Anime: Chaos;Head 256z4i

Chaos;HEAd Review

Art+animation nothing really outstanding but what was done was okay, due to the lack of action/battle it’s not something that could shine, the characters and weapons were well drawn. 6/10

Sound I found both the opening and the ending irritating, otherwise sounds ware not the worst, but during the anime in specific scenes It was rather annoying, and more disturbing than good, there was 1 battle theme in episode 8 at 18:30 min:sec that was good and I would love to know what is its title. (If anyone can help me out I would appreciate :D) 4/10

Story
This was chaotic and hard to understand, it requires thinking, and some question will not get answers adding to the mystery, it certainty was unique. My personal opinion the anime starts depressing for a Harem, and mysterious for mystery, then the whole thing turns to "magic" action half way, the maker made the mistake of wanting to mix, Harem+investigation+mystery+action+phantasm… omm too much resulting in semi random chaos:D, Was it fun? I could not decide I like this anime until the ending, so no and yes.... and this happens if a story wants to do too much, did they manage to get it done? barely.
If you have an opened mind, good fantasy and intellect and a LOT of patience. It can be fun. For the rest of viewers hard to digest. 6/10 for being unique and they tried hard.

Characters
Well main character Nishijou Takumi go die under a rock. 1/10 and that takes a lot from the series, any series requires good main characters, not a main like him…how to put it "an elephants middle part from behind" and hating girls for not being two dimensional, while he was a coward did not help him getting bonus points. And kinda mean to most character, that was unique, and that unique can be good, but in this particular chase, lacked a good reason.
His title sister was a saint. 10/10
The other female character ware strong willed and awesome. Something I saw a long time ago. 10/10,8/10,8/10
But the problem is still the main character, and/or the lack of more male characters. I won’t say this set was bad, good female characters, with realistic goals. It balances out to: 6/10 If you want a show with good strong female character (downside is they don't get much spotlight, if you end up only liking one you end up hungry) if you like more you will like this, but the show was not about the characters.

Value
Will I watch it again, the main point is mystery, and by all means not a master-peace. ~ not likely
Will I watch it for some female character. ~ not likely
Does being unique have a value? ~ yes
Was it fun? - I Think they did not ruin the ending. For Harem it sucks, for mystery its semi good.
Dos it Worth watching at least ones? ~ Yes (just DONT make this your first anime, watch at least 20 anime before giving this a shot)
I think all of this above a BIT average 6/10

Enjoyment
Did I Enjoy is well after 800 anime ...not relay
"If one wants to have safe fun, read the last page of a book or rip it out and burn it, before start."
For Harem bad, for mystery semi good, for action first half scrap, second half ok, maybe Horror fail.
And that was the problem the main problem is I could not decide what this was...
Main character ~ Scrap. The Girls ~ awesome (but my favorite supposedly anime fan glasses lady, as the rest of the girls did not had enough spotlight)
5/10 ~ If I could decide what I was watching at the start, it would have been a lot more fun.
A second watch would be different but this won’t get a second watch (most likely)

My vote 6/10 ~ 12/20 (they could have bring more out of this)

Chaos; Head starts as a mysterious thriller and then turns into a simple game of destroy the villain to save the world (or Shibuya). Though the initial few episodes entices the viewer into finding out more about the world, the actual reality that the latter episodes fail to deliver on the promise.

The series seems to toy with the idea with being a mystery and a romance but in the end discards such endeavors. This is quite disappointing as the second half of the series destroys whatever good will the first half produced.

If you're looking for a good thriller series, there are plenty of better ones out there. If you're looking for a romance/harem (noticing that there are many cute girls in this... Rimi...), this is NOT a harem.

Animation:
The animation is top notch, crisp and clear. Battle sequences are well done though sometimes it pans away just at the critical moment. There is a bit of CG used but it is done in a manner that doesn't detract from the overall quality of the series. The series uses colors of day and night well to define the mood throughout the series. The presentation overall is solid.

Sound:
The series starts off with a very catchy OP and presents a good concluding ED that serves to "calm" the viewer from the "Chaos" of the episode that just ended. The BGM and numerous effects give an errie feel that the series demands. This is at the sacrifice of having any unifying theme underlying it all. There are numerous VAs in this, all of whom give their respective roles a lively personality. Though the main character is supposed to look like a wimp, I think they overdid it a bit.

Story:
Chaos; Head starts at a thriller that plays with your head. What is reality? What you actually see happening in the series vs. just a delusion of Takumi? It's really hard to tell at times but it sure makes the first half of the series fun.

The show is about an otaku named Takumi that strangely lives in a tiny shack-like container at the top of a building. Soon, events start happening that are outside his control and he is eventually forced to take action and figure out what is happening around him.

