Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions also known as Chū-2 for short, is based on a Japanese light novel series written by Torako, with illustrations provided by Nozomi Ōsaka. The anime is licensed by Sentai Filmworks for release in North America and Madman here locally in Australia, it has gained quite a cult following spawning a franchise . An animated film was released in September 2013, and this is the second anime season, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions -Heart Throb. We previously reviewed Season 1 here on the site and were impressed by it overall. Season 2 follows on immedetly afterwards, picking up the events of the original. As the new school year begins, Rikka Takanashi ends up having to move out of her apartment, since Tōka Takanashi no longer lives there, and is temporarily living alone with Yuuta Togashi whilst they search for a new place. Meanwhile, Shinka Nibutani, who has dyed her hair black in pursuit of a non-chunibyo second year, continues to be at odds with Sanae Dekomori. Interested in their relationship now they are living together, Shinka Nibutani, Sanae Dekomori, and Kumin Tsuyuri keep an eye on Yuuta Togashi and Rikka Takanashi, the latter of which has ended up spending nearly all of her monthly allowance. After Yuuta reveals they had yet to even get to even hold hands, Shinka takes him to meet her friend Kazari Kannagi, who arranges for Yuuta and Rikka to go on a date. As Rikka states her uncertainty over what lovers should do, Yuuta decides that he is fine with their relationship staying the way it is for now. Later that night, Rikka meets Satone Shichimiya who had moved into Rikka old apartment. After Yuuta Togashi is left reeling from a lewd dream about Rikka Takanashi, he ends up losing a bet against her and is forced to dress up as a magical girl. Later that day, Rikka encounters the girl from before, who is revealed to be Yuuta's old friend during middle school and the one who led him to enter his chuynibyou phase, Satone Shichimiya. The imagination of the protagonist as well as the spectators, come off not too short.. Rikka, the little girl with the fertile imagination and Yuuto, the boy who really wants to be an adult - to accompany a great couple where it's fun and their stories become more complex. Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! may also act on the images that produces more than you see. In addition to the series natural colours, it a wonderfully vibrant series that visually keeps you engaged. As Satone is invited over to dinner that night, Rikka becomes over her getting awfully clingy to Yuuta, particularly when she does her old habit of rubbing her nose against Yuuta's. Its moments like these that keep you not hedge as its pure romantic drama and conflicts. When a Hobby Group Representative Meeting is held to determine which hobby groups should be allowed to keep their rooms, Rikka Takanashi's failed presentation of what the 'Far Eastern Magic Napping Society in Summer' does exactly leads their supervisor, Nanase Tsukumo, to investigate what they actually use their room for. Nanase points out the 'napping' part of their group is actually a notable pastime, suggesting they have a 'siesta match' against Maple Hill High School's Siesta Club to serve as an official activity for their group. Some moments like this just come off absurd and hilarious. On the way home, they are approached by Maple Hill's Sui Nemuri, who sparks a rivalry with Kumin Tsuyuri, with Rikka rushingly adding she will disband her society if they lose. This is when the magic elements come into play and boy, this is when Season two begins to pick up, even without these elements as a stand alone series it makes a great drama. This season I felt overall had much better character development, as we previously got to know them, this time around it fleshes them out through back stories. Rikka Takanashi is a "chūnibyō patient" who enrolls into the same high school as Yuuta Togashi. Unlike Yuuta, she still suffers from the eighth grader syndrome. She wears a medical eyepatch over her right eye to seal her "Tyrant's Eye". She moved in to the apartment above Yuuta's apartment to stay with her sister, Tōka Takanashi. Rikka has cyan-colored eyes and wears a yellow color contact lens on her right eye, over which she wears a medical eyepatch. She only has 5 contacts on her phone, which include Tōka, Yuuta, Shinka Nibutani, Kumin Tsuyuri and Sanae Dekomori. With it, she can cast special attacks. As shown when Yuuta convinced her to give up her chūnibyō behavior, the real reason for her chūnibyō was to "protect" herself from the reality of her father's death, as she still can't accept it. Shinka is currently the freshman year representative for her high school and get to know more about her. Shinka appears to have feelings towards Yuuta Togashi, but this later turns out to be false. She was once a "chūnibyō patient" and used to call herself "Mori Summer". Shinka still retains some of her fantasy personality, and also has some of the items she valued as Mori Summer,, such as her bangles and head piece. Overall this was an entertaining series, it was actually a bit slower and more mature than season 1, but is that a bad thing. Not at all, it was a warm, enjoyable and interesting romantic comedy series with an underlay of magic. SPECIAL FEATURES
Overall 4/5
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Tokyo Ghoul is a new anime series that is brought to us here locally by Madman. I had heard quite a bit of hype surrounding this one; it has an appeal due to its dark atmosphere and horror themed elements. The series starts off (obviously in Tokyo)with Kaneki and Hide listening to the news about ghoul attacks in the 20th ward while in Anteiku. Hideis a normal human and the best friend of Ken Kaneki. Hide briefly comments that the murders happened nearby, but then asks who the girl is, if it is the waitress, while Kaneki agrees she is cute, explains that it isn't her, The girl in question then asks what they want to order, and Hide asks for her name, which is Touka, he then asks if she is seeing anyone, which causes her to blush and run away. Then, a beautiful girl walks in, whom is the girl Kaneki is pining for. Kaneki then notices she is reading the same book as him, and is trying but failing not to stare.The girl, Rize, then notices him staring at her and smiles at him. Later on the phone with Hide, Kaneki shares that they're going to the bookstore on a date, after Hide states that sometimes you get lucky. Hide