Love, Chuunibyou & Other Delusions Episode 3 -- The Heretical Girl with the... Twintails (Itan Naru... Tsuinteiru) --- [00:02] Lunchtime As Yuuta gives his narrative at the opening of the episode, everyone in the classroom is seen eating their meals from similar containers. These are known as 'bento boxes' and are ubiquitous in daily Japanese life. Consisting of one or more individual compartments, they're designed to keep various side dishes separated from the rice before mealtime. In Japanese cooking, presentation and appearance are often just as important as the taste of a meal, and food packed into a bento box is no exception. It's quite common for a parent to prepare a bento for a child in one of a few popular styles. A 'kyaraben' (character lunch) will showcase the various foods such that they resemble popular characters from manga, anime, or video games. An 'oekakiben' (picture lunch) will showcase foods decorated to look like animals, plants, or buildings. The frame at roughly [01:15] shows us a timeless classic, the 'tako souseji' (octopus sausage). More commonly known as the 'tako-san wiener,' this is a piece of sausage (most often a hot dog) that's been cut and decorated in such a way as to resemble a cartoon octopus. [01:19] Smack! "Oww!" This form of bullying traces its roots to a style of comedy known as 'Manzai.' Performed by a duo of comedians, a straight-laced guy (the 'tsukkomi') and a foolish guy (the 'boke') will trade jokes in a manner similar to the old "Abbot & Costello" routines popular in 1940s America. Inevitably, our straight-laced guy will grow weary of the fool's antics and misunderstandings. This will result in a firm whack to the head. In traditional acts, this is usually delivered with a comically large paper fan known as a 'harisen.' In modern versions, smacks using the flat or ridge of the hand are much more commonplace. Due to cultural ignorance, some foreign viewers of the show mistook this as a depiction of domestic violence or claimed that it marginalized violence against women. Regardless of whether they were aware of Manzai, they should probably take a look at *real life* gender issues in Japan sometime. Art imitates life, as they say, and Rikka getting bonked on her head and making a funny sound is the most family-friendly and innocent version of that imitation, I assure you. [02:06] Yuuta Eats the Rice from Rikka's Lunch In Japan, there are no less than 573,861 traditional rules governing chopstick etiquette. Thankfully, we live in the modern era where one only needs to know around 400,000 of these so as not to appear like an uncultured barbarian at the dinner table. I'll cover a *small* amount of these now before explaining the significance of the scene. Failing to use the provided chopstick holder (or not fashioning an impromptu one from the wrapper if using disposable sticks) is considered tacky by most Japanese standards. This also applies to things like using the "business ends" of your chopsticks to grab food from a communal bowl, laying the sticks across the edge of a bowl, rubbing the sticks together, using them to point or gesture, sucking on the ends, or stabbing food items with them. Expect a friend to have a talk with you later on. Standing a pair of chopsticks upright in a bowl of food (white rice in particular), or using them to pass anything from one pair to another, is considered grievously offensive. This is due to the fact that both of these things are done during Japanese funeral rites. Expect your invitation to dinner with the Emperor to be revoked, as well as your tourist visa. Anyway, on the periphery of all these chopstick-related gaffes sit the things that aren't necessarily considered rude, but normally reserved for people with an intimate relationship. Yuuta realizes far too late how his classmates are going to interpret seeing him being hand-fed by Rikka, and with her own chopsticks no less. This is a fine example of the "indirect kiss" trope often seen in anime and manga. [02:23] In a neighborhood near Anou Station, a mysterious long-haired girl appears. http://docrobot.sdf.org/images/chuuni/deko_station.jpg [04:12] "I'm joining the Light Music Club!" "Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!" was produced by the famous 'Kyoto Animation' studio, known to its many fans as 'KyoAni' for short. The company got its start all the way back in 1981 by assisting in the production of media for other anime studios and video game companies. They started producing their own media in 2003 and haven't looked back since, especially given their current status as one of the most successful and prolific anime studios in history. As such, they often see fit to drop references to their past works in new material. This one isn't even particularly subtle. Originally adapted from a manga series, "K-On!" (a stylized form of 'keion' lit. 