YMMV / Chaos;Child

• Broken Base: Which ending is better, the Nono ending or the True Ending? Some say that the big twist introduced in the true end is brilliant and thematically fits with the rest of the story, and the ending is ultimately a happy one, while the Nono ending does not fit with the themes of the story and is unrealistically happy (not to mention that everyone is still suffering from Chaos Child Syndrome). Others say that the twist in the True End comes out of nowhere, that the true end contains way too many Sequel Hooks and unresolved plot points, and that the sympathetic protagonist Takuru getting the worst ending of the characters and suffering all the consequences while Big Bad Wakui not only gets away but gets everything he wanted ultimately robs the ending of any happiness, which is why they prefer the unambiguously happy Nono ending where there is at least the possibility of Takuru finding a way to cure Chaos Child Syndrome.
• Complete Monster:
  • Wataru Sakuma, Takuru Miyashiro's seemingly loving foster father, is a Mad Scientist who masterminds the Return of the New Generation Madness. In the past, he worked at a secret laboratory where he would carry out horrific experiments on Gigalomaniacs. Seeking to continue his experiments after the lab was shut down, Sakuma teams up with Serika Onoe, plastering Sumo Stickers around Shibuya to locate Gigalomaniacs and using his artificial Mind Control powers to force them to commit suicide in gruesome ways, often publicly. Sometime after he brainwashes Shinji Itou into serving as an accomplice, Sakuma targets his own adopted daughters, Yui and Nono, to be killed by Shinji and Serika, respectively. Finally, he has Takuru framed for the murders and forces him into a final fight, then traps him in a delusion where Takuru must witness Nono being killed repeatedly, before deciding to deprive Takuru of his senses altogether and let him go mad. Willing to harm even his own adopted children, Wataru Sakuma admits that his main motive for his evil is having fun.
  • Shūichi Wakui is a teacher at Hekiho Academy and Sakuma's partner in crime. After helping Sakuma with the experiments on Gigalomaniacs in the past, he decides to aid Sakuma in the murders, and finds Serika a home by having her kill the original occupant. In the Deep Sky route, when Takuru Miyashiro and Hana Kazuki discover his true nature, he deafens them to drive them insane, then kidnaps Nono Kurusu—actually Senri Minamisawa—and holds her hostage in exchange for Takuru and Hana surrendering themselves to be killed. He tortures Nono/Senri to stop her struggling, then assaults Takuru with delusions of Hana biting her tongue off and Nono being repeatedly decapitated, before trying to kill them. In the Silent Sky route, he attacks Takuru and an amnesiac Serika when they infiltrate his hideout, then returns Serika's memories back just to torment her with the knowledge of her involvement in the murders, before allowing Takuru to cure Chaos Child Syndrome in exchange for Takuru going to jail in his place. In Love Chu Chu, Wakui, disguised as Detective Shinjo, traps Takuru and his friends in a delusion where everything is happy to get Takuru to use his powers. When that fails, he turns Serika into Black Serika and has her kidnap and torment Takuru.
• Crosses the Line Twice: The negative delusion in Nono's route where she ends up kidnapped by the yakuza after spilling some ice cream on a gangster's jacket, only to end up taking over the entire organization.
• Esoteric Happy Ending:
  • While the True ending is supposed to be happy because Chaos Child Syndrome is cured and the girls can live happy lives, Takuru ends up sacrificing himself to do so, Taking the Heat for all the murders, so Takuru, despite perhaps being the most sympathetic character, gets the absolute worst ending. Meanwhile, Shuichi Wakui, one of the actual masterminds, gets everything he wants and gets away scott-free. To top it all off, Robotics;Notes DaSH indicates that the events are somehow causing the wordline to shift away from the Steins;Gate worldline, essentially making Takuru's sacrifice a Senseless Sacrifice.
  • Even Dr. Sakuma gets the dignity of being counted among the victims. Out of the three people technically responsible, Serika thought she was doing the right thing, Takuru didn't want any of this to happen on a conscious level, and Sakuma... admits he enjoyed every minute of it. One begins to wonder why they didn't pin the crimes on him...
• Even Better Sequel: Considered by many to be the best game in the Science Adventure Series franchise, even surpassing Steins;Gate.
• Fridge Brilliance: After Yui is revealed to be a Gigalomaniac, she tells Takuru that her power lets her hear her brother's voice when he needs her. That was most likely her wish that awakened her powers: to find and save her brother when he was buried under some rubble.
• Fridge Horror: In Nono's route, Takuru mentions that Yuto was no longer having nightmares or waking up screaming at night due to his trauma from the earthquake, despite just having lost his sister and foster father, thanks to Uki, Nono, and himself. Was Sakuma doing something to Yuto over the previous years to keep his nightmares going?
• Magnificent Bastard: Amy, really Serika Onoe, is one of the three masterminds of the Return of the New Generation Madness. Seeking to make Takuru Miyashiro into a hero, Serika teams up with Wataru Sakuma and Shuichi Wakui to help them carry out the murders, with the intention of having Takuru solve them. She helps brainwash Shinji Itou into serving as her accomplice, then inserts herself into Takuru's investigation to steer him where she needs him. Using her powers, she manipulates events to force Takuru to confront his past as well. In two of the endings, Serika accepts Takuru's decision to not go along with her plans after trying to stop him; and in the Real Sky route, she betrays Sakuma and Wakui and turns Nono and Takuru against one another and when defeated, kills herself with dignity, happy to know Takuru has people he can rely on.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: While the anime itself was considered So Okay, It's Average, many agree that it's a large improvement over the anime adaptation of Chaos;Head (Although it doesn't stop it from being a lackluster adaptation that could have been good if it had at least 24 episodes).
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: In Nono's route it's revealed that Nono is actually Senri Minamisawa, who has taken her identity and deliberately pretended to be her since the Earthquake. In short she's committed identity theft and has been catfishing everyone in her life, which includes Kawahara. During the route, he's been lashing out out of jealousy that she's been ignoring him, and disregarding him routinely in favour of Takuru for years despite their friendship, and we're supposed to see him as a clingy jealous asshole for wanting to spend time with her and not liking Takuru at all, except he's been gaslit and manipulated by Senri for SIX YEARS. She has been lying to and stringing along a person she does not even really like for the sake of her appearance and her ruse. Kawahara is an abuse victim, who is coping badly with his shitty situation by lashing out, and we're supposed to view Kawahara as the unequivocal bad guy when Senri is the one who has been using and deceiving him for years and pushed him into this headspace.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: By the same token when Kawahara beats up Takuru, and Takuru uses it as an excuse to dunk on him for being too stupid to realize that Senri doesn't like him and that he's clingy is in fact, extremely cruel given that Takuru at this point KNOWS that Senri has been gaslighting and manipulating him for years, and has decided to victim blame him for it to get a petty win.