Higurashi When They Cry: Abducted by Demons Arc
| So, I haven't even heard of the anime Higurashi no Naku Koro ni before I joined MAL, but ever since I did, all I ever hear is how good it is. So I put it on my plan to watch list, but that didnt make anything better, as I still see it everywhere, and then I noticed how highly its ranked, and how popular it is. Basically, I want to hear from some people who have seen the series why they think its so great (or not) and why. What are its major good points that has made it such a popular anime? Basically, convince me that it should be the next anime I watch. (Please give me an answer with as little spoilers as possible please, I find it impossible to enjoy an anime if its major plot points are spoiled) |
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| There's no better thing than to just start watching yourself, not start asking questions while you're still in the middle of it and enjoy it. The characters are great, and done by very good seiyuu. The music fits very well too and the whole concept of the anime is something I hadn't seen before. Things like that made me love the series. S1 is still in my faves list here on MAL. Grab some good subs, and just watch it without asking too many questions. They'll just get you spoiled. |
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| I wasn't asking for spoilers, I just want to know why so many people think its so great. I mean, I see and hear about it everywhere, which was a surprise to me, as like Ive said, I never even heard of it before I joined MAL, and I liked to think of myself as being on top of anime knowledge. |
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| It's kind of hard to explain why it's great without spoiling it though |
| I honestly didn't think it was all that great *awaits flaming*. The first season leaves you in the dark and basically requires you to see the second just so you can start to understand the entirety of the story. The animation was subpar, almost a pain to watch considering that this isn't that old. The v/os weren't that bad, neither was the music, but they weren't good enough to make up for the things I didn't care for about this series. The only thing that kept me going was the gore. |
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| I have to agree with MotokoAramaki I just started watching it and I am at ep 10 of 1st season but I don't think this anime is SO great. I don't think it deserves all the hype that it gets. There are way better anime out there that deserve to be ranked higher than this but o well that is my opinion. I'll see how it turns out. |
| Well, I might as well give it a shot. And I might as well ask while Im here, are all those alternative versions necessary to watch? And by necessary I mean do they add to the story and are as good/better as the original? |
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| killer loli's ^-^ |
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| Watch this at 3 in the morning, on a summer night, when it's all dark out side and there's no noise. Makes the experience much more disturbing (in an enjoyable kind of way), especially for the earlier episodes. x) I marathoned this recently and I loved it for the atmosphere and how the situation gets f*cked up so fast, you're still wondering what happened last time when a new arc starts. Before watching I thought this was gonna be like Elfen Lied which is basically "Lulzlolikillerz", but it's actually much more scary and disturbing because they're not just throwing gore at you "for the lulz". This definitely deserves its "psychological horror" tag. And since the show has lots of mysteries, adding more with every "question arc", it feels satisfying when you can confirm your theories (or not) when the "answer arcs" kick in (even though everything is much more explained in the second season). |
AlexstratzJul 12, 2009 6:16 PM
| You should give the second season a try. It's a bit different from the first season |
| Hmm, it seems that you either love or hate this anime without much middle ground. Well, since I have yet to hate an anime, I guess the chances are pretty high that Ill like it. If my schedule works out okay, I may start it tomorrow. |
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| Murder mystery, suspense, great writing and a terrific plot. Oh and it is funny and the times they aren't killing eachother. |
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| Personally I have no idea why everyone thinks it's so great. I was just like you, I'd never heard about it until I joined MAL and then all of a sudden I was getting all these people recommending it to me. Well I did not enjoy it past the second episode. To put it as softly as possible I thought it was crap. |
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| Nothing. |
| My Channel Anime Reviews, Unboxings and More Drak Shadow For LetsPlays and Movie Vlogs |
| Higurashi is awesome.. if you want to think. It may seem like some generic horror anime at first but roughly half way through the first season it proves that it's more than that. The problem is most people don't have the patience to sit through a show that make you go "wtf?" because you don't know what's going on. |
| "Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job." - Geralt of Rivia |
