Ranked #1684

ChäoS;HEAd

ChaoS;HEAd is a psychological anime with some action and a good plot behind it. Overall, it was pretty enjoyable, and something that is definitely worth watching; however, it isn't one of those extremely memorable anime like Death Note or Code Geass that everybody just loves. Actually, it doesn't reach those heights in the slightest, but that's not to say it was terrible either. Definitely watch it if you like short, psychological anime series, but if you're a casual anime watcher, ChaoS;HEAd should be watched after you've watched the Tops.

Story
Read the synopsis for more details. Basically, you have your generic "I hate human greed/selfishness and I'm going to destroy/remake everything to make a point" anime villain. Then you also have the generic male anime protagonist who attempts to save mankind. Sounds boring, but ChaoS;HEAd adds to this generic plot with its own unique recipes that makes the story worthwhile. There are unexplained points in the story for minor details that are never answered, but most are sci-fi related. It does make the story unsatisfying, but doesn't ruin the story.

Art
I watched ChaoS;HEAd subbed by m33w fansubs, which were 400 mb per episode, so the quality of the anime was great. Everything was sleek and clear. Besides that, the art style is also notable. It is drawn with seriousness in mind, so you won't be seeing any MOE characters or out-of-proportion body parts (besides the eyes, lol) that are common in comedy anime. The motions are very sleek and smooth, so you can just appreciate how many drawings came together to piece ChaoS;HEAd up. I haven't noticed any obvious reused background scenery, so that's a plus as well.

Sound
I'm not a big person on sound, unless it was noticeably awful. The sound in ChaoS;HEAd seems fine to me. The opening song really fit the anime. I personally didn't like the peaceful, pacific ending song, seeing as how it just didn't quite in with the psychological element of ChaoS;HEAd. Generally, the background music was pretty good and fitted with the various situations. The sound effects were satisfying as well. The effects for bodies .. "being damaged" were especially realistic *shudders*

Character
Characters were very unique in ChaoS;HEAd. Every main character has their own traits, from the queer Ayase to Yua with her extremely notable repetitions in speech. The protagonist, Takumi Nishijo, was especially interesting and quite different from generic characters, to say the least. His character development was also done very well. Most watchers will likely hate his personality at the beginning, and most will change their opinions ;)

Enjoyment
In the beginning, I didn't expect much. The first few episodes presented an interesting story and Nishijo's personality, albeit irritating, was noticeably different that most other anime characters. However, everything felt a little bland. But as I continue watching, it became quite enjoyable, as more characters were introduced, and more mysteries presented themselves, waiting for explanations in further episodes. The ending was especially good and is probably the highlight of this entire series.

Overall, ChaoS;HEAd was good, enjoyable, satisfying, but definitely not an epic/memorable anime. I recommend watching the first episode or two, and then take it from there: if you are interested, keep going and if not, hold it for later. read more

It should be noted that this is my first review on this website.

My friend recommended this series to me because of the interesting premise. I looked it up (on here, actually), saw that it got some decent reviews, and started watching it almost right away.
This series had a lot of potential. It could have gone the distance. It could have gotten an 8 of 10 from me.
Needless to say, it didn't...
I'll start with Takumi Nishijou, the male lead. I used to think Shinji Ikari was the most annoying anime character, but Takumi jumped up and nabbed the crown. He's the main reason why I loathe this show.
Takumi spends the majority of the measly twelve episodes whining about the events around him instead of becoming involved in them. Other annoying anime characters tend to have some kind of involvement in the story.Takumi just sat back and cried as his harem took care of everything.
Great job, Takumi! In my opinion, you're the worst leading character in any of the anime I've seen!
The only character that held my interest when he wasn't on screen was the police inspector on the murder case. I'm not even going to bother to remember his name, because I have the aching feeling that he's just a bad rip-off of police inspectors in past series (the police inspector in Noein, for example).
The villains and Takumi's harem girls got little or no development. In fact, I'd venture so far as to say that some of them got less than Takumi.

I gave this show such a low rating because the characters destroy anything that could have been accomplished. I forced myself to watch the last episode just so I could tell people how horrible it was, and I only got that far because the suspense made me want to see some manner of resolution. I would have said a bit about the horrible explanations provided for the powers, except that the basic idea is understandable if you can get past the tech-jargon and some people like to listen to tech-jargon.

