Everyone has that stage in their life where they think themselves special, different from mere humans. This phenomenon is called Chunibyou Syndrome and most common in pre-pubescent children. In middle school, Yuuta Togashi thought himself the Dark Flame Master. He has since grown out of it upon entering high school and looks back at those cringe-worthy times with displeasure. Unfortunately, after a chance meeting with Rikka Takanashi, a girl believing to have a God in her eye, she attaches herself to him and brings that Chunibyou past back out.
Weird, adorable, and weirdly adorable, for as much as Love, Chunibyou, and Other Delusions makes us cringe and think about our embarrassing younger years, it draws you in. If you need anime recommendations that evoke the same feelings, give these a try.
Anime Like Love, Chunibyou, and Other Delusions
For Fans of Embarrassing Secrets to Hide
Oreshura
After being abandoned by his love-addled parents, Eita Kidou is a bit put off by romance. It also causes him to see through the love confession of one, Masuzu Natsukawa. As it turns out, she just wanted a boyfriend to stop the daily love confessions. While he initially declines, she takes to blackmailing him to be her fake boyfriend.
Both series are about the male leads that have embarrassing secrets about their past that they are trying to keep secret. However, when a girl in their life finds out these secrets, they are forced to bend over backwards trying to convince them to keep it a secret. While Rikka isn’t really so devious about it, Masuzu in Oreshura is quite the manipulator.
Aura: Kouga Maryuuin’s Last War
Ichirou Satou is a normal high school student, but loves to believe he is a hero by the name of Maryuuin Kouga. This led to a lot of bullying in middle school so now he tries to leave it behind him. However, in his new class he meets Ryouko, a girl with the same condition as him that makes her believe she is someone else. Yet, he takes it upon himself to try and break her from this delusion.
Reading the description of both, you can very clearly see that these two series are extremely similar. However, some of the finer details are different. It is also worth noting that Chunibyou is a little more adorable while Aura focuses on comedy.
Oreimo – My Little Sister Can’t Possibly Be This Cute
Kyousuke has a smart, cute, and extremely bratty little sister who hates him. While they got along when they were young, they grew apart as they got older. One day when he finds an anime DVD he doesn’t recognize in his house. He opens it up only to discover eroge inside. Later, he finds out it belongs to his sister, who is a super secret otaku.
Sometimes it is your Chunibyou-ness that you are ashamed of, and sometimes it is your otaku-ism. Regardless, if you are embarrassed of it, you want to hide it. While Rikka in Chuniobyou is out in the open with her predilections, Kirino is in the closet with hers until her brother convinces her to be more open about them.
For Fans of Imaginative Battles
When Supernatural Battles Became Common Place
On one extraordinary day, the four members of the Literature Club and the faculty advisor’s niece suddenly find themselves with supernatural powers. Each amazed with their own abilities, they try to solve the mystery of them, but very little else has changed in the day to day activities of the Literature Club.
Occasionally in Chunibyou, there will be a time out to go into the imaginations of the characters to have just ridiculous battles. In When Supernatural Battles Become Common Place is pretty much just making those battle real. It is a fine juxtaposition of your typical action anime tropes and reality that results in superb comedy.
Beyond the Boundary
As the last surviving member of her clan of spirit warriors, Mirai Kuriyama must use her special power of fighting using her blood in order to subdue Youmu, creatures that are the manifestation of negative human emotions. One day at school she happens across Akihito, a rare halfbreed Youmu in human form. Immediately trying to kill him, she finds out he is an immortal being and the two strike up an impromptu friendship.
The key difference between these series is the battles are real in Beyond the Boundary and the plot takes itself rather seriously. Things are lighter and comedic in Chunibyyou, but that doesn’t change the fact that the adorable main characters are clumsy and likable in both while the battles, real or imagined, are flashy and brilliant.
KonoSuba
On his way back from buying a new game, Kazuma Satou died a pathetic death. However, he awakens before the Goddess Aqua who gives him two choices: go to heaven or reincarnate into an actual fantasy world. Naturally, the gamer picks the fantasy world. Now Kazuma must deal with defeating an evil demon king, useless party members, and paying living expenses.
KonoSuba, like Chunibyou has a strong emphasis on comedy and it also takes time out to have some battles. Essentially if you kept the silliness of the characters in Chunibyou and put them in an actual fantasy world, I imagine the result would be very similar to KonoSuba. Plus Rikka is just one explosion spell away from being Megumin, just saying.
For Fans of Odd, Adorable Girls
Mysterious Girlfriend X
Every girl is mysterious to a young man, but new transfer student Mikoto Urabe is particularly curious to Akira Tsubaki. She earns a reputation as a weirdo on her first day when she laughs in the middle of class for no reason, doesn’t interact with her classmates, and sleeps on her desk. One day, Akira finds her napping at her desk, notices some drool that she left and impulsively tastes it. He is suddenly struck with a fever and finds out he is suffering from a love sickness that is a form of withdrawal from not ingesting more of her drool. As such, the two enter a very strange new relationship.
Sometimes you find yourself in weird situations that completely change the trajectory of your life. That is the common theme in these series. In Mysterious Girlfriend X, the main character tastes some spit, in Chunibyou, the main character looks up a skirt as a girl is shimmying down from the apartment above his. Both lead perfectly normal main characters down a very strange road.
Pet Girl of Sakura Hall
Unable to resist taking in abandoned kittens, and amassing quite a collection of them, Sorata Kanda is forced to move to Suimei High School’s infamous Sakura Hall. This dorm is used to house all the misfit students that don’t quite fit in the regular housing. There, Sorata meets an array of different oddballs that inspire him to work towards getting back into the regular dorms and away from them. However, when a new transfer student moves in, he meets the incredible artist, Shiina Mashiro. While talented, she is completely incapable of taking care of herself, and so, Sorata brings her into his care and his strange days truly begin.
Both series feature normal young men that find themselves very closely connected to very strange girls. However, the key thing to take away from both series is that these women, though strange and with problems of their own, ultimately rehabilitate these young men so that they are more comfortable with themselves.
Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl
As if to grade his own life, Makoto Niwa constantly tallies the amount of negative and positive experiences he has. When his parents move overseas and he moves in with his aunt, he looks forward to the fresh start, but there he discovers his unknown cousin – Erio. While he is a normal boy by all accounts, she claims to be an alien, thus throwing his normal life out the window.
You know the old story, boy wants to live normally, boy meets girl, girl thinks she has super powers, and things get weird from there. It you like eccentric, yet strangely likable girls in a series with well-balanced with comedy, romance, and excellent drama, these series are extremely similar.
If you have more anime recommendations like Love, Chunibyou, and Other Delusions, let us know in the comments section below.