| Well, I just recently watched it, and the thing that made it great was definitely the characters, and the constant mystery. I wouldn't say its incredible or groundbreaking, but its an interesting concept (Actually, the concept truly is amazing) and is executed superbly. I wouldn't say theres anything special - I think it could possibly be considered special to myself because its one of the first of its kind I've seen - I started watching and constantly was reminded of all of Keys work (Air, Kanon, Clannad), but it took an interesting spin. I loved Keys work, so I was bound to love something like this. Many compare this to Elfen Lied. Okay, take Elfen Lied, give it a storyline that isn't filled with plotholes, put in far better voice acting, far better animation (Yes, I consider the animation of Higurashi above standard), and make the characters actually unique. Also, give the characters a reason to do what they do, because I don't know what demonic gang of 8-10 year olds would beat the shite out of a puppy for the sake of bullying a girl because she has horns (I'm not a fan of unrealistic stories, although I apologize to Elfen Lied fans and say, Lucy is a VERY cool character). TLDR: Its not really special. Give it a try though, its definitely worth it. Asking questions is NOT the way to go, if you want to watch something, watch the first few episodes. EDIT: Oh, and the atmosphere is played out perfectly. |
PsychodrakeSep 3, 2009 10:58 AM
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Psychodrake said: Okay, take Elfen Lied, give it a storyline that isn't filled with plotholes, put in far better voice acting, far better animation (Yes, I consider the animation of Higurashi above standard), and make the characters actually unique. I believe you wanted to say "take Elfen Lied, fill the story with plotholes, put in far worse voice acting, far worse animation, and make the characters unable to develop themselves because of stupid arched plot". Really, man...the "story" in Higurashi doesn't stand any slight criticism, and the animation is awful shitty Deen copypasta; even if it's much newer than Elfen Lied it looks over 9000 times worse. Really, Studio Deen = the cheapiest crappy animation, everyone knows it including Deen animators themselves. It's the lowest-profile lowest-budget studio in the whole anime industry. Also, give the characters a reason to do what they do, because I don't know what demonic gang of 8-10 year olds would beat the shite out of a puppy for the sake of bullying a girl because she has horns (I'm not a fan of unrealistic stories, although I apologize to Elfen Lied fans and say, Lucy is a VERY cool character). You know, stuff like that happened in real life. Many times. A puppy? Unrealistic? Hell, there were plenty of cases of 8-10 year olds beating or strangling other kids to death, burning other kids alive, stabbing their little 4-5 y.o. siblings with knives for the sake of bullying or whatever damn reason. You want to say that is unrealistic and some random god reincarnation story and a shitty virus making people kill each other is more realistic? Really, I don't know what to say... I've had a good laugh reading all that though. Thanks. And Higurashi is utter crap. No more, no less. |
seishi-sama said: Psychodrake said: Okay, take Elfen Lied, give it a storyline that isn't filled with plotholes, put in far better voice acting, far better animation (Yes, I consider the animation of Higurashi above standard), and make the characters actually unique. I believe you wanted to say "take Elfen Lied, fill the story with plotholes, put in far worse voice acting, far worse animation, and make the characters unable to develop themselves because of stupid arched plot". Really, man...the "story" in Higurashi doesn't stand any slight criticism, and the animation is awful shitty Deen copypasta; even if it's much newer than Elfen Lied it looks over 9000 times worse. Really, Studio Deen = the cheapiest crappy animation, everyone knows it including Deen animators themselves. It's the lowest-profile lowest-budget studio in the whole anime industry. Also, give the characters a reason to do what they do, because I don't know what demonic gang of 8-10 year olds would beat the shite out of a puppy for the sake of bullying a girl because she has horns (I'm not a fan of unrealistic stories, although I apologize to Elfen Lied fans and say, Lucy is a VERY cool character). You know, stuff like that happened in real life. Many times. A puppy? Unrealistic? Hell, there were plenty of cases of 8-10 year olds beating or strangling other kids to death, burning other kids alive, stabbing their little 4-5 y.o. siblings with knives for the sake of bullying or whatever damn reason. You want to say that is unrealistic and some random god reincarnation story and a shitty virus making people kill each other is more realistic? Really, I don't know what to say... I've had a good laugh reading all that though. Thanks. And Higurashi is utter crap. No more, no less. Unfortunately, we'll disagree with each other until the end, as you are clearly a big fan of Elfen Lied. Higurashi is clearly not utter crap, or people wouldn't be watching it. Don't say such a foolish thing on a public forum. I could quite easily say that Elfen Lied is utter crap, but as you've shown me, people will always defend what they like. At least Higurashi didn't have to cover up its plot holes with gore and boobs, and incredibly fake emotions. Oh no, those boys killed me dog, and this guy told me a little lie, time to kill everyone and then get sympathy for it in the end (The Elfen Lied manga was so much better than the half-assed anime). Also, horns shaped like cat-ears, laughable as hell. Pedophillia scene. Great. In fact, I swear you see every main female character in Elfen Lied naked for absolutely no reason (Random bath scenes). Agree to disagree here, we share completely different opinions. EDIT: Btw, nice use of the over 9000 meme. Shame it isn't funny in the slightest. |
PsychodrakeSep 3, 2009 12:11 PM
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| higurashi is a masterpiece,,for me its better than elfen lied.. only thing that is bad at higurashi is the art,, |
