Chaos;Head (TV series)
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is a 2008
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 ...
television series created by Madhouse based on
5pb. , formerly , is a Japanese video game developer and record label for video game and anime music. It was formed on April 6, 2005 after Chiyomaru Shikura left Scitron to begin the company as its executive director, a position he still holds. Th ...
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 ...
's video game of the same name, 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 is set in
Shibuya Shibuya (wikt:渋谷, 渋谷wikt:区, 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern ...
,
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, and follows Takumi Nishijo, a high school student who develops paranoia and delusions after having witnessed one of a series of murders. He meets several girls who have an interest in him, and who he suspects might have a connection to the murders. He eventually learns of the existence of people with the power to project delusions onto others' minds, and of an organization using a machine to do so artificially for their own gain. The series was directed by Takaaki Ishiyama, with
Toshiki Inoue is a Japanese screenwriter from Saitama Prefecture. He is known for his work on anime and tokusatsu Japanese television drama, dramas and films. He is the son of , who himself was a screenwriter for tokusatsu dramas. He is also a manga author, a ...
handling series composition, Hidekazu Shimamura designing the characters based on CHOCO and
Mutsumi Sasaki is a Japanese freelance anime/ manga artist from Hokkaidō, Japan. He mainly provides character designs for bishōjo characters. Works ;Character design *''Happy Lesson'' *''Futakoi'' *'' Memories Off'' *'' Memories Off 2nd'' *'' Myself ; Yourse ...
's original concept and tOkyO composing the music. It has been released on home media by VAP in Japan,
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 ...
in North America,
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
in Australia, and
Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...
in the United Kingdom. Reviewers have been mostly critical of the story; while some still found it engaging, it was generally considered confusing. The animation and visuals received a wide range of opinions from critics, while the series' soundtrack received praise.


Plot

''Chaos;Head'' follows Takumi Nishijo, a high school student living in a cargo crate atop a building in
Shibuya Shibuya (wikt:渋谷, 渋谷wikt:区, 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern ...
,
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
. One day, he is sent pictures over the internet, depicting a murder in an alley; he later witnesses a murder resembling the one in the pictures, and believes the killer to be a pink-haired girl he sees at the crime scene. Because of his presence at the scene of the crime, he is suspected of being the murderer, and develops paranoia and experiencing delusions. More murders – referred to as the New Generation serial murders – occur, while Takumi meets a number of girls who have an interest in him, but who he suspects of being linked to the murders. One of them is the pink-haired girl, named Rimi, who claims to be friends with him despite him not having any previous memory of her. Takumi learns of the existence of people called "gigalomaniacs", who can use special powers to project delusions onto others' minds; they can also project delusions into reality, which is referred to as "real-booting". Takumi and several of the girls he met are revealed to be such individuals, and can use illusory "Di-Sword" weapons projected into reality. The Nozomi Group in Shibuya is revealed to have created a synthetic gigalomaniac machine called the Noah II, which they use for their own gain, causing people to panic from experiencing delusions. Takumi learns that he is an artificial delusional clone with fabricated memories, created by the real Takumi to stop the Nozomi Group from taking over humanity. He did this as his body had been aged from overuse of gigalomaniac powers, hindering him from stopping the Nozomi Group personally. Takumi reveals the nurse Hazuki as the criminal behind the murders by projecting her memories onto screens on buildings, and destroys the Noah II and Nozomi's president with his Di-Sword. The real Takumi dies, leaving Takumi to take his place and keep on living.


Cast


Production and release

''Chaos;Head'' is an adaptation of the video game of the same name, which was developed by
5pb. , formerly , is a Japanese video game developer and record label for video game and anime music. It was formed on April 6, 2005 after Chiyomaru Shikura left Scitron to begin the company as its executive director, a position he still holds. Th ...
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 ...
. The series was directed by Takaaki Ishiyama at the animation studio Madhouse, with character design by Shuichi Shimamura and script supervision by
Toshiki Inoue is a Japanese screenwriter from Saitama Prefecture. He is known for his work on anime and tokusatsu Japanese television drama, dramas and films. He is the son of , who himself was a screenwriter for tokusatsu dramas. He is also a manga author, a ...
.
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 ...
, the composer for the ''Chaos;Head'' video game, was credited for the anime's soundtrack, but did not have a large role in the anime's production. The opening theme is "F.D.D." 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 ...
and the ending theme is "Super Special" by Seira Kagami. The series was announced in July 2008 through the magazines '' Dengeki Daioh'' and ''
Monthly Comic Alive is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Media Factory. The first issue was released on June 27, 2006. Serialized titles *'' Absolute Duo'' *'' Alice or Alice'' (until 2015, part of the supplement magazine '' Comic Cune'') *'' Ano Ko ni ...
'', and premiered on Japanese television on October 15, 2008, airing weekly for twelve episodes until the series finale on December 31, 2008, on
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 ...
,
TV Saitama abbreviated TVS, doing business as is a Japanese fee-free terrestrial commercial television broadcasting company headquartered in Urawa-ku, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its intended coverage is Saitama Prefecture but with some s ...
, TVK,
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 ...
, and
Kids Station Kids Station ( Japanese: キッズステーション, ''Kizzu Sutēshon'') is a Japanese children's television channel showing anime and other cartoon material. Kids Station also airs some anime aimed at teens and adults during the night, such as '' ...
. It was released by VAP in DVD volumes in Japan, starting on March 4, 2009; the first DVD volume was the fourteenth best selling animation DVD in Japan during its release week.
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 ...
acquired the license for the North American rights for the series in 2010, and released it on DVD and Blu-ray on November 29, 2011, in both a
limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
and a regular release; a budget-priced re-release followed on January 13, 2015.
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
acquired the license for the Australian rights in 2011, and released it on DVD and Blu-ray on February 15, 2012.
Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...
licensed the series for the United Kingdom, and released it on DVD on October 22, 2012.