The early part of the show is very enthralling but once the truth of what is happening is out, the story doesn't try to add any additional twists, falling to a linear, very predictable, progression. And though there are many powerful (and cute) ing female characters, they are by no means used anywhere close to their potential in the series. It's as if it was shooting for a romantic sub-theme but then shoved it aside.

The final climax at the end was very predictable and the show ends rather quickly after that. There isn't really an explanation for what happens after the climax, it just is. The lack of any falling action makes me think that the production team got lazy... This series definitely deserved more than what it ended up being.

Character:
Takumo is a detestable character. He is an otaku and a wimp who cares only for his games and Seira-tan anime figurines. When anything becomes difficult, Takumo just runs away. His pitiful-ness caries throughout the series as he finds himself in the middle of the largest crisis Shibuya has ever faced.

Despite his personality, Takumo is probably the only non-static character in the entire series. Though the other ing female characters are all unique in their own way, only a bare-minimum approach was used in their development. Several of the girls don't have any exposition on their past at all. This may have been to keep the mysterious feel early in the series but even once everything was clear, the ing females only felt like additional baggage that the series just carried for the heck of it.

Value:
If you're looking for an enthralling thriller, enjoy the first part of the series. But then you might as well throw it out once the initial mysteries are solved as the latter portions of the series are very linear and lead to a conclusion that is both predictable and (even worse) poorly executed.

Chaos;Head, aka “How to make a jackass out of a good premise”. Some people must think they can make wonders if they make an anime as f*ed up as possible. They are wrong. Although studio Madhouse is easily one of the best when it comes to production values, in this case they made a sloppy/lazy production just for some quick bucks. Something which is EXTREMELY disappointing. Although from what I hear the source material, a visual novel by Nitroplus, is extremely good, the choice of giving the direction to some nobody (Ishiyama Takaaki) who never made a decent title in his life (his roster is full of throw away minor action/ecchi titles) could only spell doom for the whole project.

ART SECTION: 6/10 [Trolled by amateurs!]

- First of all, I got trolled when I saw the first entry picture. I thought “an action anime with chicks and magic swords”. Well, it isn’t. Action takes place from episode 8 and on and it is still silly for the most part. Random clashes and magic gismos making stuff appear and disappear are hardly realistic and the speed of the battles was so slow and simple that I was not interested one bit. So, as an action anime, this series is terrible.
- I got trolled again when they switched the picture to a guy surrounded by happy go lucky girls. I thought “a generic harem”. Well, it’s not that either. There is hardly any nude or fan service in it beyond the erotic illusions of the protagonist. Just lots of pretty faces and “zettai ryouiki”. Although it does feel like a harem half the time it is still far from one as any hits of romance or ero stuff it has in it are short and have little to no purpose in the series.
- Then there is the horror aspect of it. So amateurish. Although the animators tried to insert cinematics in order to make things look creepy, everything was done so poorly and lifelessly it didn’t help in building atmosphere. There are lots of great horror anime and this is not remotely scary. Heck, they even censored most of the gore as blood and severe injuries are almost never shown. How do you hope of making a gore story by taking out the gore?
- There is also the character figure issue. There are lots of kawai girls surrounding an antisocial male who wastes his life in the otaku life (the bad type of otaku life; shut in a container playing games and gathering female figurines all day long while bashing away all real girls). Too ideal for a setting that is supposed to criticize otaku life. Where are the ugly women; The girls were as pretty as the plastic ones.
- What I did like was the attention given to those fancy square patterned school uniforms and some occasional visual effects that were indeed interesting and scary. But beyond all that, the artwork feels poor for the time the series was made and lifeless to the most part.

SOUND SECTION: 6/10 [Shut up mute loli!]

A follow up of the same problems as the animation. Sound effects do little to promote the atmosphere. Voice acting is relaxed but not terrible. The main lead has a very irritating voice but that actually fits his antisocial personality. The girls have rather typical voices with the usual squeaky loli accompanying them while the main villain is plain nasty. Nothing great in all. As for the music themes, the opening and ending themes are mediocre pop pieces that you will hear a couple of times before forgetting entirely.

STORY SECTION: 6/10 [And it sounded so good on paper…]

- You got to be a real loser if you are capable of being given such a great premise and then f*ing so bad. Based on a novel, the general story is very interesting actually, concerning delusions, memory losses, occult and secret apocalyptic experiments along with gruesome murder cases and mystical invisible swords. The first two episodes are great to watch, despite the poor visuals and atmosphere.
- And after that, everything turns to BS. The lead wastes half the series having erotic illusions around six pretty girls that have nothing better to do than interact with this loser. Ok, they are not really in love with him and just want to exploit his special power. Still, by the time some actual development occurs in the second half, you are left to believe this series is a light school comedy with a few poor horror overtones. And then the revelations come and the second half of the series becomes a standard action mystery title… which still has poor atmosphere, boring action and revelations that happen fast through monologues. Man, they really screwed up…
- In all, the pacing of the story is slow and ridiculous for the most part, going fast only when it has to explain the complicating story. WHY ON EARTH would they fast forward the important stuff and focus on nonsense? The story itself is great but the presentation was done by people not familiar with storytelling. Not to mention the really corny ending. So predictable and uninspired you could see it coming two episodes before. Bad, bad, bad…

CHARACTER SECTION: 7/10 [The lights make me look funny mister director.]