then wishes he had a good time and hangs up. On the date while eating in a restaurant and discussing their shared favorite author, he comments slightly flustered that she doesn't eat much, and Rize explains she's on a diet and excuses herself to the restroom, and Kaneki glances on her barely touched food. Ken Kaneki is the protagonist of Tokyo Ghoul Formerly, he was a human studying Japanese Literature at Kamii University and living a normal life. As a child, Kaneki had all the same features he has now as an adult with black hair and black eyes. In his free time, he wears casual clothes . At work, he wears the standard Anteiku waiter uniform, consisting of black trousers and a grey waistcoat over a white dress shirt, and a brown necktie. Later after the bookstore date, Rize with tears in her eyes, confides in Kaneki that she lives near where all these ghoul-related crimes are taking place and is really scared of those sort of things, so Kaneki comforts her telling Rize that he'll walk her home. While walking together, the waitress Touka from earlier at the café walks by with her friends and glances suspiciously at them before she continues walking away. Rize then points him in the direction of a dark road and tells him it's that way, and after brief walking he stops and confesses that he likes her and wants to see her again, and she says she likes him too before suddenly getting red/black eyes and starts biting his shoulder and Rize starts saying about how the only thing she likes better than reading is slowly pulling out the organs of her prey after Kaneki runs and keeps on saying "No way no way, no way" repeatedly. After being cornered on a construction site, and being impaled by her Kagune through his stomach, she complains that he appears dead, and commenting that she really did like him. Suddenly there's a big crane above Rize and the wires snap crash down onto Rize resulting in her supposed death. While Kaneki is being lucid, we hear doctor's shouting in the background, and one says to give him her organs and that he'll take full responsibility if shit goes down. Kaneki in his mind doesn't really comprehend anything yet, but we see an image of him floating, before Rize hugs him from behind, and beacomes emerged in blackness, before opening his eyes to reveal one red/black eye. Later, he tries to eat but can't, and wonders what's happening. A nurse then comes in and worringly asks if that's all he's going to eat before telling him that Hide was there again, yet he remains under the blanket, quiet. Is he becoming...a Ghoul? Then while speaking to the doctor, he confides that the food tastes slimy and weird, and that his sense of taste is off. The doctor smirks before telling him nothing's wrong, and since it was a serious accident, it could be psychological. After being discharged, Kaneki walks home and thinks that something's been strange since the incident with Rize, and that it feels like a dream, before he finds a bag of groceries and a note from Hide at his door, telling him amongst other things, that he brought his favorite burger. Sitting on his bed later he's watching a show on the TV, in which a ghoul-expert explains that ghouls can survive for a month or two on one dead body, that their tongue also works differently, and that human food tastes awful and slimy to them. He wonders what it is before remembering Rize, and punches his mirror in a state of panic and anger. He states he knows what is happening, when he remember the doctor's words about transplanting Rize's organs into him, and also remembers that kitchen knifes and utensils have no effect on ghouls, so Kaneki proceeds to take a sharp knife and while holding his shirt up, tries to stab himself in the chest. I guess as a viewer introduced to this world, what is a Ghoul? Ghouls are a carnivorous and cannibalistic species that are only able to feed on humans and other ghouls. If certain rare conditions are met, ghouls and humans may even be able to have offspring and a ghoul's organs can be successfully transplanted into a human. They are also able to jump several meters high.Under normal conditions, ghouls have a high regenerative ability: Small wounds and fractures heal in a matter of seconds to a day,and even grave wounds heal after few days, as long as the ghoul has adequate food supply. They also have a tougher body than most regular solid materials. They can smell people or meat from afar and can tell apart humans and ghouls by their smell. They also have a heightened sense of hearing that even allows some ghouls to discern individual footsteps from far away. Ghouls seem to age at the same rate as humans, further allowing them to blend in. Its certainly a highly unique concept and keeps this series standing out due to its originality. Touka: "And that makes this your feeding grounds?" She picks up the discarded arm that Kazou was planning to give Kaneki, and asks if he wants it, holding it out, Kaneki reaches for it, before stopping himself, being conflicted between his ghoul-side and human-side, Touka then, too, comments on his eyes, before realizing he was the one who was with Rize, asks why he wasn't eaten and yet again comments on his eye, her own eyes widening. Kaneki then asks for her help, claiming that even if she didn't believe him, he was still human, yet he wants to eat so badly, but that if he ate it, he wouldn't be human anymore. The series begins to progress and more characters get introduced, we really don't want to spoil it, as it will really suck you into to its world. She asks if he won't eat it, and he hesitantly reaches for it before he smacks it away, shouting no way over and over, and that he wouldn't be able to it something like that, asking what it means to be ghoul, like killing people and each other, that he wasn't like that, allt the while still crying. .The bolts sticking out of his neck and the fact that he is an artificial ghoul reminds a Frankenstein theme. After being tortured by Yamori for a period of ten days, his hair became white and his nails turned black due to heavy stress, anxiety, and continuous bodily regeneration. He also began wearing a form fitting black outfit when he had the intention of fighting as a ghoul, both for intimidation and practicality. Not to get ahead, you can begin to see how and what a ghoul is, within this universe. Overall this has to be one of the most original and dark anime of 2015; highly recorded to not only Anime fans but also horror fans. SPECIAL FEATURES
Overall: 4.5/5 |
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