Umineko: When They Cry (No Spoilers)

By: 14thLord

Release: 2009
Genre: Mystery, Psychological, Supernatural
Also known as: Umineko No Koro Ni, When the Seagulls Cry, Seagualls: When they Cry

Ah Umineko a obscure gem, and the next installment by 07th Expansion. You may recognize the developer from its predecessor, Higurashi: When They Cry. While holding Many similarities in style, the two anime's are completely unrelated, so feel free to pick up one or the other, in either order. I personally recommend starting with Higurashi if you were to indeed watch the two.

Like Higurashi, there's little that can be said about Umineko without giving away spoilers. What I can tell you is that the plot revolves around a mystery, which may or may not be supernatural based. The story plays out like a murder mystery, while at times showing impossible things, relying heavily on unreliable testimonies.

If you enjoy unsolvable murder/mansion mysteries, psychological intense anime's, and the notion of witches, this anime may peek your interest. Immediately from the start, the show sets itself up on Rokkenjima Island, a isle. That's allegedly haunted by the Golden Witch Beatrice. Long ago, the head of the Ushiromiya family made a deal with this mysterious figure. Now the Witch has come to collect on its end of the bargain, the families fortune, and their lives.

The Anime ends with a massive cliffhanger, intentionally to allow the viewer to form their own opinions and attempt to “solve” the mystery. There also includes the visual novel series with EXTENSIVELY more detail, which has never been released stateside. Fortunately, you can enjoy the anime to the fullest, without ever having even heard of the game.

Unfortunately Umineko was never dubbed, after Funimations dub of Higurash was considered to be a flop, and their license was since allowed to expire. It's particularly upsetting as this was the event that caused Funimation to seek more conservative titles, rather than branching out to obscure gems.

Characters: 9/10
Umineko sports a large cast of memorable characters, whether it's the primary circle involving the families adult children, or the simple servants of the family. Each member of the Ushiromiya is a well fleshed out suspect, with their own reasons and motives. While some can quickly be discarded as a suspect for not being suiting to their personality, you may later find yourself second guessing that decision.

Plot: 10/10
Let no episode remain a filler. A motto this anime takes, and I love it greatly for. If you love a good murder mystery, and a anime that deliberately makes attempts with messing with the viewers head, this is the show for you. Often I found myself at edge, constantly trying to solve the mystery of Rokkenjima Island.

Fun Factor: 10/10
Again, Umineko is very dependent upon the viewer enjoying a good murder mystery. Not only is it amazing fun to watch, it continues to extend its fun in discussions with friends, as you debate on opposite sides.

Music & Animation: 9/10
The art style of the anime isn't something of particular notice, it is one of the lovelier looking anime's currently out. If you seen the initial games, the artstyle is a MASSIVE improvement upon it, but otherwise very standard.

While featuring an extensive of enjoyable songs in its soundtrack, it's the Opening and Ending themes that really catches the viewer. Immediately the anime opens with a theme that excites its viewer, but in a very suiting manner. At the same, the end song for each episode isn't typical j-pop that's randomly added, like in most anime's. Instead, the ending song does an amazing job at keeping you shocked at the end of the episode, and psyched to watch the next.

Overall: 10/10
Umineko is one of the few anime's that I'll give a perfect 10 to, and for good reason. The story is so well executed, riddled with depth. The characters all feel alive, even if they try portraying themselves as wooden in public. The only deterring factor that I can see is if you simply do not enjoy this unusual type of anime. It's an odd and difficult mix, that can easily leave the viewer confused as it attempts to combine two polar opposite genre's, one of realism, the other of supernatural.

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Amnesia (Anime) No Spoilers

By: Lostsakana

Release: 2013
Category: Harem, Romance

Now the question is: Can you dock a rating for an anime based only on its genre…? I would say no. No, that would be unfair. It’d be like rating a show for kids poorly because you’re holding it to the standards of adults. It’d be like rating a horror flick poorly because you don’t like scary movies. Like rating the Naked Gun as a 2/10 because your dog died moments before and the thought of laughing makes you sick.

