中二病[chunibyo]

December 21, 2008 at 6:45 am (doujin(同人), general, otaku word, slang)

 

 Since this term has really become popular, I must make a post on this. I guess this is one of the yearly famous words this year.

 Years ago, there was a debate show named 真剣１０台しゃべり場[shinken jyudai shaberiba] in which ten or more teenagers discussed something. The theme changed every week, like “Why do people do blah blah…,” or even “What’s wrong with being an otaku?” At any rate, I used to laugh a lot at their discussion because they were truly childish. Even though they pretended be know-it-all, it seemed too painful to see. A boy pretends to be an outcast, a girl pretends to be cynical…or something like that. But after all, they didn’t make any sense.

 Anyway, this term came from the radio talk show which was hosted by the certain otaku entertainer, 伊集院光[Hikaru Ijyuin]. In the show, he mentioned his embarrassing past when he was young(14 years old?), and asked the listners to post their own painful pasts. He summed it up as 中二病[chunibyou], or eight-grade-disease. Since that was well put, otaku people started to make a post on the net to write about their own pasts. To get to the point, 中二病 means a ridiculous and painful thought or such a behavior those are frequently seen among 14-year-old boys(中二 is an abbreviation of 中学二年生[chugakuninensei], or 8th grade). Or, those people who have such a thought or do such a thing although they are grown-up. If there is a 2ch-like saying, it should be written as 厨二病.

 Simply, 中二病 means something 8th-grade-boys mostly do in order to try to surpass anybody else. But it also means someone pretends to know how the world works in spite of being a kid, or someone who pretends to be special far from others. Meanwhile, they might get cocky all of a sudden, or ironically look down on adults. Yes, in the show mentioned above, most of the teenagers seemed to have 中二病 though some of them were not really 14.

 

 Speaking of 14 years old, I can immediately think of GTO and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Both of the shows feature 14-year-old characters. In GTO, most of the students hate the teachers who are doing a dirty work whereas they pretend to be delinquent. In Evangelion, sometimes what Shinji or Kaworu say might include such contexts. Nagisa Kaworu is actually a last servant and he is really different from others. In other words, he is a really outcast. But Shinji is not. Nonetheless, he sometimes sounds like that. I don’t mean to be rude, but in a way Shinji has also 中二病. (;^^)

 Also, 中二病 mostly indicates boys, so what about such girls? It’s 小六病[shourokubyo], sixth-grade-disease since most girls get mature ahead of boys at the age of 12 or so. And those people who look down on 中二病 in spite of having 中二病 are called 高二病 [kounibyo] or soph disease. Oh well, maybe if you look back, there would be one or two things that were too embarrassing to recall. As for me, I used to wear my brother’s suit secretly when I went out. Or else, ordered a coffee with no sugar though I knew it was very strong. Oh no! How could I do something like that!? ><

 Well, I just quickly list it out in order to describe how 中二病 is.

a. Claiming to be the God of the new world without Death Note.

b. Claiming that you can change the world without the power of Geass.

c. Foaming a SOS Brigade and searching for misteries on Sunday.

d. Despising your father although you can’t pilot Eva.

e. 戦士症候群 (in a way)

f. Wishing to be a real キルドレ (in a way)

g. Shouting “I am in despair!” all the time.

h. Keep talking about the one thing as if knowing everything of it. (超うざい)

i. Copying Shokotan-go all the time. (痛い！)

 These things would look very painful if you do in real life. I just created above, but I am sure you can, too.

 OMG, then my cosplay is also 中二病? Don’t say that! But yes, I know. Because I cosplay a stundent although I am not anymore, far from one.