In closing, stay away from ChäoS;HEAd unless you think the story is worth putting up with the characters. You have been warned. read more

ChäoS;HEAd is a Supernatural, Psychological, Mystery, whatever that literally gives a new meaning to the term “mind-f**k”. Whichever way you feel about this series, whether you like its intriguing set-up or detest its absurdity, there’s no denying that it’s a complete mess.

Video Alternative - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhhNWJ7IP1w&fmt=18

Following the life of some loser otaku, Takumi Nishijou is a high school student living life in his own little world of online gaming, anime and perverse fantasies. Then one fateful day he wonders into some gruesome murder scene, changing his current life dramatically, as extreme paranoia sets in. Well that’s the introduction, in a nutshell and like most people I struggled to make sense of this absurd anime that felt like watching the Matrix on crack, whilst also watching Scanner Darkly of LSD. But we are not alone as the main character struggles to make sense of what’s going on as well and it isn’t until halfway into the series that some light is finally shed on our confused minds; with some much needed plot exposition. It’s just a shame that whatever explanations into what the series is about will go over most people’s heads and I’ll be wasting my time trying to explain it myself.

However what can be explored are the characters, as this series is full of a weird bunch. As stated before the main protagonist is some loser otaku Takumi, who’s pretty much like a more freakishly annoying version of Tatsuhiro Satou from Welcome to the NHK. What more can be said about this deluded kid, except that it’s weird how this series became a bit of a harem when all of a sudden his surrounded by bishoujo. Naming all of them would be a pain, so just think of all the character types found in your typical visual novel/eroge and give them weird psychological complexes.

At least the animation and music was great, with a credible amount of effort put in by studio Madhouse clearly evident in this area. The character designs and action moments are plain rubbish but the scenery and objects are certainly portrayed incredibly well. Also the music is pretty fascinating, since it has some eerie tunes to set a weird tone for this weird series.

Overall ChäoS;HEAd was a fairly interesting anime as it was more like a homage to a portion of the otaku world, whilst trying to give a serious story. About halfway into the series it certainly piqued my interest, with all the weird theories they were throwing about but for the most part it made little sense. read more

Oh, where do I start?

Eh....

Well, it started pretty well.....

It was actually, kinda, on a roll for a while.







Before a semi ran over it.



Story:
Chaos;Head is a prime example of how to not write a story. It starts pretty good, actually, but that doesn't last.
At first it has a dark, Higurashi atmosphere and combines it, almost seamlessly, with Paranoia Agent-esque hallucinations. The overall story for the first several (3 or 4) episodes, it appears to be a solid suspense thriller about a guy who has a bizarre connection to a series of murders he's only just learning details about. He's also a shut-in with an affiniity for 2D girls, so obviously a bit of a dork.
Now, while the plot makes a good share of unexpected turns, a number of which are relatively good, they suddenly turn sour - and not the tasty sour, but the sour milk kind. It started getting silly when the energy swords were beginnig to appear, the explanations became more and more outlandish and out of place for the show initially presented, and the tone became much too bright and colorful compared to early segments.
After Giglomaniacs became a focal point of Chaos;Head, it chose to strike it's viewer square in the face. With a spiked boot. It was no longer suspenseful or interesting, the story lost all intriguing elements in favor of a shoddy shounen story line with poorly written, nonsensical explanations.
Actually, at times, it reminded me of Bleach. Only less flashy. And, even with the flashy, that's not good.

Art:
Seemed okay at the beginning, again, but gradually lost all appeal as the story began to decline. It never reached the horrible level of the story, and managed to have an occasional interesting moment or two after the story began to suck, but it wasn't enough to make the show interesting or insightful. The shounen-y fights weren't satisfying, and definitely not worth giving up the original atmosphere for.

Sound:
Most of the sound was okay. Nothing special, but not over-poweringly bad. Takumi's voice was moderately bad, but everything else was okay....

Characters:
Takumi was the only consistanly interesting of the cast, until.... certain revelations near the end, the stupid twists ended up killing his character's appeal. The Yui and the pink-haired girls were the only interesting of the big harem of craziest, but they didn't have enough screen time to develope into anything about average. Oddly enough, I can't really remember anything about the girls that did get screentime......

Enjoyment:
Enjoyable for a while, but shoun cliches made it unbearably bad. All the Giglomaniac explanations and evil organization mumbo-jumbo became monotonous and boring. Plot twists regularly reuired facepalms. Maybe if it had gone all out in gore and crazy violence, ompletely dropping the pitiful story and whatnot, it may have been vaguely entertaining?

