Shelf Life

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Take on Me

Set after the second season of the TV series, Take on Me pours the majority of its energy into two goals. First and foremost, it's here to provide an entertaining road trip adventure with the usual cast of oddballs, complete with plenty of inside jokes for fans of the franchise and of Kyoto Animation in general. Along the way, the film also seeks to provide the kind of satisfying progress in Yuta and Rikka's relationship that the second TV season arguably lacked. The chunibyo couple really, truly, this time for sure need to figure out whether or not they want a romantic relationship. Take on Me succeeds at the first of these two goals, but comes up a bit short with the second.

The film starts off with everyone enjoying some time off before the new school year. Yuta's helping Rikka muddle through her remedial classes, and all seems right with the world until Rikka's sister Toka shows up. With her overseas job looking like a long-term prospect, Toka wants to take Rikka back to Italy with her. Rikka and Yuta are horrified at the prospect of being separated, so they decide to “elope” on a trip across Japan in order to escape Toka's wrath and remain together. The rest of the cast soon joins in for a city-hopping game of cat and mouse, but it's only a matter of time before Yuta and Rikka have to decide once and for all what they mean to one another.

If you're a fan of the franchise and have seen a road trip movie at some point in your life, you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Take on Me. The main characters hustle their way from one landmark to the next, with each stop featuring plenty of comedy courtesy of Rikka's overactive imagination. At this point, the chemistry between Yuta and Rikka is so natural that the writing doesn't have to go very far out of its way to find a laugh. Fans of the dysfunctional duo of Nibutani and Dekomori are also in for a good time, as the two of them play a major supporting role as Toka's reluctant minions. Their quest to track down and apprehend Yuta and Rikka is entertaining enough that it feels like a complete story in its own right. References to other Kyoto Animation titles are also sprinkled into the film, and are presented with enough subtlety that they'll entertain the studio's hardcore fanbase without confusing or distracting ordinary viewers. As a lighthearted continuation of the TV series, Take on Me hits its mark.

On the other hand, the film's dramatic credentials are somewhat less impressive. It does a decent job of depicting the relationship between Rikka and Yuta, and the two of them make slightly more progress than they did in the second TV season, but there's still a noticeable lack of substance here. Part of what made the series so memorable, particularly in its first season, was its ability to work some hard-hitting moments of raw emotion into its rom-com plot. By comparison, Take on Me never lands any big dramatic punches, and in some cases it seems to go out of its way to avoid getting too serious. Instead, we get some surface-level introspection from Yuta and Rikka, which is reasonably well-directed but not compelling enough to make the movie feel truly worthwhile from a narrative standpoint.

That feeds into a worry I have about Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions in general; with each new sequel, it feels more and more like the series is chasing its tail. As much as it flirts with the notion of Rikka needing to “grow up” and adapt to the real world, it's limited in how far it can take that central storyline. After all, the core appeal of this series is the back-and-forth dynamic of the (relatively) normal characters trying to contain the shameless weirdness of the chunibyo crew. As soon as Rikka hangs up her eyepatch for good, the show's over, which means that the writing needs to keep dodging the issue to keep the story going. It's a premise that can only be stretched so far, and even this film's more definitive conclusion is somewhat compromised in order to keep the door open for a sequel.

As far as art and animation go, Take on Me doesn't make the big jump in quality you sometimes get when going from TV to a movie, but that's partly because the TV series looked pretty darn good to begin with. The imaginary fight scenes remain a highlight in terms of pure spectacle, and both the character animation and background art are far above average. This release comes with an English dub featuring the usual cast, and the most notable on-disc extras are a trio of “photo session” shorts. As far as I can tell, these seem like they were originally made to play ahead of the movie during its run in Japanese theaters, and they essentially set up a chance for the audience to take selfies with the characters on screen. I'm not sure they work quite as well on a regular TV, but they're a fun little novelty.

Your enjoyment of this movie will depend heavily on the perspective and expectations you bring into it. If you're a franchise fan looking for a chance to revisit your favorite characters, you'll probably come away satisfied. On the other hand, folks looking for new plot developments might find it a little too frivolous for their liking, and newcomers are much better off starting with the first TV season. I enjoyed my time with Take on Me, but I don't think I'll feel the need to watch it again. That puts it comfortably into Rental territory, albeit on the more positive end of that spectrum.
-Paul[TOP]