Full Sotsu Review from the perspective of a longtime When they cry fan.
Where do I start?
*Warning* Heavy spoilers ahead!
Story 1/10
The biggest disappointment to my parents since me. Everything was handled poorly and with sub par quality.
...
Higurashi is a story about friendship. Cringy as it may be that's what Higurashi always has been. I will go into methodical and surgical detail dissecting why Higurashi SotsuGou is the worst iteration of its series, a horrible sequel and a horrible stand alone.
The first Arc of Sotsu is Onikaashi. Focusing on our favourite girl Rena Ryuugu. You know what else focuses on Rena? That's right, Tsumiboroshi. Onikaashi is nothing but a poor man's Recap of Tsumiboroshi, without any of the good stuff included. We already know who Rena is, we already know how she works, Onikaashi adds nothing to the character. These 3 episodes can be skipped without any consequence. Let's not forget to mention the fact that most of this is made out of recaps. The experienced WTC fan gets no information of any worth from this.
Second Arc is Watakashi. Focusing on Mion. This is a poor man's version of Meakashi. Hands down. None of Mions character is expounded on. It just makes her a another version of Shion. The possibilities for L5 Mion were endless, none of that was made use of. What we did get was Rika getting shoved down a toilet (the funniest scene of this show NGL) and more recaps. It's also worth noting the inconsistent nature of L5 in Sotsu here, because in the Original Series the drug Takano had, would drive you into a L5 induced death in a few hours, not days. It's a weird retcon, that I'm not sure should exist within the series, since it causes contradictions in previous arcs. Food for thought.
Tatarikashi, More Recaps baby! You get a recap, and you get a recap! Everybody take this recap and shove it up your - alright alright, I'll calm down. Honestly though, you should have some questions when the show redeems a child abuser (and a possible rapist) and then goes one step further and has a child faking abuse for the lols. Satoko manipulates Keichii hard in this ep. She has zero empathy for her friends. Funnily enough, Satoko starts feeling regret when she kills Teppei, why she didn't feel any guilt when she injects her friends is beyond me, so don't ask me. Either way she bashes K1. Then it reveals that the Teppei Hallucination thing we saw in Gou never happened (This was the only part we couldn't answer after Gou) I STRONGLY believe that this scene only exists to throw people off and make people think that a deeper mystery exists where it doesn't. It actively comes off as an underhanded and manipulative.
Then everything goes to hell. Alright alright get this. Rika remembers that Satoko was the big bad BECAUSE - She has someone else's memories! How? WHY? Who knows, it never happens before and it doesn't happen since. Its a Deus ex machina. The plot literally came to Rika. If this is not bad enough. The big suspenseful moment from the end of Gou - the Gun scene. Ends with Satoko shooting Rika - it sucks. The major buildup from Gou, the perrenial Cliffhanger ended just like that, once again this feels like underhanded storytelling.
Cue the next ep. Rika and Satoko go supah Seiyan! (This is not a witch Battle btw, to read Umineko if you want to see how that really looks like.)
PS - It's nothing like this. Mainly because Witches don't ever fight up close. Never. Not even Lambda and Bern.
They fight some more across different Fragments. Then finally Rika and Satoko end up in a bridge. With the McGuffin Sword in Rikas hands. Rika throws it into the river. Hanyuu gets it. Cracks Eua's horns, turns her into a Loli, sends her back to whence she came (a black cloud, probably Lambdadelta)
Rika and Satoko come to an agreement. Rika leaves to St Lucia. Everybody is happy. Satoshi wakes up. They play dear you just to give you the middle finger one last time before you go and it's over.
Don't wonder how Satoshi got up when he was in a medically induced coma, the series doesn't respect its own rules anymore.
This is pathetic storytelling. Much of the story revolved around a McGuffin Sword that literally turned into a Deus ex Machina at the end. Let's not forget that Satoko gets her neck cut with the McGuffin Shard and nothing happens! The story doesn't respect its own rules, why should we? If we can't trust the story to pay respect to the rules that it itself laid down, how can someone trust the story to be consistent. The 5 loop until death proclamation that Rika did, and Satoko ending up in a world without Rika, were unfortunately badly planned attempts by Passione to up the stakes. To create tension and excitement.
The mirror world references Passione put in are the same, poor attempts to create excitement within a shallow story.
If that wasnt enough insults, Higurashi Mei, Higuashis Gacha game, explains some of the finer details in the Gacha game of all things.