Amnesia is based on a reverse-harem dating sim. For those of you unaware, Japan has an abundance of not just anime, manga and video games in its popular media, but also dating games where you play as the protagonist and have the chance to date a number of characters with different looks and personalities. These games are designed to incorporate many different endings and often these can have huge variance depending on the decisions you make. There are hundreds of these games in almost every genre: romance, hentai, adventure, and even horror (try googling Song of Saya)… as long as you’re a guy. (Or don’t mind playing as a boy…)There are OVERWHELMING numbers of these games but the options for girls are very limited. (But I would encourage almost anyone to look into the bird dating sim “Hatoful Boyfriend” because holy shit—just do it.)

Amnesia is, as you have probably figured out at this point, based on one of these dating sims for girls. With that in mind, what rating does it deserve? Certainly not a 2, or a 3, not anywhere near the ratings I keep seeing over and over. It seems to me that the main beef most people have with this series is that it is “a shameless harem”. Oh please!!! And the same people who rated this series probably gave anime like Shuffle a 9 or 10. Alright men in their 20’s: this is not the anime for you.

Girls? Gay men? Give it a shot. But understand what it is:

This game is based on a dating sim. In dating sims the main character is left a completely blank slate for a reason. You are supposed to project yourself onto this character. If the lead was designed to have too much of a defined personality players would feel pressured to make decisions based on what they feel the protagonist would want, not their own interests. That being said…

An adaption should be able to break through that play-through motif. Unfortunately without changing too much about the story this is a difficult work around, to invent a new character as the lead out of thin air.

The Amnesia anime has a HORRIBLE protagonist. But with an understanding of where she came from (a completely blank slate designed to compliment every potential suitor) who could blame the writers? Had they changed too much about the lead I think this would have upset some players (and the main target audience) who saw her as having a different personality.

The Amnesia anime is eye candy. Watch the opening and ending themes: This will give you an idea of what you’re in for.



Animation: 10/10
Beautiful animation. No complaints here.

Directing: 5/10
My main complaint here is that there are some problems real problems that can pull you away from enjoying the story.

Why were the directors so set on keeping this series Y-7? They have references to “spending the night together” but the director must have explicitly told the animators to draw stab wounds without blood, because wow, what the heck.

My other complaint is that they never had the main character make any expression beyond a blank stare. Even in situations where she is about to be horribly murdered, or even when she’s being strangled she still has a more calm expression than the average person discovering a parking ticket. It’s outrageous how expressionless she is. Even if her personality was designed to be a blank slate, she should still feel emotions for heaven’s sake! Her facial pallet is embarrassingly blank even in desperate situations.

Story: Eh…. 6/10
It’s an adaption… they did the best they could… Not dreadful anyway.

Music: 8/10
Not bad.

Characters: 8/10
If you ignore the main character’s blank personality the rest of the cast is interesting and fun.

Overall: 7/10
Amnesia is a dazzling 7/10. Amnesia knows exactly what it is and exactly what it’s trying to be. It’s refreshing to watch an anime that doesn’t take place in high school for once. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Remember where this series originated and enjoy the eye candy!

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Ponyo: A Fantastical Tale

By: 14thLord

Release: 2008
Category: Fantasy
Also known as: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

Beginning Ponyo, we're delivered a beautiful hand drawn piece, shown a underwater world filled with life and variety. We begin with a man who's somehow capable of maintaining himself in what appears to be a air bubble, doing what seems mundane tasks, at least to him. It is during these chores, that we first meet these human faced fish. While I understand it is meant to be enchanting creatures, I was horrified by it. Perhaps it was here I realized that I may intemperate this movie differently than most.

