Unable to tell his delusions from reality, high school student Nishijou Takumi has become a recluse, attending school as little as possible so that he can devote his time to anime and video games. Whilst he may seem like just another hikikomori, however, Takumi is something more- for a great power lurks within his delusions, and that power will draw him into a power struggle that will decide the fate of Tokyo itself.
Although not familiar with any Nitroplus games firsthand, ever since I first ‘met’ Ignis I have loved their character designs, and so both curiosity and visual appeal drove me to see what Chaos;Head had to offer beyond its bizarrely punctuated title. And at first, it seemed like just the thing for me- a series where delusion and reality blended so seamlessly for our main character that you couldn’t be sure what was really happening and what was just his imagination. It was fascinating and compelling- and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.
Unfortunately, instead of drawing me in further as the series progressed, Chaos;Head had quite the opposite effect. With a multitude of characters and an explosion of technobabble, the story changes from an intriguing mystery into a solid but not outstanding sci-fi/fantasy series- decent enough in its own right, but hardly delivering on its early promise.
As with so many 12-13 episode series, Chaos;Head has a few too many characters for its own good, with our hero predictably being surrounded by numerous beautiful girls. Fortunately, most of the characters are generally likeable- it’s just that we don’t have time to properly get to know them. What character development there is usually takes the form of ‘shocking’ plot-related revelations that mostly don’t come as a surprise at all.
Visually, Chaos;Head has far less to worry about- the basic character designs are aesthetically pleasing, whilst other details such as the “D-Swords” wielded by various characters are all very well done. Background music is generally solid, with a number of worthy tracks and an oddly catchy ending theme.
Final Thoughts
Although it didn’t live up to its early potential, Chaos;Head is still a decent enough series- if you like science-fiction with a hint of mystery and plenty of eye candy, it is definitely worth looking into.
Tier: Silver-
awesome blog post!
http://www.otakubaka.com
So much was left out from the visual novel / anime conversion, especially in the second half of the series, that it was a surprise that this show managed any semblance of coherence whatsoever.
But it will always be Super Special. 😉