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「すれ違いの…心模様(ヴォルケーノ・トライアングル)」 (Sorechigai no… Kokoro Moyou (Vorukeeno Toraianguru))
“Volcano Triangle (Passing… Heart Pattern)”
Boy, oh boy. With things going this well, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rikka and Yuuta ended up in bed for real soon.
KyoAni does a great job telling stories. Especially love stories.
For someone who’s starting their first relationship, I can totally understand just how stressful it might be. You have the prying eyes of all your friends (close or not) constantly staring at you, there’s dirty vultures out there just waiting for a chance to strike, and don’t even get me started how the difficulty of maintaining a relationship just gets exponentially harder if there’s any type of chuunibyou involved.
But for those of you who haven’t went through the pains of dealing with all these different things, KyoAni is doing a great job at fleshing out all these different points. With last week’s episode covering the first point, this week’s somehow managed to hit on the last two all while wrapping up a few loose ends that somehow put everyone’s tension at ease.
And after all of that, there was one question that was left on my mind — can you really maintain or even have a relationship while still believing in your fantasies? If there was one thing that Sophia made clear, it was that she chose to relinquish her feelings for Yuuta in order to preserve her day-to-day life. She chose to be Magical Devil Girl Sophia Ring S.P. Saturn VII instead of plain old Shichimiya. And after putting some more thought into it, I think that she knew full and well that letting her emotions get the better of her could ruin the relationship between herself and Yuuta. Something that she was not willing to risk.
Getting back to the question I asked earlier, I think that it’s totally possible. With a more mature Yuuta who is doing his best to see things from Rikka’s point of view, a supportive group of friends who are standing right beside them both, and a girl like Sophia whose words have become the catalyst to get Rikka to move; I think what we’re going to see is that Yuuta and Rikka are going to overcome the boundaries that both chuunibyou and relationships bring. Hopefully.
Nibutani, #1 Wingman & Tomodachi.
Following up after her stellar job last week, Nibutani once again gets the award for being a damn good friend and relationship counselor. Being in all the right places at all the right times, she caught Rikka before she could go and do anything stupid all while giving Yuuta some well deserved flack for failing as a boyfriend. God, Nibutani’s awesome.
Looking toward the future.
After two great episodes in a row, I don’t know how KyoAni is going to keep this up — is what I’d like to say. But seeing how this is the famed studio that has produced more than enough titles that have wrecked havoc on my emotions repeatedly, I have great faith in their ability to keep things going. Until next week!
Random Thoughts
- I wonder who this new Morisummer is supposed to be. God wouldn’t it be awkward if it was Kumin-senpai? Or maybe it’s that stalker we’ve seen!
- WE BETTER FIND OUT WHAT THAT ARCADE TOKEN IS ALL ABOUT!
- I wonder who’s in that picture in Yuuta’s notebook. Maybe it’s Sophia and Him.. holding that token..
- Dat photobomb.
- Even though it was her own decision, I still feel bad for Sophia. ;_;
If Rikka was not here, then I would support Sophia wholeheartedly. She is such a good girl. ;_;
You and me both, you and me both.
(Maybe Nibutani too)
Not that I like harems, but I always wondered why Nibutani never got interested in Yuuta. She was one heck of a romantic false lead in season one. Match made in heaven.
<3 Shichimiya. I'd love to know someone like that XD
So Shichimiya chose Chuni over Yuuta? That makes no sense to me. You’ve got to grow up at some point. What is KyoAni aiming here? Is Yuuta just avoiding the the elephant in the room and turn the tables on Rikka and push to get her to relinquish Chuni, or are we just going for what looks like “You can’t have love and creativity if you want to be in tap with reality and a functioning human being,” thus Yuuta must turn back into a Chuni in order to make this work?
When did anime have to make sense? I’m fine with it no matter how crazy it gets, but this is a seriously small aspect to nitpick in comparison with the hordes of even crazier anime out there.
The way I took it is that during Middle School (which is already tough enough for couples to begin with) she didn’t want to make a big change in her life. So instead of confronting her feelings, she just kept things the way they were.
(That’s up to interpretation though. Power of animu wahoo)
I’m not disagreeing with you. That’s what happened… I guess. But it’s all a head-scratcher to me (Which, for some reason expressing a critical opinion is not appreciated here). All of our Chuni patients aren’t really chuni patients, they’re just leftovers from 8th grade used to deal with some sort of problem that requires them to grow up out of in some way, shape, or form. Rikka chose chuni to deal with her dad’s passing away and her family issues, but she came to terms with her Dad and for all intents and purposes has no need for it, especially as we see how hard it is for Yuuta to communicate and relate to her.
Dekomori supposedly has to deal with the immense weight her family name and expectations has, but she has a great crop of friends who would help her shoulder that weight and hang with her… Though she antagonizes the one person who could help her the most in those situations due to her chuni.
Shichimiya came to realize that she was growing out of her Chuni Delusions with Dark Flame Master and would have a real world friendship with Yuuta, but forced herself back into a chuni patient and didn’t grow up.
