Chuunibyou Demo Koi ga Shitai / First Impressions

「幻想の…昼寝迷宮（シエスタラビリンス）」 (Gensou no… Hirune Nuikyou (Siesuta Rabirinsu))
“The Illusive… Siesta Labyrinth”

Since the start of the second season, I’ve felt bad for Kumin and Isshiki. It felt like they were relegated into the obscure space of bad jokes and running gags! But in typical Kyoani fashion they gave us an amazing episode that focused on our favorite napping senpai.

Yes, napping competitions are real.

The moment someone mentioned an official napping competition held in Spain called a “Siesta Championship”, I was really to call bullshit. But lo and behold, a quick google search leads to pages from both Discovery and the BBC that documented the event. While the judging criteria had a slightly different ring to it in English — more specifically the “Napping Posture” part was actually stated as “Most original napping position”, I’m still in awe that there was a real competition with a real prize of 1,000 Euros for someone who could essentially out sleep his competition.

Kumin-senpai, when did you become so cool?

In a show that has “chuunibyou” in its title, being the normal person usually doesn’t work in your favor. With everyone vanishing reality with awesome CG filled fight scenes and couples like Rikka and Yuuta or Dekomori and Nibutani stealing any of the spotlight that’s left, there’s been very little room for Kumin to do much besides nap.

Don’t get me wrong though, I know that she has the potential to be one of those sleeper characters who do something amazing when you least expect it. Which is precisely why I was shocked (in a good way) when Kumin snatched the opportunity to blow us away in a fashion that only she could do. Unhindered by a past filled with embarrassing memories and drawing upon the passion for the friendships of those around her, I felt shivers go up my back as I watched her obliterate the one person who was standing in between her and her precious Far Eastern Magic Nap Society of Summer.

Other Little Thoughts

I thought it was brilliant how Kumin and the others used the one thing they had going for them to beat an expertly trained team of nappers — their chuunibyou skills. Not only is the idea of shared dreams theoretically possible but what better place is there for someone to unleash their chuunibyou then in a dream? As cliché as it may have been, I just loved how what happened in the battle affected everyone in real life. I’m not sure what it was, but watching the effects of the dream world materialize in the real one just felt so right.

After bringing back a character that I thought was long gone, I have to applaud Kyoani for doing the impossible. And while I’d love to see Isshiki get some love, I don’t see it happening anytime soon. If anything, I’m really hoping we get to see more of Sophia / Shichimiya soon. Not only does she seem to like randomly appearing but that extra dynamic she brings to the table (*cough* deredere Rikka *cough*) is something I would love to see more of.

 

34 Comments

  4. Not as good as last week, but the scene of all of them practicing napping in the club room was hilarious, especially Dekomori (again) getting caught by Morisummer worrying Rikka might be doing the naughty. That and Rikka getting nailed with the elastic and pulling out Yuuta’s speech as though she found the Holy Grail.

    Also calling it now, Rikka and Shichimiya are going to be sharing more girl-girl moments in the future. Eskimo kissing? Pft, that’s just foreplay. They have Yuuta’s Black Dragon yet to tame.

    Pancakes
    Reply

  7. “NIII HAHAHAHAHAAAAA” -Shichimiya (Sophia) I just had to do that real quick.

    I swear It’s not the same without Isshiki’s fawning for Kumin. He was Yamcha’d times 10 in this season lol. Great episode regardless. It looks like they decided to focus more on the comedy this season. Still too early to say for sure, but that’s how it seems for now.

    swordhack4
    Reply

  9. I’m a bit disappointed about Rikka’s character development though. She’s been a bit of a spoiled brat recently. I guess that’s where Shichimiya comes in. Get it together Rikka!

    Hireyuki
    Reply

  11. Angel Kumin, Flight Attendant Nibutani, Alice in Wonderland Rabbit Nibutani.
    So many delicious wonderful outfits.

    Jealous Rikka, Serious Kumin, Teasing Satone. I want more of these.

    Mai Nakahara’s appearance in Chu2 was completely unexpected, but as usual she’s the strongest character with the most impact. (Nagisa in Clannad, Rena in Higurashi, Teru in Saki, Nanami in Katanagatari.)

    Wasn’t Nibutani’s goal to shut down the club to begin with?
    She seems really hung up on being able to see Dekomori day after day, despite every single one of her complaints. Even Kumin is confused.

