Chaos;Head (TV series)
A high school student's delusions blur with reality.
Chaos;Head is a Japanese anime television series produced by Madhouse, based on the video game by 5pb. and Nitroplus, and part of the Science Adventure franchise. Set in Shibuya, Tokyo, it follows high school student Takumi Nishijo, who develops paranoia and delusions after witnessing one of a series of murders. The series explores the existence of people who can project delusions onto others' minds and an organization using a machine to do so artificially.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Mystery, suspense
- Creator
- 5pb.
- Nitroplus
- Red Flagship
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Takumi Nishijo, a high school student living in a cargo crate atop a building in Shibuya, receives pictures over the internet depicting a murder in an alley. He later witnesses a murder resembling those pictures and believes the killer is a pink-haired girl he sees at the crime scene. Suspected of being the murderer, he develops paranoia and experiences delusions. More murders, called the New Generation serial murders, occur while Takumi meets several girls who have an interest in him but whom he suspects of being linked to the crimes. One of them, the pink-haired girl named Rimi, claims to be his friend despite his lack of memory of her. Takumi learns of gigalomaniacs, people who can project delusions onto others' minds and into reality through a process called real-booting, using illusory Di-Sword weapons. He and some of the girls are revealed to be such individuals. The Nozomi Group has created a synthetic gigalomaniac machine, the Noah II, used to cause panic. Takumi discovers he is an artificial delusional clone with fabricated memories, created by the real Takumi to stop the Nozomi Group. He exposes the nurse Hazuki as the murderer by projecting her memories onto screens, destroys the Noah II and the Nozomi president with his Di-Sword, and the real Takumi dies, leaving him to continue living.
Production and release
The television adaptation of the visual novel Chaos;Head was produced by Madhouse under director Takaaki Ishiyama, with Shuichi Shimamura handling character designs and Toshiki Inoue supervising the script. Although Takeshi Abo, who composed the original game's music, is credited for the anime's soundtrack, his involvement in the production was minimal. The opening theme, "F.D.D.," was performed by Kanako Itō, while the ending theme, "Super Special," was sung by Seira Kagami. The series was first revealed in July 2008 through Dengeki Daioh and Monthly Comic Alive magazines. It began airing on Japanese television on October 15, 2008, running for twelve weekly episodes across channels including Chiba TV, TV Saitama, TVK, Tokyo MX, and Kids Station, concluding on December 31, 2008. VAP handled the Japanese DVD release, with the first volume launching on March 4, 2009, and ranking as the fourteenth best-selling animation DVD in Japan during its debut week. Funimation secured North American rights in 2010, issuing DVD and Blu-ray sets on November 29, 2011, in both limited and standard editions, followed by a budget re-release on January 13, 2015. Madman Entertainment obtained Australian rights in 2011, releasing the series on DVD and Blu-ray on February 15, 2012. Manga Entertainment brought it to the United Kingdom, with a DVD release on October 22, 2012.
Reception
Reviewers from Anime News Network reviewed the first episode in a fall 2008 preview guide. Casey Brienza found the series thoroughly enthralling at its best and thought its imagery of death and destruction would intrigue viewers interested in apocalypse-themed works, but called the opening and ending themes bright but boring and at odds with the story. Carlo Santos disliked the ending theme and found Takumi's otaku traits with an imaginary girlfriend too overt and annoying, though he felt Takumi's growing paranoia, music, and art direction of violent scenes worked well to set the tone, while the fluff involving the imaginary girlfriend and Takumi's sister disrupted the mood. Carl Kimlinger noted an inconsistent tone, called the female characters painfully artificial, and found the horror mystery an uninteresting mix of Higurashi When They Cry and Japanese psychological horror films. Theron Martin called the series a contender for weirdest anime of the season, compared its tone to Higurashi When They Cry, and liked the visuals and eerie music. Reviewing the full series, Santos found it uneven, with story elements ranging from brilliant jaw-droppers to feeling unfinished, citing the revelation of Takumi's true nature as an example of the former and conclusions to some character sub-plots as the latter. Luke Carroll and John Rose criticized the story as rushed, with the game's narrative squeezed into too few episodes; Rose was disappointed that answers felt less innovative than the mysteries. Bradley Meek found it confusing enough to quit after the eighth episode, and Erin Finnegan called it unwatchable due to lack of sense despite a promising start. Chris Homer and Chris Beveridge found the story engaging, with Beveridge calling the climax solid.
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