Higurashi: When They Cry

Higurashi epitomizes how you should never judge something by its cover. At first glance, it looks like a simple, generic harem series or a lame, cliched romance. This anime, however, is nothing short of genius. The whole setting, atmosphere, and mood are incredibly well executed. The plot may seem simple at first, a new kid moving to a strange, new town and meeting new friends. Beneath the exterior appearance of this seemingly tame series, however, lies a dark story of murder, violence, and mystery. Story: I can confidently say that the story/plot is the strongest aspect of this series. I congratulate the original game designer whocreated this series. The execution of the plot is genius. This series mainly consists of arcs. Although these arcs seem disjointed at first, it is all part of the plot and is actually an important part of solving the mystery of the Hinamizawa murders. However, this is not a simple, generic murder mystery where the solutions are force fed to the viewers; it is up to them to decide between what is true and what is not. This way, it makes the viewers think and interact with the story, and this is what I love most about Higurashi. Art/Animation: If there is one reason why I did not give this series a 10, then it is because of the art and animation. The art itself is not too bad, but the animation... How do I start? It can be extremely inconsistent at time with all those emo face contortions, sometimes out of sync, and was probably animated with a relatively low budget. Thank goodness the director of season 2 learned from those mistakes, and the animation greatly improved in Kai. One good thing I have to say is that the background and setting is very well done. Sound: The voice acting in this series is amazing. With a series filled with psychotic laughter, blood-curling screams, and in some cases, extremely cute voices, the voice actors/actresses are extremely versatile. The Opening is one of my favorite openings of all time. It sets up the mood extremely well and sent shivers down my spine when I first saw it. There could not have been a better fitting opening. The ending, a slow rather mellow piece, suffers from horrible Engrish. I do love the piano part in the end though. Finally, the background music set the mood nicely, but can get repetitive at times. I did like the sounds of the cicadas; it gave a feeling of impending doom. Characters: After the initial shock of their mental instability, the cast of characters are extremely well written and developed. Sure, none of the main cast of characters is emotionally and mentally stable; it does not take away from their personality and interaction. One of the best things about this series is that there is no throw away characters that only appear once, does something, and leaves. Every character serves a purpose in the mystery and plot, either directly and indirectly. Enjoyment: As I have said earlier, I love how Higurashi is not a passive anime where I can just sit in front of the computer and shut off my brain. Then again, I love psychological anime. Higurashi was the first series that forced me to watch raws because I could not wait for the subs. Overall an excellent show. This would definitely be a 10 if not for its mediocre animation. Final rating: 9/10

–Spoilers– Higurashi no naku koro ni happens to be a particular favourite of mine, not only because of its horrifically high gore content, but for the number of times it managed to catch me off guard. I found it hard to believe how someone could commit such stomach-churning acts of violence and mental torture. It’s the original shock at this fact that compels the viewer to continue watching this highly addictive bloodbath of an anime. The concept of the anime is simple enough. It follows a teenage boy, Maebara Keiichi adjusting to his new life in Hinamizawa, an isolated village buried deep in the mountains. It’s notlong before he makes friends with a group of girls. At first glance they seem like the average group of teenage girls but all is not as it seems because they’re actually hiding things from Keiichi, things like the mysterious string of murders that seem to occur the same night every year and the gruesome dismemberment of a dam construction worker. The more Keiichi learns about these past events and about his new ‘friends’ the more danger he begins to find himself in. It is important to remember that Higurashi is divided into 6 separate arcs that feature completely different scenarios. This means that if a character were to meet their unfortunate demise in one arc they would return once again at the start of the next arc. It is this separation of the arcs that often confuses or deters people from watching the show. I too confused by the sudden, miraculous ‘revival’ of a few of the characters at first but the sooner you adjust to the ever-changing alternate storylines the sooner you can start to piece together the puzzle and work out why the murders are being carried out in the first place. The art style of this anime is nothing spectacular; in fact it seems pretty inappropriate for this particular genre of anime. The girls could very well have been plucked straight from a harem anime, but for some wacky reason that seems to work for this anime. The outward ‘Lolita’ appearances of the girls only make their actions more shocking in contrast; in a sense their design lulls you into a false sense of security. Unlike in other anime of this particular genre it is difficult not to find someone to like in Higurashi, which is highly unusual considering the sickening acts of torture these girls perform on each other and with those around them. As you begin to get to know the characters better, you begin to sympathise with them and hope that they too won’t meet an untimely fate, thus you begin to feel more involved. Each character has their own interesting perspective and heart-breaking story to tell, it is this that alleviates the anime from being a bloodbath to a bloodbath with depth. Both the Higurashi OP and EN themes are hauntingly beautiful and nigh on impossible to fault. Shimamiya Eiko does an amazing job at capturing the show’s otherworldly aspect with her almost ethereal voice during the OP theme. The instrumental themes used throughout the show can both send chills down your spine or even cause you to laugh out loud given the right moment. I found that the show’s use of chilling piano solos or mellow flute pieces helped to build tension and inspire fear within myself as a viewer, so by keeping the themes themselves simple they’ve helped to accentuate the atmosphere of the show rather than outshine it completely. As the viewer becomes more intertwined in both the storyline and with the characters their desire for the characters to be set free from the horrific chain of events grows stronger, it is this that hooks the viewer into watching episode after episode. So overall, for being able to manipulate its viewers emotions so well I’d give this anime a near perfect score of 9/10.

There is an alarming number of people in the online anime community who hail this series as one of the best series in not only the horror/suspense/mystery genre, but in all of anime itself. For the life of me, I cannot discern where people get these feelings from. Higurashi is one of the most over rated series I've ever watched. 90% of the reason Higurashi is so terrible results directly due to the fact that the series is basically the same premise retold over and over again, a little different each time, in each 4-6 episode arc. It becomes a chore to watch it after yourealize it's going to start over and retell a similar story in the second arc. But it goes beyond that, once you realize it's not even the same story. It's an entirely new story that has little to do with what you just watched before it. Higurashi attempts to be a mystery, yet fails miserably. A mystery requires consistancy, something Higurashi lacks entirely. What happens in each arc is not the same as what happened in the arc before it. Imagine a story that retells itself again and again, each time showing you different perspectives of the same story, letting you in on different key knowledge that you may have lacked in the last arc, that you might come to understand and solve the mystery over time: This is what Higurashi SHOULD have been. But it's not. Each arc tells the story differently, to the degree that you are confused by what has actually happened and what events are relevant to what is currently going on. Things happen so differently that what is actually going on is indecipherable, leaving Higurashi little more than imagery of cute little girls turning psychotic in various situations that tell no complete story. Higurashi is utterly confusing and incomprehensible. The true mystery becomes, "Why does this have nothing to do with what I watched in the last arc?" not, "Why are strange murders happening every year at the same time." The only thing propelling you to watch more of Higurashi is faith that it will eventually explain everythng to you. But it will not. Without giving any spoilers, Higurashi throws entirely new concepts at you at the end which bring about more questions than answers. At the end of the 26 episodes, one feels entirely cheated, as though an enormous amount of time has been wasted. One goes on web forums and complains of this, only to be told by fervent lolicons that, "You have to watch the second series before judging it. It explains all." But one is left looking at another 20-something episode long series and feeling not very optimistic, ready to watch something worthwhile, something that is not Higurashi. I don't waste my time watching an entire season with very little redeemable about it to conclude that I need to watch the second season. I just cut my losses and move on. The characters aren't even likeable. There is a stupid male protagonist that is often referred to as bright even though he consistently does the stupidest things known to man (horror protagonist syndrome) and everyone else is a generic little girl. Oh, and there's a detective. In one arc he's a nice guy. In another he's a terrible douchebag. Again, no consistency. Higurashi will appeal to certain groups of people: Lolicons, people that like stuff just because it is weird and confusing, and people that like anything with blood and graphicness in it. Unless you fit that bill, I cannot comprehend what you would like about Higurashi. The only good thing I can say about it is that there are parts of it that are a bit creepy. But it's even a bad suspense story, as each time the suspense builds up, the story retells itself in a new arc and drops all the suspense. Ignore the hype. Unless you like little girls, pass on this one.

This show is suspenseful, dramatic, creepy, confusing (in a good way), and it's got some good horror. The storyline follows a small group of friends who live in a village called Hinamizawa. Not all seems be like it should be here, though... The characters are pretty interesting, to say the least, and they're pretty well "built up". It's pretty obvious that they're a bit crazy at some point, depending on which story arc you're watching. The story is pretty good, because it leaves you guessing all the time, and even though it may seem a bit confusing at first, don't be discouraged; you start to understand as youwatch more of it. The animation is pretty cool, but also kind of lame, especially their facial expressions at times. It's a pretty mediocre result, really. All in all, this is a really good show, but it has its flaws. As long as you can tolerate some confusion and bloody murdering, you're gonna like this show. To 'Not Helpful' voters (and you 'Helpful' voters too): Feedback greatly appreciated =)