''Chaos;Child'' (stylized as ''ChäoS;Child'') is a 2017

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series based on the visual novel of the same name created by

Mages Mage most commonly refers to: * Mage (paranormal) or magician, a practitioner of magic derived from supernatural or occult sources * Mage (fantasy) or magician, a type of character in mythology, folklore, and fiction *Mage, a character class in s ...

and

Nitroplus Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They also have been ...

, and is part of the ''

Science Adventure ''Science Adventure'' is a multimedia series consisting of interconnected science fiction stories, created mainly by Mages, Nitroplus, and Chiyomaru Studio. The main entries mostly take the form of visual novel video games, but side entries span ...

'' franchise. It was directed by Masato Jinbo at

Silver Link is a Japanese animation studio. It was founded by ex-Frontline animation producer Hayato Kaneko in December 2007 and is based in Tokyo. History After the company's establishment in 2007, Shin Oonuma, who was previously a director alongside S ...

, with music by

Takeshi Abo is a Japanese video game composer. He joined the industry through developer StarCraft, Inc. in the early 1990s, mainly working on conversions of western video games. In the mid-1990s, he joined KID, and later 5pb. in December 2006 after KID decl ...

and Onoken, and with main cast members from the video game reprising their roles.

Synopsis

''Chaos;Child'' follows Takuru Miyashiro, who investigates the "New Generation Madness Resurgence" serial killings together with the members of the high school newspaper club he is the president of.

Cast

Production and release

''Chaos;Child'' is an adaptation of the video game of the same name, and was produced at the animation studio

. It was directed by Masato Jinbo, who also was in charge of the series composition, while Kazuyuki Yamayoshi was the chief animation director and handled the adaptation of the character designs for animation. The music was composed by

and Onoken; the former also composed the music for the ''Chaos;Child'' game. The opening theme song, "Uncontrollable", was performed by

Kanako Itō is a female Japanese singer from Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan. She has sung a large number of songs that have been used in a variety of video games, visual novels, and anime. Itō has sung songs for many visual novels, one song in particular bei ...

, while the ending theme, "Chaos Syndrome", was performed by

Konomi Suzuki is a Japanese singer from Osaka Prefecture who is signed to MAGES. and KADOKAWA. After winning the Animax All-Japan Anisong Grand Prix in 2011, she made her debut in 2012 with the release of her first single "Choir Jail", which peaked at 34 ...

. The main cast members from the ''Chaos;Child'' game reprised their roles for the anime, and were joined by new actors for other characters. Chiyomaru Shikura, the Representative Director of the ''Chaos;Child'' game's development company, had originally wanted to make the anime series two cours long, like the '' Steins;Gate'' anime adaptation, but it was determined impossible business-wise, so it was decided to produce it as a one-cours series. Due to this lower episode count, they were unable to adapt the character routes from the game's branching narrative. Shikura mentioned that he had particularly wanted to see the Sumo Sticker giant and the appearance of ''

Chaos;Head ''Chaos;Head'' (stylized as ''ChäoS;HEAd'') is a 2008 science fiction visual novel video game developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the first game in the ''Science Adventure'' series. Following the original Windows release, the enhanced vers ...

'' protagonist Takumi from Hana's route adapted as part of the ''Chaos;Child'' anime. The series was announced in March 2015, and premiered on AT-X on January 11, 2017 as a one-hour special; the series also airs on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

, Sun TV,

Chiba TV , doing business as , is a Japanese commercial terrestrial television broadcasting company headquartered at 11-25 Miyako-chō 1-chōme, Chūō-ku, Chiba serving Chiba Prefecture but spill-over is received in the neighbouring prefectures. It is a m ...

, TVK, TVS, KBS and BS11. It was

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

worldwide outside of Asian countries by

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

and Crunchyroll, with an English dub released starting on January 31, 2017. The series is planned to be released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

in Japan by Kadokawa Corporation in six volumes, between March 24 and August 25, 2017; the first volume will come bundled with an

audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

. The singles for the opening and ending themes were published on January 25 and February 22, 2017, respectively. To coincide with the anime and the release of the spin-off video game '' Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu!!'', the ''Chaos;Child'' game got a budget-priced re-release in March 2017. After the conclusion of the 12th and final episode, a 13th episode based on the "Silent Sky" ending of the game was announced, and was shown in Japanese theaters between June 17, 2017 and June 30, 2017.

Reception

Previews

Richard Eisenbeis of Anime Now called the series his most anticipated anime of the season, being curious about how it would handle the adaptation of a branching story into a single one. Bamboo Dong, Paul Jensen, Rebecca Silverman and Theron Martin at Anime News Network reviewed episode 0 and 1 as part of a preview of that anime season. Dong did not expect the anime's ending to be good, but was still interested in how the story would turn out, and appreciated the use of ''Chaos;Head''-like visuals and atmosphere. Jensen did not, however, think the atmosphere worked, saying that it seemed like the show was intended to give a feeling of dread, but that it failed to do so, partially due to the large amount of information communicated to the viewer. Silverman thought episode 1, with the exception of some sequences, felt bland, but still worth watching for a few more episodes to get a grasp of what direction the story would take. Martin thought the story moved slightly too fast, resulting in some character motivations being weakly established. He enjoyed the visuals and music, but said that the character design, while attractive, looked unoriginal.

Series reception

Anime Now included ''Chaos;Child'' on a list of the five "must-watch" anime of the season, citing the high tension and weirdness of the story and the complexity of the characters.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaos Child 2017 anime television series debuts Anime series Anime television series based on video games Crunchyroll anime Funimation Horror anime and manga Science Adventure Silver Link Television shows set in Tokyo