Line #80 Headscratchers/ChaosHead


1	!Per wiki policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.
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3	[[foldercontrol]]
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5	[[folder:Takumi Nishijou]]
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7	* Why doesn’t Takumi recognize Rimi when they meet in school in Chapter 3, when she claims that the two are best friends?
8	** Explained. Rimi is lying. She used her gigalomaniac powers to mind-control the other students into believing she had been there for years, but in actuality she isn't a Suimei student at game start. She explains this in Chapter 9 of the VN.
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10	* Shogun is really the original Takumi who has grown old from using his powers too much. If he is really living in the same city as Takumi, then they both exist at the same time. So how in the world was he able to send Takumi a picture of the first new gen murder the day before it occurred? And if they do exist at the same time, could the illusion have just walked into the room accidentally and discovered his original self?
11	** Explained. The [=NoAH=] version of ''Chaos;Head'' confirms that the image sent by Shogun was something he real booted after reading Hazuki's mind for the planned murder coming the next day, in a similar fashion to the Group Diving video which was forged by a different party. He had had prior knowledge of the incident, including Takumi's "involvement" in it, so he was capable of roughly replicating it before it was actually carried out. And it's unlikely that the delusional Takumi could have just walked into a room in the @Cafe to find the original; later in the story, it's seen that Shogun is hiding in an artificially created hospital wing inaccessible to most people, so it's not unthinkable that he went through the same precautions here.
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13	* We learn Takumi's identity when he tries to find his parents’ house, and discovers only a completely different house. The thing is, this doesn't apply to his sister Nanami, and she has already mentioned their father at the start of the game. She also probably lives with her parents, and, since Takumi is a delusion of the original, shouldn’t he know where to find his parents’ house as well?
14	** Explained. Takumi's knowledge of his parents' house's location is artificial, as he was never intended to visit it. Nanami was also memory altered by Shogun as well, so that's likely part of why she never tells Takumi their real address.
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16	* How was delusion Takumi created? One day the original thought, “make an exact duplicate of me”? In fact, if episode 1 starts off shortly after that happened, this could explain why he doesn’t recognize Rimi. Although he seemed like he was pretty familiar with everything else in his life.
17	** Explained. He was created in a similar fashion to every delusion in the story; inserting a false image into a dead spot via a DI-sword and turning into reality by having it achieve local shared recognition. Naturally, creating a human being is more difficult than most delusions, and as a result the original Takumi was sent into a coma for a while, and the resulting human being was a feeble Otaku. Chapter 1 takes place approximately a year and a half after the delusional Takumi's creation.
18	*** So Takumi invented a delusional dead spot? Or is Takumi just a brainwashed human?
19	*** No, he just sent the antiparticles into the deadspot of someone like Nanami to real boot Takumi and altered people's memories accordingly to think that he'd always existed.
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21	* If the original Takumi aged rapidly at 16 or 17 (before the start of the story), his classmates must have noticed his sudden disappearance or change. Then Takumi is introduced at the start of the anime and no one questions why he’s so different. However, this seems to be HandWaved, since almost no one pays attention to Takumi at his school.
22	** Explained in Delusion of Zero, a Chaos;Head side material [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAT0bNZfvhw&ab_channel=spiderfreak1011 that can be found here]]. When he went into hiding, the original Takumi used his powers to make everyone except Rimi forget he existed (we see, at the end of Chapter 8, Takumi moving through the hospital without anyone except some of the mental patients being able to notice him, and in Chapter 10 Nanami breaks the memory block). Presumably, he also used them to make the delusionary Takumi's classmates remember him.
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24	* In Chapter 2, we see a memory of Takumi as a child. He wasn’t allowed to go on a field trip, so he drew a picture of the bus and tore it up. His mother later receives a phone call that his class’s bus crashed, killing the teacher. Takumi has reality warping powers? This memory doesn’t even seem to have any effect on Takumi.
25	** Explained. It was a manifestation of his Gigalomaniac powers, which are, in fact, a form of reality warping, yes.
