Anime Review: Night Head Genesis

Night Head Genesis
Animation Production: Actas, Horipro, Media BlastersL, Four Some, Bee Media | Director: Yoshio Takeuchi | Storyboard: Masahiko Murata | Music: Shigeru Umebayashi | Original Creator: George Iida

It is said that 70% of the human brain capacity is unused. If humans possess incredible power, it is strongly believed to be lying dormant within this region. This unused 70% brain capacity is known as "Night Head".
The famous work 'NIGHT HEAD' is going to break the silence. They were abandoned by their parents because of the psychic power they possessed. They are the Kirihara brothers, who lived in a laboratory within a barrier-protected forest. They have escaped from the laboratory, and a new wave of 'Revolution' is about to arise.
A new "Night Head" is about to be awakened.

[ OVERALL IMPRESSIONS ]

Despite the interesting premise, there are quite a lot of things to complain about its story. I'll tell you my top 3 complains:

First are those freakin' recap scenes in almost every episode. If you cut out all those recaps, I believe 20 episodes would've been enough to cover the whole series. Please don't underestimate the memory of your audience; we are capable of remembering significant events even without showing it to us more than thrice.

Second, there are still so many parts that have not been explained. Being a mystery series doesn't mean that you'll leave too many things as vague as they are from the beginning.

Third is that some things just happened so... conveniently. To be specific, our main characters managed to attain additional special powers... on such a wonderful timing. Some coincidences happen... just when they need it. Some miracles happen.... for the sake of making our main characters win. w00t! Applause to the writer! *sarcastic*

Speaking of characters, our beloved brotherly duo seriously got too much spotlight. If you still don't know the younger brother's name after watching a few episodes, there must be something wrong with you. His older brother screams his name for so many times that you'll lose count.

Sadly, despite all that focus, they still hadn't been developed that well. Well, yes, there was character development; but it didn't happen gradually. In other words, it just happened, not developed. Like, for example, dear little brother was able to get over his "shock problem" all of a sudden on a certain episode as if he had been doing it often already even though though in previous episodes it was something he couldn't control at all. Hhhmm... that's just weird. At least show him getting used to it little by little, right?

But at least, even though our main characters have such special abilities, they don't win all the time. They have weaknesses; they can be outsmarted; they fail. Even with their godly abilities, they're still human.

Though the other characters didn't have enough development or background, they weren't fully neglected for no matter how small their roles in the series are, they played a significant part in the story. The villains aren't simply "people who just want to destroy the world" either. They're more complex than they seem, and I love it that they manage to overpower the main characters even though the main characters are supposedly more powerful.

Anyway, even though there are some problems with how the story went, it's still very intriguing and remarkable. It has quite a convincing concept about the root of all the supernatural phenomenon... it's even connecting history, mythology, and science.

I love how it presented the possible terrors when possessing psychic abilities; being able to read what other people think isn't exactly cool all the time. You've got to excuse the main character who's undergoing breakdowns for seeing such images often.... the negative thoughts of others could be that terrifyingly unpleasant. That's how frightening the human mind could be, no matter the age or background. Even if they're just thoughts, it could already be very dreadful.

It had been really good on the psychological horror aspect. It's strongest point, however, is the music! It's really amazing! The songs were nice to listen to, and all the background music, especially the eerie ones, fit the series very well~ No sarcasm this time; the music composer and the artists deserve a huge applause on this =)

Aside from the music, one of the things that makes me so pleased with this series is that... even if there had been so much brotherly love drama, at least it didn't go beyond that (believe it or not). Romance isn't the highest form of love; I salute to series which acknowledge other forms of love aside from the eros one.

Though I have to admit that it was pretty dull at times... only because this series was just too... serious, ehehe. Some humor would've made this more enjoyable to watch, in my opinion. And seriously, they shouldn't have attempted in including action scenes.... the characters suck so much on it, ehehe.

Oh well, despite the numerous flaws, the story concept was just too good that it managed to be interesting and intriguing from beginning to end. You need some patience and tolerance in watching it though, but in exchange you'll get to see one of the most remarkable psychological horror stories out there~