Night Head Genesis is a Japanese anime television series adapted from the 1992 TV drama Night Head. It began airing on the anime television network Animax on July 27, 2006.
The series was licensed for a North American release on February 14, 2008 by Media Blasters, and premiered in January 2016 on Toku in the United States.
Plot Due to their paranormal abilities, two young brothers are cast out by their parents and given into the custody of a research center. They escape fifteen years later, and soon learn that they will play a pivotal role in the coming "Upheaval".
Characters Kirihara brothers
Naoto Kirihara is a powerful psychokinetic. Naoto can exhaust himself, physically, by using his psychokinetic power beyond what he normally uses. He also possesses the ability to communicate telepathically with his younger brother, Naoya. Naoto is fiercely protective of Naoya, being the elder of the two and because of Naoya's innate power. Naoto is the more self-assured of the two and has a more fiery temper. When angered, Naoto often strikes out with his psychokinesis - most often destroying nearby objects. He often helps Naoya every time he sees a traumatic vision (like the case with the young girl who looks and acts like a doll and lives in what they called the "dollhouse"). Naoto fears the destructive potential of his abilities. Naoya did not agree to this, saying that there is a meaning in them having these powers and that he could not do anything without his brother. Still, it haunts him.
Naoya Kirihara is a clairvoyant, telepath, seer and also has the power to heal. Naoya's abilities are a source of great suffering to him - physical contact with people or objects can trigger traumatic visions. Naoya is sometimes left in a state of catatonia after a particularly shocking vision. The only person who does not have this effect on him is his elder brother, Naoto, who is 6 years older. He calls Naoto "Nii-san" - meaning "elder brother" when he grows older but back when he was a kid, he called him "Nii-chan". Naoya relies on Naoto in many ways. Naoya often stands behind Naoto, using him as a shield to discourage physical contact with others. When their powers were fully awake, he experienced what Shouko had gone through - overcoming the physical self and become a spirit-like being (it is shown like he was standing outside of Earth, watching over it) which causes him to disappear from time to time. Naoya tells this to Naoto, that he experiences everything and seen everything when he was there, he also discovers where their estranged parents are. This made Naoto very worried and thought that Naoya will leave him too, just like what their parents did to them when they were young. Naoya assured him that he will stay with his brother in this side of the world. As a child, Naoya would go so far as to follow behind Naoto - holding onto the back of his jacket.
Research Center staff
Mikuriya is the head of the research center where the Kirihara brothers were raised. Naoto holds strong resentment toward Mikuriya for taking Naoya and him from their parents and keeping them captive for years. However, the brothers maintain contact with Mikuriya following their escape, and come to his aid when the research facility was burnt to the ground and he is held captive. Mikuriya considers himself the guardian and protector of the brothers during their 15 years at the research center. He also believes that since he took care of the brothers, that they owe him, even guilting the two into saving him, which annoyed Naoto more. After their escape, he went out of the country and lived his life a scholar outside Japan and was seen again when he contacted the Kirihara brothers because of a strange girl, Naji, who shows unbelievable powers. He was last seen inside his office with Naji drawing something for the Kirihara brothers which Naoya sees through his vision and tells his brother about it.
One of the research centers' employee. She is the first one who approached the brothers when they tried to escape the first time they were sent to the research center. She befriends Naoya but the truth is, she is really terrified of the brothers and she is doing all this just for the money. When Naoya discover this, he went into shock and Naoto tries to calm him down. Mikuriya later explains that it is only normal for a person to think of money since it is a necessity in life.
One of the research centers' employee. She first appeared in Episode 6 when the Kirihara brothers escaped and went to see their house, which is no longer there. She gives Naoto an envelope full of money which was given by Mikuriya. She seem to have a thing for Naoto because she has a picture of her and Naoto and keeps on looking at it. She also asked Naoto if he even remembers her, much to Naoto's confusion.
Somehow related to the research center because he contacts Mikuriya every now and then. He seem to know Elder Misaki and said that a ceremony without cremation is illegal. He is last seen as the one who gave Mikuriya an envelope containing money when he decided to leave Japan for good. When Mikuriya left, he even salutes on his back.
A five-year-old orphan, living in Moscow, who predicts of global destruction and that the Kirihara brothers is somehow connected to this. She did not speak but when she was handed a crayon, she starts sketching - non stop (she did not eat or sleep and neither did she starve nor faint) - the map of the world with marks all over it, which is also known as the Red Zone (areas where diseased or natural disaster threaten the population). She was last seen drawing a picture of her and the Kirihara brothers, inside Mikuriya's office.