- The protagonist in the series is a real loser and was portrayed exceptionally, with an irritating voice, otaku life, erotic fantasies, fits of rage towards women, and running away from his troubles all the time. All accompanied by an imaginary friend of his, which is basically his favorite female anime character. Then there are half a dozen other girls with issues. They all have invisible swords only he can see and they find in him the means to solve their troubles. Great excuse to be swarmed by pretty chicks!
- There is an interesting secondary cast of students and megalomaniacs who also play their part in the grand scale of things. The cast of this series had the potential for greatness.
- Yet it failed to be great because of all the above. From the poor atmosphere, to bad storytelling and lots of silly school comedy moments, the characters devolve to almost cardboards. It is actually very interesting when each gets to face his/her greatest fear, which is really inside his/her mind. I loved how everyone’s greatest enemy was his/her own self. The villain was practically craving on that. Very interesting concept. Still, as mentioned over and over, amateur handling lead to for idiots when they are actually not. And having that terrible ending didn’t help to leave you with good last impressions about them.

VALUE & ENJOYMENT SECTIONS: 1/10 [Remake now!]
It had the guts but missed the glory. If it gets a remake and some pros in the genre get involved, this will turn out to be a jewel. As it stands, it is uncut and unpolished.

VERDICT: 4.5/10

SUGGESTION LIST
Steins;Gate
Welcome to the NHK
Serial Experiments Lain
Higurashi
Shakugan no Shana

Chaos; Head is a strange one. Of course, that's sort of the point.

The show starts superbly; in the first three episodes, we are wonderfully immersed in the world of our delusional protagonist, Takumi. His experience is conveyed with a striking intensity, to the point where the show manages to be genuinely disturbing (and not due to anything as mundane as graphic violence; I understand the gore has been toned down substantially from the original game).

But then it somehow falls apart. Oh, it remains an above-average show throughout, but the astonishing promise of the early episodes gradually slips away. The pieces of information we're fed - and fed excellently, mind, there is no fault to be found in the pacing - stop fitting together, and while this may fit the tone of the piece, it still leaves the plot looking a bit silly. A conspiracy of delusions where nothing is what it seems should be interesting - but Chaos;Head manages to make it irritatingly mundane. The setting is phenomenal, the atmosphere is maintained perfectly - but all this plays host to what is, at its heart, nothing more than a third-rate fantasy plot. Don't get me wrong, this isn't enough to bore - the setting keeps the series fresh enough - but it ensures Chaos;Head is good, rather than great.

If one looks past the weak plot, this is a show that does almost everything right. The visuals are done in a rather spare style that has drawn some complaint, and I can't deny that cost-cutting may have been a factor. But it's consistent and evocative, and a large part of the show's astonishingly even stylistic tone. The effects are deliberately undersaturated, giving a visual hollowness that again contributes greatly to the mood, and serves to highlight the creators' careful use of colour. Music is also pitched at exactly the right emotional tone, with a dramatic opening to draw the viewer in, and a provocatively light ending - initially irritating, until you grasp the subtlety of it. In the same kind of spare, delicate and beautifully observed styling that pervades the visuals, the show generally limits itself to this, reusing the opening as an insert song for the conclusory battle sequence.

The voice cast have done well in making each of the "harem" distinctive, though this is sometime achieved by the overuse of digital effects - and their appropriateness does not make this any less irritating. One would expect the large cast to impede characterization in a series this short, but in fact it's balanced perfectly; there is only one truly major character, Takumi, while all the females are sited somewhere between, with more detailed personalities than a traditional secondary character, but less than a true lead. It works beautifully; we don't see all the sides of any of the girls, but this is because we're seeing them as Takumi does, and so what we have is that rarest of things - characters who reward close attention, who have a greater depth than one sees on the surface, which is nevertheless unambiguously brought out for the viewer who puts in the effort to see it.

And that's the brilliance of Chaos;Head; the more you put in, the more you get out. This is one of the most perfectly styled animes in existence; the tone and mood are maintained utterly flawlessly, the series is, oxymoronically, dripping with subtlety. But it's held back from greatness by the utter stupidity of the plot, which is a great shame. This is a show that everyone should see once - it's the most artistically coherent piece I've ever seen in the medium. But the plot's emptiness would certainly become too much to take on a repeat viewing.