'light music') tells the story of five female high school students and their ongoing adventures in the light music club. In an attempt to keep the club from being disbanded due to low membership, our heroines come together as "Houkago Tea Time" -- a rock band with big dreams of someday performing at Budokan. Widely considered to be one of the most successful shows of all time, there was a point where you couldn't even walk down the street without seeing something related to it, or hearing a tune from the soundtrack being played from a shop speaker. The famous otaku mecca of 'Akihabara,' one of Tokyo's many special wards, was particularly affected during the height of the craze. On the side of a commuter train, we see Yui Hirasawa from "K-On!" holding her beloved "Giita" close. http://docrobot.sdf.org/images/chuuni/kon.jpg [05:02] "Grave of the Leaves" Her exact words here are "kareha no bouheyou" (lit. "the gravestone of the autumn leaves") and serve as a fantastic example of the flowery (often fustian) language that emerges from your typical Evil Eye chuuni case. For a while, I thought this might also be a veiled reference to Isao Takahata's "Grave of the Fireflies" but the specific differences in word choice and kanji likely rule this out. [05:19] Ping! "Oww!" Gets me every time I see it. [08:08] Napping Club This is actually a thing. Like, a real life thing. It's even competitive. [08:47] The courtyard at Kyuu Kagigake, where the newly formed "Oriental Magick Society for Napping" is attempting to recruit members. Seen here during a fan event where it was decorated to appear as it did in the anime. http://docrobot.sdf.org/images/chuuni/courtyard.jpg [10:10] Rikka's Cheerleading Tryout While she obviously went through the trouble of changing into a cheerleading outfit, she's still wearing her eye patch and black thigh socks. That's dedication to your character. This is to say nothing of her explanation involving *high-flying magical battles in another dimension* to her classmates when they ask if she's okay with attempting a 'basket toss' stunt. [10:45] The drama club practices on stage, unaware of their impending encounter with the Wicked Eye. http://docrobot.sdf.org/images/chuuni/drama.jpg [13:15] Yuuta's Dream Sequence II Yet another go at fanservice, only this time Yuuta has a cute and shy Nibutani parading around in her cheerleader outfit whilst confessing her love in a manner so stereotypically saccharine that it's seldom, if ever, seen outside of manga, anime, and dating sims. Rest assured that when he awakens *this* time, he'll find a much more bizarre -- and blonde -- reality waiting for him. [14:10] Enter the Mjolnir Hammer, Dekomori Sanae (He's quick to pull the ratchet, isn't he? Took no time at all before he had a gun to her head.) Of her *many* quirks, I feel the need to mention one up front. To the careful listener, Dekomori seems to say something that sounds phonetically like "dess" quite often. This is the Japanese copula known as 'desu' and is roughly translated as 'to be' or 'it is' depending on usage. While 'desu' is a rather common word, Dekomori's usage of it is needlessly repetitious, often grammatically incorrect, and grossly exaggerated. Of course, this is only because "desu" sounds suspiciously similar to the English word "death" when pronounced with a Japanese accent. Additionally, native speakers have issues with the "th~" sound, making this even more funny. Some translators deliberately chose to ignore this verbal quirk and omitted it from their translations entirely. Others ran with the joke and produced some (deathly) hilarious subtitles for her dialogue. In any case, now that I've mentioned it you'll be listening for it every time she speaks. [14:15] Yuuta's Pistol Firearms are heavily regulated in Japan, to the point where very few people own them -- legally or otherwise. While it's technically possible to obtain a license to own a shotgun or rifle, the process required to do so makes it prohibitive for almost all citizens. Handguns are strictly forbidden for civilian ownership, and only a small and highly-regulated number of them are used by police departments and the military. A handgun found in the possession of a citizen is a rare enough event that it tends to make the national news if there was any other crime associated with the possession. It's worth nothing that this almost always results in a sentence ranging from seven years to life imprisonment. If any loss of life occurred, well, you can probably guess as to the perpetrator's eventual (and legally mandatory) fate. (Hint: It involves rope.) All this having been said, the "firearm" seen in Yuuta's hand is a pellet-type replica pistol used in the 'airsoft' hobby -- a wildly popular sport due, at least in part, to Japan's Draconian gun laws. Participants use these replica firearms to shoot plastic 'BB' style pellets at each other in mock combat scenarios. [15:20] "I'm of the same age as the Second Children and the Third Children." A deliberate reference to Hideaki Anno's highly controversial "Neon Genesis Evangelion" -- a particularly dark story focused on teenagers chosen to pilot giant robots in a dystopian future. It relied heavily on psychoanalytical concepts and religious allegory to drive its narrative, and its reception by the public was nothing short of a culture defining moment in Japanese history. Dekomori references this show often, and it's quite obvious that it serves as one of her chief sources of chuuni inspiration -- as do several other 'mecha' anime. [17:51] The gang prepares to clean up their future clubroom. http://docrobot.sdf.org/images/chuuni/clubroom_ext.jpg --- "Green! Everything is so green!"