Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: CHAOS;CHILD
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Selipse
Posts: 216 |
|
||
|
This is going to be a long-ass post. Get ready.
Alright, we'll pick up from Episode 5, right after the gang "kidnapped" Uki. First, in the VN, Takuru and co. go to Kunosato's house, a really small apartment. The important part here is that there's a mysterious-looking sword there. It's one of those red herrings the anime missed, supposed to make you think: "is Kunosato a Gigalomaniac?" (she's not though, it's revealed it was just a replica for her research). There's also a really fun delusion about Uki getting inside and Kunosato taking up the sword, real chuuni-style complete with English furigana and such. On a smaller note, the Gigalomaniac reveal was actually at the cafe, and Hinae shows off her Di-sword in a pretty cool way. Then we're missing a bit of "Minamisawa Senri" (Haida Riko) wandering about the city, plus people all around Shibuya getting interested in the Sumo Stickers, treating it as something fashionable and such. There's also a fun scene where Takuru tries his powers by levitating a book, and everyone loving it (which was actually just a dream). Takuru wakes up and there's Serika, Itou, and Hana in his trailer house. They talk about his powers, Uki, and his missing phone, which Uki did pick up, but later put it back (confirmed through Hinae). We also get a bick of Gen giving Takuru his Cool Cat Press magazines. Then we get the encounter with Haida Riko. It plays out mostly the same, but as I said before, the music in the VN made it so much better. PEAK LEVEL really gives off a feeling of tension that the anime OST doesn't achieve. I also want to take this chance to again appreciate how gorgeous the CGs in this game are. When Nono talks about Senri, we also get a bit about Kawahara, who's actually really important to this relationship On to Episode 6. First, we get a bit of Takuru trying his powers at school alongside Itou. All fun times. We also get a bit of more character interaction at the clubroom. Serika asks Hinae what her "true" personality is, the bright one, the serious one, the scary one... Important exploration of Hinae's character that we don't get in the anime. Hinae also approaches Hana, and there's a bond between them. Hinae likes her precisely because she doesn't talk, so she doesn't have to deal with lies. Nono gets back to the club, and they all go over the murders, establishing that the victims are all Gigalomaniacs. We also get a bit more of fun and Takuru trying out his powers. Itou especially seems really interested in his powers. Of course, all fun at the time, but it's one of those things you think back on when searching for Itou after that phone call. We get a bit of Takuru and Sakuma talking about Takuru's and Nono's feelings about Takuru running away from home. Sakuma really feels like a father here. Yui and Yuuto also talk about missing Takuru. Takuru stays the night there, and thinks about how he might feel quite at home there. The next morning they all have breakfast as a happy family. Nono tries to convince Takuru to come back again, then she gets a phone call from the detective saying that Uki's missing. Theygo to the hospital once again. They find Uki and Nono acts like a big sister (maybe even a mother) to her, and invites her to come to her home. There's more fun at school. Itou points out to Takuru the fact that he actually cares about his family. Kunosato then gets to the clubroom, quite angry, asking why they took Uki. They get in quite a fight and Takuru almost materializes his Di-sword. It really drives home the fact that Kunosato hates Gigalomaniacs. The others stop them. Shinjou gets to the clubroom and asks Hinae and Takuru to get a medical inspection to see if there's any adverse effects due to being Gigalomaniacs. He also shows them Senri's ID card. We also get more of Uki growing to be a part of the family, alongside Takuru. Sakuma announces the results of Hinae and Takuru's test and there's nothing wrong with them. During the night, Serika calls Takuru worried about when the next case might happen and Takuru comforts her by telling her there's still time until the next date. The rest of the episode plays out mostly the same, but with much less of Hinae getting mad at Nono. There's also a bit of Sakuma being recomforting, and Hinae and Uki taking out their Di-swords at Aoba Inn for protection. Continuing to Episode 7. In order to find out whether Yui is a gigalomaniac, Uki takes out her Di-sword in front of her. Nono tries to stop her. Takuru asks whether she can see it. Yui is really confused. Nono, worried sick, asks Yui whether she can see it. Yui nods at the verge of tears. The rest of the episode plays out mostly the same, of course with more detail during everything before the phone call. There's also a bit at Aoba Inn about Yui protecting Yuuto from getting bullied at school. As I said, the real problem with this part was the lack of everything before it. The case itself was actually nicely done. I'll just share some of the CGs. On to Episode 8. After Yui's funeral, Shinjou talks to Nono and Takuru about Itou. They searched his house, and they found that the strange phone call during the festival from Takuru's lost phone to Itou's was actually a trick made possible through an app. They also found chat logs from someone telling Itou to kill Takuru and such (which we actually see throughout the story, although of course we don't know who any of the two are; you might actually think one of them is Hinae during the earlier parts of the story). After thinking about the murders with Hinae, Hana, and Serika at the clubroom, Takuru goes back to Aoba Inn and finds Nono sleeping in front of a computer showing the video of the first case. Nono wakes up and they start talking. They talk about how Takuru feels that there are things that Nono's still hiding from him. They talk about the time when Takuru first woke up after the earthquake, when they met. How, even though Takuru was confused, Nono already thought of him as part of her family, since she had been taking care of him all this time. Takuru asks Nono to stop investigating the case, since he doesn't want to lose anyone from his family any more. They both start crying and Nono asks the same of Takuru. That's when Takuru realizes that the family he once thought was nothing more than a hassle was actually very important to him. Takuru starts thinking about the murders in the clubroom and how everything connects to him or the Newspaper Club. He gets a call from Shinjou and through there talks with Itou, getting mostly the conversation that happened in the hospital in the anime. He then starts