Overall: 2
Ugggggh....... read more

ChäoS;HEAd is a supernatural, sci-fi, psychological series that centers among one otaku (Takumi Nishijō) struggling with strange delusions as mysterious murders start to happen around the area he resides in. While Takumi is dealing with his struggles, answers are eventually revealed on the strange happenings in his area.

Early in the story, ChäoS;HEAd often brings an impressive display of horror sequences from Takumi's delusions. Dealing with all these horror sequences, Takumi is often at odds on who is really a friend or foe to him which brings a promising start to the story. However there are also times the story can get confusing when understanding what goes on in the world of ChäoS;HEAd. Eventually the confusion starts to lessen as the pieces of the puzzle start to come together. However, the concluding results tend to vary on satisfaction to disappointment from the audience. Despite its great start, ChäoS;HEAd's story as a whole falls short on promising expectations.

The cast of characters are usually interesting and provide pretty good results in the series. For the male protaganist, Takumi often brings his strong and weak points as a character in the series. At certain times, Takumi usually display effective emotions when he feels his life is in sudden danger. However, his personality can also be annoying at times to the audience. For the female leads, each of them provides their own personality and role that makes them diverse in ChäoS;HEAd. Other supporting characters also provide interesting roles that take place in the series.

The animation also provides pretty good results in ChäoS;HEAd. The character designs are provided with good coloring and drawings as a result. The background designs are also provided with good results, like the great coloring and visuals from the Di-swords.

As for the sound, the music is mainly mixed with different assortments like rock and techno in ChäoS;HEAd. The opening and ending theme songs are pretty good but can vary on likability to the audience. While the bgm's are nothing special, some manage to fit the appropriate scenes in ChäoS;HEAd. The seiyu's also did a pretty good job displaying the personalities from each of the characters.

All in all even though ChäoS;HEAd has its moments, it mainly ends up as a very forgettable series due to its disappointing results. Viewers that are willing to see stunning results can certainly give ChäoS;HEAd a try, but also must expect disappointing results to happen as well.
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Ah. The infamous Chaos;Head. To be honest, I thought this series was going to be a great one, one that will make it to my faves list. Of course, I should have known from the first episode that it would suck. But anyway, on with the review.

Story: 3/10
Normally, I wouldn't give the story such a low score. After all, the story is the heart of the anime, isn't it? But, if it weren't for the fact that I am highly interested in murder/mystery/thriller plots, I would have given this story a 1 out of 10. The story itself was the most rushed story I had ever seen, even more so than another 12 episode anime I had seen. It was a nice attempt, but it didn't really cut it for me.

Art: 10/10
Okay. Sue me. I liked the art. In fact, I loved it. Not really much else to say about it.

Sound: 10/10
Loved the opening and ending theme. And I liked the music they played in the beginning of the episodes. It sets the mood for the anime itself. In fact, I think the sound was the best part.

Character: 5/10
Meh. Characters were pretty decent for an anime like this, though I didn't like most of them. And the development for one of them was like the story line: Way too rushed. Plus the relationship between characters is REALLY poor.

Enjoyment: 4/10
Enjoy this series? Most of the time, I just wanted to put this anime on my "Dropped Anime" list. But, I kept with it because I liked the feeling of having finished an anime.

Overall: 4/10
I would recommend this series only if you like rushed development and story. This anime was sheer disappointment in my eyes, when I thought it would be decent. read more

Antes de chegar à televisão japonesa Chaos;HEAd foi cercado por grande expectativa em praticamente todo o universo otaku dentro e fora do Japão. Razão para isso não faltava, pois se tratava de uma das obras-primas da produtora Nitro+. O sucesso e o bom enredo do jogo para PC praticamente garantiram a enorme expectativa. Apesar das primeiras imagens liberadas do anime estarem com uma qualidade visual abaixo do esperado, no fim era até aceitável, já que isso não seria problema caso todo resto mantivesse um bom padrão.

Os primeiros minutos basicamente mostram cenas do final da série, e, diga-se de passagem, estão tecnicamente bem feitas. Há uma bela sequência animada, com um visual bem iluminado e brilhante da Di-Sword de Rimi. Contudo, passada a introdução, o tema de abertura começará a dar outra impressão sobre o anime. Não somente a qualidade do traço decaí, como a coloração se torna um tanto quanto forte demais, para um anime de mistério e suspense.