26	[[/folder]]
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28	[[folder:Plot]]
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30	* I’ve gathered that the people who occasionally appear with backpacks are called porters. They replicate the gigalomaniac’s power in crowds (such as creating that digger in episode 7 and they seem to be hired by the antagonist to do field work. So why is there a meeting of them in episode 6? They’re just milling about like they have some grand purpose when Sena comes along to destroy them.
31	** There was only one porter in the scene - the stout man that Sena cut down. The rest of the crowd were civilians under the porter's control.
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33	* Towards the end of episode 6, there is a loud screeching noise throughout the city. There is an earthquake afterwards followed by a white fog that clouds the sky in episode 7. what was the cause of those events?
34	** The Noah 2. This is made pretty explicit in subseqent episodes.
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36	* In episode 7, Ayase is about to jump off the school roof when Takumi delusions a flower bed to catch her. Why did she try to commit suicide in the first place?
37	** She had little hope remaining that Nozomi's schemes can be stopped, or she expected Takumi to be there in order to save her (and consequently restoring her faith).
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39	* Why is Takumi beaten up by a group of guys in episode 7?
40	** They were hired by Suwa Mamoru to attack him, as part of the New-Gen harassment campaign.
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42	* Norose is seen talking in an office at the end of episode 8. It seems like he’s talking to someone, but I can’t see anyone in the room.
43	** It's Nanami, crucified upon Norose's Di-Sword.
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45	* In episode 10, Yua is seen climbing up the stairs to the rooftop of the hospital, where she encounters her sister Mia, who apparently died in the group dive, the first of the new gen murders. After a MindScrew conversation which causes Yua to break down, she gets her di-sword, hitting Mia, Revealing Mia was a porter. The man says something like, “they never told me she was a gigalmaniac” and runs off. So all this was a ploy of some sort, but who sent the porter and for what reason? What caused Mia and the others to commit suicide? What was she saying about how Yua was the one who jumped and Mia is the one who lives? (Although this just seemed like a lie told to screw with Yua.)
46	** The Church of Divine Light sent the porter, as backup for Suwa Mamoru in his trap to kill Ban and Yua (who've uncovered the mind-control scheme). Mia and the others, as revealed in the B ending, were deluded by Suwa Mamoru (using a Noah II terminal) into believing an armed mob was attacking them and that there was a staircase down off the roof; as the staircase did not exist, they plunged to their deaths. Apparently Chaos;Head Noah reveals that the switch really did happen (which explains her parents' insanity, as "Yua"/Mia is a gigalomaniac), but this isn't made clear in vanilla.
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48	* In episode 9, Norose is talking to two other people. He discusses how Noah 2 (the reality warping machine that is able to replicate a gigalomaniac’s power) runs on an equation, ir2, which was formulated by Takumi as a kid. How on earth did they manage to discover this equation? Why did Takumi create it anyway?\
49	** Presumably, he'd figured it out with his awesome powers and just wrote it down as a doodle or personal notes. Norose's contacts are connected to the 300-Man Committee that secretly runs the world; presumably one of their many minions happened across it by blind luck.
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51	* In the room, there is a bearded man who seems to be some sort of leader or president. Is he ever given a name or a role?\
52	** Are you talking about the guy in white with the white beard? Because he is the leader of the Church of Divine Light\
53	That's exactly who I was talking about.
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55	* When nanami is kidnapped in episode 10, how does Rimi know exactly where to find her, and why is she so intent on rescuing nanami when they have never met in the show? In fact, why did Norose kidnap Nanami in the first place?
56	** Rimi knew Nanami from back when they were hanging with the original Takumi (you see them both in his hospital room in a flashback). Norose kidnapped Nanami because he needs the mental signatures ("codes") of Gigalomaniacs to power the Noah 2, so he captured one and then tortured her so she'd awaken.
