Review of Night Head 2041

I expected another Ex-arm Instead I got Akira that was just way too much on the nose. (And worse in every other aspect as well) At first I thought it would be a political story considering the genre, but then it suprised me when the show started inclining towards more religious route. In the second half it went back and connected it with the political aspect. Don't get me wrong. In it's core the idea is decent enough to follow and expand upon. The problem lies with its terrible execution and abysmal handling of its own characters. If you can even call them that. Show started ina rather mysterious way with too much exposition. Exposition that will keep on not only repeating but also multiplying. I mean, why would you even relay an information to your brother that he has already been well aware of for MANY years ? Like he gets it. The water is wet and our parents are sacks of shit. Shocker.

Instead of slowly explaining the themes and meanings of the show, the story just drops everything on you in one episode out of utterly nowhere. Up until that you could have interpreted it in couple of ways and theorize about your own possible interpretations.. But worry not ! There is no longer any need for using any percentage of your brain power. It could have been handled so much better. The entire thing was just couple of dudes sitting in a room and explaining what the story is about. What an easy way out of good writing.
The other thing that really grinds my gears is the Noah's ark bit.
Ark, rapture, dying for sins of humanity, return of Christ, crusifixion and all the other good christian stuff can be found in here. But Noah's ark showcases a big problem with the show. Instead of remaining as a painting in the big exposition scene, the show later draws attention to its own symbolism and that just makes me role my eyes. Don't tell me. I get it. I get the meaning. Why do you have a need to explaing everything ? Just shut up you. Leave something to my imagination. I know this feels like a minor thing but like I said. Its like this the entire time.

Of course its capitalism that gets the most amount of shit. I was suprised that the word capitalism wasn't actually mentioned. Words like competition, equality and new version of the word materialism get mentioned all the time. And its pretty obvious on whose side the story is considering what religious figures represent each side. I liked it more when there were subtle mentions of war in middle east (that is still going on in 2041(cringe) ) and ways how China and Usa distabilize those regions. Not that I disagree with criticism of capitalism but it could have been handled better. Just because I agree with some of its messages that doesn't mean it makes for a good show. For a while I also got the feeling as if atheism was getting blasted as well but I don't actually think its atheism itself. More like the act of not believing in utterly anything. Neither God/s nor reincarnation or not even something like nature. More than atheism it was criticising Nihilism. Some of its better ideas felt like an afterthought. I actually really like the ending to the Prophet character.

Overall it was as if the author thought of ideas and messages they wanted to put into their story and instead of actually making a story they made a numbered list of why this and this is good or bad.

The characters are utterly laughable. Well I would laugh if there was something to actually laugh at. They don't exist. There is not a single thing I can tell you about them other than the brothers like each other. And even those very strong bonds are showcased to us by the brothers calling each others names from a long distance. But trust me. They have like really strong bonds. But you don't wanna know about it here. It's something really special. They're not your usual brothers. They care about each other.
With that said. I still ship the blue haired brother with the brother of the pink haired guy. You know ? The black haired guy. I thought they were about to kiss at some point and like a droplet of blood actually started pumping through my veins only to have been wasted on nothing.

Also the designs. I know that rule of cool stands but since I am already at it I might as well mention it. An authoritarian world that supresses not only religion but also fiction and music has no absolutely no reason to allow its poster boys to wear such punk inspired clothing. Punk has always been going hand in hand with anarchism. Which is absolute opposite of what the government wants. Because you know....they want to keep on existing.
Also why do the soldier uniforms glow in the dark in such vibrant colors. Or why make them glowy at all ?!

Art is fun to look at. Might take a second to get an used to. But once you do its pretty ok. I actually like it. Reminds me of Dorohedoro. Sad thing is that it is so forgettable because of its lack of important and memorable character moments.

I really love the voice acting. Its filled with well known voice actors. Feels like home right away if you are familiar with them which you probably are. Too bad they had such terrible script to work with.
The dialogue is bad. Very bad. I refuse to elaborate.

Night Head 2041 was many things. But let it be know that it was not boring. I had fun. Wasn't enjoying myself. But I had fun. If you are going to watch it remember that it DOES NOT care about its own characters. But only themes and messages. Which they also don't really do a good job of presenting. They do this coming full circle at the end but its just not earned at all.
At least I learned something about how not to write a story.