that no real person could ever live up to, or at least accept without an ulterior motive, and that ultimately she prefers a fake like Nibutani who at least somewhat touches the ideal, to someone like the stalker whose using the identity for her own personal gain.

And seeing Nibutani admit that, despite her embarrassment regarding that period of her life, she still appreciates Mori Summer as an identity she created that is her own and not something someone can just pick up. Though I have a feeling that, ultimately, she was more concerned with the fake stealing Dekomori than her identity .

All in all, just another really good episode of Chuunibyou season 2!

[Peanutbutter]

Originally Posted by Frontier

But wait was the stalker voiced by Mai Nakahara? It sounded like her, but hasn't she already done a character on the show, the leader of the opposing nap club ?

Nope, she's voiced by Ami Koshimizu, ala Nodoka from Saki.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Lord of Fire

It's funny; these battles are as fake as can be, yet why are they so entertaining to watch?

KyoAni just lets loose with Chuuni action scenes. They make full use of their creative talents, and sort of throw caution to the wind. They aim for very engrossing fight settings, and they aim for carefully detailed flashy spectacle. Any semblance of "gritty realism" is chucked out the door, so what you're left with is a light show that's a feast for the eyes. Truth be told, the best action scenes don't adhere to strict realism because that can take the fun away (the right amount of realism is just enough to suspend disbelief). I think that when KyoAni does "serious" action scenes in other anime shows they sometimes become too preoccupied with realism and that can run contrary to their talents. In Chuuni, this preoccupation isn't there, so the action scenes benefit from it.

Other things that I think help are...

1) Most Chuuni fights involve very few combatants, and clearly defined sides, which is good for both "camera focus" and viewer focus. It's flashy, but it's not chaotic in the sense that you can easily follow the fight and appreciate every part of it.

2) Chuunibyou has a great color palette for flashy action scenes. The show in general has bright, bold, solid colors.

3) While the fights are fake, some of them involve sincere emotional conflicts with good buildup. This episode itself is a good example of that, with the fight pitting Mori Summer against Fake Mori Summer having pitch-perfect narrative buildup and just the right amount of emotionality on the part of the combatants.


On the whole, I enjoyed this episode. However, a nagging part of my mind sometimes reminds me of the sorts of issues that KLGChaos raised.

Part of me hopes that Chuuni never again embraces the sort of heavy serious drama that we saw in the 2nd half of Season 1 because then I'd probably find it easier to just ignore certain implications and fully enjoy the ride.

[GreyZone]

^I am sure someone from the anime team said after the announcment of the second season, that this season would not have any such heavy drama as the first season had.

[SuitUp]

I think Chuuni would benefit from some drama, not so over the top drama as the 1st season, but some sort of love triangle, they already stablished Sophia as a really good "rival", so it's a shame they don't exploit it, mainly since the comedy it's really hit or miss when there are not chuunibyou battles, since those work, but chuuni dialogue alone does not.
That aside, this episode it's perfect to ship DekoxSummer, it's like they want it to be cannon, and the chuuni battle between Nibutani and the Stalker was really well done.

[KLGChaos]

While it doesn't need heavy drama, I'd still like to think that Rikka and the others actually grow out of their Chuuni side and realize that it's just a fun game instead of thinking it's real like they do now. I liked how Nibutani at the end said that she wasn't so much upset that she left her past behind, but that someone took a character she created and was misusing it. It shows that she realizes that Mori Summer, as embarrassing as it was, was just a game she played.

If Rikka and Sophia really do stay as they are, they won't make it as adults. Telling your perspective employer during an interview about your Tyrant Eye or that you're a Majou Shojou will just get them sent to the looney bin. Unless they plan to spend their lives doing part-time anime character shows at amusement parks or something.

Sophia, in some ways, is just as bad as Rikka. She KNOWS it's fake (or at least believes she lost her powers) and she refuses to change. That's just as unhealthy as actually believing all this stuff is real and being unable to distinguish between reality and their game.

[teja208]

About the Real Fake Mori Summer, there is one thing that bothers me. Two actually.

First is why is she calling Deko Sanya?

Second is I just want to at least know her actual name.

For a fake, her theme song sounds catchier than the real one. I'm gonna miss those mystic chanting that comes with the said theme.

[SamCurt]

Originally Posted by KLGChaos

Sophia, in some ways, is just as bad as Rikka. She KNOWS it's fake (or at least believes she lost her powers) and she refuses to change. That's just as unhealthy as actually believing all this stuff is real and being unable to distinguish between reality and their game.

I don't know if she refuses to change. I think she's more of a LARPer than a real chuuni.

Originally Posted by teja208

Second is I just want to at least know her actual name.

It's actually in ED.

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[risingstar3110]

Still can smell the sweet lily in the air....

I means Shinka x Sanae was already canon since the Christmas episode. But didn't expect that KyoAni will devote a whole episode for them.

God, double tsundere senpai-houkai pairing. Already can see some sweet dj coming up

[KLGChaos]

Originally Posted by SamCurt

I don't know if she refuses to change. I think she's more of a LARPer than a real chuuni.

Even LARPers don't do it 24/7 and know when to be normal. :P Again, it's a balance between having fun with it and knowing when you have to put it down and be a real person.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by KLGChaos

Even LARPers don't do it 24/7 and know when to be normal. :P Again, it's a balance between having fun with it and knowing when you have to put it down and be a real person.

Ah, but we're not watching these characters 24/7. We're not seeing every moment of their lives. For all we know, they may act normal while being taught in-class.

We're essentially seeing a "highlight reel" of their lives. And that means we see them in Chuuni mode.

Don't get me wrong, I think that Rikka and Sophia need to scale it back a bit more still, but it's not necessarily as constant as this "hightlight reel" would lead you to think.

[vaden]

Originally Posted by SamCurt

It's actually in ED.

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That's read "Tokugawa Natsumi," to the best of my knowledge. Whoever's coming up with these character names really likes numbers; the characters for toku mean "19." Natsumi as written literally means "pulling up vegetables," but it's also a pretty obvious pun on natsu "summer."

[Kanon]

I'm very happy with the amount of focus Shinka and Deko have gotten in the second season. To be honest, I care about them a lot more than Yuuta and Rikka who have been a bit boring this season. They never fail to entertain me, and their relationship is endearing. Moreover, my yuri goggles work wonders on them. I wish they would end up together, but that will probably never happen.

[SamCurt]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I think that Rikka and Sophia need to scale it back a bit more still, but it's not necessarily as constant as this "hightlight reel" would lead you to think.

My reading of why Rikka is chuuni as shown in the first season implies she is likely to be this 24/7. Deko... I'm unsure; her being short is a shorthand for immaturity, you know...