Time to mix things up and review something good for a change. Today I will be reviewing Higurashi no naku koro ni/Kai. Do your best crazed evil laugh and read on if you dare!
WARNING: Mild spoilers! Nothing major, but it is difficult to talk about the story or characters without saying something. If you haven't seen Higurashi and want to go in to it knowing absolutely nothing, please skip this review!
Story: 10/10
The story takes place in the small, rural town of Hinamizawa. The story takes place in the 1980s, but Hinamizawa looks like its stuck in the 1950s or earlier. This is no ordinary small town though, because great evil is afoot and supernatural forces are at play. Plans for an American film adaptation quickly fell through, but I'm sure the American version would inevitably take place in the state of Maine. The first episode begins with Keichi (the bear Jew) Meibara brutally beating his classmates to death with a baseball bat. After the scene fades to black, we find everyone is alive again and it is as if none of it ever happened. Welcome to the madness of Higurashi! For little Rika Furude, a shinto priestess of the tiny village, death is never the end. Every time she dies, she wakes up a month or so earlier and must relive the same month before being killed again. Each alternate timeline has small differences that often ultimately result in large differences. Rika is like Bill Murray's Character in Groundhog's day, only instead of having to become a good person, she must find out who keeps killing her (the one thing she isn't allowed to remember) and protect her village from an unspeakably evil bioweapons expert who is essentially the lovechild of Shiro Ishii and Josef Mengele. I won't give away any more of the plot, since mystery is a large part of this series. I will say that this is a bizarre plot that takes the viewer on a wild ride you are unlikely to forget.
Characters: 10/10
The main character is Rika Furude, who appears to be the most adorable little girl in existence, but in reality is extremely depressed from her Sisyphean quest the Gods have given her. She has failed and died hundreds of times when we first see her, which is why there is something a little...off about her. She copes with her fate by being a complete wino. As an amusing sidenote, her favorite wine is Bernkastel, which is a white wine, yet in the anime it is always shown as a red wine. Other characters include the bossy, self acclaimed leader Mion, Adorable Rena, mischievous Satoko, sometimes crazy Shion, and resident average straight man (comedy term, not talking about sexuality) Keichii. We also have some other quirky characters like the always creepy and possibly pedophilic Dr. Irie, and complete BADASS cop Akasaka. Obviously I'm not going to mention who the villain is, only that he/she is one EVIL motherfucker.
Sound: 9/10
The soundtrack is often creepy, haunting, and plays up the tension of the mood. This is often a grim series, so you would expect a pretty dark sound track. There are also very silly scenes, and the soundtrack does a good job of capturing them as well.
Art: 8/10
The art from the visual novels is legendarily bad. The art in the anime is actually pretty good. It isn't the greatest I have ever seen, but it is very solid.
Enjoyment: 10/10
This is a series that will make you cringe in horror, cheer with excitement, laugh, question, shiver, and maybe even tear up a bit. It is the total package and over the course of 50 episodes is an epic roller coaster you don't want to miss.
Overall: 10/10
Do you like horror? Psychological drama? Mystery? Higurashi is the series for you! This combines many genre's together with elegance and grace. Some people know of this series only as, "that series with crazy laughs and bloody murders", but it is SO much more than that. I would highly recommend watching it. Although you may have difficulty buying it on DVD in the US. At 200$ for 50 episodes, it is one of the most expensive series to own in all of existence! I know exactly 1 person that actually owns this series!
