A Ryan's Review: Higurashi No Koro Ni

[Nayrman]

First thing's first, a BIG THANKS to Zovistograt for turning me on to this show while I was bored. And yes, I have another one up so soon, but I just finished watching both seasons and I want to write a review while I still remember most of it. Note: There will be spoilers about this show. Hopefully nothing too major (as I may ramble...lol), so if you want nothing spoiled...TOO BAD!
And so, before I ramble:

Higurashi No Koro Ni


Premise: In a nutshell, the anime is a series of murder mysteries in a small town called Hinamizawa. It's a rather confusing tale later about what is causing all of the problems, but before I spoil the entire series, it's a series of gruesome murders carried out by a different character/scenario each time the world "resets" during a seemingly infinate loop of June 1983 (which explains the lack of cell phones...which would've made things a HELL of a lot easier in some places X_X;; ). In actuality, if Wikipedia is to be trusted, it spawned from a series of PC games with the same plot, with a series of "question" areas and a series of "solution" areas. The anime follows a similar type at points, going through all the evil deeds committed, and then proceeding to explain what happened (in a different character's P.O.V.).

It's a rather interesting concept in my opinion, as murder mysteries are hard to do without being either too: a) gory for it's own good, b) too confusing, or c) too easy the mystery is solved within the first five minutes. Luckily Higurashi isn't a culprit of any. Yes, there are confusing parts, and there are some gory as all hell parts (although no where near Elfin Lead status...). Luckily, there is enough to keep you through the two seasons (50 episodes total, with a third season on the way this winter), despite suffering from DBZ syndrome towards the end (it...takes...for...ever....t...o....fi...n...is...h...)
Premise: 8/10 - HOORAY ORIGIONALITY!

Characters: Stereotypical anime characters. The cute/happy girl (ni-pah!), the tomboy, the girly girl, and the standard guy who doesn't have much a personality we haven't seen before, etc, etc. However, during the course of hte first season, pretty much every character goes insane at some point, which is rather interesting since none of the characters seem the type and are generally happy to begin with. Of course it is later explained as to why this happens in the second season, but it's interesting none the less. I'm not really sure how they managed to systematically make most characters go on a murderous rampage without it seeming wierd or out of place, but they did it.

Despite the fact that most characters file under some pre-made cookie cutter archetype, none of that is particularly annoying. When they're sane, they're not too interesting (which I suppose was the point....maybe I'm reading too much into this), but it's not annoying non-interesting (*every minor character to ever appear in a shonen series...*). The characters that need a fleshed out back story got one, while the ones that didn't simply didn't (save for one annoyingly long one)...which was nice because when things get intercourse ed up, you're not interested in backstories. I just wish there was a larger group focused on, becuase I feel more would've opened up more possibilities. It's a minor gripe, because at points you'll be fascinated by them, or you'll be annoyed they're even on screen.
Characters: 7/10


Ni-pah! (Sorry, it is actually rather cute when she does it at first XD )

Execution: As horror shows go, this is one of the better ones. Not to say it's better than some hollywood classics (NOTHING will top the Sixth's Sense's ending...oh crap....here comes the paranoia), but it certainly has it's scary moments. This is especially true of some of the earlier parts of the show *gomenasai...gomenasai....gomenasai...* (dear god that was rather creepy). However, there are some "bleh" parts where frankly not a whole lot happens where the craziness of said character doesn't really ammount to a large amount. I would've liked to see a bigger impact at these parts, but considering the "Holy crap what the intercourse  is going on!?" parts I suppose there was going to be some letdown. The nice part is that it all has a purpose later, so it's not like the resets are for nothing.

The biggest complaint I have is the second season in it's entirety. I'm going to spoil it to a degree here (and to hell if I"ll use spoiler boxes, just skip this paragraph), it's mostly an "explination/solving" part...which wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take almost the entirety of 24 episodes. It did have it's moments, but compared to the first season you get all psyched up but the show just falls short towards the end. This is particularly sad since the first part of the show was so good and you couldn't wait for the ending (see "Matrix fallacy"). As a stand-alone part, it's not horrible, but you just don't feel good about the ending per-se...hopefully aformentioned third season will fix this...despite the second season effictively ending the show if they wanted @_@;;
First Season: 9.5/10
Second Season: 4/10


- Shion is one CRAZY ninny

Animation: Normally when a show goes to two different types/styles of animation it usually turns out really bad with rare exceptions (Naruto fight scenes...wow, I actually praised Naruto for something...). However, this is one of thse, as I said, rare times a show actually calls for it. During the "happy happy" episodes (as I call them), before the madness starts, the animation is similar to regular animes being usually happy with everyone having their "joke" forms (cheezy designs when something funny happens, etc.) but when the bloodening begins, the show goes with a more grity look to fit the mood. I really can't praise this enough because otherwise the show would've automatically failed (nothing like happy little japanese girls getting ripped to shreds in their happy little world X_X;; ).

