Throughout history there have been many serial killers that spread a wave of fear amongst the general population. A lot of them were luckily caught, but there were also some cases that have never been solved. Imagine being a detective that has been given the job to catch such a killer. Where would you start with? And also think of the pressure you would be under if the bodycount keeps going up. Serial killer stories have been the subject for many movies and tv series. For some twisted reason, people just keep enjoying that subject, and admittedly they have provided a couple of great and classic movies. Anime has also had it’s share of serial killer stories, like for instance the terrific series Erased. And now we have Chaos;Child, but to call this a show just about a serial killer, is selling it short and doesn’t even begin to cover it. It is a blend of a lot of different genres, that is both it’s greatest strength, but also at the same time it’s greatest weakness. But lets first start with the story itself.
The city of Shibuya has been struck by a massive earthquake, an event that happened six years in the past. It is now the year 2015, and the survivors of that terrible day are trying to get on with their lives, after the city itself has been completely rebuild. One of those survivors is a young man called Takuru Miyashiro, who is a member of his school’s newspaper club. He is currently investigating a string of grissly murders, that leads him to believe that a serial killer is currently active. But soon he begins to realise that the murders bear an uncanny resemblance to a case that was known as The New Generation Murder Madness, which happened right before the earthquake struck. Even more frightening is the fact that the people that are getting killed now, are dying on the exact same dates as the killings that took place six years ago. Soon Takuru gets sucked into a mystery that will have dire consequences for himself, but also for the people that are close to him….
Chaos; Child is a series that is a cocktail of so many different genres, that it’s pretty hard to describe in which category this one falls. So I am not going to even attempt to try and do that. But I for one quite liked this series, despite it having quite a few flaws as well. But let’s first start with the positive notes. One thing this anime does very well is create a very creepy and intense atmosphere. That’s where the horror elements come in. The murders that are taking place in this series, are honestly quite brutal and disturbing. Which means this anime is certainly not for the faint at heart. Another thing that I loved in Chaos;Child, is the mystery elements and numerous twists. Your mind pretty much went into overdrive with each episode in trying to figure out what was going on along with Takuru. Certain revelations and events sometimes really came as quite a shock, and left you breathless.
However the series also had quite a few flaws. The amount of information that was sometimes thrown at viewers during an episode was staggering, and at times made it hard to follow along. This anime was a sequel to Chaos;Head, which I haven’t seen, and the first episode did a recap for that series. That in itself is a good thing, but it showed a lot of the information in the form of an internet forum, with numerous texts appearing at the same time. I actually had to pause the series at certain times during that episode just to read everything. The characters in Chaos;Child are also introduced very rapidly, and in that way it was hard to form an attachment to them. Most of them, with a few exceptions, just are not that interesting, and when some of them eventually end up getting killed, you don’t really care enough about them to be bothered by it.
As mentioned earlier this series mixes together a lot of different elements. Horror, mystery, supernatural, psychic powers and even science fiction elements are all in this series at some point. It made it a very interesting show for me, but I can also see how people might not like that fact. Chaos;Child is not an easy watch. The first episode alone is a hard one to get through, but it does eventually pay off to continue with this series. The storyline, despite it’s many elements, is quite clever and has been put together very well. When you reach the final episode, your brain might already have exploded in trying to figure out what it is you just watched. I for one found it a series that kept on going in my mind, which is usually a good thing. I am definitely going to track down Chaos;Head, if only for the fact if by seeing that one, certain things in this series might start to make more sense. If you like horror and supernatural series, and are not one to quit on a series after just one episode, this series will provide enough entertainment for you.
I give Chaos;Child a 8 out of 10 score.
I had watched the first episode. But it kind of fell out of favour. I think this is the prequel / sequel or sister series to chaos head. After reading your post, I might give this another shot :D.
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You are correct, this ome is a sequel to Chaos Head (a series that I haven’t seen yet, but am definitely going to now, after having seen this) This one admittedly takes a bit to get into, but in the end I thought it was well worth the investment. Thank you for reading and your comment, hope you will enjoy it more the second time around 😊
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I should watch this, it sounds so awesome!
