I have a childhood trauma that makes me hate chuuni. I dated one. Since then, I hated every single character of this archetype. Until one exception occurred. Yohane from Love Live. So, it made me think... what if I can be cured now? And so, I decided to fight fire with fire and go for the most chuuni anime I could think of.

Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!

Let's start with obvious. Art and animation by Kyoto Animation. If you expected them to be less than astonishing, you were wrong. Sure, they aren't flawless, but I'm not here to nitpick. This anime is beautiful, smooth and vivid. Everything I love.

Music is good, but not particularly memorable. Sound, however. Sound is absolutely amazing. Everything that hits Rikka's noggin sounds perfect. From ladle, to desk, to her own ahoge.
And I'm very happy with the actors they picked. Jun Fukuyama and Maaya Uchida, who voiced the two main characters, carried this series on their shoulders. They were astounding, but knowing them it's no surprise. Who did surprise me though is Sumire Uesaka as Dekomori. I never knew she can do... well... the beautiful insanity that is Dekomori. Wonderful!

On the surface, the story is rather generic and dull. But as a story of growing up, fed by fantasy and insecurities of the characters, it's served very well.
To be perfectly honest, for the first few episodes, I couldn't care less about these characters. So much so that it isn't even funny. Although, no, the last part is a lie. There was a lot of "funny" in this anime. And it really hit home, I absolutely love the humor in this show. Especially visual one, flavored with a flawless voice acting. Like the scene where Rikka catches a note.
And while some jokes are a little dragged out, the culmination is always worth it.

And yet, starting with around episode five, they change the tone slightly. Enough for it to become interesting to follow the plot.
I said at some point that many people seem to misunderstand Violet Evergarden, calling her an unrelatable protagonist. That's because the viewer is supposed to grow with her and know her better during the show. Chuuni has the same principle. You learn and understand the characters when the writer wants you to. And it is an amazing skill many writers lack.

On the other hand, this change of tone also makes it feel like the anime has an identity crisis. It doesn't know what it wants to be, romance, drama, comedy... and it isn't all that great at combining them. But then again, the identity crisis of the show also reflects the identity crisis of the characters, so... maybe it's intentional? If so, it's another well done move. And if it's just a coincidence... well, it still helps.

The characters... wow... I was not prepared for this. I thought this anime has only one chuuni. Rikka. But no. It has four! And if three of them are alright, Mori Summer is... oh god... I didn't want to get rid of a character this much since the second season of Psycho-pass. I REALLY wanted to punch her. Hated her from the bottom of my heart. And not because she is a chuuni, surprisingly enough. But simply because she was such a hypocritical b**ch! I'm shocked. I didn't expect to find a character I hate this much in this kind of anime. Oh well... at least her voice acting was amazing. Meanwhile, Dekomori is a treasure. In no small part because she can stand up to Mori Summer. You could say that I came to this anime for Rikka, but stayed for Dekomori. She is simply precious. Togashi ended up being a nobody for me. He's quite a blank slate of a protagonist. I understand his feelings, but don't feel any sympathy. At least when he's too serious. And he's such a patsy! Missing so many opportunities to turn bad situations into good ones... he's just sad to watch. Tsuyuri is straight up Mugi from K-On! A little less mischief, a little more cuteness. Overall, she's fine. What an ass do you have to be to bully Tsuyuri? Eh, Mori Summer? I'm asking you! Other than that, I really needed more Tooka. I understand that it's not a show about her, but she really could use more screen time. Because no one but her can tame all these chuuni with just a laddle! But seriously, I think Tooka is a character I sympathized the most with. I love her. No joke. It's not even just "Tooka is my waifu!". I really respect her character. Not everyone could carry the situation she's in with such composure. And I love that she has so much love, patience and dedication without forgetting about her own life. She is the true hero of this show for me.

But you know what... this may be the first time ever when I didn't even want to talk about characters. Because nothing I'll say will give you the full image of what they are or what this show is about. Which is why I won't say anything about Rikka, the reason I watched this anime to begin with.
These are the characters that you need to let through yourself.

#Pros:

• Art and animation
• Sound design and voice acting
• Characters
• The whole anime managed to end without a single pantsu shot, even though they had every opportunity!

Cons:

• The first episodes of this show do not make you ready for what happens next.

At first, I had the same impression from this anime, as I had from Eromanga-sensei. Beautiful, well done, but soulless. And I was wrong. I don't know about soul, but the heart of this anime is definitely in the right place.
I started watching it not knowing anything, except that it has chuuni. Didn't know the genres, synopsis, characters. And emotions this anime gave me are... different from what I expected. Not for better, not for worse, but... all of it at the same time.
This may also be the first time I'll say - yes, you should see this anime... but not all of it. Watch the first season, 12 episodes, and be done with it. No specials, no 13th Christmas episode, no season 2, nothing. Not because they are bad. Not at all, they are actually very good. But for me they became a cloud in the silver lining, which was not even the first season itself, but the way it ended. It was such a wholesome, finished and well executed idea, that continuing after it was a crime.
But hearing this idea once is well worth it.