Coming a little too close to the surface, the titular character first meets Sasuke, the central protagonist of this movie, only to then go on a spree of misadventures in a brush with humanity. It is here we get to see the movies anti-human viewpoint as the trash

Finding Ponyo washed ashore with trash, Sasuke picks her up, just in time to keep her away from being rescued by her fathers minions, in a seen that sent a chill down my spine, followed by a “what the crap?”. As the wave attempts to take Ponyo back to her father, Sasuke rushes to shore, witnessing eyes in the water as it let out a moan. His response to this? “That was weird.”

Terrifying is the word I'd of personally used.

The storyline for Ponyo is very simplistic, revolving around Sasuke and out titular character, Ponyo. Bringing the human faced fish home to his mother, somehow convinced it's a simple gold fish. It isn't until a old lady takes a look that anyone even so much as bats a eye to it. Despite being completely sensible that she's startled by a human faced fish, the movie makes it come off as if she's the unreasonable one in all of this.

Alas her father rescues her and takes her back to the see, after a spree of antics, but not before it gets the craving for blood and flesh.

Ponyo, knowing the taste of flesh and blood, demands to return to the surface. Of course her father fears Ponyo's new found desire for the blood of other creatures, and leaves to request the aid of her mother who's the "Mother of the Sea." While he's gone, Ponyo makes her get away.

Escaping from her father captivity, Ponyo brings forward the apocalypse. Not even kidding. The moon is falling because of her, and the oceans are rising in a flood. Of course everything turns out all happy and whimsical by the end, but still.

Plot: 5/10
The Plot is simple, and requires no thinking. If you think about the events, it gives you a horrifying tale, while treating it as light hearted fantasy. While I'm very tempted to categorize this as Horror, it's clearly meant to be conceived as a light hearted tale of a fish learning about humanity, and wishing to become one. Similar to the tale of Disney's: The Little Mermaid. Of course, Disney was happy to distribute this in the United States.

Fun Factor: 7/10
I suppose many would say that Ponyo takes you on a wonderful journey? To me it felt very disney-esque in its story. Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki do what they're famous for doing, giving you a wonderful adventure in a bright and colorful world. Unfortunately, if you desire anything more than that, it may leave you on the opposite end of the scale for enjoyment.

Sound & Art: 8/10
The artstyle while not my personal preference, is clearly a step up compared to standard animation. The world is amazingly rich and full with little details, with near no computer assistance. The music itself is pretty wonderful as well, though nothing particularly exceptional nor memorable.

English Dubbing: 10/10
The english dubbing was done quite well. Often when doing shows with children or young / cute looking characters, american studios fall under the trap of using girls and speaking in painful falsetto tones. In Ponyo's case, new voice talents, kids under the age of 10 and other who've never done any work in anime. While never working again in anime, they've done countless other works, live and voice. Liam Neeson voiced Ponyo's father, who you may recognize as Qui-Gon from Star Wars.

Overall: 7/10
If you like to be taken on a wonderful, colorful adventure, Ponyo's the movie for you. Never does it take the circumstances too seriously. Thankfully so as the ramifications of Ponyo's actions are world threatening, and could easily turn nightmare fuel. Alas, if you've enjoyed Studio Ghibli's other works such as My Neighbor Totoro, The Cat Returns, of Howl's Moving Castle, you'll love this.

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Puella Magi Madoka (No Spoilers)

By: 14thLord

Release: 2011
Category: Magical Girl, Psychological
Also known as: "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica" and "Magical Girl Madoka of the Magus"

Brought to us by a collaborative effort of Shaft and Aniplex, whom you might recognize for bringing us Ef: A Fairy Tale of Two, and Fullmetal Alchemist, we have Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Also known as Magical Girl Madoka of the Magus, or as we know it from the american release, Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Lets talk about Puella Magi Madoka Magica. To start, what kind of name is that?! I understand when localizing, often companies would change the name of the franchise to something that sounds more familiar, but Puella Magi Madoka Magica? Yes, lets use a french word that few americans can pronounce, to make it easier for people into japanse animations to understand and say. Most people I talk about it can only remember two of the words, whether it's “Puella Madoka” or “Magi Madoka”, if they even get it correct to begin with. I wouldn't of blamed the company for at least dropping the "Magica" at the end.

