Night Head Genesis

Following a 15-year long seclusion in a research facility, brothers Naoto and Naoya Kirihara finally escape after the psychic barrier separating them from the outside world collapses. Abandoned by their parents, who feared their supernatural powers, the siblings now strive for a normal life. However, the two are soon forced to use their talents to save lives as the "minus energy" begins to engulf the world and crimes involving psychic abilities gradually multiply.

Learning to control their capabilities and using them for the sake of others will prove challenging, for Naoya is traumatized by his psychic abilities that allow him to read people's minds; while Naoto has hurt many close ones due to his unstable psychokinetic powers. With the help of the mysterious Shouko Futami, who can see into the future, the Kirihara brothers must find a way to foil the plans of an organization that seems to be linked to the harmful events related to gifted individuals.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kirihara, Naoto Main

Morikawa, Toshiyuki Japanese

Kirihara, Naoya Main

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Misaki ing

Ueda, Youji Japanese

Futami, Shouko ing

Watanabe, Akeno Japanese

Mikumo, Gengo ing

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Sonezaki, Michio ing

Yanaka, Hiroshi Japanese

Tsukasa, Kamiya ing

Yusa, Kouji Japanese

Kirihara, Yukihiko ing

Masutani, Yasunori Japanese

Mikuriya, Kyoujirou ing

Nakamura, Hidetoshi Japanese

Maruyama, Shunpei Producer

Yoshimoto, Masakazu Producer

Takeuchi, Yoshio Director

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Reviews

Mar 9, 2019

Luce_

Recommended

This show was fairly interesting in my opinion. It started off in a very promising manner where we're first introduced to the protagonists' powers, before the overarching plot is gradually brought into focus. All the minor subplots make sense, fit into the world, and help explain how Ark functions while also questioning its ambivalent nature and actions.

I think the major gripe people might have with the anime is that it's not exactly what you'd call straightforward. A lot of things about the world are kept intentionally hidden from the viewer, and there's always this feeling that you're one step behind with knowing what's going ... on. This holds true for the majority of episodes, and the issue stems from binging the series like I and probably everyone else did. As there was originally one week's wait between each episode, I couldn't shake the feeling that the creators intentionally left certain things shrouded in ambiguity in order for the viewers themselves to reflect over the new information acquired between episodes. That's also strengthened by the fact that there's a recap at the beginning of each one. It's not until the final few episodes are over with that things fall into place, but even then it's still not the instant gratification that modern anime would emphasise. This style in itself is not bad, but is definitely something for a viewer to be wary of.

Characters were decent with some outliers. In regards to the protagonists, the brothers hone their contrasting powers and learn more about their place in this world, though that's about it for their character development. But frankly speaking, that's already more than enough. Seeing Naoya being able to use his powers towards the end of the series without the same fear compared to earlier episodes was nice, as he was previously more or less unable to even touch anyone but Naoto. In particular I enjoyed the character of Shouko. It's rather hard to go over why without treading into spoiler territory, but her role in the story turned out to be completely different from what I originally expected when she was introduced. Possessing the tremendous power she did led me to believe that she'd use it for a certain cause, but what actually took place was very well done as it both demonstrates a particular plot point and heightens the stakes for what might become a reality. Some may say that potential is lost, but this anime is not about each individual character as it is about the world itself.

I haven't seen the original TV drama so I cannot give any comparisons in that regard. Overall however, I liked this anime, in particular its tempo, music, and artstyle. It had some flaws, but this is still a solid 7/10 for me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 16, 2016

ggultra2764

Mixed Feelings

Nighthead Genesis attempts to mix around sci-fi, horror and drama in its focus on brothers Naoto and Naoya, both having supernatural powers that lead them to be confined to a laboratory up until their recent escape years later as adults. At first focusing on a series of cases where the brothers meet others with paranormal powers like themselves, they eventually cross paths with an enemy corporation seeking to abuse paranormal powers for their personal gain.

On the one hand, Nighthead Genesis has its moments of effective storytelling and character depth as Naoya and Naoto encounter other espers like themselves who are outcasts due to their powers ... and the brothers find themselves forced to deal with having to use their power to take lives when confronted with the enemy corporation espers later in the series. For the most part, the series applies the esper powers of the characters for more realistic applications as there are limitations to the scale and control that characters have with their powers and can find themselves becoming exhausted or being on the brink of death after applying large-scale effects with said power. Plus, the show's efforts with horror are genuinely suspenseful at points as enemy espers exploit the mental vulnerabilities of their victims to drive people against one another and to exploit the morality of the brothers to bring them under their control.

On the other hand, the show's storytelling approach has quite a number of flaws. Night Head Genesis' pacing is slow enough to the point where it causes development in the plot to drag and the majority of antagonist characters are so shallowly evil that you could care less when they are eventually killed off, even with the show's half-assed attempt at trying to paint sympathy for a few of the villains in one of the final episodes of the series. An annoying feature of the series is Naoya's angsting during many of the show's intense moments, which will have you wishing you could punch the guy out. Also, some of the show's sci-fi elements go a bit too far within its boundaries when it explores elements such as what happens to an esper when their power evolves too much and a later case tackled by the brothers involving an earthquake hitting a town.

The visuals to Night Head Genesis are also a major issue as the series is quite low-budget for a 2006 TV anime milking esper powers for a sci-fi anime. While sporting attractive-looking character designs, the series suffers from inconsistencies at many points with properly drawing their details, makes liberal use of animation shortcuts during action scenes and features laughably bad implementation of CG animation for vehicles and special effects that clash rather badly with the regular animation of the series.

While Nighthead Genesis has its moments of effective storytelling and sci-fi lore, it still suffers greatly from plenty of missteps in its pacing, storytelling elements, characterization and visuals. It's no wonder this baby is not too fondly ed by many who seen it back in 2006.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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May 31, 2010

Sekai_No_Hime

Not Recommended

Funny

I think alot of female Otaku like me would go (( Ohhh 2 cute guys & they're brothers too , this anime will probably have some cute moments YaaaY cant wait to watch it )) atleast thats what I thought lol , Night Head Genesis was a major disappointment for me , If I'm gonna count the cute moments between the siblings , it will be around 3 or 4 scenes , unfortunately the anime didn't concentrate alot on Naoya & Naoto's relationship , it focused more on crimes , whos causing them & having the brothers help to solve them since they have super ... natural powers , I only liked episode 21 & 22 , others were totally average , not to mention that the Art itself wasn't that good , 2 things were good about it , Its soundtrack + hearing Morikawa & Akira Ishida's voices lol its like hearing Kimimaru & Gara from Naruto ( same VA's ) also Grimmjo's VA did Mikumo's voice in the couple last episodes , overall , it's a waste of time unless you're the type that enjoys normal anime :/

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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