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58	* Rimi has an inner monologue type scene while rescuing Nanami. In her head, she thinks, “I am afraid of the dark”. There is then an image of NAKED, IDENTICAL CORPSES OF RIMI LYING DOWN IN A BLACK VOID. WHAT ON EARTH WAS GOING ON IN THAT SCENE?
59	** Rimi was recalling the period in her life during which she was being tortured by the Nozomi group for her CODE sample. As if to escape from the grueling torment, Rimi's personalities / consciousnesses "committed suicide" one after the other, until the torture stopped and the current "personality" was there to stay. This is entirely a mental change, her actual body didn't multiply. The bodies shown in the scene are essentially a visual representation of what was happening.
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61	* Nanami then seems to be affected by one of Norose’s delusions. She starts crying and asking Rimi about her bangle, something that Takumi gave her when he bought the fake di-sword. “Bangle! Give me my bangle Rimi! It’s the thing that my big brother gave to me! It’s precious to me!” again, WHAT ON EARTH WAS GOING ON IN THAT SCENE.
62	** It's really just what it seems. Norose was driving Nanami to the brink of insanity, again to retrieve her CODE sample. Her bangle, along with the hand it used to be attached to, was at the time in Shogun's custody. Her emotions of wanting it back were amplified by Norose.
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64	* Nanami inexplicably gets a di-sword while being inflicted by some mind torture by Norose. Since you have to suffer extreme grief in order to get it, what was Norose doing to Nanami to make her suffer so much? She couldn’t have been seeing Rimi as some horrible illusion, since she was aware that Rimi was in the room with her.
65	** An internal psychological torture of some sort, likely relating to her hand and her bangle, see above.
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67	* In the last few episodes, there is mentioning of something GE rates. What are those?\
68	** Explained in earlier episodes. They are measurements of gravitational activity.
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70	* Why were the new gen murders carried out and why did the perpetrator Hazuki stab herself when she revealed she was responsible for them?\
71	** They were carried to cause mental anguish toward Takumi in order to awaken him. She stabbed herself because her purpose was fulfilled
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73	* Was the giant earthquake that happened shortly afterwards the “third melt” described by Norose in episodes 10 and 11? And what’s the deal with those giant insects that attack Nanami, Ayase and Yua in the street shortly afterward?
74	** Yes, and I assume the bugs were created by Norose using Noah in order to slow the heroes down.
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76	* What were the goals of the Nozomi group, The Meiwa party and the Church of Natural Divine Light? Nozomi created Noah 2, and many members seemed connected to the Church, which may have been a religious cult. The church members wanted to achieve something through the Nozomi group, while somehow holding a position in the public through the Meiwa party. All I know is that the three organizations were named several times in the series, and seemed to be interrelated. For example, the bearded man at Nozomi seemed to be from the church, and Hazuki and Suwa were part of the church.
77	** The Meiwa party wanted to assume a permanent position of power in Japan. The Church backed them, and would sort of be the power behind the throne. The bearded man was the leader of the Church.
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79	* When Takumi confronts Norose, Norose talks about how he’ll create a new world, where everyone can be happy. It’ll be a utopia. What was his reasoning behind that? In fact, he kills a couple of guys there before Takumi arrives. It sounds like he’s betraying them. I guess I never really understood his motives.
80	** The guys he betrayed thought they would be using Noah 2 to control Japan, but Norose was only ever interested in his Utopia project. Noah 2 and the Gigalomaniacs work by changing reality by altering people's perceptions. It would be easy for Noah 2 to reshape the world so that everyone is happy and content.
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82	* What exactly happened in the last scene of the anime? The wreckage of the post apocalyptic cityscape falls away to reveal the pre apocalyptic, sunshiny cityscape. I guess if the earthquake was caused by Noah 2, then it was an illusion?
83	** Noah 2 caused the Earthquake by forcing everyone to perceive it. Since everyone perceived it, it became real (because reality is what we perceive it to be). Rimi and Takumi reversed this by changing the common perception so that everything is fine, and so everything became fine.
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85	* How did the nozomi group, more precisely Norose, know who were the potentional gigalomaniacs? Did they just kidnap a bunch of random people and start torturing them?
