Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions

Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai!
Cover of Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! light novel volume 1
中二病でも恋がしたい!
Genre	Romantic comedy
Light novel
Written by	Torako
Illustrated by	Nozomi Ōsaka
Published by	Kyoto Animation
Original run	May 15, 2011 – December 19, 2011
Volumes	2
Original net animation
Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! Lite
Directed by	Tatsuya Ishihara
Written by	Jukki Hanada
Music by	Nijine
Studio	Kyoto Animation
Released	September 27, 2012 – November 1, 2012
Runtime	6 minutes
Episodes	6
Anime television series
Directed by	Tatsuya Ishihara
Written by	Jukki Hanada
Music by	Nijine
Studio	Kyoto Animation
Licensed by	AUS: Madman Entertainment NA: Sentai Filmworks
Original network	Tokyo MX, Sun TV, KBS, TV Aichi
Original run	October 4, 2012 – present
Episodes	12
Original video animation
Directed by	Tatsuya Ishihara
Studio	Kyoto Animation
Released	June 19, 2013
Runtime	24 minutes

Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! (中二病でも恋がしたい!, Even People with Adolescent Delusions of Grandeur Want To Experience Love!), also known as Chu-2 for short, is a Japanese light novel series written by Torako, with illustrations provided by Nozomi Ōsaka. The work won an honorable mention in the Kyoto Animation Award competition in 2010, leading the company to assume its publication and release two volumes in 2011. A 12-episode anime adaptation by Kyoto Animation began airing on October 4, 2012, with six six-minute Lite episodes streamed on YouTube. The anime is licensed by Sentai Filmworks for release in North America as Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions.

Plot

Yūta Togashi is a boy who, during junior high school, had 'adolescent delusions' (中二病, chūnibyō, lit. "junior high school second grade illness"), believing that he possesses supernatural powers and dubbing himself the 'Dark Flame Master,' therefore alienating himself from his classmates. Finding his past embarrassing, Yūta attempts to start off high school where he does not know anyone, free from his old delusions. This proves to be difficult, however, as a delusional girl in his class, Rikka Takanashi, learns of Yūta's past and becomes interested in him.

As the plot progreses Rikka becomes more attached to Yūta, who despite finding her delusions irritating and embarrassing, accepts her. He helps Rikka with a number of things, including founding and maintaining her club and tutoring her. When he joins her on her summer vacation, Yūta learns that when Rikka was very young her father, whom she was very close to, died unexpectedly due to a terminal illness, causing her to fall into her delusions. After Yūta agrees to help Rikka search for the 'eternal horizon' (which she believes will lead her to her father) she becomes romantically interested in him and vice versa.

Characters

Yūta Togashi (富樫 勇太, Togashi Yūta)

Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama

Yūta is the male protagonist of the story, a high-school freshman who used to be delusional, believing himself to be the "Dark Flame Master" and becoming alienated from everyone as a result. Finding this to be embarrassing, he attempts to erase this past from existence, even choosing to go to a separate high school from all of his junior-high-school classmates. However, after encountering Rikka, his past delusions come back to haunt him.

Rikka Takanashi (小鳥遊 六花, Takanashi Rikka)

Voiced by: Maaya Uchida

Rikka is the female protagonist of the story, a girl in the same class as Yūta who moved in with her older sister who lives above Yūta's apartment. She is an intensely delusional girl who believes herself to possess a "Wicked Eye" (邪王真眼, Jaō Shingan, lit. True Eye of the Evil King) and as such always wears a medical eye patch and bandages around her left arm, though she has no injuries. Despite being quite attached to Yūta, she is cautious of strangers and adopts a battle pose whenever she meets someone for the first time. Her fantasy weapon of choice is a frilly parasol which she wields as a sword. For her delusional operations she often dresses in a mostly-black gothic dress and hose. She is also rather clumsy, often tripping over and forgetting things.

Satone Shichimiya (七宫 音智, Shichimiya Satone)

Satone is Yūta's childhood friend who appears in the second volume of the novels. She understood from a young age, as Yūta said, that they were soul mates, but she had to move to another school without saying goodbye. She suffers from delusions and believes she has a magical ring called "Saturn VII"; she calls herself "Sophia Ring SP Saturn VII".

Shinka Nibutani (丹生谷 森夏, Nibutani Shinka)

Voiced by: Chinatsu Akasaki

Shinka is Yūta's classmate and class representative, who is also a cheerleader. One of the most popular girls in the class due to her looks, she is generally thought of a kind and gentle girl. The truth, however is that, much like Yūta, she was also a delusional teen who called herself Mori Summer and has also chosen a different high school from her previous classmates to escape her past. When she learns Sanae is in possession of the last evidence of her delusional phase, Shinka joins Rikka's school club in order to try and retrieve it. When out of the public eye, Shinka shows her true nature to be bit more bitter and easily irritable, particularly when dealing with Sanae.

Kazari Kannagi (巫部风铃, Kannagi Kazari)

Original character of the novel. A classmate of Yuta and she was in second place in the ranking of the most beautiful girls in his school.

