People criticize Chaos;Head as a convoluted mess, but I disagree. There were some times that complicated points in the storyline were explained at a rather fast pace; perhaps not exactly "easy" to follow, but I don't think it was hard either. For anyone who didn't get it, this series is a lot like an anime version of The Matrix.
- - - S T O R Y - - -
Throughout the entire show, I found the story to be quite intriguing. The show is filled with mysterious identities and mysterious happenings, which unravel over time with a natural flow. Nothing felt forced or tacked on to me. Perhaps getting a lecture about electromagnetic waves and human senses out of the blue felt "forced" to some, but I think the timing was appropriate and the characters explaining obviously did so intentionally, planning it out ahead of time.
Chaos;Head has a few "reveals", the main one being something personal about Takumi. I found all of them to be decently executed. Takumi's big reveal was led up to more and I felt it was quite well done. Some anime series will just randomly throw plot twists at you without being convincing at all, just expecting you to accept any changes it brings. Takumi's character development was smooth and believable. Some may argue otherwise, but it's not like he just did a 180 outta nowhere. The confidence the Di-Sword would bring, the relationship he built, the immense power and understanding he acquired, etc. I think is more than enough reason to give him a little bit of courage.
There are two minor plot holes in this series. The first is Rimi's involvement with the New Gen incident from the first episode. There is never any explanation as to why she was there. However, it honestly feels like it doesn't matter. We can assume she was there for any number of reasons, even that it was just a delusion attack on Takumi. The answer has no bearing on the story, really.
The second is how all the female characters acted like friends and as if they all knew each other in the final episode. This was a little silly since most of them have never met before, but also not a huge deal, and it can also be explained away as a result of Takumi's delusions. They all go to the same school, anyway, so it wouldn't be too unusual to be slightly familiar with each other.
- - - A R T - - -
The art is average for the most part. There's the rare inconsistency with Takumi's hairstyle, but it's really not a big deal. Cutesy anime girls with outrageous hairstyles, the usual. The art and animation is as good as any other average anime.
The part I really liked about the art is the effects that were used at certain tense moments. A desolate world where there is only Takumi and Shogun... A place where you must absolutely not be, where you can feel your very existence is at stake... A dark hallway that is clearly off limits... It just added so much more feeling to the scenario, as if you were right there with the characters.
- - - S O U N D - - -
The opening and ending themes are among my favourites from all the anime I've seen. They've got a good sound and good singers. The opening theme's intensity doesn't feel like it's all there since the show's full of cutesy anime girls and some parts of the opening animation aren't exactly exciting. Still, it's a very good song. The ending is one of two songs I've heard from Seira Kagami; I feel like I really gotta check out more of her stuff, she definitely sings better than your average idol or squeamish high pitched girl. I'm sure people would think the song is just lame since she says "super special", but you gotta remember English isn't her first language, there's bound to be some poorly phrased sentences. Still, I think it's a very good j-pop song. It may not fit the whole series' mood, but it fits the ending. Make of that what you will.
Takumi's voice actor does the job great. I love how Takumi creepily/uneasily laughs to himself and how he sounds uneasy and troubled. The rest of the cast is just average roles, and they do that fine.
I find the music in Chaos;Head to be pretty interesting and to fit the mood perfectly. It's common for anime to have overly silly and upbeat songs whenever the character does something silly or to just have boring music that you don't even really notice. Instead, Chaos;Head opts for simple piano pieces to gently give you the right feeling. The tense moments have incredible distorted piano pieces and awkward, creeping, noisy tracks. Most anime will just give you some exciting "action" music at the heated moments, but Chaos;Head gives you something chilling - a taste of insanity itself. I love it.
- - - C H A R A C T E R S - - -
Takumi - He is an awesome character. He's a weak, cowardly otaku who daydreams of a life with his 2D waifu and tries his hardest to not be the main character. That part is okay, but what's really great about him is his extreme negativity, paranoia, and his general attitude and reactions to events. His uneasy smile and weak little laugh, averting his eyes from other people, walking ahead of people who are talking to him... Overall, he's just a hilarious character, and his otaku references are a bonus for anime fans. It's also cool that he hangs out on the computer, plays MMORPGs all day, and uses Google and Wikipedia to solve his life problems, much like the rest of us.