A mysterious presence at the research center. He is a very powerful psychic with unspecified abilities. He erected the mystical barrier around the research center which was sensitive to individuals and kept specific people out and others inside its limits, these are the Kirihara brothers. During the early stages of their stay in the research center, Naoto always tries to escape but was always deflected by the barrier, much to his annoyance. The barrier disappeared upon his death at the beginning of the series, which allowed the Kirihara brothers to finally escape and explore the outside world. It is certain that Elder Misaki had the power of foresight and Mikuriya, the Kirihara brothers and Shouko hold him in high regard. At the beginning of the series, there's always a squirrel on his shoulder or around him, showing his gentle aura.
Other characters
Futami Shouko is a high school student that possesses such power that she transcended her physical being. She existed outside of space and time. Even before losing her physical form, Shouko was able to travel in both time and space at will, and she would tell this to her best friend. During her travels, she would go missing for days which her best friend was already used to. So when Shouko went missing again, she thought that Shouko would come back, but her friend was gone, for good. This happened after Shouko learned that Elder Misaki had died. Shouko had foreseen the upcoming "Upheaval" and that the Kirihara brothers would play a pivotal role. It was like she took the place of Elder Misaki and watched over and guided them. She always appears in her school uniform. Her last transformation was that akin to a butterfly when she could no longer hold her physical body. This greatly saddened Naoya but Shouko promised him that she will continue to watch over them.
Shouko's mother.
The only known friend of Shouko. Before she disappeared, Shouko gives her the notebook that is full of hieroglyphics called Rongo Rongo found on Easter Island. She and the brothers met where Miki waits for the Kirihara brothers pass at her house just as Shouko said. She is later attacked by a man that is decorated by a blue tattoo all over his body but the brothers saves her in time. The man explains that he is actually the physical manifestation of Shouko and the brothers negative consciousness. It was unknown what happen to her after that.
Yoshiki Futami's girlfriend. Yoshiki tells him to bring the Kirihara brothers to an abandoned building where he made a record of his compiled knowledge about Ark.
A high school student whose power is to transmit her feelings to others. She realized this when she was just a child. And when she entered high school, she decided that she must bottle up her feelings in order to prevent it from being transmitted to others, that she has to become a rock - still and emotionless. She is Tsuzuki's student whom she had a sexual relationship with. Later, she moves to Ark Corporation to play her role, unbeknownst to her, orchestrated by Okuhara Akiko. When she discovers Tomomi dead, she unleashes her full power which caused great destruction on anything that is within 25km radius. After Naoya heals Tomomi, the sisters were finally reunited.
Sakie's little sister. She loves her big sister so much that even though her parents' agreed to send Sakie to Ark, she vehemently refuses to part with her. She's later killed by Mikumo to unleash Sakie's true power because of the extreme sadness but was revived by Naoya through his power of healing and his strong will to save Tomomi.
Sakie's classmate and a bully. Along with her friends namely Tsutsui Miwa, Takashima Kazumi, Inakami Rei and Minami Noriko, humiliates her and tells everyone about Sakie and Tsuzuki-sensei (means teacher) relationship. After that, they were found dead and looks like they have committed suicide by drowning themselves in the pool with Sakie however Sakie survived, with the timely arrival of the Kirihara brothers. Naoya discovers after that it was actually Mikumo who made them commit suicide, not Sakie.
The Kirihara brothers met her in the bar called "Stinger". It is also here that Naoya discovers Reiko's doing - killing young women who, oddly enough, all wear purple. Before she even came to the bar Stinger, she already killed 4 woman all wearing purple. Unknown to her, Naoya, through his vision and with the help of Shouko, sees what will happen and thus they went to save the woman. Realizing that the brothers were not part of Ark, she killed herself by falling off of the hotel where she is supposed to kill the 5th woman.
Reiko's accomplice on her mission to kill young women who wear purple. He is the type that likes to be dominated and even bullied in which, Reiko has no problem on doing it. When Reiko dies, he explains that Ark is after Reiko and that they sent out their people who will kill Reiko in purple.
One of the customers inside the bar Stinger where the owner is called "Master". The other patrons are Hiroko (his girlfriend), Tagawa (one with the gray coat and consulted a fortune teller about his daughters' incoming engagement), a girl in pigtails with her boyfriendYoko, a man in a blue coat who is actually a photo journalist, and the man with a blue hat (who offers to replace the tire of the brothers' getaway car for 30,000 yen). He is a known bully and very much hates people who talk about other people having supernatural powers. And with this, he comes in conflict with Naoto. The aftermath of the encounter is that he is admitted to a hospital with broken bones and a cerebral concussion. 4 other patrons of the bar were also confined.