thinking about who could be the murderer through a process of elimination and ends up with 3 possible suspects: Nono, Serika, and himself. Takuru goes back to Aoba Inn and leaves Uki and Yuuto in the hands of Hinae. Yuuto breaks down crying and asks Takuru if he could get revenge for Yui. We get to Nono's perspective, going to school looking back on everything and waiting for her call. We go back to Takuru, he finds out about the Gero Kaerun sound on the video and runs looking for Serika. Nono confronts Serika, and then Takuru arrives. Episode 9. We get a glimpse at Takuru during the earthquake. Takuru wakes up at Freesia and they tell him he's wanted for the murders. Takuru runs away. Some guys find him and start beating him for being a murderer. Gen saves Takuru and they go back to his trailer house. Takuru takes Gen to Serika's house to open the door, makes him go back, and finds the Sumo Stickers and his phone. Shinjou gets to Serika's house and finds Takuru. Shinjou gives him a letter Nono wrote before confronting Serika. She talks about how she started to want to become a nurse because of how Sakuma praised her when caring for Takuru. She thanks him and apologizes for not being able to help anymore. She apologizes to Yuuto and Uki for not being able to stop Yui's murder. She says that, no matter how little time they spent together, Uki's already a part of the family. She apologizes to Takuru for breaking their promise, but asks Takuru to not pry into her (Serika's) matter. She asks Takuru to just go out and "waste his time, as he'd say" playing around with friends, since he looked like he was having so much fun during the festival and talking with Yuuto and Uki. She says she always found it strange how Takuru talks about being different from others. Yes, he has a special power and a different experience growing up, but he doesn't have to lock himself up. She thinks he may feel like he'd get buried and forgotten underneath everyone else, but Nono doesn't see it this way. No matter how normal he is, he's part of her precious family. She mentions that she tried to write about what Takuru wanted to know, but she couldn't. She says that whenever he finds out, he'll surely come to hate her, but asks that he doesn't doubt that she thought of him (that's the main problem with the reveal in the anime; there's no way Nono would ever confess). That it's enough if he can believe that the fact that she loves him is not a lie. And finally, she asks that Takuru doesn't think about getting revenge or doing something dangerous. Takuru starts crying. Back at Freesia, Kunosato and Hinae look at some old medical record of Takuru. Takuru then talks to Shinjou about his and Serika's past. Episodes 10-12. Lots of little details, but no real big changes. The anime really played down Kunosato's hate for Gigalomaniacs, though. We also miss Hana showing more emotions and some of the calm before the storm. I think it's quite clear now that what's missing the most from the anime is the calm that gives the chaos its impact. Also, those parts with Serika, and Takuru trapped in his own mind, were much more introspective in the VN. It's all still cheesy, but that's part of the point, which doesn't really come to be until True. In the end, Yuuto and Uki are already brother and sister, and they came back to Shibuya after losing their reason to escape to Akihabara (we don't get to see the Lab-mems!  ). Hinae regularly visits the Newspaper Club and Hana.
It ends with Serika picking up Takuru at the hospital where he's being detained and fighting their way out. After the credits, Serika asks Takuru if he got his wish granted. Aaaand, that's it for the main route. If someone wants to hear about the heroine routes, go ahead and ask me. |
|||
|
|||
|
ryanvamp
Posts: 416 |
|
||
|
As anyone can see, I've been registered to ANN for over 10 years now. I've been watching anime since a lot longer than that. That statement is to give context to the following sentence:
This is one of the worst series I've ever finished. All-time bottom five no doubt. What drove me to actually finish it instead of drop it and move on with my life are, I guess, these reasons: 1. I liked the premise 2. I liked the initial tone 3. Even if deeply flawed since the beginning, I accepted the fact it wasn't going to be amazing and try to take it for what is was. 4. It offered something most series don't: that feeling of "anything can happen". 5. I must be a masochist. Techincal merits aside (which affected the series in a big way, and I'm not talking about bad animation but direction, script and so on), the story was barely coherent and the characters were either forgettable or despicable...but the thing that I will definitely not be able to forget is the ending being such an abomination: you cannot just pull off a happy ending for Serika to me after all she's done. I understood the story and that Takuru has a huge part in all this mess, but there's NOTHING that justifies her getting her reset ending after all the shit she pulled off. I don't care if she's "unhappy" or "purposeless" now that she's apparently NORMAL...because meanwhile there's a little girl mutilated in boxes...not to mention many people died in the most horrible way possible. I'm seriously in awe of the EMOTIONAL scene of Takuru hugging her while fully aware of everything that transpired. They kinda deserve each other, but the viewer does not deserve the punishment of seeing them. The ONE THING I will concede this series (and the review of the last episode) is that Anne is 100% right in her first two paragraphs. The point of the story could have been pretty original and interesting, and not every story needs a hero or even good people in it (as Death Note showed). Sadly, you need way better writers to pull this off...and in the case of Chaos Child, you have to dig through kilometers of garbage to find the good stuff. |
|||
|
|||
|
Selipse
Posts: 216 |
|
||
Yep. And that writer is Umehara Eiji, the original writer of the VN. Anyways, as I said before, that's not the ending. It's not even the ending of the common route. It's actually the beginning of the True route. |
|||
|
|||
BlueAlf
 Posts: 1513 |
|
||
|
Selipse, thank you very much for your enlightening post.
In my opinion, the last episode was definitely more intriguing than the rest. If that wasn't the ending in the game, it's even more surprising that they made it into the ending. The series was definitely disappointing, but mostly for somewhat understandable reasons. Thinking back, the previous season's Occultic;Nine was rushed too. But it was much more coherent compared to Chaos;Child. Man, now I'm kinda depressed with how fast time flies. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group