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You really should 😊 It is a pretty cool series, it might take a bit to get into it, but eventually it is definitely worth it. If you do manage to watch it, I hope you will enjoy it. Thanks for your comment 😀
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That series sounds so extreme and gory. It also sounds really good. Think I’ll give it a try, even if I end up slightly disturbed after it. hehe 🙂
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Haha lol 😂 Well there are definitely quite a few gory scenes, I won’t deny that fact, but it is worth it. And hopefully you don’t feel to disturbed by the end of it 😊
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As long as it’s worth it, I’m willing to risk being disturbed 🙂 hehe
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I will definitely not be watching this one XD But I really enjoyed reading your review, as always. And especially the picture captions, which are always so funny and spot on hahaha They definitely help cut the tension created by what Chaos;Child represents.
I remember my first “disturbing” anime, Elfen Lied. I was way too young to watch it at the time, but I ended up doing it anyway. To say it traumatized me would be maybe an exaggeration but it definitely left a mark. I really liked it, though! It was just one of those stories that pulled at my heartstrings (and horror factor) and didn’t let go.
I’m glad that, despite the flaws, you ended up really liking this one. I guess it would have been quite cruel to make you care about the characters only to have them killed one by one (ahem, not unlike what GoT does but still…) so, in a way, it’s a blessing hahaha It would definitely put me off to be that emotionally distant from a story, though, no matter how awesome it was. Amazing post, Michel! 🙂
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Lol, really no problem whatsoever 😊 This anime is certainly not for everyone. I have heard about Elfenlied, it’s one of those animes that I still have to see, but know it has a very infamous reputation. It’s definitely one I want to check out at some point. I do think that this one is pretty tame when compared to that one. While there are certainly some pretty disturbing and shocking scenes in this one, it’s just that: scenes. Not the entire anime is like this 😊
I do guess you are right about that lol. As there are a lot of characters in this series that get killed off, only one of the deaths really got to me. Haha, and don’t get me started on GoT lol…some of the scenes there still get to me haha 😂
Thanks for the kind words and great comment as always 😊
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Oh, it’s probably alright to try this one then 😂 Yeah, Elfen Lied was really not one of my best ideas but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about hahaha
GoT… It and I have a complicated relationship. I’ve been meaning to give up on it way too many times because of a lot of stuff but can never do it. It’s too good! Ugh, the harsh life of a fangirl…
No problem! Absolutely my pleasure 😊
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Looks a bit too gruesome and bloody for me! Though if my brain will explode by the end of it because I was trying to figure out what I just watched, it may be worth it after all! Great post friend 😀
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I’m not going to lie, there are definitely a few pretty gruesome scenes in this one 😊 But it’s not the focus of this one, that’s more the story itself. If you are going to try it out, I hope you will enjoy it. And ofcourse, thank you for the kind words: really appreciate it 😀
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Sounds better than Chaos;Head. This show’s predecessor starts okay, but gets very silly towards the end. Perhaps you will end up enjoying it more than I did.
I’ll have to check out Child some day. To be honest I am waiting to see if the visual novel comes to the West as it recently got a Vita port in Japan.
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I have seen the first two episodes for Chaos;Head, but it did not grab my attention as much as Chaos;Child did. That’s not to say I’m not going to finish that series eventually, but I do know that I liked Child better.
The story was pretty compelling with some nice twists and cool horror elements. I hope that the visual novel will reach you soon 😄
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This one looks intended but another awesome review Michel!!!!🙌🙌🙌😍😍😍 *Happy dance 💃💃💃
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Haha, thank you again. Well, as far as horror anime series go, this one was really fun, but if you really want to see agood horroranime I recommend picking up Another. That one is really terrific and quite terrifying 😊😊
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Fantastic!🙌🙌🙌 I will have to check it out! Thanks for the recommendations!!!😊
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