Just a pet peeve of mine, its literal translation of Magical Girl Madoka Magica just seems easier to remember. Even Mahou Shojou, and this is coming from someone that actually likes it when names are localized, so I can actually try remembering them.

At last, what is there to say about Magi Madoka, that isn't spoilers. Magical Madoka definitely takes a franchise that most people know, and turns it over its head through use of an AMAZING soundtrack, compelling storytelling, and beautiful art that reminds me of the very hungry caterpillar.

What is there that I can say that isn't spoilers, to give you the idea whether or not you might enjoy it? All I can think of is saying that it's unlike any other Magical Girl anime's that I've ever seen. When I original watched it, it had somehow ended up on my big list while looking at “Psychological” anime, with how it explores the concept of magical girls.

While Puella Madoka is only 12 episodes long, it's enough for them to develop a fully fleshed out story, with a memorable cast that's difficult to forget. Best of all, each girl is color coded for your convenience.

Characters: 10/10
While initially we're treated with what appears to be a generic cast of stereotypes for a standard anime, we're quickly treated with something far more. Each character feels so alive, filled with emotion, history, wishes and regrets. While many anime's struggle with having a full cast of fully dimensional characters, Puella Magi Madoka has no problem in making every one feel alive.

Plot: 10/10
It's rare that a plot has you glued and eagerly awaiting what happens next, but not only does Puella Madoka succeed in captivating your interest, it becomes even better upon rewatching. It'll have to speculating and talking about it, hours and hours after.

Fun Factor: 10/10
The whole experience of Puella Madoka was just a blast. Whether it's the Art, Soundtrack, beautiful animations, or stylized art.

Soundtrack & Art: 10/10
The art and soundtrack of this anime, simply put, is beautiful. While it's no Studi Ghibli, it's by one of the most gorgeous anime's I ever watched. It's also one of the few anime's that I enjoyed the entirety of the soundtrack, and actively sought out just to listen to.

English Dubbing: 9/10
While initially I cringed my nose at Madoka's voice acting, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a wide range of wonderful voices from talented voice actors. While most of the voice actors have a relatively small portfolio, they've all earned my respect from this piece. After meeting Lauren Landa at Connecticon 2013, I was blown away by what a sweet person she was, and how vastly different she sounded from the character Kyoko, that she voiced.

Overall: 10/10
Puella Magi Madoka Magica was a daring project, and a massive risk from the very beginning. The Magical Girl franchise has long since been stale and fading away, few taking it seriously any longer. Whether or not Puella Magi Madoka Magica has succeeded in revitalizing the genre, remains to be seen. One thing I do know though, I'll never think of Magical Girls the same.

I HIGHLY suggest going into the anime without looking up photos or anything more on the anime, as I feel it's best to make what you will of the show yourself, without others opinions clouding your view. You can find it released on Bluray/DVD, released in sets of 4 episodes. The first two released on Bluray, both of which serve as a movie form of the events throughout the series, with the third continuing the series.

Final Note:
I'd normally not make a comment about price, but Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an expensive anime. It's split into 3 DVD/BD's, each featuring near no extras, for a retail price of $40. As there are only 12 episodes in the series, you're effectively paying $10 per episode. The "Limited Edition" box set includes a few post cards, a soundtrack, and a bumper sticker, for $75 per box! At $75 for what should be in the STANDARD edition of the DVD/BD, it's at viewers discretion if you'd be willing to spend $120 to $225 on a single anime series.

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Initial Thoughts: Attack on Titan (No Spoilers)

By: 14thLord

Release: 2013
Category: Action, Horror
Also known as: Shingeki No Kyojin, Advancing Giants

Shingeki No Kyojin, Advancing Giants, or Attack on Titan. Ah anime's will always have a fun variety of names, wont they? Beginning in April, we're witness to our newest flavor of the week. Attack on Titan is currently still airing, and as of the time I wrote this, 13 episodes have come out (not including the recap episode). By the time I publish this though, a couple more should have followed.