86	** [[FridgeHorror ...very possible, considering Norose's ambition and NOZOMI's control.]]
87	** Alternatively, it seems that one's abnormal ability appears before their potential gets unlocked, since Kozu-pii's awakening was by her being gang-harrassed via her mind-reading ability. NOZOMI could easily scout for potential Gigalomaniacs in psychiatry wards, and in fact this might also be how Takumi was found out.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:The Gigalomaniac Girls]]
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92	* Takumi first meets Kozue in episode 4 when he sees her trip on a staircase, causing her knee to bleed. How can tripping on the stairs cause that kind of injury?
93	** You'd be surprised how much damage you can get from falling/tripping down the stairs. I once tripped on the stairs and uhh, got a bloody injury that I'd rather not talk about. Basically it all depends on which part of your body hits the ''edges'' of the stairs. The stairs could've been sharp also.
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95	* Why is Sena absolutely ''terrified'' when she sees a puppy in episode 8?
96	** She's scared of dogs. Simple as that.
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98	* In episode 8, we learn about Kozue’s past. Kozue was group stalked by people holding up mirrors and chanting “who are you”. Why does Genichi Norose seem to know about this event?
99	** The group stalking was meant to make her awaken as a giga-lo-maniac, and then have her CODE sample retrieved by Norose to strengthen Noah II. The latter wasn't successfully accomplished.
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101	* We learn about Sena’s past in episode 8, which seems to be connected with the antagonist, Genichi Norose. This seems to explain how Sena got her di-sword and her hatred for Norose, he was responsible for her mother’s and sister’s death, but this flashback scene doesn’t do a good job of explaining what Norose was attempting to do in the first place.
102	** The events surrounding Sena's mother were part of an experiment by Nozomi meant to test Noah II's capabilities of messing with a person's five senses. After enough data was collected, the experiment was called off, which resulted in a particularly horrifying scene involving Sena's mother and sister (which was removed from the anime adaptation), consequently being the trigger for Sena's awakening and hatred for Norose, as well as her father, who was a scientist involved in the experiment.
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104	* In episode 9, Talumi, Rimi and Daisuke are visiting Ayase in the hospital. We see an argument between Rimi and Ayase, likely about Takumi. What is it about and why does Ayase slap Rimi?\
105	** This is revealed in a flashback a few episodes later. Rimi was trying to convince Ayase to stay away from Takumi, because Rimi didn't want Takumi to awaken. Ayase was mad because she believed they needed seven "knights", and that Rimi was being selfish by intentionally holding Takumi back.
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107	* In the same episode, we learn that Ayase was put under some kind of torture to get her di-sword and it seemed to have happened in some kind of facility. This troper believes it was Norose who was responsible, because he also seemed to have a hand in the other girls getting their di-swords. So how on earth was he able to get away with torturing 6 girls like that? And how do gigalomaniac abilities work, anyway? It seems like all a person needs to do to get a di-sword is go through some kind of emotional ordeal, but it also seemed like only certain people have the ability to get one.
108	** Norose believes that his actions are done for the greater good of mankind, and argues that a few sacrifices are necessary in the long run. It doesn't help that he has control over the media and hospitals, meaning his abuse of young girls would never reach the public. And not everyone are born with the potential to become a giga-lo-maniac, but the ones that are need emotional trauma as their trigger to awaken.
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110	* So many questions about Rimi. When she goes to rescue Nanami from Norose, in her head, she thinks, “I am afraid of the dark”. There is then an image of NAKED, IDENTICAL CORPSES OF RIMI LYING DOWN IN A BLACK VOID. Where did that even come from? Although this may be completely YMMV, this troper thought maybe Rimi was a clone, or had been experimented on. To further this theory, there is a scene in episode 11 where Rimi is talking to Takumi, and it looks like they’re standing on the water’s surface underneath the sky. Rimi has never even seen the sky, and seems like she doesn’t know much about the world. These scenes made it seem like Rimi had some kind of awful past, but I’m nit sure what.
