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Night Head Genesis

Release: 07/2006
Episodes: 24
Genre: Supernatural, Psychological, Drama
OP: ???
ED: “Kotoba” by Under Graph

Impressions:

I was quite surprised to see a seed count of 2000 when I checked the torrent. Altogether, there were about 3000 peers. How many peers did Suzumiya have when it was still airing? 3000 peers for a first episode. I didn’t expect it to be so anticipated. I would have watched the episode anyway, but seeing the amount of seeders raised my expectations of the show. And what did I feel after watching the show? Well, nothing really. It wasn’t that great. Well, I never think the first episode of any show is great. It was exciting and interesting enough, definitely sufficient to keep me watching. What brought it down for me was the style of drawing for the characters. Yes, I know that’s the thing I’ve been complaining about most recently, but this aspect of any Anime is the most important for me. If a show had an amazing storyline, extremely high quality and brings all the right emotions etc, but the characters looked like Initial D, I wouldn’t even touch it (sorry to those who like Initial D). Anyway, Night Head Genesis definitely has potential to be a great show, though I have to say it isn’t really my type. It is quite bleak and very serious. Overall though, I liked it and will continue watching.

Brief Summary:

Note: when I say Naoto or Naoya throws someone out the door or blows up the house, I usually mean they did it using their powers.

From the opening lines – “It is said that 70% of the human brain’s capacity is left unused. It is thought that the amazing powers humans possess are hidden within these parts. That unused 70% of the brain is also known as… Night Head.”

Kirihara Naoto and Kirihara Naoya have been shunned by society due to their abnormal abilities. They can manipulate things with their minds, and according to their emotions. When Naoto was young, he had become angry at one of his classmates and caused him to suffer from a sever blood nose. Naoya has the ability to read people’s minds when he touches them. This had happened once on the street, where he saw terrible things, forced a few pedestrians onto the ground and caused a large traffic jam. One night, Naoto and Naoya’s mother prepared drugged drinks. The two were knocked unconscious and taken to a research facility somewhere unknown. Their parents had greatly regretted this decision.

When Naoto woke, he made his way to the cafeteria, where the professors are dining. Furious about being abandoned by his parents and brought here, he begins to tear up the room using his mind. He is interrupted by Naoya’s presence and goes to embrace him. The leader of the researchers, Mikuriya, appears by the door and tells him that he cannot go back home and must stay with him from now on. Unwilling to accept this fate, he throws the man back, crushing him against the back wall (he doesn’t die though). The brothers make a run for it. They run through the icy woods outside until the come to a section of the forest where the trees have some strange rope tied around them. When they try to get through, they get blocked by an unseen barrier. The two realises that they have no choice but to live here.

An old man is shown outside a building, seemingly not doing anything. The significance of this man is unknown at this point, and still remains unclear by the end of the episode.

15 years later…

In a library somewhere, a girl is sitting by the window, staring at an unknown script. Her name is Shouko, as indicated by the second girl, Miki, who comes running, looking for her. Shouko had advised Miki about not going to see her mother earlier. Miki had taken this advice and had just heard about a serious accident that would have killed her if she had went on the trip. Shouko says she shouldn’t die in a place like that and that she has many more years to live. She predicts that Miki will get married and have many children. She gives her the notebook with the strange writing she had been looking at earlier, saying that Elder Misaki has ‘left this world on a journey’. Elder Misaki is the old man shown before. Because he is gone now, the barrier is gone too. With tears in her eyes, Shouko says that the two brothers will escape tonight. She tells Miki to take care of the book, before embracing her. Miki is confused by all this. A breeze comes and blows the curtains, making Miki look that way. At this time, Shouko disappears.

Back to the research facility, Naoto and Naoya, now grown men, run through the woods, taking the same path as the first time they had tried to escape. They make it to the strange trees, but the barrier has gone, so they are able to pass through. Before they do though, Naoya mentions that Elder Misaki is watching them all the time. They drive out of the area in a car. Where they got the car? I don’t know. While driving, Naoya says that Mikuriya (the head of the research team) had said that if they leave the area, they will release the ‘minus energy’. The car runs over something and punctures a tyre. When the two get out of the car, Naoya suggests they look for help in the pub up the road. When they arrive though, they are greeted by some unwanted looks.

Preview:

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