Chūnibyō

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Chūnibyō ( Japanese 中 二 病 ) describes young teenagers in Japanese slang who succumb to a form of megalomania and overestimate themselves and their importance. Literally translated, it means " eighth graders syndrome ", with chūni short for the 2nd school year ( ni-gakunen ) of middle school ( chūgakkō ).

Those affected are convinced that they have special abilities, that they know things that can endanger the world order, or that they are of a different origin than previously assumed.

The term gained popularity through manga and anime series such as Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! .

Historical background

The term goes back to the comedian and radio presenter Hikaru Ijūin , who in 1999 described the childhood aspirations of middle school students as if they were a syndrome he had discovered . Ten years later he distanced himself in a statement that the subject of a fleeting remark had now become a serious research object in psychology .

In 2008, the light novel author Hyōya Saegami published a work called Chūnibyō Toriatsukai Setsumei Shō ( 中 二 病 取 扱 説明書 'Chūnibyō Instructions for Use' ) in which he distinguishes three types of Chūnibyō:

  • DQN that as delinquent behavior
  • Subculture that each new trends call
  • Evil Eye who believe they have special skills

The authors Brett Lashua, Karl Spracklen, Stephen Wagg and M. Selim Yavuz attribute the term Chūnibyō to the anime and manga scene in their book Sounds and the City and give it a further definition, namely as a part of the fan scene that knows everything better than others. As an example, the sentence “I was into that band before everyone else was” (German: I loved this band before everyone else ) was chosen.

In popular culture

The literary critic Bōshi Chino said that he would like to add Chūnibyō to the novel Don Quixote , starting at the age of 50 as a book subtitle, because he recognized the characteristics of a Chūnibyō in the protagonist of the work. He justified this with the fact that “the protagonist sees the world through colorful glasses and those around him are forced to play along or turn away from him in order not to doubt his delusions”, but this leads to the fact that he “is more and more engulfed by such ideas . "

Chūnibyō as a learning approach

The "Chūnibyō disease" is now used as an approach to bring Japanese students closer to the German language . The Japanese-German Society in Tokyo has held several events under the title German with chūnibyō ( 中 二 病 で 学 ぶ ド イ ツ 語 Chūnibyō de manabu doitsugo ) since 2015 , which aroused great media interest in Japan.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Tabea Kamada: Psychology in Japan: The Eighth Grader Disease. Japandigest , February 24, 2017, accessed July 22, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Jonathan Clemens, Helen McCarthy: The Anime Encyclopaedia: A Century of Japanese Animation . 3. Edition. Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley , California 2015, ISBN 978-1-61172-018-1 , pp. 1160 (English).
  3. ↑ a b Nagareboshi: Chuunibyou: Funny or Something Darker? honeysanime.com, April 25, 2017, accessed July 22, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Hyōya Saegami: Chūnibyō Toriatsukai Setsumei Shō . Kotobukiya , 2009, ISBN 978-4-7753-0689-5 , p. 124 (Japanese).
  5. ↑ Brett Lashua, Karl Spracklen, Stephen Wagg, M. Selim Yavuz: Sound and the City . 2nd Edition. Palgrave Macmillan , Basingstoke , Hampshire 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-94081-6 , pp. 443 (English).
  6. ↑ Bōshi Chino: Yomazugirai . Kadokawa Shoten , Tokyo 2009, ISBN 978-4-04-885027-8 , pp. 30-31 (Japanese).
  7. ↑ Ken Hasegawa: 「中 二 病 で 学 ぶ ド イ ツ 語 セ ミ ナ ー」 が 話題 あ っ と い う 間 に 満 員 御 礼… . withnews.jp, November 23, 2015, accessed July 22, 2019 (Japanese).
  8. ↑ エ ヴ ァ 、 進 撃 、 銀 英 伝 ・ ・ ・ や っ ぱ り 「ド イ ツ 語 は 中 二 病」 だ っ た！？ . matome.naver.jp, November 25, 2015, accessed July 22, 2019 (Japanese).