[Fall 2008 Anime] Chaos;HEAD 1&2

Chaos;HEAD

[episodes 1 and 2 review]

3.5/5 hearts -Akia Tomiyo

3 & 2/3 out of 5 stars-blazefreak

4/5 stars- Domo

Introduction (from Akia):

Welcome to yet another edition of 'Fall 2008 Anime'! This time around things will be done a little different on account of there are two special reviewers present to give second opinions! The person to my right calls himself blazfreak; he's part of a fansub group called AEN and is also part of Itadakimasu! Studios® (a group of which has a goal to 'enlighten the world of East Media '). To my left you'll see Domo, who I met via his youtube v-logs a year or so ago; he's also part of Itadakimasu! Stuidos®!

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And guess what!? I too am a member of Itadakimasu! Studios®. If you click on this link you'll be redirected to the 'About' section of IS official site. The last time I checked, blazefreak and Domo were listed as promotional agents where as I'm listed as the assistant editor under writting dept. Be sure to check out the other sections of the site, especially 'contact us' if you would like to join the team!

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Credits and Disclaimer(s):

All opinions expressed here are that of their individual owners and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Goggle Blogger nor that of their partners. The above image belongs to Nitorplus, The 6pb, and Madhouse. I claim no ownership to any images used in my blogs unless stated otherwise, nor do I claim all these opinions as my own; just the ones that have Akia and/or Akia Tomiyo beside them (unless I'm the only one reviewing because then all the opinions are mine unless stated otherwise).

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This editon of 'Fall 2008 Anime' would not have been possible without the program Skpe! If you have Skype and would like to add me (Akia Tomiyo) then go ahead -> snuggumsuggums. Skype is a free instant messenger service that allows you to call landlines via your computer for free and mobile lines for a small fee. It also has video chat, games and other nice features. No wonder Itadakimasu! Stuidos® uses it to hold their twice weekly meetings.

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-Intitial Impressions-

Akia: Initially, this anime was one of those I decided to watch solely based on the type of anime it is. By now, most of my readers should know that visual novel based anime tend to be really good (at least in my opinion) but ones that have a horror aspect tend to turn me off... yet the preview for this anime made me want to check it out. Now, I find myself anxious for the new episodes to finally be fansubbed. The anime itself isn't that amazing, but the story seems to be going somewhere and the hikkamori theme always seems to make for a interesting plot!

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Blazefreak: I was bored at first until he [he= Takumi Nishijō the main character of Chaos;HEAD] started chatting to the commander guy and [I] was like, "woah thats trippy!" [I] was [also] confused about his hallucinations about the Naime girl.

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Domo: It's a violent pshychological journey through the hikkikomori thought and how they live day to day and the hallucinations varied inside. Welcome to the NHK is a great parallel.

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-The Music-

Akia: I've said this in my Fate/Stay Night anime review, visual novel based anime always seem to have the best music! The only difference with this anime is that the ending theme has yet to make sense within the first two episodes... I agree with what blazefreak had to say about the ending theme. As far as the english part goes, I'm used to Japanese singers sounding like that when singing in english. When it comes to background music, I find that the music itself really helps to set the moods the pieces need to set. I absolutley love the opening theme!!

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Blazefreak: I'm ok with the opening, but the ending music just doesn't seem to go with the anime. It's like "I was watching Chaos;HEAD and this is the ending theme!?" The beat to it is nice though [the opening and ending themes], but the singer's english is questionable. The background music makes it more of a horror then psychological... and the calm melody parts make it seem more of an eroge.

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Domo: The opening is pretty good and gives a great precursor to the anime itself and what's to come. I like the background music, it gives that horrfic edge to the anime. The ending theme is a bit awkward though.

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-The Visuals-

Akia: The character designs do what they are made to do- get the attention of 'otaku' and 'akiba'; anime fans who love cute (aka 'moe') girls. On that front, I'm not too impressed. I usually love the character designs in this genre of anime... yet this time around I deducted hearts because the character designs make me want to watch something else.... yet the character designs have a crispness not all anime have. Then there's the background art and opening/ ending visuals! Despite my love/hate relationship with the ending theme for Chaos;HEAD, I absolutely love the visuals in the ending video. So far, the art is crisp but on the side of average.

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Blazefreak: The animation is smooth, though I have seen better from Madhouse. The caligraphy has pixels in it (which is quite unnoticeable but still there). Character proportions seem right except the guys hair changes around.

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Domo: I think its fairly well done; but the character designs and animation style is not unique when comparing to other anime released from Madhouse Studios.

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-The Story (so far)-

Akia: When compared to other anime of this type, the story isn't too original. I'm biased due to my love of visual novel bassed anime yet I want to judge this one with all my might! It may be pretty, and the story may be captiviating but parts of the story still make little to no sense (I know it's a mystery and horror anime, so I can't fully judge the story just by two episodes)... making giving this a full 5 hearts impossible. I have to see where the strings will be tied! I'll be watching this one to the end... even if I have to suffer through every bloody moment. Here's to being creep out and fan girling every time the main character is acting stupid.

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Blazefreak: Trippy. The fact that its only 2 episodes so far, there are a lot of things to be explained.

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Domo: [Domo has yet to decide on a 'The Story (so far)' opinion... so untill later this will be left blank]