    Giorno Giovanna
    Reply

  13. Dekomori should have been the one to defend the club – it’s precisely her gross stupidity that placed the society in a position where they have no defenders on the Council after all.

    Andmeuths
    Reply

  15. All students have been doing the Siesta Competition since time immemorial. The biggest criteria has always been the most creative way to sleep undetected. Getting caught is instant disqualification.

    Ginobi47
    Reply

  16. Okay.

    Hands down my all time FAVORITE EPISODE YET.

    Kumin was severely overdue for an episode driven by her, and this served in spades! They had a Napping Society since Season 1 and only NOW do we get an episode that actually concerns napping?!? A battle with another school in the form of A NAP-OFF. …. ….WHY do no American comedies ever take advantage of this hilarious story!?? It’s so ironic yet makes TOTALY sense with the right characters, and Kumin coaching everyone to be the best sleepers ever is Comedy Gold. Bravo. Bravo all around! I was laughing SO hard! Kumin, you shall be in my dreams tonight.

    starss
    Reply

  19. The Far Eastern Magical Nap Society of Summer have gotten so used to seeing Nibutani cosplaying in all sorts of costumes for her Theatre Club that they no longer bothered to comment on it anymore.

    The FEMNSS is also surprisingly united in their collective ignorance of Isshiki, now more or less the official laughing stock of the series since his humiliation in the Student Council election last week. XD

    Is it only fitting that Kumin’s rival Sui is voiced by Nakahara Mai, known for voicing dreamy and klutzy characters?

    echykr
    Reply

  20. I absolutely love the liberties KyoAni takes in their “filler?” episodes. I say filler but I can’t help but argue against it being one with the development we got from Kumin, her feelings and role in the club.

    Anyways, I can’t help but truly enjoy and take great entertainment from how KyoAni takes usual anime climaxes and just inserts them into their shows. Kumin acting like the MC and unleashing an ultimate ability to take out the enemy, thus saving the club from disbandment? Did that scene not remind everyone of typical battle anime climaxes? Overall the flair, cleverness, and fun of the vanishment event was pure genius and absolutely entertaining. “Disqualified!” lmao

    My other example would be episode 6 of Kyoukai no Kanata, which ends up being a more obvious filler. I think a lot of people didn’t enjoy the episode, as it was a filler, but from the start I had accepted it to be a filler and watched it as a parody. A parody of idol animes! It was ridiculously over the top, and the song and dance at the end was played out like a whole season of idol-practice had boiled down to that one moment.. “We can do this…. Because we’re Idols!”

    Point is, KyoAni may not be a plot genius with heavy and amazing stories. But they do pull off a different kind of entertainment in their pacing, comedic timing, character antics and interactions, and just plainly being fun. There are exceptions of course…

    Rigelin
    Reply

  21. o.O

    I’m surprised so many people like Kumin-senpai. I’ve always found her to be a rather pointless character,even in S1. She’s just cute and…nope,I can’t think of anything else. At least Isshiki had some funny moments in S1 so tbh,I’d rather see more of him but we’re already at ep5 so I’d rather they don’t waste another episode on him too,everyone else is much more entertaining.

    But anyway,I assume we’re mostly done with Kumin for this season and boy,am I glad for that.

    MgMaster
    Reply

  22. yuuta seems so careless letting shichimiya does her old habit while her girlfriend is watching them if i were his girlfriend (who doesn’t have chuunibyo) i would mad at him lol. can’t blame him since they’re bestfriend and seem to had feelings to each other, though.

    but yeah,

    “shunjinko”

    Shiro
    Reply

  24. Won’t be getting any votes for saying this, but Shinka and Yuuta are pretty much almost on the same wavelength. That’s probably as far as it goes though, since it’s pretty fun watching the relationship dynamics between Yuuta and Rikka. Shinka’s little displays of her character are what makes her my favorite female character in the series, though.

    And Kumin is just epic this episode. Love it how the spotlight was given to a character that might seem redundant to others. She is part of the society after all, and has been having a little more time in the Vanishment World (or whatever you call it) thingy. For her male counterpart…Despite not having a big part, Isshiki never fails to bring a smile to my face whenever he appears. Ahh…the gag character!

    Simply put, instead of focusing on the negatives that pop up whenever I see something, it’s probably better to focus on the positives (while not denying the negative parts) and enjoy the ride.

    Owaranai
    Reply

  25. Just gonna throw in my honest thought here.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    I like Rikka’s reaction the most from this episode, one from NTR and one from yuri.

    Enigma
    Reply

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