中二病でも恋がしたい！戀/ Chu-2 byo demo KOI ga shitai! Ren 13
Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai! Ren 13 anime review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Rikka sees Makoto hand a flash drive to Yuuta, so she consults with Nibutani, Sanae, and Kumin about this. When Yuuta comes to the club room, he is tied to a locker and Nanase-sensei is there with her laptop. Rikka is determined to see the contents of the flash drive, but Nibutani stops her, figuring that it might by typical guy materials. Sanae realizes what Nibutani is driving at and tries to explain to Rikka, but fails, resulting in her arguing with Nibutani because Sanae used the English word “primitive.” Rikka has heard enough and plugs in the flash drive, where it is revealed to be a collection of photos from a now retired idol that Yuuta had been a fan of.

Nibutani, Kumin, and Sanae are relieved it wasn’t porn, but Rikka is angry that Yuuta was secretly getting photos of another woman. She wants to destroy the drive, but when Yuuta reminds her it isn’t his, she demands he give it back to Makoto immediately. He wants to wait until tomorrow, but when Nibutani points out that he wouldn’t like it if Rikka was looking at pictures of other guys, Yuuta relents. Makoto is shocked, but seeing Rikka and the girls in the club window, he realizes what’s up and sneaks it back into Yuuta’s pocket. That night, Yuuta looks at the contents, not believing that girls feel the same way as guys when it comes to looking at photos of the opposite sex.

Rikka pays a visit to Satone, where Satone does remember this idol Yuuta had a crush on. Satone figures that as a guy, Yuuta has some porn around, but Rikka finds this collection of idol photos worse since Yuuta had a crush on the idol. That night, Rikka checks Yuuta’s PC after he’s asleep, but finds nothing bad. She remembers what her sister Touka told her regarding where Yuuta kept his precious stash hidden, so she checks it out. She finds the flash drive and takes it to her room, where she confirms it is the idol photos. When she hears Yuuta get up and come to her room, she panics and gets into bed, pretending to be asleep. The next morning, Yuuta wakes her, where she discovers she’s destroyed the flash drive. It doesn’t take Yuuta long to make the discovery.

Yuuta and Rikka aren’t speaking at school and this gets widely noticed. Kumin talks Nibutani into helping them, so she mediates between the two, telling Yuuta that he lied first in that he said he’d return the flash drive but instead took it home. Yuuta rejects the notion that he lied, leading to the two of them arguing. Sanae jumps in, stating that the only way they will get through to Yuuta is through magic. Rikka and Sanae enter their chuunibyou fantasy state, but Yuuta refuses to go along with the fantasy. Seeing they are getting no where, the two stop, after which Yuuta says he’ll forgive Rikka is she apologizes. This infuriates Rikka to no end, so she, Kumin, Sanae, and Nibutani all pay Satone a visit.

The girls spy on Yuuta via a camera, thanks to his little sister. When she shows him Rikka’s note saying she won’t return until she gets an apology, Yuuta blows it off and says not to prepare anything Rikka, which distresses her. Nibutani is upset that Yuuta isn’t concerned about his girlfriend being out so late, but Satone reminds her that Rikka often used to roam about in the middle of the night. Rikka doesn’t know what to do, but the girls see on the monitor that Yuuta has brought out some onigiri and other food stuff as well as a note. Kumin encourages Rikka to see Yuuta, even if it means they fight as she thinks something good will come of it. Rikka comes down a rope and is caught by Yuuta. She apologizes and he concedes he feels guilty for breaking their promise. They make up and the following day, Kumin, Sanae, and Nibutani find them sleeping back to back in the club room.

Thoughts/Review:

I didn’t realize how much I miss this series until I watched this episode.

Rikka’s and Yuuta’s vanilla romance is just such a joy to watch. For this story, clearly Yuuta was at fault for lying to Rikka and keeping the flash drive of photos of the idol he had a crush on. He was too blind to see that Rikka would get jealous by this. After all, Yuuta is looking longingly at another women, but he doesn’t see anything wrong with it, even though he wouldn’t want Rikka doing the same in reverse.

Rikka shouldn’t have been snooping and taken the flash drive that she later broke, but Yuuta still started the mess.

Still, it was fun (in a cute way) seeing Rikka get jealous and angry. She’s still struggling with these more adult feelings she now has. I’m glad she has such a strong support group there for her.

Rikka gave me the biggest laugh, attempting to describe the pain she was feeling in her heart that resulted in her opening Satone’s window and screaming into the night.

I enjoyed seeing how Nibutani took the lead in trying to repair the breach between Yuuta and Rikka. In addition to serving as comic relief with her sisterly bickering with Sanae, Nibutani serves to help Rikka and Yuuta make progress on their relationship. Well, that’s what makes her so loveable as a character.

The writers managed to work in everyone, including the oft forgotten Nanase-sensei. Since this is likely the last ever anime for this series, I’m glad everyone got in, including Touka, who was seen in a flashback.

In the end, this final trip into the Chuunibyou world was quite fun, cute, and sweet as the vanilla romance between Yuuta and Rikka continues. I am sad that there will be no more new trips into this world, only old trips to enjoy the fun again.