Ah, the end of the season is at hand, and tonight we have the first two shows ending, Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!, and Hayate no Gotoku: I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. Chuu2Koi, which I was enjoying all season long, ended rather sour for me. But Hayate was not bad. Either way, less preface, more REVIEW…an.
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! had all the strong elements of a KyoAni show, GITAH face, flimsy story, slice-of-life, whatever else they felt like, and even a little more, after all, don’t you remember when you ran around your backyard pretending to be a space ranger? No? Well fuck you, it was fun when I was 13.
Chuu 2 Koi built up a very strong plot up until the last episode. Rikka’s delusion, the gathering of all the players, breaking down her illusion, the ties to her family and past, and ultimately her ties with Yuuta. The TWEEST where her delusion started as the result of Yuuta was interesting, but not unexpected. After all, when dealing with a loss like that, you’ll latch on to the strongest thing you can. But when you pretty much thought they’d just ship themselves together and be done with it, they had to throw this entire “what if” in there where “What if she moves away since she is better now? Does that mean she rejects Yuuta and her false reality?” What? He bikes the entire way out to her grandparents to tell her that he is the Dark Fucking Flame Master and that she should come back with him because Two Years Ago Yuuta wrote himself a letter telling him to NEVAR FORGET his “power”. Ugh. I read my shit from two years ago and I wonder how I was so fucking stupid to have written that in the first place.
But in the end, he got the girl.. I guess, she sort of went back to being how she was.. I guess. Honestly, I think this show could have used one more episode just to kind of show us the neat tie-up of all the characters. But I imagine there will be a special or BD to do this. Or another season. Whoof.
Also, that Dekomori cleans up out of her delusion nicely.
Title: Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai!
Sub Group I Watched: gg
Episodes: 12
Rating (1-10): 7
Favorite Character: Kumin Tsuyuri
Least Favorite Character: Makoto Isshiki
SHIPPING: Kumin x Nibutani
Favorite Chuunibyou: Sanae Dekomori
Second Season? Considering the strong response and KyoAni’s reputation for keeping strong responses going, it’s fair to assume this won’t be the last of the Chuunibyou…
I had my doubts that this new Hayate no Gotoku season was going to be anything worth remembering from the first few episodes, but fuck man, the last 3-4 episodes really pushed into what made the first season so much fun to watch, and even if the crazy mystical supernatural shit in my slice-of-life comedy seems out of place, damned if it wasn’t fun. The whole story of the Black Camilla, Nagi’s parents, and Ruri, all gelled together by the end and made for a rather fun presentation. Regrettably, there was not enough Maria to satisfy my need for Maria, but her sly English in the last episode was enough for me. Also Isumi, this rendition of her is quite badass, though she’ll always be the “lost child” to me.
I mentioned on Twitter awhile back about the English they used in the show being very “broken”, and why a show with a moderate budget being done by a top-tier studio with a primarily American setting of Las Vegas couldn’t spring for either some real English speakers, or simply better English. It seems as each new episode came out, the dialogue got much better. So props to them. I understand they don’t need to spring for perfect English, the Japanese do not give a shit, but if I were to make a cartoon with a character that speaks Japanese, or visits Japan, I would want it to sound right. I guess that’s just out of respect.
Title: Hayate no Gotoku: I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
Sub Group I Watched: Horrible
Episodes: 12
Rating (1-10): 8
Favorite Character: Maria
Least Favorite Character: Ruri Tsugumi
THIS WILL BE MY YEAR: DON’T LOOK DOWN…
Shin and Yukariko Does anyone else think we need a season of just these two?
Another season? …and let this franchise’s anime run end? I certainly hope not.
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun will be next on the docket soon, followed by CODE:BREAKER and Girls und Panzer. Everything else continues into the next season.
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