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| I know the OP doesn't care about this anymore, but with Higurashi being my favorite anime i feel i need to post here lol. Higurashi doesn't have "great" characters, a great "story" or decent art. But it does have an amazing atmosphere with great pacing and is generally one of the better mind fucks. It isn't like NGE or lain with a lot of hidden messages in it. Rather it is just told in a unique way that makes you ask "WTF is going on" the whole time. While this anime isn't deserving off all the praise it gets or the 10 i gave it, it is a really enjoyable anime, and personally watching Higurashi was the most fun i ever had watching anime. And no people need to stop saying that there is "gore" in this anime because there isn't. There are about a total of 5 different scenes with blood in it. |
burntlettuce said: I know the OP doesn't care about this anymore Oh that's where you're wrong. Im still checking to see what people are saying, because Ive seen the first few eps so far, and while Im not completely drawn in yet, it still has time to do that. So, Im still listening to the opinions of everyone who posts here out of curiosity. So far it would seem that its pretty much cut 50/50 between people who love it and people who hate it. I guess it all just comes down to what you're looking for in an anime. |
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burntlettuce said: And no people need to stop saying that there is "gore" in this anime because there isn't. There are about a total of 5 different scenes with blood in it. This is actually very true. I went into Higurashi a little worried that it'd end up being a gorefest, when actually, there isn't much at all. Theres some horrible scenes but they amount to about 5 minutes of the entire series. Other than that theres some horrible "Thoughts", things that will make you cringe if you think about it. I also agree with it being a better mindfuck. The only way to understand NGE is to read right into it, with Higurashi you can just watch the second season and understand EVERYTHING. |
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Osaka117 said: burntlettuce said: I know the OP doesn't care about this anymore Oh that's where you're wrong. Im still checking to see what people are saying, because Ive seen the first few eps so far, and while Im not completely drawn in yet, it still has time to do that. So, Im still listening to the opinions of everyone who posts here out of curiosity. So far it would seem that its pretty much cut 50/50 between people who love it and people who hate it. I guess it all just comes down to what you're looking for in an anime. If you're not drawn in from the 8 episodes that you've seen, the odds are that you probably won't really enjoy the rest then. I could be wrong though, but at this point in the anime I couldn't help but carry on watching purely for the mystery and mindfuckery, wanting to know what happened and why it happened etc. seishi-sama said: I believe you wanted to say "take Elfen Lied, fill the story with plotholes, put in far worse voice acting, far worse animation, and make the characters unable to develop themselves because of stupid arched plot". Hmm, plotholes? I thought we were talking about Higurashi no Naku Koro ni? The whole reason I recall getting carried away with watching this was due to the 'plotholes' near the start of the anime; why is everyone alive again? why did they even die? etc. In fact, I can barely think of anything that wasn't explained exept in Rei (but that's an OVA so that isn't really important here). To comment on the voice acting is just stupid, especially if you're comparing it to Elfen Lied. Don't get me wrong, I love the anime, but every time Nana or Mayu opened their mouths it made me want to shoot someone. Nyuu, I managed to deal with somehow. The character development comment. I saw a different side of each character in each arc which made it unique, same goes for the plot being in arc - unique. If anything, it being in arcs made it more enjoyable and easier to watch, each arc bringing in new questions, answers and points of view. |
BacahillSep 10, 2009 2:32 AM
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| The story and set up is something I've never seen done before, the characters are well done, the pacing is perfect and the mystery is done masterfully, it's very enjoyable, it has a cool atmosphere, the music is beautiful and memorable... It's just a great show, just watch it for yourself. Don't ask too many questions beforehand or you're only going to run into spoilers. |
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| I actually don't really know how to explain why I love this show so much. I've thought one of the biggest reasons is the athmosphere; It's so mysterious and thrilling. The way it's made is so flawless (IMO), there's almost NOTHING that bothers me about the plot or the characters or whatsoever. I love the soudtrack too. I've watched the series 3 times, and I could easily watch it a 4th time, too. |
| First of all : Higurashi is not about gore and gore is not the major part of it! It is impossible to rate the first season before watching the second entirely. Thats because it is connected together as one show. Only after watching the second season you will understand the first season The choice of the narrating protagonist in the first season was very well done. This way you only got his point of view. And that has many holes or better said you will be deceived. What really happens there can only be explained with the background of the information from the second season. And even with all information there are more then only one possible way how the things could have happened. |
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| Its a very unique take on mystery and horror and is very well executed (plot, writing, character development, all that good stuff). |
| Be thankful for the wisdom granted to you. |
| what makes it great to me.. is the fact that it makes you question who to trust. and it kinda gets under your skin on some psychological level.. i know i was starting to look over my shoulder after so long watching it alone in the dark. its like saya no uta.. its just unsettling on a mental level |
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