Kumin Tsuyuri (五月七日 くみん, Tsuyuri Kumin)

Voiced by: Azumi Asakura

An anime original character, Kumin is a carefree girl who is a year above Yūta and the others. She loves sleeping, often carrying around a pillow with her wherever she goes. Having been homeschooled before high school, she is very sheltered and conservative, lending her an old-fashioned ladylike demeanor which Makoto finds attractive. Her own "Nap Club" is integrated into Rikka's social group for lack of members. Out of respect for Rikka and Sanae, she earnestly attempts to understand their delusional fantasies. She is also quite fond of cats.

Sanae Dekomori (凸守 早苗, Dekomori Sanae)

Voiced by: Sumire Uesaka

An anime original character, Sanae is an 8th-year student who has very long blonde pigtails that often prove to be more of a hindrance than a help. Like Rikka, she is extremely delusional and often indulges in fantasy with her. However, unlike Rikka, she is a superb student who is at the top of her class and has already completed the entire junior-high mathematics curriculum. She owns several copies of the magic-spells book which is the remaining evidence of Shinka's delusional days. She is often at odds with Shinka, who she doesn't believe to be the real Mori Summer. She often ends her sentences with 'desu', emphasising it to make it sound more like 'death'.

Makoto Isshiki (一色 誠, Isshiki Makoto)

Voiced by: Sōichirō Hoshi

Makoto is Yūta's classmate who sits behind him and often analyzes the other girls in the class. He joins the Light Music Club so he could be with girls and attract their attention by carrying about his guitar, though he does not seem to have learned how to play it. Fond of his thick hair after being forced to wear it short for sports activities for the last three years, he is forced to have his head shaved once more when his notebook containing the "Cutie Poll" of the girls in his class is discovered. In the anime, he gets a crush on Kumin.

Kuzuha Togashi (富樫 樟葉, Togashi Kuzuha)

Voiced by: Kaori Fukuhara

An anime original character, Kuzuha is Yūta's younger sister who is in the first year of junior high school.

Yumeha Togashi (富樫 夢葉, Togashi Yumeha)

Voiced by: Mami Shitara

Yumeha is Yūta's youngest sister, aged five. She finds Yūta's prior fantasy antics intriguing, often refers to them as "cool" and admires or idolizes Rikka.

Nanase Tsukumo (九十九 七瀬, Tsukumo Nanase)

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue

Yūta and Rikka's homeroom teacher, who is often kind, if sometimes a little sadistic in teasing her students, particularly Rikka. She is called Nana-chan by Yūta and Rikka.

Tōka Takanashi (小鳥遊 十花, Takanashi Tōka)

Voiced by: Eri Sendai

An anime original character, Tōka is Rikka's older sister who supports her by working as a chef at a fine restaurant. She often has to put up with her younger sister's delusional antics, often punishing her by whacking her with a ladle-- which, in her delusions, Rikka sees as an extra-large and dangerous weapon. She is also seen to be extremely acrobatic and flexible, which she attributes to being a rhythmic gymnast when she herself was in high school. Rikka depicts her sister as a high priestess of evil and accuses Tōka of restraining her from her quest to reach the "Ethereal Horizon".

Media

Light novels

Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! began as a light novel series written by Torako, with illustrations by Nozomi Ōsaka. Torako entered the first novel in the series into the first Kyoto Animation Award contest in 2010, and it won an honorable mention in the novel category. The studio later published the first volume on May 15, 2011, and a second volume was released on December 19, 2011.

Anime

A 12-episode anime television series adaptation, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and produced by Kyoto Animation, began airing in Japan on October 4, 2012. Prior to airing, a series of six original net animation shorts titled Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! Lite were streamed on YouTube between September 27 and November 1, 2012. The television series will be released on six BD/DVD compilation volumes between December 19, 2012 and May 15, 2013. The volumes will also contain bonus shorts titled Depth of Field: Ai to Nikushimi Gekijō (Depth of Field ～ 愛と憎しみ劇場, Depth of Field: Love and Hate Theater). A seventh volume, containing an original video animation episode and the Lite shorts, will be released on June 19, 2013. The series has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and the series will be streamed on The Anime Network.

The opening theme is "Sparkling Daydream" by Zaq, and the ending theme is "Inside Identity" by Black Raison d'etre consisting of Maaya Uchida, Chinatsu Akasaki, Azumi Asakura and Sumire Uesaka. The single for "Sparkling Daydream" was released on October 24, 2012 and the single for "Inside Identity" on November 21, 2012. For the Lite episodes, the opening theme is "Kimi e" (君へ, To You) and the ending theme is "Shikkoku ni Odoru Kodaku Haō Bushi" (漆黒に踊る孤濁覇王節, Pitch Black Dance in the Wicked Eye Section); both are sung by Zaq.

Episode list

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No.	Title	Original airdate

Lite episodes

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No.	Title	Original airdate

External links

• Light novel official website Template:Ja icon
• Anime official website Template:Ja icon
• Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia