Night Head synopsis – episode 1

There have been quite a few adaptations of Night Head over the years, so I thought it would be a good idea to write up some synopses of the episodes to be able to refer back to. Trust me, with the amount of overlap, repetition and later in-universe metacontext, things can get… confusing. I’m also particularly fascinated with how certain recurring scenes will change across the various iterations. Episode one is a good example of this, featuring one of George’s favorite tableau – a psychic bar scuffle – which is repeated so often that, ironically, you could probably make a drinking game out if it. 

broadcast date: october 8th 1992

Director / Screenplay:
George Iida (飯田讓治)

Naoto Kirihara – Etsushi Toyokawa (豊川悦司)
Naoya Kirihara – Shinji Takeda (武田真治) 
additional cast can be viewed here

We open on an intriguing explanation of the title (as mentioned in my previous post):

We see a shot of a verdant forest path, before a flash – cut to the exterior of a high school, then the interior of a library. We see a young girl in a school uniform sitting at a table, writing – her friend approaches, calling out her name: Shouko. Unresponsive, Shouko continues to write with an unusually outstretched arm – automatic writing, perhaps – before an electric flash throws her backwards, pen falling to the floor, eyes darting in nystagmic distress. Her friend, shocked, steps backwards. A gust of wind flips through the pages of Shouko’s notebook – every page covered in dense, cryptic symbols. We return to the forest path, careening along, superimposed with the image of an elderly hand, pointing who knows where. We then see Shouko, seemingly alright, walking alone in the middle of the street. She stops dead before turning around and staring upwards – again, at who knows what. 

Cut to two young men, driving through the night – we learn that they are Naoto (older) and Naoya (younger) Kirihara, the latter of whom appears ill or distressed. Naoto tells his younger brother he needs to calm down, before cryptically stating, “We’re outside.” Equally cryptically, Naoya responds that someone named Mikuriya told them that, when “outside”, they will “attract negative energy/forces”. Naoto tells him not to be concerned about what Mikuriya said, because they can handle it – he pauses before continuing – “like normal people.” 

As they continue driving along, Naoya spots the neon lights of a roadside diner and asks to stop. His older brother, snappy in his anxiety and need to keep moving, doesn’t want to. Tensely, they discuss – Naoto thinks it’s too soon, but Naoya pleads: “I want to go where there are people”, seemingly as a test. Naoto relents. 

Cut to interior of establishment, more of a bar than a restaurant, where a rowdy group of 20-somethings laugh loudly over some joke. As the lads enter, everyone – staff included – stop to stare menacingly at them. The screenplay for the episode describes this like so: 

“Just as their laughter reaches a crescendo, the entrance door opens, and Naoto and Naoya walk in. The laughter dies down instantly. Hostile stares—the kind reserved for outsiders—pierce the two of them. Naoya instinctively flinches and hides behind Naoto. Naoto signals Naoya with his eyes and starts walking. They walk to a booth seat at the back and sit down. Naoto and Naoya feign composure, even as they feel the gazes upon them.”

What is not in the script is something that interests me, for the ways it has been interpreted by fans across its various iterations. One of two women in the group – Hiroko – leans in to her friends and jeers, “isn’t that cute?” before the group devolves into convulsions of stifled laughter – Hiroko, eyebrows raised, nods vigorously as if to say, “if you know what I mean”. The scene is, honestly, surreal – however unintentionally, George Iida has presented us with an uncannily accurate depiction of what it feels like to be in a hostile public space while neurodivergent and/or queer. I don’t assert this out of nowhere, as I will expand on in future posts – for now, I present this scene to you as I (and others) have interpreted it: the other people in this bar assume the brothers are a gay couple, and they are apparently going to be homophobic about it. “Negative energy” indeed…

The waitress hands the lads a menu and asks what they’ll have. Naoya, stuttering, politely asks if they serve omurice – much to the uproarious amusement of the other patrons. Fellas – is it gay to get omurice? His brother, tersely, turns around towards the group and snaps out an order for the obviously much more heterosexual pizza and beer. Naoto turns to tell his younger brother off for his order, but Naoya responds reasonably that it isn’t a good idea to “say things that make you sound like you’re looking for trouble.” Naoya is confused by this, seemingly unaware that he had been provoking the other group. The nuance in the ways they police each others’ social skills is quite fascinating to me, and makes sense given that Naoto and Naoya are both ostensibly homeschool kids out in the world for the first time, which comes with its own socialization baggage. 

The bartender (‘master’) changes the TV channel to a program discussing the existence of psychic powers. One of the presenters asks someone named Mick his opinion, and at this, the lads turn – Naoya, in surprise, murmurs “it’s him”. With this, we have our first introduction to the ‘psychic entertainer’ Miracle Mick, though it is not yet clear what his connection to the Kirihara brothers is. While Mick’s response is muted and non-committal regarding the veracity of his power (“whether you believe it or not is up to you”), Jin – the ringleader of the group – reacts with glowering animosity. “What’s the fun in getting taken for a ride by a con artist like that?” he says, absentmindedly stabbing his food with a knife. 

Tagawa, the more cowed-looking of his cronies, nervously asks: “So, it is a scam after all?” to the exasperated response of the group. Laughing, they berate him for believing in psychic powers, calling him an idiot. Jin, however, begins to stab his food with surprising ferocity, shouting that he can’t stand people who believe in psychic powers. The brothers, over at their own table, tense up. 

Cutting back to the TV, as per the script: “On the screen, Miracle Mick is performing his signature spoon-bending act. Jin and the others laugh scornfully and mockingly, hurling insults at him. The neck of the spoon snaps off and drops. Everyone bursts into laughter all at once.” 

With their backs to the TV, Naoto quietly vents his anger while his younger brother looks on nervously. “Things get complicated because of guys like that. If his cheating gets exposed, it’ll mean everyone thinks everything else is a sham, too. When it comes to TV, as long as it makes for good material, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the real deal or a sham, anyways.” 

The rowdy crowd happily discuss amongst themselves the fakeness of psychic powers on TV – the bartender, mock skeptical, asks if they’re really fake, while they all groan and guffaw. One among them says he knows a guy who worked in TV, and he says for sure – all rigged. Tagawa, feeling like he’s joining in the banter, smiles and says, “But you know… just because this guy is a fraud, that doesn’t mean everything is fake.” The laughter stops dead as Jin glares murderously at Tagawa, who cowers in response. 

In the awkward silence, a new couple enter the place – a wildly nervous looking man, followed by an elegant woman bristling with an ominous energy. Perhaps even… negative energy? Guess we’ll have to wait and see! 

Tagawa, attempting to worm his way back into Jin’s good graces, apologizes for offending him with his comments on psychic powers. Jin, however, gives a revealing response: “You know, the kind of guy who does things like that – before long, he’ll start claiming he’s God. Claiming to have psychic powers—what a scam! The uneducated and the stupid are the easiest to fool with this kind of thing. That’s how my old lady was. I absolutely can’t trust anyone who believes in something like that.”

The rest of the group, taking Jin’s lead, ramp up their braying criticism of TV psychics – their guffaws only seem to agitate Jin despite their agreement, and he begins shouting: “That’s exactly what I’m saying! It’s all a scam. A bunch of lying bastards—that’s what this is!” 

In the cacophony, Naoto has visibly begun to fill with rage, while his younger brother looks between him and the group with growing panic. He asks anxiously if they can leave, to which Naoto says no through gritted teeth. Naoya, filled with regret, apologizes – “It was my fault for saying I wanted to be around people.” 

Seething, Naoto stares fixedly forward – “Do you have any idea how much we’ve suffered because of this kind of power? It’s been fifteen years. We’ve lived in isolation all this time. All because we possess this power…” – we see a flashback to their childhood, sobbing as they are taken away from their parents – “If only we didn’t have this kind of power… after all, we never asked for any of this. Nothing but scams on TV—and on top of that, the public calls us idiots?” 

Naoya realizes that his older brother is taking the group’s jeers personally, and begs him to calm down – but, too late. As the group’s laughter rises to a fever pitch, Naoto’s childhood self is shown screaming, shattering glass – and in the present, the same happens to their table, spilling beer and glass everywhere, leaving a shocked silence in the aftermath. 

Naoya frantically helps his stricken brother up, insisting they leave, and they attempt to make their way through the silenced crowd. Naoya asks for the bill, only to have Jin & Co. lose it – they demand an apology. Jin in particular is angry beyond expectation, shouting at the top of his lungs at Naoto’s silence. Goaded, Naoto finally turns around to face Jin. Thrusting a fork in his face, he quietly says “A damn fool only trusts what he sees with his own eyes. See?” before snapping the fork psychically in front of him. He walks away, telling Naoya it’s finally time to leave – yet the stunned crowd can’t leave well enough alone. 

Hiroko blurts out that they’re idiots, that the whole thing is obviously still fake – the others all join in too, and Naoto becomes increasingly riled up, Naoya trying to intervene all the while. With every further accusation, Naoto is goaded into expending more psychic power, exploding glasses left and right before Jin stands, vibrating with anger, howling “You bastard! You still haven’t said a single word of apology, you cheating scum!” 

Surprisingly, the tension is broken by Tagawa, who also rises and tells Jin to stop – to him, it’s clear that their psychic powers must be real. Turning to Naoto, he affirms his psychokinesis, and asks if Naoya has powers too. For some reason – pride, perhaps – Naoto speaks up on Naoya’s behalf, revealing this: “He has the ability to read minds. He can see right into people’s hearts. If he touches someone, he knows exactly who they are.” 

When Hiroko eventually touches his face, Naoya reacts with complete revulsion – in succession, he sees visions of her having sex with every guy there other than her boyfriend, Jin. While infidelity is its own can of worms, the horror with which he relays this information back to the group is so over the top that it reads as either misogyny, or some kind of satirical reverse-gay panic. While I assume George felt that cuckolding the primary antagonist in this scene would be the ultimate revenge – and, give a sense of impact for the debut of Naoya’s power – I do wonder at an alternative world in which Jin and Hiroko were just in an open relationship and everyone was completely nonplussed. 

As it is, this reveal riles up the whole lot of the men, who immediately crumble, hurling insults at Naoya with all the warbling composure of folks who have never been caught in a lie before. With everyone shouting about lies and reassurances, Jin loses it and pummels a shrieking Hiroko – Jin and his cronies begin to converge on the lads, frothing and quaking and throwing around death threats. Again, it’s inexplicable that the brothers don’t just leave, but instead we get to see Naoto’s immense psychic pressure knocking everyone back as he finally loses it himself. 

The group find themselves staggered, writhing in agony – silence, like flash-bang tinnitus, muffles their cries. This is, of course, paired with visuals of them all warping like they’re having a bad acid trip in a hall of mirrors, a hallmark Night Head combination of grim hilarity. 

Then, as Naoto lays off, things somehow get worse – that couple who arrived earlier get up to leave in a panic (reasonable), and the woman shoves Naoya out of the way – touching him in the process. Instantly, to his horror, he sees a vision of the two murdering a woman – and then he collapses. They scuttle off, while Naoto helps his distraught brother, apologizing as they begin to stagger out. With one last gasp, Jin calls them monsters before the group all cower in fear. Naoto turns to stare at him with a look that is pained, rather than triumphant, before finally walking out the door. 

In the carpark, the brothers ponder whether this whole situation is the result of their attracting negative energy, and Naoto apologizes again to his brother. He wonders what they should do – if they should return back to the mysterious Mikuriya – to which Naoya responds vehemently: “No. I don’t want that.” Naoto agrees, and they decide to continue out into the world. 

This is an impactful first vignette, and George knows it – which is why we’ll see it again sooner than you think. I remain interested in their dynamic as siblings, and as psychics – what I wonder, here, is what is it about Naoya’s power as shown that would make anyone believe that he had really ‘seen’ anything in that touch, rather than just having some intuitive sense of the situation. Being caught out in a cold or even a hot read from a canny (fake) psychic is only as impactful as they are clever in their deployment. While psychological warfare is less bombastic than the psychokinetic variety, I would love to see more exploration of that kind of thing, and I’m keeping an eye on how the portrayal of Naoya’s powers develops with time. I’ve also wondered this since my first viewing – how did they learn how to drive?

What trials and tribulations will the Kirihara brothers face next?!