Three weeks after Rikka removes her eyepatch, Touka takes off for Italy. Yuuta is impressed by her progress, dressing and talking normally and even reaching out to make friends in class, but a part of him is uneasy. Shinka also notices there’s a forced quality to Rikka’s transformation, and Yuuta’s support of it. Multiple attempts by Dekomori to say her back into the realm of fantasy fail miserably. Yuuta helps Rikka clear her room of unnecessary clutter. She tells him her mom wants to go to her dad’s grave with her. Yuuta tells her he’s fine with it, and lets her go, even though part of him doesn’t know if she’ll come back.
This is where it gets tricky. On the one hand we commend Rikka for being so dedicated to kicking her Chuunibyou to the curb and starting to act like an ordinary high schooler, but the cold-turkey manner in which she quits…just doesn’t sit right with us. Or Shinka. Or Sanae. Or even Yuuta, who appears outwardly proud and supportive of her choice, but is now having regrets that so much of the girl he fell for is just…gone. It’s like she’s a different person. Life needs a little magic; get rid of it all, and its hard to take joy in life. Sanae makes things even more difficult, especially because she’s echoing voices within Rikka and Yuuta they’re trying desperately to tune out. Sanae is so distraught over essentially losing a friend, even Shinka offers her comfort.
We know why they’re both so keen to stick to their guns: Yuuta promised Touka he’d help set Rikka on the straight and narrow, and Rikka, no longer obsessed with what doesn’t really exist, now has to come to grips with things that do; the things she ran to Chuunibyou to get away from in the first place. But this isn’t entirely fair. Her mother’s happiness and her sister’s peace of mind are important, but they shouldn’t come at the cost of her happiness. Everybody’s winning here except Rikka. Yuuta knows what has to be said in the face of Rikka’s brave front – but he can’t say it, because part of him is beholden to the normal Rikka her family wants. Now that the eyepatch is off, there may be no going back. Growing up can be a bitch.
Rating: 7 (Very Good)
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