So I finished Chaos;Head yesterday. Quite an amazing series, one that left me going “Huh?” many, many, MANY times in the first four episodes. Now, let’s get started ripping apart this behemoth.
If I could describe this series in one word, it’d be: Mindfuck
If I could describe it in two words, it’d be: Total Mindfuck
And given one sentence it’d be: Complete and total mindfuckery on an epic scale.
This series pars well beyond the capabilities of Higurashi in trashing one’s mind, and in fact in presently the most mindfucked series I know. The good news is that for most mysteries that it opens it, it also closes them up quite nicely, and one could even argue wraps the final presentation up with a neat little bow at the end. The series as I see it can be split into three sections of sorts:
1. Delusional: The character is so delusional in the first four episodes that at times it is impossible to distinguish between what he is seeing and what is actually going on. If you based a drinking game off how many delusions he had in the first four episodes, you’d drop dead of alcohol poisoning even with the weakest of boozes. However, in doing so, we introduce many concepts that come into bigger play later in the series, such as the Di-Swords and even the… wait for it… important concept of DELUSIONS. I’m not kidding you when I say that the fact that the main character suffers from delusions is important when he learns to be able to control them. It sounds crazy, and frankly, it is, but I love crazy.
2. Demystifying: The second part of the story, going from about episodes 5-8. During this part, the character mostly has his delusions under control and we’re able to see “reality” without all that much bias. While in the first part we were only most vaguely introduced to the characters, in this part the characters develop healthy flesh around the skeletons. We also get to see the bones of the main villain of the story, and even a false villain (who is actually good). These episodes are where the anime jumps from being average (5/10) to being excellent (9/10). Of special note is episode 6, where I lavished in the greatness of it and gave it a score of 12/10 (yes, I can do that).
3. Debunking. The final four episodes (9-12) revolve around the main character finding his true strength and fighting on his own, rather than being a witness to all sorts of insanity. As such, the other characters who at the point were taking the spotlight now take a step back and led our hero truly shine as he saves the world against a now fleshed out evil villain, while the false villain takes stage fully and explains who he is, and even who the hero truly is. Also during this storyline most all loose ends are tied up quite beautifully. Around episode 11, the series (as a whole) reached a score of 10/10, and stayed that way with the final episode.
Of course, enough of my commentary. You’re probably wondering who I’m talking about. Well, here you go:
From left to right, I’ll describe the characters.
Yua Kusunoki: A girl who goes to the same school as the main character (Takumi Nishijou), and is his senior at the school he attends (she is a 3rd year). She stalks Takumi, and initially pretends that she is in love with him. This is just a cover for she actually believes that he is behind the recent murders known as “New Gen” that are going on. The reason why she is looking for the murderer is that her twin sister, Mia, was one of the first victims in the New Gen murders.
Ayase Kishimoto: Also a third year at the same school as Takumi, she is the vocalist (stage name FES) of the band Phantasm. They are known for songs that seem to describe the events of the New Gen murders, leading her to become a suspect. She speaks of her and the other main characters as being the six dark Knights of Gladiale.
Nanami Nishijou: Takuma’s younger sister, and a first year student at the school that Takumi goes to. She is the main character who is seen the least, with some of the side characters appearing more than her.
Takumi Nishijou: A second year student at Suimei Academy. At first, he is very reclusive and frequently skips school to play video games. He also suffers from many delusions, and lives inside a shipping container on the roof of an apartment where he plays video games. However, despite his self-proclaimed lack of interest in “3-D girls”, he eventually dumps his delusions and starts socializing more with the people around him.
Rimi Sakihata: She is first seen at a crime scene that Takumi encounters on his way home. Believing that she is the New Gen killer at first, Takumi is very scared of her, but eventually these fears wane as she shows him warmth, affection, and kindness.
Seira-tan: The main heroine from Takumi’s favorite anime, she frequently appears in his delusions early in the series. As we get further in the series, she appears less and less.
Kozue Orihara: Nicknamed “Kozu-ii”, she is a second year at Takumi’s school, and even in the same class. She does not speak, but has telepathic abilities. She is great friends with Sena.
Sena Aoi: A third year at the same academy as Takumi, she is a silent girl with a love for blue icepops. She seeks to kill her father, for leading her mother and sister to their deaths.
There are other important characters (Shogun, Ban, etc…), but I’ll let you watch the anime to find out who they are and what role they play.
Overall, the anime is great. The storyline, while initially confusing, it great. The characters are well developed and they each have unique personalities and traits that truly seperate them from other characters (thus, they aren’t cookie cutter characters). The artwork in many cases is quite beautiful, and the music is wonderful. As such, I’m proud to say that Chaos;Head shall receive the highest score that I can award it, at a 10/10.