E isso nem é o maior dos problemas, tecnicamente o anime vai decepcionando a cada episódio. A boa sequência animada (que ainda assim perde para o game) deixa de existir logo nos primeiros minutos, e o que se vê são traços e animações cada vez menos trabalhados no decorrer da série. Parece até que a Madhouse desistiu ou pensou em desistir do projeto no meio do caminho. Aliás, talvez os recursos financeiros direcionados à produção do anime fossem ínfimos. Se pararmos para pensar, embora o game de Chaos;HEAd contasse com apenas 10 capítulos e pudesse ser terminado de 10 a 20 horas, isso em nada explica o fato de torná-lo um anime de apenas doze episódios.

A produtora tentou conter esse problema adicionando 3 minutos extras por capítulo, mas devido à natureza nada amigável do título, com a existência de diversas termologias complicadas, no mínimo seriam necessários 24 episódios para dar maior consistência aos termos, enredo e desenvolvimento de personagens. Uma pena que o resultado final acabou não sendo dos mais satisfatórios. O conceito por trás da série é bem planejado e cheio de boas intrigas. A atmosfera macabra, que é criada mesmo sem um bom uso da trilha sonora do game, já é o primeiro ponto a favor do anime.

Além dela, o mistério por trás de Rimi, as ilusões e instabilidades no psicológico de Takumi, os casos da New Generation e todo clima de lenda urbana em volta dele, o estranho Shogun são detalhes que tem potencial enorme de causar curiosidade no espectador. De fato, o começo do anime não chega a decepcionar, e a maneira como a história flui é suficientemente convincente. É verdade que mesmo assim temos alguns problemas. Por mais que a natureza do enredo consiga carregar os problemas de produção nas costas, as termologias complicadas acabam sendo exibidas e passadas em curtos espaços de tempo, sem muito desenvolvimento.

É preciso estar atento, pois todo capítulo apresenta algo novo. Se por um lado isso mantém o interesse de quem assiste, por outro isso cria perguntas que não terão respostas e diversas incoerências nos momentos seguintes e situações clichês no final. A realidade é que pequenos e sutis detalhes presentes na novel e de suma importância para o enredo como um todo acabaram sendo deixados de lado, o que acabou causando esse sério problema. Aliado a isso temos ainda o péssimo desenvolvimento de personagens.

Por exemplo, o passado de Orihara Kozue (Kozu-pii) foi mencionado de forma superficial, se a Madhouse quisesse era possível até mesmo criar uma rota enfocando somente a personagem. Isso sem falar no próprio arco de Aoi Sena. Infelizmente ninguém do elenco de Chaos;HEAd teve um desenvolvimento satisfatório, mesmo o protagonista Nishijou Takumi, que acaba se tornando no final, apenas mais um herói clichê e salvador do mundo. Uma pena, visto que a personalidade dele tem certa originalidade, mesmo entre os personagens otakus. Ele é um dos poucos tratados de uma forma próxima a realidade.

Enfim, com todo esse festival de erros, pouco se salva de Chaos;HEAd. A primeira metade tem alguns ótimos momentos, mas que começam a ser destruídos com a introdução "corrida" das termologias, principalmente do conceito das Di-Swords. A menos no anime, esse foi um dos principais pontos que levaram o título a cair no clichê total mais para o final. Assim que cada personagem começou a domar a sua espada, o elenco virou uma espécie de esquadrão tokusatsu lutando para salvar o mundo, acabando com todo clima de mistério e suspense construído no começo da série.

O próprio vilão ajuda a deixar isso ainda pior. Considerando o fato de ele ser aquele responsável pelos estranhos acontecimentos de Shibuya, é estranho vê-lo agir e pensar de uma forma até mais infantil do que o protagonista, otaku e instável, Nishijou Takumi. De fato, estranho mesmo é precisar de um vilão com ambições de conquistar o mundo numa série de suspense. Isso só pode mesmo ser uma ilusão. Paranóia total. read more

First of all my opinion is biased because I played the Novel before I watched the animation.

Story: Rushed rushed rushed and rushed. I don't know what they were thinking when they squeezed a 30+ hour plot in a ~6 hour animation. Many details are completely gone and some important plot elements were reduced to a minimum. I don't want to spoil so I keep this section rather short.

Art: Oh my god, droopy the animation. The art is horrible in every possible way. One word for this -> QUALITY

Sound: Can't complain here but I do like the original OST more.