With a week break to recap the events of the prior episodes, I decided to get my initial thoughts out. This is the mid-seasonal break, and would serve as a bridge between Chapters, where my opinion may vastly change. I first heard about this anime in June, where my friend described it as being influenced by old European stories about giants, with them attacking human cities. I instantly pictured the old Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, a live action series from the 1990's, and was immediately disinterested.

Despite my ill opinion, the night of AnimeNext, we went on a short marathon of the first few episodes until our party members began to pass out from exhaustion. The marathon started strong as we were all blown away by a intro sequence that couldn't be described as any less than “Epic.” Perhaps one of the most engaging opening soundtracks, we're first treated with a Medieval crest. Soon we get a picture of the titans and wow, does the intro look impressive. It really starts strong and shows off the European mythology that spawned its creation.

Once the first episode begins, we're treated by the whiny, arrogant, annoying little brat that happens to be our main character. Besides Erin, we meet Mikasa, his sister who we later learn was adopted, and Armin, the blond boy. For some reason, this characters hairstyle very much reminded me of old King Arthur stories. Whether that was intentional or not, we'll see.

The first episode ends with perhaps one of the most shocking scenes I've seen. It is there that we gain full perspective of the titans that was spoken of throughout the episode, and at last, does giants come off as threatening. Perhaps its all the goofy giants in modern culture now, that made this scene so unnerving.

Throughout the next many episodes, we're again and again treated with shocking imagery, and learn to respect and fear giants once more. Understanding the weakness of giants from lore, the creators of Attack on Titan gave them quite a few tricks. Not only are these titans impossible to kill except by a surgical strike to their Cervical vertebrae, there exists abnormal Titans. These abnormal giants are capable of many unpredictable traits, making them far more dangerous than the standard mindless creatures.

While Attack on Titan starts out fast and hard, it quickly loses its momentum. Starting at episode 5, we're treated with a NINE part long chapter, “Battle of Trost District”. In this chapter, we spend whole episodes with nothing significant happening to move the story long. We literally spend the entire Episode 12, following Erin who's unconscious. Yeah.

Characters: 6/10
Erin, our annoying main character that I absolutely HATED the first 3-4 episodes. After which, I remained indifferent. Armin, a useless and afraid kid who too, is part of our main cast. Finally we have Mikasa, our quiet, yet competent character for a change. Out of all the characters, Mikasa took the greatest shine to me, making me like her even more once we're treated with her back story. Almost every character is portrayed as being extremely afraid of the Titans, and while it may work to build up the audience's fear of these creatures, after the first few episodes I was left more annoyed than anything else.

Plot: 6/10
While it's constantly wowing the audience, the more we learn, the more weird things we learn. While at the moment, it's more annoying than interesting, we'll see whether or not these questions will have compelling answers. My answer is on it either turns out bad, or is just plot holes.

Fun Factor: 9/10
The art starts out as fresh and unnerving, especially for the titans. We're taken through a fearful journey and are quickly treated with action. The anime thus far has been quite eventful, except for episode 11 and 12 which was spent with the main characters just running and sleeping. We'll see if it regains the momentum.

Soundtrack & Art: 8/10
While the art starts out somewhat surreal and attention grabbing, it has slowly been devolving into what comes off as very generic of anime. While it's still very good, only in the very beginning does it come off as attention grabbing. The opening theme though is by far one of the more amazing and “Epic” intro's that I've seen in awhile.

Overall: 7/10
Attack on Titan starts out amazing. It really does. Perhaps if it wasn't for the horrible characters, I may of enjoyed it far more, but at the end of each episode I was instead left ranting in annoyance about how much I want them to get eaten.

The first two episodes are a must watch, with each episode weaker than the last. I'll come back at the end of the shows run, and we'll see how much my opinion may have changed.

Also I swear, if this turns out to be a mecha, with humans piloting these giants, I will RAGE. I don't know why, but I've been expecting it since episode 2, and nothing has shaken that opinion.

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Heavens Memo Pad: No Spoiler Review

By: 14th Lord

Release: 2011
Category: Detective
Also known as: “Kamisama no Memochou” and “Gods Notebook”

Heavens Memo Pad, another in a short line of mystery detective animes to come out in recent years. There's few other anime's to compare the show to, taking notes from the slice of life genre, Heavans Memo Pad feels like that of a mature Detective Conan/Case Closed. Let me begin with this. If you enjoyed Detective Conan for the mystery aspect of the show, and wished it was better dubbed and had a more mature feel, this anime is right up your alley. If you hadn't gathered by that statement, this review is entirely based upon the dubbed version, as will all my anime reviews be, unless otherwise mentioned.

Beginning with Episode 1, we meet our main protagonist, Narumi. While he's presented as a generic everyman, a freshman student who happens to bump into a dubious operation in the scummy X rated district of town. After getting man handled a bit by a small man with a assault rifle and a army helmet. As Narumi's a High School freshman, that makes you ponder whether this stranger is legally a midget, or a tweeny that somehow got his hands on heavy artillery.

Well, he does continue to wear that helmet around the entirety of the anime, so that only adds more questions to how he's able to get his hands on heavy weaponry to carry in public. This clearly takes place in Japan, not America. Alas, this is only the first of the “NEET” detectives we meet, Shosa, who somehow made it to college.

While Shosa has a minor role, next member we meet is Ayaka, who happens to find Narumi as he isolates himself on the school roof. Off topic, but does anyone know If awesome rooftops actually exist on schools, or is it just anime's excuse to get the characters away from teachers and classrooms, while still being in school?

Anyway, while Ayaka is a fun and cheery girl, she's presented to be a bit on the absent minded side, often putting Narumi in suggestive positions, only to smack him and call him a pervert for it. Despite the fact that SHE was the one forcibly undressing another girl while he's in the room.

Speaking of Forcibly undressing, the poor victim of all this happens to be Alice, a small girl that has her own apartment above a ramen shop that NEET uses as their headquarters. Whether she's extremely smart or far older than she looks, I couldn't say, but I can say that she has stuffed animals bigger than her. And that's just adorable.

Last important cast member, unless you consider the woman that happens to run the ramen shop they fequent, is Soichirou. At least, I think that's his name. This mysterious yet noble yakuza crimelord is called several names, such as “The Fourth” “Yondaime” “Zone(Sou?)”, and Hina. I attempted to look this up and ended up only more confused on his name than I was to begin with. Lets just call him the White haired guy.

While Heavens Memo Pad could potentially make a good long running series, with each weak another mystery to unravel, it keeps itself short and sweet. Unlike Detective Conan, Heavans Memo Pad is a short series, only featuring 12 episodes, most of which personally involving the main cast, in a loose, story-arc light format.

Story Arcs include
Episode 1 (Stand Alone)
Episodes 2&3
Episode 4 (Stand Alone)
Episodes 5, 6, 7, 8
Episode 9 (Stand Alone)
Episodes 10, 11, 12

With only 4 episodes revolving around a “core” storyline (The first and final three), Heavens Memo Pad is easy to get into, take breaks, and finish off. Each of its story arcs are completely stand alone, and can easily be watched out of order. If you happen to start midway in a arc, its easy to figure out what happened based on whats going on, and thoroughly enjoy the episode. Unfortunately, this also means there's no truly strong and compelling storyline to speak of.

Characters: 6/10
Unfortunately for this anime, the characters are where it drops the ball. While there's hints that the characters may be interesting, only Alice actually stands out, with the rest falling under categories of character-types. Narumi's the everyman that's more capable than he expects. Ayaka is the bubbly girl that reaches out to the male lead, while at the same time being abusive and proclaiming he's a pervert for her inappropriate conduct. The rest are just plain forgettable. By no means though do I imply this means they're bad characters, perhaps with a longer season, or a second season, the characters could get a chance to grow on me more.

