Chuunibyou is over!

It has been a fun ride over the course of this series and I'm truly glad I hoped on to the boat that brought us laughter, love, sadness, emotional moments, harshness of reality and the "chuunibyou" called "individuality" or "self-consciousness".

The last episode wrapped things up rather nicely, with a final conclusion of what "Chuunibyou" is perceived to be and that having it isn't actually something bad. There wasn't actually a strong development towards the romance part, but it was still sweet to see the two being together and having looked at them being separated aches me a little. The conclusive episode had most of its scenes rather predictable, like it was a "normal" follow-up of the story, where having learnt that Rikka was gone, it was about 100% sure that Yuuta would go get her back no matter what even when he missed the train. I was still surprised that he actually went by bike though, that's some amazing stamina he has... power of love perhaps?

just sweet~

What actually made me love the conclusion was firstly, how they wrapped Rikka's chuunibyou up nicely. There was a nice tie-in of a special episode, or Lite Episode, where Yuuta is seen to have a toy rifle and hiding behind the bush when escorting his little sister out, and that was when Rikka actually met Yuuta for the first time. Now that makes us look back at the 1st episode, where after Yuuta confronts Rikka about her knowledge of his chuunibyou, she tells him that "our paths once crossed". Now that could actually mean that she was referring to her first "encounter" with Yuuta, who at that time still had his chuunibyou. It was a nice take of Yuuta's two years ago letter from himself, that make him realise the truth that perhaps it isn't that bad to have chuunibyou after all as it wasn't really an illness. Reinforced by Shinka's earlier discussion about chuunibyou, she believes that each individual has their own syndrome of perhaps believing that they are special as individuals, being able to see things that others can't, and that is actually individuality or chuunibyou as they see it. Having "graduated" from chuunibyou can be seen by just escaping your own personality and adopting another "general" one called the "normal high school student". And by doing that, the individuality or self-consciousness will disappear. And THAT is possibly what Yuuta has realised. That keeping your own individuality is actually more important than being "normal" and that's maybe what tie the two of them together. The animation was actually more realistic in its way of delivering the final moments where Yuuta is shown panting over his "overlong" ride to Rikka's house before telling her to make a contract with him as Dark Flame Master and that she can choose to continue living her boring life (as of now as she is) or to rewrite it with him, as the wielder of the Tyrant's Eye. What I believe was that Rikka at that moment realised too that it was because of Yuuta's chuunibyou that she started to develop chuunibyou as well and at that time, it saved her but acting as her temporary shield from reality and she's thankful for that. Having faced reality now, she leaps into Yuuta's arms, knowing that it was chuunibyou that brought out the love between them.

The series also had the element about showing how people actually avoid reality and how harsh it can be, sometimes, for the young to accept. Looking at the flashbacks, it really took its toll on the then-young Rikka, who couldn't accept the fact that her dad was dead. She had always believed that he'll recover someday and without warning, he left, in the midst of her belief. The impact on her "broke" her in a silent way, where she actually did not felt much, as though she has rejected the truth. Other than chuunibyou acting as a personality for her, it acted like an emotional shield. Not like Yuuta's, her's probably developed after seeing Yuuta being all cool and being himself in an honest way, she wanted to have that sense of individuality as well and followed in his footsteps. And finally one day, she took up the courage and met up with Yuuta, whom she had "admired" all along for two years. For Yuuta, while Rikka's chuunibyou acted as a shield, Yuuta acted as her emotional support. And when he attempted to break Rikka's barrier and to let her face the truth, she literally broke and started to force reality into herself, repeatedly. Like the last 2 episodes where she keeps reminding herself that the moving lights are not some special lights but were caused by proper lighting effects. With that, both her shield and support broke apart and I can say she lost herself over at her parent's house and thus deciding simply to stay behind and to make the others happy. It was that exact moment when she started reminiscing about her chuunibyou moments and Yuuta himself, that he really appeared and took Rikka back to his reality, of the world that she was most familiar in. With the method of forcing reality not really working, Yuuta took it into his own hands and delivered the perfect ending for Rikka to accept reality. He perhaps figured out that Rikka had always wanted to search for the Ethereal Horizon was that she might have certain regrets left over and it turns out that her purpose of finding it was to give her dad a proper farewell. And that's where it bites me: So Rikka all this while had held on to this regret silently by herself and that her final reason for her chuunibyou was to delay the time or to try and wait for the perfect opportunity to open herself to reality and that's where Yuuta comes in to become the bridge for her. With that done, the two continue their lives, with their continued little relationship and the return of Dark Flame Master and the Wielder of Tyrant's Eye.

Do you want to see my eye?

It all started with its trailer, a rather misleading one, and from a perceived supernatural and epic scaled production, it transformed itself into a comedy, a drama, and a lesson for all of us. The overall pace was good and I really appreciate the twist of event and the change of mood. It was great to see the humour being placed in importance over the first few episodes to close the gap between Yuuta and Rikka, slowly developing Rikka's past and her relationship with Yuuta. Making her finally realise the thing called "love" and acknowledging it. And in the end, her trauma or regret has disappeared and a new love story is complete. All in just 12 episodes. It doesn't feel as rushed and the pace felt just right. Perhaps it was a simple love story that just grazed along the surface for a romance genre, whereas for series like Clannad, 2 seasons was required to bring out the full story.

This thing called "individuality" or "self-consciousness", was wonderfully brought into the story. A short story of a guy and a girl wandering around the world of Chuunibyou, finding love and accepting their own uniqueness. A remarkable series it has proved itself to be and definitely something I would recommend. Thumbs up! :)

Blast Reality. Burst it into shreds. Banishment, this world!