Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! REN - Episode 3

It's hardly unusual for Rikka to be excitable and demanding, but even by her usual standards things are a little unusual as Yuuta is woken from what might have become a beautiful dream by... well, Rikka hanging from his bedroom ceiling.

Of course, we know exactly why Rikka is being so skittish, but Yuuta is left clueless as to why she's so demanding of him, spending much of her time insisting that he needs to produce the "Dark Flame Dragon" from within his soul.  We have no idea what that means in actual terms, but for Yuuta it means lots of hassle and embarrassment as Rikka first defaces one of his t-shirts, then produces a magical girl outfit that she's carefully prepared for him - I can only assume that she's been watching Is This A Zombie recently.

Eventually, the cause of all of this trouble makes her appearance known, taking over the school intercom to invite Rikka into battle - cue another one of the show's great action sequences, before the whole thing is interrupted by a disbelieving Yuuta who, naturally, recognises Rikka's opponent.  In fact, the girl in question - Satone Shichimiya - is effectively the cause of Yuuta's own chunibyou behaviour back in Middle School, although while Yuuta is now mostly "cured" of his affliction Satone (or Sophie, as she likes to be known in her fantasy world) has gotten worse if anything.  As Yuuta learns that Satone now lives in the same apartment block as him and catches up on things with her, there's inevitably some jealousy that emanates from Rikka's part - jealousy that Yuuta is quick to quell, for his part.

Even though the excesses of its delusional behaviour still set my teeth on edge, this was for the most part another fun episode of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions - its comedy didn't always work but succeeded far more often than it failed, the one bonus of the show's delusional cast is those increasingly glorious action scenes, and Satone's addition to the cast might shift Rikka's personality enough to make her a more bearable character in the long run.  It's another solid addition to what has been an accomplished effort so far, ensuring that it's a broadly enjoyable watch even for someone like myself who isn't a huge fan of the series.