111	** Explained a while above.
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113	* Why was Takumi attacked by Seira clones in the subway on his way to Rimi at the end of episode 12?
114	** They were the remnants of his old life as a shut-in. You'll recall Takumi often had delusions of Seira being real back when he was almost a {{hikkimori}}. The Seiras wanted him to return to that old life and leave Rimi to her fate.
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116	* I seem to remember Sena’s last name as Aoi, but I’ve seen it listed as Hatano. Did she change it because of her father?
117	** Yes. In fact, Takumi even notes this the first time Norose refers to her as Hatano.
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119	* Ayase refers to the gigolomaniacs as “the seven black knights”, and says they must stop “the demon/devil king Gladiale” (possibly Norose) as well as claiming the necessity of overcoming divine punishment to obtain a di-sword. What’s with this religious fanaticism? This is especially frustrating since I can’t seem to find anything online about “Glaidiale”. Is it true that her songs written under the name of FES predict the new gen murders?
120	** Seems to be a funny case of TheCuckoolanderWasRight. Everything Ayase says is complete nonsense; it just happens to match up pretty well with the rest of the plot.
121	** It's likely that her chuunibyou delusions are actually [[YourMindMakesItReal real-booting]] the events of the plot, whether she's aware of it happening or not.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:DI-swords and Gigalomaniac Abilities]]
125	* The DI-swords are awesome weapons, but do they have any inspiration behind their designs?
126	** The [=NoAH=]
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128	* Where does the name “Gigalomaniac” come from?
129	** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalomaniac Megalomaniac]] ×1024.
130	** Gigalo means, according to Google, "a young man paid or financially supported by a woman, typically an older woman, to be her escort or lover."
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132	* This series’ page mentions Takumi’s friend Daisuke, and he’s even listed on the page for the trope HandsomeLech, but does he ever make any contribution to the plot?
133	** He inadvertently introduces Takumi to Ayase. After that he's basically superfluous.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Other]]
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138	* Why do all the girls appear with angel wings during the ending credits?
139	** To symbolize how they help save Takumi and pull him out of his isolation, probably.
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141	* Why do Takumi and the girls appear standing on a crosswalk at the end of the opening and ending themes?
142	** That's simply because the series takes place in Shibuya, which is known for its large crosswalk.
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144	* Detective Yasuji Ban and his assistant Suwa have been mentioned on this website’s page for this series. But no where have I seen a mention of Ban’s partner, who I think is named Momose. Does she even do anything in the anime?
145	** This is the female investigator who helped Ban with his investigation. He is seen talking to her about GE rates and the Meiwa party a few times, moreso in the visual novel though. The anime cuts out a lot of the story.
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147	* What was the point of the Gero Froggy dolls? They were seen several times (Kozue had a GF band aid, Yua and Nanami liked them, and Ban even investigates them in a store at one point. He asks a lot of questions about them, and they seem to hold some kind of significance to the plot, but I can’t figure out what that might be.
148	** They were part of the Nozomi groups experiments with Noah II and Gigalomaniac powers. GERO stands for "GE Rate Observer", and they were being used to measure the GE Rate's effect on the populace of Shibuya when they spiked the GE Rate using Noah II, which is why they became so popular. It was an experiment basically
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150	* Whose eyes ''are'' those?
151	** Shōgun's.
152	** And for that matter, what does it actually mean?
153	*** They're referring to many people in the story, including Takumi, sensing that an outside presence is watching them even if it seems like no one is there. It's also a subtle fourth wall nod, since Creator/NitroPlus is known for doing that.
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155	* How does a simple formula diverge the world?
156	** It's essentially a plot device, the formula isn't ever explained because it's not based on real science (unlike, say, the Dirac Sea). It ''is'' (somehow) the basics behind NOZOMI creating a machine to replicate the power of Gigalomaniacs. Finally, since it was Real-booted, it might not even ''need'' to have an explanation. It does the thing it was created to do.

Context Headscratchers / ChaosHead