do not go gentle into
that good night (head)

two psychic brothers, upon escaping the secluded research facility that has held them captive since childhood, find themselves thrust into a jarring and overtly hostile world… as a teen, I found myself magnetically attracted to this premise – that of Night Head Genesis, a 24 episode anime from 2006. however, despite my interest, I never managed to get past the first two episodes – the second episode in particular always seemed to trip me up. there was something about the bombastic vacillation between the violent and the mundane, especially when paired with the off-putting digipaint animation, that just left me confused. yet mysteriously, it didn’t just feel like it could be explained as a quality issue – it felt like I was actually missing something. therefore, it stuck with me throughout the years in a way that most shows don’t – as a lingering preoccupation, a vaguely nagging urge.

fast forward to 2020 when, like many others, I turned to bingeing TV shows as a way to pass the time while stuck indoors, and figured it was as good a time as any to finally break through those first two episodes and see what it was all about. and lemme tell ya, my partner and I were in for quite a trip, because it certainly has some things going on! importantly, that earlier sense that there was some unstated reference point never abated, giving the show an oddly hollow feeling despite its over-the-top execution. which of course only exacerbated the preoccupation, leading me to look into what it was that was missing. 

at first, I thought answering that question was easy – it’s based on a live action television drama from 1992, of course! that must be the answer! and so I naively assumed the missing element must just be due to poor execution in the adaptation process. but as I dug deeper, I continually found myself walking away with more questions than answers. over the years since, I’ve continued to gather clues, all while sinking further into the mystery surrounding this series – now, at least, I hope to present some of my findings here. do I have what it takes to solve even some small piece of this puzzle? perhaps what I need lies dormant in my own brain, as per the opening narration –