Before I can really do this review, I feel like I need to explain Chuunibyou (or ‘Chuuni’) for anyone who might happen to be unaware of the topic. The term can be translated roughly as “Second year of middle school syndrome”. Despite that, no explanation I’ve heard has ever indicated that it’s really pathological. Rather, Chuunibyou involves a youngster who, for some reason or another, takes up a theatrical persona and lives it. You declare yourself the Dark Lord, cackle maniacally, and even though you know it’s not real, you act at all times as though it were real because doing any less would spoil the ‘game’. Sometimes it’s a coping mechanism, other times it just makes someone feel better to stand out in a world that otherwise desires conformity of you.
It’s a phenomenon that, despite the
name, is far from being limited to Japan. I… may have had my own
brush with the experience when I was in middle school, long before I
knew it had a name or was a cultural phenomenon in another country.
And I do think that informs my reaction to the show; if you were
Chuuni yourself, whether you knew that was a thing or what it was,
you’re probably going to have a stronger response here than if you
weren’t. That said, let’s dig in.
Read More…Read More…