中二病でも恋がしたい！/ Chu-2 byo demo KOI ga shitai!
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! OVA anime review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Things have pretty much returned to “normal” for Yuuta and the Oriental Magic Napping Society in Summer club. Makoto wonders if Yuuta is doing anything special with Rikka for Christmas, but Yuuta doesn’t have an answer. Rikka consults with Nibutani, going back and forth on whether she wants to do something special with Yuuta or not. Nibutani is thinking of an idea when Makoto suggests a club Christmas party. Nanase-sensei tells them the school is closed on the 24th, so they can’t use their club room. Yuuta’s place is out, as is Rikka’s. Nibutani doesn’t want to go to Makoto’s place, so Sanae steps up to the plate to offer her home as the site for the party. Rikka says it is a fortress, and when Christmas eve comes, the club members discover just how rich Sanae truly is.

Sanae greets them in her special Christmas dress and Rikka quickly changes into hers. The two race off, leaving the others to be dazzled by the awesomeness of the mansion and its foods. Kumin dons a female Santa outfit before crashing on the sofa. Nibutani shows up, dressed as the sorceress Mori Summers, and she’s not happy about it since this was forced on her. She goes to try to find her real clothes as Rikka shows up in traditional gym clothing for girls, having done this on the advice of Nibutani. As Nibutani tries to get Sanae to reveal where her real clothing is hidden, Yuuta demands Nibutani explain herself over Rikka’s clothing, which she does. The club then play a round of Daihinmin, where Nibutani’s luck doesn’t get better with the cards. Yuuta notices Rika is missing, so he goes to find her. She is drunk, thanks to the alcohol chocolate cake served at the party.

Because Sanae has also been scarfing the cake, she’s drunk and attacks Yuuta for not paying enough attention to Rikka. Rikka tries to defend him, but fails. This then turns into a chuunibyou moment where the two then both attack the Dark Flame Master. Nibutani takes Rikka to a side room to lay on a couch and to apologize since her plan to get Rikka and Yuuta alone together failed. Yuuta comes in, offering to take Rikka home, so he does, Nibutani preventing Sanae from interfering. Rikka and Yuuta ride the train, giving Yuuta a chance to ask Rikka if she’s up for a riverboat cruise. She is, so the two enjoy time on the riverboat. Their romantic moment is interrupted by the boat’s loud horn. The other club members reveal themselves as Rikka starts to slip. Yuuta catches her, but at the same time, Sanae slips and ends up locking lips with Nibutani, causing neither to be happy about it. Yuuta comes home with Rikka, and Rikka makes a Santa visit down the rope to Yuuta’s room.

Thoughts/Review:

Ah, Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! How I have missed you. I was reminded of how I’d not watched this OVA when I reached my review of the first series during my project to correct all of the errant images and other formatting issues resulting from my move from Blogger. (As I write this, I have fixed some 330+ posts with about 2600 more to go.)

While I had no problem with Yuuta and Rikka still being a bit awkward around each other for the OVA, I’m rather hoping that element doesn’t last in the second series that just now coming out. At the end of the OVA, Rikka looks pretty confident, as does Yuuta, no doubt because they’ve come to an understanding about not rushing things romantically.

(As an aside, Rikka looked pretty cute in her Santa gear.)

(So did Kumin.)

I’m glad we got to see Sanae’s place in all its glory for the OVA. We’d gotten a taste of her ojousama lifestyle in the first series, but to then see it for real made me smile a lot for some reason. (Maybe it was because I couldn’t help but think of another blonde girl from Hayate the Combat Butler who used to live in such a mansion.)  I was a little disappointed there wasn’t a scene of various staff members addressing Sanae as “ojousama”, but oh well.

Rikka and Sanae getting drunk may be a cliched thing to do, but I still enjoyed it. The chuunibyou battle they had against Yuuta wasn’t as cool looking as the ones in the first series had been. However, it wasn’t enough to make me dislike it or anything.

I absolutely loved how Sanae somehow got Nibutani into the Mori Summers outfit.  Nibutani and Sanae are really like sisters. They fight all the time, but as this episode reminds us, they do care about each other. Their accidental kiss at the end of the episode was pretty funny as well. ^_^

Kumin didn’t get much air time and Makoto only got a small amount more. Well, they are really only supporting characters, but I kinda hope the new series does something more with them.

Finally, I’m glad Yuuta and Rikka got their date. I was surprised by the use of the riverboat (or to be more precise, a paddle steamer ship).  While I grew up in the South (U.S.) with these as part of our Southern heritage, they aren’t something one usually associates with Japan. (Update: I believe this is the Michigan, which cruises Lake Biwa in Japan.) I think the only other time I’ve seen one used as a setting was in the Negima! manga.  Still, it was a very cool place for Yuuta’s and Rikka’s date, even if they didn’t get to kiss.

I’m glad the series is back, and I’m sorry I waited so long to watch Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! OVA. However, by saving it until now, it made for the perfect appetizer to go into the second series with.