Reception


Previews

Casey Brienza, Carlo Santos, Carl Kimlinger and Theron Martin at Anime News Network (ANN) reviewed the first episode as part of a "fall 2008 anime preview guide". Brienza called the series "thoroughly enthralling" when at its best, and said that its imagery of death and destruction would be intriguing to viewers interested in apocalypse-themed works. She found the opening and ending themes "bright but boring", and noted that they were at odds with the story. Santos, too, disliked the ending theme, combined with Takumi being an
otaku is a Japanese word that describes people with consuming interests, particularly in anime, manga, video games, or computers. Its contemporary use originated with a 1983 essay by Akio Nakamori in '' Manga Burikko''. may be used as a pejorat ...
with an imaginary girlfriend, saying that despite being "tongue-in-cheek" it felt too overt and annoying: he felt that Takumi's growing paranoia, the music and the art direction of the graphically violent scenes worked well to set the tone, but that the "fluff" involving Takumi's imaginary girlfriend and his sister disrupted the mood. Kimlinger also noted the inconsistent tone, and called the female characters "painfully artificial". He was not opposed to the combination of the themes of "otaku alienation" and horror, but called the series' horror mystery an uninteresting mix of '' Higurashi When They Cry'' and Japanese psychological horror films. Martin called the series a contender for "weirdest" anime of the season, and also compared the tone to that of ''Higurashi When They Cry''. He liked the visuals and music, calling the latter "eerie" and effective.


Series reception

Reviewing the series as a whole, Santos found it uneven, with the story elements ranging from being "brilliant jaw-droppers" to feeling unfinished, giving the revelation of Takumi's true nature as an example of the former, and the conclusions to some character sub-plots as examples of the latter. Luke Carroll at ANN and John Rose at The Fandom Post were critical of the story, saying that while its ideas and the question of what is and isn't real was interesting, the story felt rushed, with the game's narrative "squeezed" into too few episodes. Rose additionally was disappointed in how the answers felt less innovative than the mysteries originally seemed. The story was criticized by several reviewers as feeling confusing, with Bradley Meek at T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews finding it confusing enough to quit watching after the eighth episode, and Erin Finnegan at ANN calling it unwatchable due to how little it made sense to them, despite a promising start. Chris Homer and Chris Beveridge, both at The Fandom Post, found the story engaging, however, with the latter calling the climax "solid". Santos said that the series' "pseudoscience" felt dubious, but noted the illusory "Di-Swords" as well-designed and a useful way to portray characters battling through the use of their thoughts; Carroll also enjoyed the use of "Di-Swords" in action scenes, but thought that it occurred too rarely. Beveridge similarly liked the detailed visuals for the special abilities some characters use. Santos and Carroll both disliked the character designs, calling them bland and stereotypical; Beveridge, however, liked them, and appreciated their "solid feel". Santos, Carroll and Meek disliked the animation, with the former two citing off-model characters, frozen crowds, static conversation scenes and a lack of fluidity, and Meek calling it "a black mark on Madhouse's usually stellar record". Rose, however, felt that the animation was "fairly strong". Carroll and Santos enjoyed the soundtrack, with Caroll calling it "surprisingly well done". Santos particularly noted the dissonance and silence used to portray the unrest and turmoil inside Takumi's mind and the contrasting piano melodies used when Takumi forms emotional connections to others as positives. Santos and Carroll enjoyed Haberkorn's performance as Takumi, but found the remaining roles less well done; Santos said that most female characters were handled like "plastic dating-sim stereotypes". Finnegan, however, liked Karbowski's performance as Nanami, and compared it favorably to how the character sounded in Japanese.


References


External links

*
''Chaos;Head''
at
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 ...
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaos Head Anime series Anime television series based on video games Funimation Horror anime and manga Madman Entertainment anime Madhouse (company) Mystery anime and manga School life in anime and manga Science Adventure Films with screenplays by Toshiki Inoue Suspense anime and manga Television shows set in Tokyo