Character: Side character development comes rather short due to -> squeezing the plot.

Enjoyment: As you can obviously see I don't enjoy this anime very much and to put it bluntly I'm biased. I'm just watching this to see which ending they're going for but I can probably guess.

Overall: For me it is a 4~5. For the average guy who didn't read the Novel it ould be 7~8 probably. read more

Chäos;Head is a blunt cross between Welcome to the HNK and a little Higurashi thrown in there. If you like an anime where you beg for more, love seeing the main character act out his life in a hostile environment, the horror type style of atmosphere, and excellent storytelling; Chäos;Head is for you!

Story 10: C;H's story line is based off a VN directly. Almost no space is left between the two and the anime seems to mirror image the VN perfectly. The story line revolves around a chain of unsolvable murders called the "New Gen." You are first given the glimpse at the life of a Hikikimori who would none rather than stay in his room and MMO while spamming on 4chan all day. One day, in an IRC chat room a mysterious lurker named "Shogun" enters. "Shogun" sends Taku an image file that predicts the next murder. Before you know it, it happens. The paranoia grows and the plot thickens.

Art 9: While I wouldn't say C;H's art is perfect, it does appease the eye. While the anime is nothing compared to the VN's artwork, (which was godly) it still does a decent job. Of Fall 2009's anime line up, it is definitely not the worst artwork. Some would even rank it on their top 5 list. The effort put into the backdrop of the anime is amazing, one look at Taku's room and you will see how everything was rendered perfectly from his figurine collection to the detailed heeps of trash on the ground.

Sound 9: The sountrack fits in with the horror-mystery atmosphere perfectly. Playing in harmony to provide the viewer with the maximum level of enjoyment and suspense. The Seiyū cast also does a fantastic job of incorporating their own personal feelings into the series. From the cool to the Moe, they have it all.

Character 10: The character arrangement in C;H is nothing like you will find in anime. Every character is not how they seem, they all hold a dark path from being experimented on, to having covert relationships with others. Every character is uniquely encouraged to find the end to the "New-Gen" cases. From family disputes to direct confrontation with the murders.

Enjoyment 10: It's easy to sit down with a hot dog and a can of beer (coke if you're underaged) and see C;H to the end. Incorporating almost every essence of the horror genre into one perfectly built up story. With every week's episode, you will crave more guaranteed. You're guaranteed to watch episodes multiple times just to indulge yourself more into the story.

Overall 10: What's there to say about C;H? It's an excellent VN that was adapted into an excellent anime series. Yes, it is a shame that it is only 12 episodes long but any longer and there would be too much filler. Overall, it's very possible to live with fanservice at a minimum and an epic murder story that will have you craving more. Chäos;Head is an anime you will definitely remember in the future and think back to from time to time. You will not be disappointed!

*Note: Final score is not based on mean average.


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Ahh Chaos;head, such a sour affair we've had. Of course, like any passionate fling, it would be unfair to say that we were set off with a spark. No, to be more accurate, I was seared alive by a Nazi-era flamethrower with a love for this show when it first began. The early episodes contained all the elements of my other favorite series. We had a Hikikomori on par with Tatsu of NHK ni Youkoso, we had psychotic murdering high school girls akin to the killer lolis of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and all the intrigue of Monster combined with the polygamous romances found in nearly every anime over the last five years. I only grew more and more passionate about the series as Taku dove headlong into his delusions, and as the invisible horrors of the outside world pressed down harder upon his shipping containers doors. However, at episode seven, the enjoyment i found in the series threw itself full force against a wall of disbelief. Granted, nearly every anime "jumps the shark" sooner or later (just look at H2O ~Footprints In The Sand~ episode eight, it took a rocket-boosted double jump over said shark). However, when Chaos;Head began trying to wed a logical explanation to a concept that by it's nature defies common logic, it leaves the watcher in a tizzy. While the technological jargon invented to try and explain the vast loneliness of the human condition and the vast conspiracy to justify the illogical nature philosophy of the mind do offer an explanation, they offer no solutions. Right now at episode ten, I can't help but feel dismal depression as even if "the bad guys" are defeated in the show, Takumi will still be unable to prove any facet of existence. Frankly, at this point the series has nowhere to go. While I admit that I have two episodes to come, I view their eventual arrival with a weary heart, knowing that the show can never retract the new technobabble it's branched into, and return to it's murder mystery roots. read more