Director: Takaaki Ishiyama
Starring: Carrie Savage, Eri Kitamura, Todd Haberkorn, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Brittney Karbowski, Ayumi Tsuji, Clarine Harp, Chiaki Takahashi, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Kara Edwards, Mark Stoddard, Stephanie Sheh,
Running Time: 300 minutes
Certificate: 15
Extras: Textless intro and outro,
Takumi is a nerdy kind of guy known as an Otaku. That’s a person with an obsessive love of anime. Takumi’s obsession runs so deep that he is in love with an anime character and resists any contact with, what he calls, 3D girls. He lives in a large shipping container that sits on the roof of his family’s apartment building. He collects figurines of his favourite characters and prefers to be left alone.
Unfortunately for Takumi, this is a choice that is no longer his. After a series of murders known as the Next Gen killings, he begins talking with someone over the internet known as The General. This person shows Takumi scenes of crimes before they have happened, and one night Takumi comes across a murder taking place. The culprit is a young school girl, who shows up the next day and it turns out she has been friends with Takumi for years, but Takumi can’t remember ever having met her.
If this all sounds very confusing, that’s because it is, and not in a good way. CHAOS: HEAD is more concerned with running around in circles and creating mysteries than it is about giving answers. This wouldn’t be such a problem, but it decides to create dozens of mysteries before it allows us to get to know the characters. In a show where our opinions of the characters can change in a heartbeat, it becomes difficult to form any kind of bond with them. It’s a lot like a car that speeds off every time you approach it, just when you think you’re about to settle in, it drives away again.
Part of the problem may stem from the fact it is based on a Japanese visual novel. This is kind of a computer game that tells a story rather than allowing you to play scenarios. As a result a lot of the information we receive is through lengthy dialogue that tries to make sense but often doesn’t. Like many great science-fiction shows and films before it (and since), CHAOS: HEAD plays with the ideas of sanity and reality. Takumi clearly has some kind of mental disorder. He sees things that aren’t there, believes he can receive premonitions, forgets stuff that has happened, and may even have a multiple personality disorder. At the same time, the world he is in may not be real.
Takumi gradually meets a number of different girls, each one being slightly odd. They soon turn out to be warriors with the ability to manipulate reality. In one scene they try and explain all of this using some mumbo jumbo about physics etc. But all I could think is why are they explaining fake science to me in more detail than you would explain normal science. I’m willing to suspend disbelief, but I don’t want to feel as though I’m in a lecture hall and should be taking notes.
Towards the middle of the series we are following Takumi, the holographic sword wielding girls, an evil corporation, and the police investigating the murders. None of which gels together in a cohesive way. The police investigation is pointless, because we as the audience are about five hundred steps ahead of them and even we’re lost. The action scenes are passable, but often stop for some expository dialogue which does nothing to help our understanding. Unfortunately, even with some vague understanding of what is going on, it’s very doubtful that you will even care because of the bland and rather detached characters.
CHAOS: HEAD isn’t completely devoid of merit. The mysteries do make an interesting beginning at first, and the parody of Japanese anime culture is also handled in a refreshing way that is unfortunately lost in the later episodes. There is also a brief spark of humanity from the characters as Takumi discovers he may not be real, but that would also mean his little sister isn’t real. She explains about her past memories, and Takumi’s doubt is subsided, if only for a little while. Unfortunately, this is a show that is too convoluted for a marathon viewing, but also to complex to watch it in bits and pieces.
Extras: A textless opening and closing credit sequence is all we get this time. A bit disappointing, as a show like this could really use some explanatory commentaries.
CHAOS: HEAD is released on DVD 22nd October. You can grab your copy here.