I don’t understand this. What’s KyoAni getting at? Is the ultimate aim here to get Yuuta to permanently revert back to Dark Flame Master to get along with Tyrant’s eye? We can’t have love and creativity if you want to grow up and become a functioning member of society? Because in some way I feel that this is the direction we are getting. In my opinion, either the opposite direction should have been taken and Yuuta/Nibutani try to get Rikka and Deko to graduate from Chuni, or there shouldn’t have been a second season to begin with. Maybe that’s an unpopular opinion, but I don’t really care.
Why is there always the need for an “aim” to exist, especially in slice of life shows? I doubt KyoAni is trying to reshape the anime or the entertainment industry with its story and direction of Chu2koi. Rikka might have had a reason to get into chuuni; it was an escape route for her. But, as Cumin herself said in season 1, chuuni is basically fun for them. There might be reasons for someone to slip into it or keep playing along but in the end, the fun factor is what keeps them acting like that. So, in the end, you don’t need a specific reason to go chuuni mode, as long as you have fun. Same with slice of life shows: you don’t need a specific reason or look forward to a specific milestone in order to sit down and watch them; as long as you have fun with every episode watching the every day antics, that’s good enough!
For starters, this isn’t just a slice of life. It may be a sub-genre, but it’s also a drama, Romance, and School drama. This show has too much story to be a pure slice-of-life. So there’s that point.
Second: Every story has a direction it takes. You have to go from start to finish. You usually have a direction that the show takes to its conclusion. SO, my question is this- what is the direction that this show is going? We’re at a critical moment in the lives of everyone, the point where they take their first steps from childhood to adulthood. There’s a time and place for everything. So is Yuuta going to have to return to Dark Flame Master in order to finally advance his relationship with Rikka? Is it ok to just play around like this and have fun while shirking the many important tasks at hand in their educations, which plays a heavy role in transferring to adulthood? Or is Rikka going to graduate from her Chunibiyo, as it really serves no purpose in her life and is only frustrating Yuuta?
Nothing is definite, but Rikka is doing all the tugging on Yuuta to drag him back to Dark Flame Master, while Yuuta is confused as to how to address the situation. I feel based off of last season that the direction that should have been taken with this season would be the advancement from childhood to mature friendships/relationships. But all we are getting here is slow development and maintaining the status quo when things can get interesting (Nibutani for Prez still annoys me).
you know you a good episode where you both get annoyed at the circumstances and then is brought overall joy
The classmates are all strangely accepting of the chuunibyou kids, its kinda weird.
Yeah, kids like this in real life would be put under some serious bullying.
key is to look natural while doing unnatural things… makes it 100% more natural
Well, maybe or maybe not in Japan. I wouldn’t say these otaku culture things are fully appreciated even in Japan, but certainly accepted better than any other countries in the world.
Most of Japan hates otaku culture and otaku are heavily made fun of. It is NOT in any way shape or form the norm in society. It’s still a very niche activity thought of as creepy and weird.
I really like this episode. I really how Shichimiya respect Yuuta and Rikka relationship. I get the feeling what Shichimiya didn’t want to change it’s probably mostly her relationship with Yuuta and didn’t want to ruin their friendship because it probably more important having a friendship than ruin it by trying to have a relationship that won’t happen then and now. She is mature even with her Chuuni. Great character 🙂
I get the feeling who made the NEW Mori Summer Website is obviously the Stalker Girl the past few episodes. it make sense because why would she be following Dekomori and Nibutani. And i get this feeling that she is doing this more because of Dekomori. Who else have a freaking thing for Mori Summer other than Dekomori.
Also, the subtext with this episode between Dekomori and Nibutani. Dekomori basically announce that she thought Nibutani would called because she missed her and wanted to know how she is doing <3 If this isn't subtext what isn't
So, my guess that their be actual story development with Dekomori and Nibutani (probably why they did what they did in episode 4 to build up later episodes hmmmm)
Yeah, that was adorable. I’m surprised no one else mentioned this – I was wondering if I was the only one with functioning yuri goggles.
Presumably, everyone else forgot to take theirs off before watching Sakura Trick and burnt them out.
I really want to know what the point of this season is going to be. So far we have had some excellent buildup in the relationship between Yuuta and Rikka, but nothing more. SoL is all good and great, but the first season improved on this by having Rikka in effect find herself. It cannot be denied, this season so far hasn’t tried to push beyond (re)developing Yuuta’s and Rikka’s relationship which was largely perfected at the end of the first cour.
Hand Holding, Dealing with feelings in public, pecks on the cheek, dealing with jealously and mistakes — I think they’ve covered a lot so far 😮
Not all shows need to have a clear goal to reach or a point in their respective seasons. Not all shows need to “marry the couple”, “save the world from aliens” or “find the Holy Spring”. And even those that need to have such a goal, they don’t always reach it in their first or second season.
The first season of Chu2koi didn’t progress that much differently than the second tbh. Yuuta’s “objective” was not to help Rikka rediscover herself or find the Unseen Horizon. It just happened along as Yuuta started developing feelings for her. Most of the season was full of chuuni-based slice of life comedy with some drama at the end. The second season follows a similar pattern, with the main difference of having episodes dedicated to the advancing relationship of Yuuta and Rikka; which, let’s face it, is the center story of Chuu2koi.