Shogun - I thought it was interesting how they presented a harmless, shriveled up old man in a wheelchair as some mysterious and cryptic being with unknown allegiances. The fact that they made a character like that interesting in any way is impressive, especially in a sub-culture where people only care about cute girls.
Rimi - Just another anime girl throwing herself at the main character? Not really, she has a good reason for it. All of her actions make sense at the end, which I think is great. I'd say they should've developed her character more, but it's hard to imagine how they could've; she was fine.
Yua - Like Rimi, there are also good reasons for her actions. Her character development is generic at first, but her first plot twist makes her pretty interesting.
Kishimoto - Also has reasons behind her actions and how she gets close to Takumi. I know that's pretty bland to keep saying, but I don't wanna spoil things.
Sena - It was kinda silly how she literally carried her sword at all times. I mean, even if no one else can see it, she would be looking pretty stupid walking around in public as if she's holding a sword resting on her shoulder. Her backstory gave her a fine motive for the story, though.
The girls overall - Not exactly interesting by themselves, but not as typical as you'd think at first glance. If you think you'll be seeing "the down to earth one", "the sporty one", "the shy one", etc. like in other harems, you're mistaken. In fact, this isn't even really a harem. The girls don't flirt with the main character or try to start relationships, they don't blush at him, they don't accidentally show him panties, etc. They're mainly just there for the sake of the plot and allowing Takumi's character to develop. Maybe they could've been more intricate like Takumi himself if there were fewer girls, but I guess I'm not really complaining. The story was fine as it was, whether they were necessary or not. This would've been better if they weren't flaunted as the representatives of this anime for general otaku appeal, though.
- - - E N J O Y M E N T - - -
I didn't enjoy when Takumi had delusions about the girls playing out some hentai scenario or when he accidentally touched Rimi's breast (though his dating sim references were funny). These kinda things (the ecchi) are just way too overdone and boring to be any remote point of interest. However, I can respect that Chaos;Head didn't make any effort to actually make it erotic. It felt more like silly anime shenanigans, not like "I can't tell if I'm watching anime or porn".
I also respect that Chaos;Head didn't bother with bloody violence/gore. I mean, there were some little visions of horror, but they didn't emphasize on it much - they left things more to your imagination. It's not that I'm afraid of a little blood or anything, I liked seeing that in Hellsing Ultimate before. The reason I respect Chaos;Head for not doing the same is because gore has become a simple little trick anime producers use for shock value. They insert it when it isn't even really appropriate and people just gobble it up. Chaos;Head simply didn't need it, and I think it's good that they acknowledged that.
I found this series to be enjoyable the whole way through, though I think the ending and final battle felt a little... I dunno, lacking for a climax. I think it's because the villain had a very good and valid reason for his schemes, whereas our heroes didn't have very solid grounds to oppose him. If it were a debate, the good guys would lose hands down - they only won by using force, like brutes. They did rationalize it a bit better afterwards, but it felt kinda hard to get into that battle while it was happening.
For anyone complaining about how things don't make enough scientific sense to apply to the real world, c'mon... it's just a sci-fi story. Of course they're gonna stretch the truth a bit.
On a side note, it's funny how "Wikipedia" in this series is "Wiki-pedophilia".
- - - O V E R A L L - - -
Well, I suppose I can't recommend Chaos;Head to everyone since it's evident that a ton of people hate it. It's just 12 episodes and starts off really exciting, though, so you don't have much to lose. It's more creative and original than the majority of anime you'll come across, to say the least.
I dunno, I think people are just missing the point and getting hung up on how they didn't understand the concept of the delusions. Chaos;Head literally asks you if you can really be sure that what you see is reality, and tells you that the only way you can know for sure is if other people confirm it. Say one person is colour blind and thinks something is gray, but 10 other people think that same object is yellow. It is yellow because everyone else says it's yellow, even if you can't comprehend that. They take it to an extreme that some people believe and some people do not. There are many ways you can interpret this line of thinking. Is God real, or does he only exist because so many people believe he does? Is history the truth, or is it fabricated? If your brain can send signals to increase or decrease your body temperature (such as when you're sick or sleeping), could it go so far as to give you physical burns or let you freeze to death? Can you say a rainbow exists, or is it only there because you perceive it to be there?
I think it's interesting that an anime series based itself on perceptions and "belief" itself. This anime isn't extremely deep, and I really don't think the plot was that complicated to understand, but it is somewhat thought provoking. Apparently too much for some people, I suppose.
