6 March 2016: In praise of the preposterous chuuni
I want to read Ranko's "grimoire."
Chuunibyou has changed. I supposed technically it's evolved. Or perhaps ascended to a higher plane. If you associate chuunibyou with its roots, it's apparent the term's meaning had already transformed beyond its original usage by the time it started appearing prominently in anime. Nonetheless, when I say it has changed, I'm referring more generally regarding how chuuni characters themselves have appeared within anime over time.
There's a flaw in Megumin's chuuni powers.
As described in the Pixiv link above, chuuni characters who imagine themselves as possessing mystical powers represent only one subset of the chuunibyou phenomenon as a whole. Nevertheless, this group is overwhelmingly the most common flavor of chuuni characters in anime, at least among ones expressly accused of being so. (We'll leave aside whether more general posers such as Tada Riina from THE iDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls are also chuuni.) In any case, this variety dominates to such an extent that these sort of aspiring sorcerers are all anybody even thinks about when someone mentions chuunibyou anymore.
At least Hime looks sort of normal.
Thankfully, "Evil Eye" chuuni characters themselves are taken quite a bit less seriously these days. One of my objections to 2012's Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! was that the characters' chuuni qualities were taken semi-seriously and presented as cute affectations. This was also a problem with regard to Hime's character in 2013's Oreshura, basically guaranteeing her a sorry position on the show's Best Girl ranking.
Shion is actually too old to be suffering from a middle schooler's condition.
P.S. Spoilers.
In contrast, Megumin from Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! is wonderfully ridiculous because her chuuni nature is the butt of jokes. (Truth be told, every character in Konosuba is treated as the butt of jokes.) Likewise, Shion from Ani Tore! EX is completely absurd and her chuuni interests are played for laughs. It makes her much more endearing.
The dark ribbon tied to her mug is a nice touch.
I'm convinced treating chuuni characters as posable punchlines is the way forward from now until the entire character type runs entirely out of steam (or mana, as it were). At least as far as I'm concerned, it's exceptionally difficult to get me invested in any sort of chuuni character if I'm also expected to take the condition seriously. The closest successful example I can think of is Ranko from the aforementioned Cinderella Girls, but even Ranko is portrayed as a running gag to some extent. Perhaps the reason I like Ranko is because it's actually her gosurori style that's treated in a serious fashion, while her chuuni behavior is treated more as a joke. It's a good combination in her case, at least.
