is a 2011 Japanese anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 television series produced by Sunrise

Sunrise (company)

is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...

 which began airing on NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

-Educational from October 2, 2011. The series is directed by Junichi Sato

Junichi Sato

is an anime director.-TV anime:*Queen Millennia *Patalliro! *Bemubemu Hunter Kotengu Tenmaru...

 with script supervision by Mayori Sekijima. Hajime Yatate

Hajime Yatate

is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Sunrise animation staff.-Name:"Hajime Yatate" is considered named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi:-Credited series:...

, the collective penname for the creative staff at Sunrise, is credited with the original story. The anime has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks. A manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 adaptation by Yoshiki Togawa began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten

Kadokawa Shoten

is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

's Newtype Ace

Newtype (magazine)

is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime and manga . It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985 with its April issue, and has since seen regular release on the 10th of every month in its home country...

magazine from November 2011.

Plot

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".

Characters

Kaito is a high school freshman who enjoys solving puzzles, feeling insulted whenever they are used for hurting others as his parents were killed while attempting to solve a deadly puzzle. He carries the Solver title, 'Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

'. One day, he discovers the Orpheus bangle which attaches itself to his arm. Under high levels of stress, he enters a strange state that allows him to use his brain to its fullest potential and see the solution for any puzzle.

Kaito does not seem to have many interests other than solving puzzles. As seen in the first episode, he will e.g. use school property (in that case school desks) to solve puzzles, if he can't "see" through them right away. His friend Nonoha scolds him for that and slacking off, not refraining from physical violence as well. Although it is still uncertain, what kind of feelings he might have for her, Kaito cares a lot about Nonoha, not letting her come in harms way. He even hides the fact that one of her friends, the kindergarten teacher Madoka, is in fact a P.O.G. Giver. Kaito is very outspoken about Nonoha's cooking, calling the "Nonoha sweets" "weapons of mass destruction", which causes Nonoha to punish him physically. As for now, Kaito is the only one who openly dislikes Nonoha's cooking.

Kaito's childhood friend, who always accompanies him when he goes to solve puzzles. She possesses great strengths, excelling at sports, and has a photographic memory, though she is not too good with actual puzzles. She often makes sweets that almost everyone finds delicious but Kaito is incredibly fearful of. After helping some kindergarten kids during a puzzle, she ends up with the title 'Nightingale

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...

'. This is a shock for her, since she sees everyone with a title as a "weirdo".

Throughout the series, it is heavily hinted that Nonoha has feelings for Kaito. She does not hesitate to stalk Kaito, when there is another girl or woman involved. For this purpose, she always forces Gammon to tag along. However, she does not admit that fact to herself, often claiming, it has nothing to do with her. She is also somewhat of a tsundere-type and takes her frustrations out on Kaito, mostly, when he insults her cooking.

A red haired Solver with the title, 'Galileo

Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...

'. He solves puzzle for money purposes and is often trying to get ahead of Kaito in order to claim the purported treasures offered by the POG. He appears to have a crush on Nonoha and even enters a cross-dressing contest to show her his feminine side. Gammon holds a very competetive rivalry to Kaito. He calls him "Bakaito", a combination of Kaito's name and the Japanese word "baka", meaning idiot. Kaito and him seem to have quite a few similarities, their hot temper being the most obvious.

Gammon is always seen with his leahter jacket and pants, giving him a delinquent appearance along with his hairstyle and his way of talking. He also rides a motocycle.

A young boy with the title of 'Edison

Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...

', who is often inventing various robotics. He is often more fascinated by mathematics as opposed to puzzles, though takes interest in Kaito after witnessing his Phi-Brain in action. At first, he appeared to be self-centered, however this resulted from him being too young to underst the full extent of some of his actions. Nonoha calls him "Q-kun", as a pun on his name, and he does not seem to have a problem with that.

A rather affeminate cross-dressing boy with a knowledge of famous paintings who often enjoys painting himself. Ana also wins a cross-dressing contest of the school, without even entering. He supposedly has the ability to communicate with the spirits of those who created puzzles. He is a solver with the title of 'Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

', his name being a pun on the word anagram

Anagram

An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...

.

Souji Jikugawa

He is the president of the student council as well as the president of the puzzle club. Initially, he was a Solver with the title of 'Newton

Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...

' but was unable to obtain the Phi Brain in his freshman year. The headmaster introduces him to the P.O.G., where he became known as a Giver under the name of 'Minotaur

Minotaur

In Greek mythology, the Minotaur , as the Greeks imagined him, was a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, "part man and part bull"...

' which was first hinted in the first episode. But this turns out to be another disguise, as he is in fact a member of the P.O.G. Section Φ. It is revealed that he despises the direction of the new P.O.G., especially the new Chief of Headquaters, who just use the puzzles as a mean to commit murder. To prevent this, he hacks into P.O.G.'s server once, to help Kaito and give him the necessary information to solve the puzzle and save Nonoha and himself.

Souji is very worried about the well-being of his underclassmen, especially Kaito and his friends, as he vows to himself to guide them to the Puzzle of God. He is well respected within the student body. Even Kaito acknowledges the fact that Souji was able to turn an ugly puzzle into a beautiful one within seconds. Being unable to figure him out, it is hinted that Kaito starts suspecting Souji of being involved with the P.O.G., as Souji was the one who gave him the pager, at the end the ninth episode.

He is mostly seen smiling around others (except the headmaster) and likes to drink boxed apple juice with a straw.

Baron Kaido

He is the headmaster of Root Gakuen High School. Throughout the series, there are very few things revealed about him, but his connection to the P.O.G. has been hinted on several occasions. In the ninth episode, it is revealed that Baron is the section-chief of Section Φ, a section within the P.O.G. wiht its own jurisdiction. He has opposed the new direction of the P.O.G. to turn puzzles into murderous threats, with no intention of letting the Solver survive. This was his motive for bringing Souji Jikugawa in his section and guide Kaito and his friends to the Puzzle of God. Baron was also the one who brought Kaito to Root Gakuen High School and it is hinted in several flashbacks that he was involved in Kaitos past.

Anime

The anime series by Sunrise

Sunrise (company)

is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...

 began airing on NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

-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 by Natsumi Kiyoura

Natsumi Kiyoura

is a Japanese actress and singer from Chiba. She is represented by the talent agency Oscar Promotion. Her music records have been released under Flying Dog....

. The anime has been licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks and are currently streaming the series on The Anime Network

Anime Network

The Anime Network , a former subsidiary of A.D. Vision, Inc. , is a cable and satellite digital broadcast service in North America dedicated to anime.-History:...

.

Episode list

>

No.	Title	Original airdate

Manga

A manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 adaptation illustrated by Yoshiki Togawa began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten

Kadokawa Shoten

is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

's Newtype Ace

Newtype (magazine)

is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime and manga . It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985 with its April issue, and has since seen regular release on the 10th of every month in its home country...

magazine from November 11, 2011.