| Phi Brain: Puzzle of God | |
| ファイ・ブレイン 神のパズル (Fai Burein Kami no Pazuru) |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Adventure |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Junichi Sato |
| Written by | Mayori Sekijima |
| Music by | Akio Izutsu |
| Studio | Sunrise |
| Licensed by | Sentai Filmworks |
| Network | NHK-Educational |
| Original run | October 2, 2011 – ongoing |
| Episodes | 25 |
| Manga | |
| Illustrated by | Yoshiki Togawa |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Magazine |
| Original run | November 11, 2011 – ongoing |
Phi Brain: Puzzle of God (ファイ・ブレイン 神のパズル Fai Burein Kami no Pazuru) is a 2011 Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise which began airing on NHK-Educational from October 2, 2011. The series is directed by Junichi Sato with script supervision by Mayori Sekijima. Hajime Yatate, the collective penname for the creative staff at Sunrise, is credited with the original story.[1] The anime has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks.[2] A manga adaptation by Yoshiki Togawa began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype Ace magazine from November 2011.
Contents |
Kaito, a puzzle-loving high school freshman, is selected as a candidate for "Phi Brain". He and his friend Nonoha find an "unsolvable puzzle" near their school. The puzzle turns out to be a life-threatening "philosopher's puzzle" created by the mysterious group POG (Puzzle Of God). After successfully solving the puzzle, Kaito is designated as a Solver and is joined by other Solvers as they battle POG all over the world by solving the "philosopher's puzzles".
A member of P.O.G. who seems to have a connection to Kaito.
Elena is a 14-year old idol, who works for P.O.G. She hosts a show called "Puzzle Kingdom", and she is really popular. Although she has many personal problems - such as not working for something she's not pleased or hating people who have friends.
The anime series by Sunrise began airing on NHK-Educational from October 2, 2011. The series uses two piece of theme music, an opening theme and an ending theme. The opening theme is "Brain Diver" by May'n, while the ending theme is "Hologram" (ホログラム Horoguramu) by Natsumi Kiyoura. The anime has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and are currently streaming the series on The Anime Network|.
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | "The Contract Hidden in the Labyrinth" "Meikyū ni Hisomu Keiyaku" (迷宮にひそむ契約) |
October 2, 2011[3] |
| Kaito Daimon, a genius at solving puzzles, is given a strange device and receives an invite to solve a dangerous puzzle inside some ruins. Going with his friend Nonoha Itou, he makes his way through the strange maze, managing to find a secret solution thanks to Nonoha's help. Arriving at the center of the maze, Kaito finds a strange bangle known as Orpheus, which attaches itself to his arm. After this happens, the room they are in is sealed off, and Kaito is given a puzzle in which he is told to pull a correct lever to stop the pillars holding the ceiling up breaking apart. As Kaito reaches wit's end, the bangle on his arm glows and Kaito enters a state where he becomes able to see the puzzle's solution. | ||
| 02 | "Philosopher's Reward" "Kenja no Hōshū" (賢者の報酬) |
October 9, 2011[4] |
| In his powerful state known as 'Phi-Brain', Kaito manages to solve the puzzle, allowing them both to escape the ruins. Later, Kaito becomes annoyed by a puzzle solver named Gammon Sakanoue, who carries the title 'Galilleo'. As Kaito receives a request to solve another puzzle, Gammon tries to claim it for himself and ends up joining Kaito and Nonoha. The puzzle in question is a life-sized sliding puzzle in which the player must get their car out of the puzzle within a time limit before it is crushed by a falling truck. As Gammon nearly completes the puzzle, the puzzle giver cuts off the ability to move the car they are in, supposedly leaving them with no solution. However, Kaito once again enters his Phi-Brain state and manages to use the other vehicles in the puzzle to push their car out of the way before they are crushed. | ||
| 03 | "The Boy Genius's Melancholy" "Tensai Shōnen no Yūutsu" (天才少年の憂鬱) |
October 16, 2011[4] |