I will have to say, however, that the show tries to be a little too cartoony during the happy moments. I know it's a animation during happy times, but do we really need some of the most "bleh, we've seen this a million times" animations? It's kind of difficult to deal with after a "reset" (after a series of madness and the world resets) going from blood and gore to happy little village. But I also suppose that was the point...(darn it not again!). It's nothing too astounding (if you've watched previously mentioned Elfen Lied...this will be nothing) in terms of quality, but it doesn't do anything bad...so I guess I have no room to complain.
Animation: 6/10

Entertainment/Overall: The entertainment of this anime seriously stems from what you're expecting out of the show. If you're expecting the greatest thing ever, it's not. However, compared to the B-list crap Hollywood keeps making, and the lack of any true horror shows out there, this is definatly something to try. The show definatley has its "OH CRAP!" moments any good horror story should have; however, it also has general horror stupidity at times (oh yes, going with the murderer into her torture chamber alone with her is a BRILLIANT idea Keichi *SARCASM IN CASE YOU COULDN"T TELL! HA HA HA!*). I especially like how near five people have the entire two seasons on Youtube, so I assume it's on Veoh as well. Basically, if you can stomach little girls getting hacked to death at times (again, nothing TOO severe. You'll cringe, but it's not like Saw's gore or anything), and can forgive the slowness of the second season, definatley watch. You'll also learn valuable lessons too! If a little girl tells you some serious poop is about to happen after a sudden voice change, BELIEVE HER!
Overall: 8/10

Explination in one sentence: "The Grudge + Elfen Lied (sorta) + The Shining = Higurashi No Koro Ni"

[Kaz]

Nice review, other than your completely nonsensical "explanation" at the end, considering The Grudge and The Shining have nothing in common with this other than the thriller/horror feeling, and by that logic, any horror film would work. So yeah, that was dumb.

Regardless, this caught my eye because I love Higurashi...or at least, what I've seen of it. It's a bit hard to find at movie streaming sites like Youtube or Veoh. I could only manage to watch the first two story arcs with English subtitles.

Great anime so far.

[Nayrman]

Nice review, other than your completely nonsensical "explanation" at the end, considering The Grudge and The Shining have nothing in common with this other than the thriller/horror feeling, and by that logic, any horror film would work. So yeah, that was dumb.

Regardless, this caught my eye because I love Higurashi...or at least, what I've seen of it. It's a bit hard to find at movie streaming sites like Youtube or Veoh. I could only manage to watch the first two story arcs with English subtitles.

Great anime so far.

There are only two season's so far, and I've seen both of them in their entirety on Youtube...it depends on the user.
Well, I did the Grudge and Shining because they have even a minute amount of similarity. Shining = ppl going crazy for odd/unidentifiable reasons and Grudge because it "switches" at times...or something along those lines.
Well, I'm just glad it got recommended to me.

[ninja]

Sorry if this is considered bumping, but:

I absolutely loved Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, but wasn't too big a fan of Kai.  You're the first person that I've met that agrees with me that the original is better than the second series.  Also, one thing yo might want to add is that they are making a third series which will probably come out somewhere in Spring-Summer 2009, it is supposed to be an OVA.

[spoiler=Keiichi Goes Into Torture Chamber]Well, I can't call him TOO much of a dumbass for this.  He thought that he was not only to blame for all the murder, but that he might have been the cure too since he thought Mion may have been in love with him.  HOWEVER, from the fourth arc, you learn that it was actually Shion the entire time, and she just went absolutely insane to say the least.  What a cynical ninny hahaha.[/spoiler]

PERSONALLY, this is my favorite anime, and the only one that can be compared with Elfen Lied, and I even believe that it is better than Elfen Lied.  As you can see in my sig, my favorites are 1.  Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, 2.  Elfen Lied, 3.  Basilisk (yeah, this one kind of hits you out of nowhere, but I personally think it's a great series.)

[Nayrman]

No you're not bumping as long as it's on the first page, which I think it was.
I only like the first season better only because it's more wierdness than pointless expository that the second season was.
Oh, and Kai was an idiot in that part. so yea. XD
Third season/OVA in spring

[Zovistograt]

err...as much as I love taking credit for introducing people to good anime, I haven't even seen Higurashi nor is it very high on my long to-watch list D:

[Nayrman]

err...as much as I love taking credit for introducing people to good anime, I haven't even seen Higurashi nor is it very high on my long to-watch list D:

Then who the hell introduced it to me? @_@;;

[Kaz]

I haven't even seen Higurashi nor is it very high on my long to-watch list D:

IT SHOULD BE

It's great.

[Zovistograt]

I haven't even seen Higurashi nor is it very high on my long to-watch list D:

IT SHOULD BE

It's great.

Hmm...reading his synopsis, it sounds too serious for me D:

I usually watch slice-of-life comedies or stuff like Shakugan no Shana or Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! where magic and stuff is balanced (or slightly imbalanced) with romance.

[Nayrman]

I haven't even seen Higurashi nor is it very high on my long to-watch list D:

IT SHOULD BE

It's great.

Hmm...reading his synopsis, it sounds too serious for me D:

I usually watch slice-of-life comedies or stuff like Shakugan no Shana or Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo! where magic and stuff is balanced (or slightly imbalanced) with romance.

Sometimes you need to branch out. I normally don't like slice of life type shows, and the only one I liked was Azumanga Daioh (Haruhi and Lucky Star fail as shows), but at least I gave others a chance.
Besides, a little horror/crazyness every now and then never hurts XD
I'd stick with the first season though...the second season is almost nothing but boring exposition...

[ninja]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Slice of Life either.  I think I'm going to drop Lucky Star (got through like 9 episodes).  It's a hilarious show, but I can't stick to it.  I listened to 3 episodes of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni the other day while doing something (I can tell what's going on from listening, even though I don't understand Japanese.  I've seen the show like 3-4 times already lol)

[Custom]

err...as much as I love taking credit for introducing people to good anime, I haven't even seen Higurashi nor is it very high on my long to-watch list D:

Then who the hell introduced it to me? @_@;;

I remember you wanted to watch an anime and I recommended it. >>
I had a Shion icon back then.