Plot: 8/10
While each arc is a stand alone, they all have a well thought out plot to each of them. The fact that most these stories are stretched across multiple episodes, really gives the writers room to expand and explore the situations as they come up.

Fun Factor: 7/10
If you love a detective story, you'll enjoy this. Unfortunately there's not enough clues that you might be able to guess the resolves, they do exist and if you have a imaginative mind, you might just be able to figure it out. The story itself is a bit slow, and if you're used to more excitement, it's easy to become bored while waiting for something to occur.

Sound & Art: 8/10
Heaven's Memo Pad, while nothing particularly notable about its art style in comparison to commonly produced, it is on the better looking side. As for sountracks, while most are quite forgettable, their intro piece, and the piece played when a revelation is made is very memorable.

English Dubbing: 9/10
Localized by Section23 (Otherwise known as Sentai Filmworks), Heavens Memopad has voices a large range of talented voice actors. While some of the voices can seem a little off for the characters, they are well acted, and well picked.

Overall: 7/10
While this anime's enjoyable, perhaps the greatest drawback is how short it is. I believe if given a longer run, the anime could equal the enjoyability of its rival mysteries, such as Detective Conan, or Gosick. Ironically enough, at the same time this aired, so did Gosick Like Heavens Memo Pad, Gosick features a very young and very short detective girl. If you're craving something else similar to Heavens Memo Pad, that anime might be of your liking.

The ending felt a bit on the empty side, which upon seeing that Heavens Memo Pad has had its run, leaves me disappointed. Perhaps if we see a Season 2, and this anime was given a longer chance to flesh out its ideas, it may of been so much better.

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Chaos;Head was Terrible. (No Spoilers!)

By: Lostsakana

Release: 2008
Category: Super Powers, Psychological

It's difficult to put your finger on exactly what's wrong with Chaos;head. But having watched it the whole way through, it's impossible to deny that the series is deeply and powerfully bad. Character motivations are conflicting and almost constantly they contradict themselves. I watched the dubbed version of Chaos;head but I have a feeling that not even the worst English-language director could be responsible for this many problems with the dialog and script-- I suspect that they didn't have much to work with; not much to make worse.

The main character, voiced by Todd Haberkorn, a talented voice actor in his own right, can’t save this terrible protagonist. As I stated before, the motivations aren't clear, and even Haberkorn can't carry the radical shifts in tone and script that the dialog seems to demand. Chaos;head is embarrassingly bad. It's almost as if the team of creators took a white board full of ideas and crammed them all together into one 12 episode piece of crap. There are too many things going on at once. I've heard it argued that the team didn't have enough episodes to work with so the plot was rushed, but I don't buy this excuse. The first 3-4 episodes were nearly unbearable to watch. They were jumbled, disorganized, and PAINFULLY slow...

I've seen few anime which promised excitement, drama, and horror and instead include almost exclusively bad "twists" with plot holes and failed directing. Few times I have been THIS bored and uninterested in an anime series even after several episodes in.

No, Chaos;head COULD have been pulled off. It really could have, but the directors, writers and animators all seemed to be working on a patchwork of failed ambitions. Even by the finale I was still just praying to be done with the show, but I kept watching: perhaps exclusively out of loyalty to the Steins;Gate team-- but not even a willingness to enjoy the series could survive after the first episode. This series is BAD. I am HIGHLY tempted to compile a list of all the flaws, but I'm too horrified by the prospect of having to skim through this terrible anime once more.

Overall Rating: 3 / 10
It’s just frustratingly bad, maybe because we know it had potential for so much more... It’s like if you were served bellow average food at an extremely fancy restaurant: it’s not HORRID but it’s bellow average and SO, SO, SOOOOO much lower quality than our expectations that its pathetic.

I don’t know. I really do think that it was a 3 at best.

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