Don’t forget that assuming each season covers one school year, there is a good chance that KyoAni will produce a third season to cover the 3rd and final high school year of Yuuta and Rikka. If they do give us a third season, Kyoani will have to come up with stuff to fill another 12 episodes, which will probably be chuuni oriented slice of life antics with some tear jerker moments. Slice of life shows don’t always need a clear goal; their point is to experience every day moments of the protagonists’ life.
Yeah, it’s not like K-ON girls end up becoming pro’s or even winning some contest. They just lived their lives throughout 2 seasons of the anime.
I’d be fascinated if Satone got her own spin-off. She’s a strong character in her own right, and he decision about ‘to Chuu or not to Chuu’ and seeing how things work out with Yuuta and Rikka could be the basis her own ‘adventure’ by finding someone strong enough to help her develop and grow, including cameos by the current regulars. Just sayin’…
You never know what KyoAni may have in the works — it’s all about how well stuff sells later :/
Poor Shichimiya, the circumstances just wasn’t right for her and concluded that DFM would just friendzone her, so her going Chuuni was her way of escaping her sorrows.
Had she decided to come back into contention, she could easily beat Rikka in every department, and yet she was magnaminous in accepting her fate and assisting Rikka however she can.
The other sub-plot concerning Mori Summer’s fan page, it’s pretty obvious it has to be by that Nibutani lookalike that’s been lurking behind the scenes in the last few episodes. Dekomori has met her match.
Not sure where all you downvotes are coming from, tbh.
For the record, I’m still on the Rikka ship, perhaps it was a wrong choice of words, but my point is that had Shichimiya decided she wanted to compete for Yuuta’s feelings, she would be a formidable rival to Rikka due to her time together with Yuuta.
Of course, Rikka has that ultimate advantage of being in the “now” and not making the same mistakes that Shichimiya has made. She is also fortunate to have a “bro” in Nibutani pushing her on.
This show ….. why do you keep sending me in squeeing hysterics by the end?! She just said the 3 best words ever to Yuta! They are the sweetest young couple ever.
I think I know who made the Mori Summer website. The girl who we spotted stalking them in the past episodes in the background!
I love Shichimiya… I hope she gets a happy ending (in some way/////) She’s just so relatable and a really good person at heart… ugh, I want her to end up with Yuuta, but Yuuta and Rikka are also amazing (and obviously the ones that are canon)–It just really bothers me that Shichimiya didn’t get the happiness she deserved///////
But thank you for covering this, Takaii! Looking forward to the next one~
Thanks for reading my posts — I appreciate it!
I’m sure if she plays her cards right, she’ll get some kind of happiness at the end!
in anime it’s always a tragic
shichimiya has done way more for him yet she doesnt get to be with him and when they see each other again he’s the one that’s moved on.
sighhh
I’ve read a theory from another forum that the secret Mori Summer fan may be Mika, Kuzuha’s classmate, who appeared in one of the Lite episodes in season 1 and called Yuuta “cool” when she saw him in his DFM character.
After re-watching that Lite episode, her hair colour does match the Mori Summer stalker, and Mika would be about the right age (AKA 8th Grade), but I’m still doubtful, for surely she would be worshiping the DFM instead of Mori Summer?
O.o am I just oblivious or did I miss something? I hear people talking about a stalker but I don’t recall anything of the sort. Was she just in the background?
NecoDelero posted these screenshots back when she appeared in episode 2.
http://i.imgur.com/H5NNkxM.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/AFXg6dq.jpg
I kind of think it’s Nibutani’s mother.
Ah, I’m glad they got the love triangle out of the way. I didn’t think it fit this series, it made me feel uneasy D: Shimichiya is awesome, though. And dat ending ;_; Thanks for the post, Takaii!
>I wouldn’t be surprised if Rikka and Yuuta ended up in bed
Which would be… perfectly normal for teenagers and it’s actually stupid that they haven’t done anything yet?
they actually have been THERE already, just not done THAT yet…
As someone going through a very similar situation as Sophia, I completely commend Shichimiya on her attempted selflessness to preserve a treasured friendship. Damn you Kyoani and your ability to hit home EVEN in a silly show about 8th grade syndrome.
KyoAni – telling love stories the right way.
Nibutani acting as a good friend and wing(wo)man.
Shichimiya – erm, Magical Devil Girl Sophia Ring S.P. Saturn VII – is doing her best to clear up misunderstandings between the Tyrant’s Eye and her lover’s contract partner, in honest yet delicate manner.
Even main male character acts to repair what his actions damaged.
Now compare it to average romcom…
It would end with misunderstandings deepening, one or both parties going tsun and relationship not progressing a single bit. And it would involve harem, probably.
In Mortal Kombat voice:
Chu2byou wins! Fatality!
Concerning the Token … If I remember rightly, in the final episode of last season when Yuuta got a message from his past self it included a game token. I’m sure that the token Sophie showed him must be related to that.
I expect a Sakura Trick style kiss at the end, make it happen KyoAni!