| Kaito meets a boy genius solver named Cubic Galois, who carries the title of 'Edison' and prefers mathematics other puzzles. He attaches a strange bracelet onto Kaito's arm, which causes his head to hurt whenever he thinks about puzzles. At this time, Kaito, Nonoha and Gammon are called to solve a puzzle, with the city rigged to explode if they fail. Though Cubic tries to make things harder for Kaito to make him give up on puzzles, he soon learns that the puzzle giver is serious about blowing up the city. With less than two minutes remaining, Kaito enters his Phi-Brain state and solves the puzzle with a second to spare. Admiring his skill, Cubic apologizes to Kaito and removes the bracelet. | ||
| 04 | "The Girl in the Secret Room" "Misshitsu no Shōjo" (密室の少女) |
October 23, 2011[4] |
| Kaito is given a Sage Puzzle to solve on the weekend, where he is to be partnered with Ana Gram, an art enthusiast who holds the title of 'Da Vinci'. They visit the mansion of a late artist, with its butler revealed to be a Giver from the POG. Kaito and Ana are trapped in a room which will fill with gas if they don't solve the puzzle. Presented with a jigsaw containing various famous paintings, Kaito and Ana work together to solve the puzzle, the treasure of which is a series of paintings the painter dedicated to his wife. Back at school, Kaito and Nonoha are surprised to find that Ana is a boy. | ||
| 05 | "Invitation to a Nightmare" "Akumukara no Shōtaijō" (悪夢からの招待状) |
October 30, 2011[4] |
| The POG extend an invitation to Kaito, who is accompanied by Nonoha and Gammon, to their headquarters. As the three make their way through the maze to meet with the POG's head, Kaito notices something eerily familiar about the puzzles they have to solve. This particularly holds true to the final puzzle, which is similar to a puzzle that took the lives of Kaito's parents. As Kaito goes beserk at the memory of it, Cubic helps Nonoka snap him out of it by shocking him with her cookies. Since this causes Kaito to pass out, the mysterious POG head cancels the meeting. After Kaito recovers, he finds himself having trouble solving even a simple puzzle. | ||
| 06 | "Restoration Towards the Light" "Hikari e no Fukkatsu" (光への復活) |
November 6, 2011[4] |
| Kaito is still tormented by his memories and unable to solve puzzles. Cubic researches into the Orpheus bangle, theorizing Kaito's breakdown was a result of his brain power being completely controlled by emotions. He advises Kaito to not solve anymore puzzles, as another breakdown could put his life in danger. However, because of a promise he made when he was younger, Kaito can't let puzzles go and accepts another puzzle request from the POG. Kaito soon comes across a complex Kenja Puzzle with Gammon and Nonoha's lives at stake. As Kaito goes through another breakdown, he remembers his promise and manages to regain his puzzle solving skills and solve the puzzle. | ||
| 07 | "Nonoha's Title" "Nonoha no Shōgō" (ノノハの称号) |
November 13, 2011[4] |
| As Nonoha visits some kindergarten students, their teacher, Madoka, gives Kaito a letter, which the others suspect to be a love letter. Suspicious about the contents, Nonoha and Gammon follows Kaito to the meeting point, where it's revealed Madoka is a Giver following in her late fiancée's footsteps. Kaito, Nonoha, Gammon and Madoka, along with some children, become trapped in a Kenja Puzzle inside an abandoned building, which wasn't what Madoka expected. Nonoha works to calm the children down while Kaito solves the puzzles. When the last puzzle gets destroyed due to falling debris, Nonoha's photographic memory allows her to recreate the puzzle, allowing Kaito, Gammon and the children to solve it, revealing a statue of Florence Nightingale which Nonoha donates to poor children. As a result, Nonoha ends up with the title 'Nightingale', which doesn't exactly please her. | ||
| 08 | "Crabs! Hot Springs! Puzzle Kings!" "Kani! Onsen! Pazuru-ō!" (カニ！温泉！パズル王！) |
November 20, 2011[4] |
| Kaito is contacted by Genius Okudera, a man he once saved from a ruin, who invites him, Nonoha and Ana to a puzzle-themed hotel resort in Hokkaido to solve an alleged Kenja Puzzle being displayed as the centrepiece. After spending a day of activites, Kaito starts to solve the puzzle the next day, becoming suspicious that there aren't any traps involved. As Kaito comes close to solving the puzzle, which he deduces to not be a Kenja Puzzle, he almost succumbs to sabotage but is saved by Nonoha and Ana. Upon solving the puzzle, they find the treasure is a view of nature which has become ruined because of construction of an amusement park. Having painted a picture of what the landscape originally looked like, Ana helps the hotel owner remember the times he spent with his grandfather who created the puzzle, deciding to cancel construction and work on rebuilding the forest. | ||
