DVD Corner

Chaos; Head- The Complete Series Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review

While visually stunning and unpredictable, “Chaos; Head” is a bit of a head spinning mess.

The story of “Chaos; Head” revolves around a gamer and anime fan named Takumi who is more interested in virtual reality than reality. However, Takumi’s life is soon turned upside down when he is led to a crime scene by the general. The crime, which is believed to a one of the bizarre New Generation events, quickly sweeps Takumi into a world where he encounters future visions, deceptive characters (Yua), a strange pink haired girl, Di-Sword wielding people who can project delusions on others (AKA Gigalomaniacs), powerful machines known as the Noah II which can use the powers of Gigalomaniacs,  that, a man in a wheelchair (The General) who seems to have all the answers, a mysterious equation, an Earthquake, the treacherous Nozomi group (and their minions). The series contains 12 episodes in all.

If the above plot synopsis is confusing to you, don’t worry about it. I’m not even sure I understood everything that was going on in this convoluted series. Granted, “Chaos; Head” certainly deserves credit for being an engaging, odd, and surrealistic show, but it would have been a stronger series overall had it been less “Inception” like and more cohesive. Rather than sticking to conventional storytelling like in the first few episodes, ‘Chaos’ takes an unpredictable route and assaults the viewers with a themes of paranoia, internal monologues, exposition, and eye-popping visuals.

On a side note, if you find yourself frustrated by wondering what is real and what is not in the show, don’t fret. It is the show’s intention to do this as the the story builds to a climax that answers several of the burning questions you’ll likely have about who Takumi and the General are.

Summary: “Chaos; Head” may not be 100% succeesful, but it’s more interesting than a lot of the formulaic anime series that I often see. My suggestion is to give it a rent and try it out.

Video/Audio:

The Blu-ray picture quality has a few issues. For one, the white colors are too bright and overexposed almost to the point of being distracting. I checked to see if the DVDs had this issue and they didn’t. Also, it can be hard to see the white subtitles as a result of this as well.

The Blu-ray discs contain English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 audio tracks. The English track works well here as the voice acting cast is in top form for Funimation. The Japanese track is also excellent all around.

The only extras are DVDs of the complete series, textless opening and closing songs and trailers for “Sekirei,” “RideBack,” “Dragon Ball Z,” “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,” “Darker Than Black,” “Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040,” “Heaven’s Lost Property,” “Master Of Martial Hearts,” “Rosario + Vampire,” and Funimation.com.

January 22, 2012 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review, DVD review | Chaos; Head- The Complete Series Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Review