| 09 | "The Fallen Apple and the Continuing Road" "Ochita Ringo to Michi no Tsuzuki" (落ちたリンゴと道の続き) |
November 27, 2011[4] |
| As Root Academy prepares for a cultural festival, where Kaito finds himself reluctantly entered into a crossdressing contest, the principal, Baron Kaidou, agrees to install a Kenja Puzzle within the academy. Just as Kaito gets into his crossdress, he learns that Nonoha has been taken hostage for the Kenja Puzzle, in which he must eat apples from truth telling dwarves while avoiding poisoned ones before the setting burns down. Kaito soon learns from the Giver that granted him Orpheus, who is secretly the student president, Souji Jikukawa, that important information needed to solve the puzzle has been intentionally left out. Souji provides the remaining information for the puzzle, allowing Kaito to solve it and free Nonoha, before getting help from Cubic to save them from the collapsing area. | ||
| 10 | "Welcome to the Queen's Kingdom" "Joō no Kunie Yōkoso" (女王の国へようこそ) |
December 4, 2011[4] |
| As Kaito dreams of appearing on a TV puzzle show hosted by Elena "Antoinette" Himekawa, Gammon, who had been Elena, jumps in to protect her when it looks like she is being cornered, though she is not too happy about the rescue. As a POG Giver, Elena is asked by the headquarters president to bring Kaito, Gammon and Nonoha to a Kenja Puzzle. They are trapped in a puzzle suspended over a pit in which Kaito is given the option to sacrifice his friends to receive hints, while Gammon and Nonoha are given the option to either sacrifice themselves, or make Kaito fall instead. As Elena tempts the others to sacrifice Kaito, she is surprised about how much faith they have in Kaito. As Kaito struggles near the end, the Orpheus bangle kicks in and he manages to solve the puzzle just in time. | ||
| 11 | "The Queen's Counterattack" "Joō-sama no Gyakushū" (女王様の逆襲) |
December 11, 2011[4] |
| Elena enlists the help of Kaito and his friends as extras in a new sentai show she is starring in. Later that night, Elena brings everyone together for a Kenja Puzzle in which they must construct a three-dimensional puzzle within a time limit or else be electrocuted. As Elena makes the puzzle harder by throwing in a remote controlled UFO in the works, the POG president sends in more explosive variants against Elena's wish. After everyone works together to stop the bombs and protect Elena, Kaito enters his Orpheus state and solves the puzzle in the last minute, revealing the treasure to be a puzzle book Elena had when she was younger. Meanwhile, the HQ President is relieved of his duty for his unfair ways. | ||
| 12 | "Puzzle Time Reunion" "Saikai no Pazuru Taimu" (再会のパズルタイム) |
December 18, 2011[4] |
| Kaito is surprised to meet his childhood friend, Rook Banjou Crossfield, who unbeknownst to him is the head of POG Japan, and learns he is to become an exchange student at Crossfield Academy in England. Upon arriving at the academy, Kaito and Rook spend some time exploring and reminiscing about old times, particularly concerning an old man who taught them about puzzles. While exploring a maze from their childhood, they discover a curious path leading to a Kenja Puzzle. Kaito is trapped inside it and is forced to solve the puzzle while avoiding deadly saw blades. It is soon revealed that this is a more extreme Kenja Puzzle known as the Fool's Puzzle. | ||
| 13 | "The Towers of Parting" "Ketsubetsu no Tō" (決別の塔) |
December 25, 2011[4] |
| As Kaito pushes through the puzzle, believing Rook is in danger, Nonoha and the others decide to fly to England, learning the truth about Fool's Puzzles from Souji on the way. As Kaito reunites with Rook, he tells him about their old master, Jin Makoto. As the puzzle room starts to fill with fire, Kaito's Orpheus state activates and he reaches the top, only to find there is no exit. It is then that Rook reveals he is a POG giver who created the puzzle and wanted Kaito to ascend to Phi Brain. As Kaito falls unconscious from the shock, Rook saves him from falling into the fire and leaves him for Nonoha to find. | ||
| 14 | "True Worth of a Friend" | January 8, 2012[4] |
A manga adaptation illustrated by Yoshiki Togawa began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype Ace magazine from November 11, 2011.[5]