Hopefully by now you can understand how bad SotsuGou's story is . However I only scratched the tip of the iceberg. The sins of SotsuGou's story are so terrible that I can write a book about it, and still have a lot left to say. However for our sanity, it's best we move on.
Artstyle 6/10
Whether you prefer the rounded Artstyle that this shares with Mei is fully up to you. I won't go into detail here because this is based on taste and nothing else. Although personally I would have preferred Alchemist's Character designs to appear. Since they maintain a good balance between Ryuukishis original designs and traditional anime character standards.
Music 3/10
The DEEN Higurashi Anime is well known for its stellar use of music. Using a combination of VIsual Novel and Original tracks, it handles this perfectly.
Sotsu on the other hand, has no good music to call it's own. Much of the OST becomes background noise. I can't name one price of the OST that I like. It's really unfortunate.
Dear You is a song that is supposed to represent the bonds between the cast, in the context of SotsuGou however it comes off an insult when its the send off to a story that featured little of Mion, Keichii and Rena, along with the fact that Satoko actively kills and harms them.
Dear You ~ SotsuGou ~ is the last sad moans of this Anime. Doing it's best to hang in to relevance.
Animation 4/10
This is another place where SotsuGou struggles in. DEEN used dynamic camera angles, positioning to deliver a more fluid animation experience. Sotsu on the other hand mostly used shot -reverse shots which get boring. The actual character animation also leaves a lot to be desired. Character Animation was something DEEN struggled with sometimes as well, but unlike what DEEN, Sotsu can not fall back on its dark backgrounds as a clutch.
For their credit Passione used some of the budget for the big DBZ and Naruto crossover scenes at the end. So that's commendable at least. Good job Passione, give yourself a pat on the back.
Characters 1/10
Rika Furude
You know that this is bad when Rikas VA is confused about what's going on. In the original VN. Rika was the one who was emotionally dependant on Satoko. Not here however, because in SotsuGou 'le tables have turned on ye'. Satoko for some reason can't live without Rika. Why? How did this happen? Who knows? Don't get me wrong, Rika and Satoko were always close but Rika is the one who has a panic attack when she doesn't get Satoko, not the other way around.
Let's not forget that Rika ignores everything that happened in Matsuri. Her lesson there was;
'Waiting for things to go her was pointless. If she wanted to win, she had to roll up her sleeves and actually work for the future she wanted'
In SotsuGou she proceeds to ignore everything going on and gives random cryptic advice to K1. What happened to Rika? Eua must have taken some of her brain cells because nothing else can explain this. HECK, the idiot waits until Nekodamashi to check on Takano, ON TAKANO, the person that's supposedly gonna kill her and everybody she loves.
In the original one of Rikas goals was a world with EVERYONE she cared about all her friends and didn't want a world without them. Rika here decides to screw everybody else and stay with Satoko.
This is peak character butchering. Rika was only passive when she had given up, however in SotsuGou she's like that from the very beginning.
Satoko Houjou
The biggest tragedy (or comedy) of Sotsu. Satoko is a character with a fairly good understanding of others and someone who is capable of empathizing with even the worst of people. Here however she's turned into a one note evil girl with zero redemption (they didn't even try)
Let's look at what SotsuGou tells us about Satoko;
- Has no problem with killing her friends, not only Rika.
- Can forgive Teppei for abusing and hurting her and Satoshi but cant forgive Rika for some reason.
- Knows about all of Rikas loops but cant sympathise with why Rika might want to leave Hinamaizawa.
- Only felt Regret qhen killing Teppei (lol) but not her friends.
- Has no qualms about injecting innoncents like Akasaka and old man Kimiyoshi.
- Tricks K1 and screws him over in Tatari.
- Injects Mion, the most neutral and stable person in the group. For no reason than the lols.
- Rolls around in the ground laughing like an idiot.
- Falls victim to Euas goading.
- Kills her own regrets in Tatarikashi.
- Dodges sword strikes with the speed of a ninja? how? Who knows?
- Has no trauma for Teppei or Takano but somehow is traumatised by a BOX. Bloody hell if a box punch is all it takes, why is she not kneeling over for Rena. Who packs a meaner punch?
- Undergoes zero redemption or development.
- Gets forgiven by Rika with zero consequences.
The Eagled eyed reader might have noticed something interesting.
"Hey Coulomb, why doesn't Satoko or Rika have any character development?"
Because they don't. The show didn't give them any.
What's really tragic is, that Miotsukushi, an alternative ending arc did more for Satoko in two screens than Sotsu did in two seasons!
Hopefully overall you can realise how bad Satoko's characterisation is.
The WORST part about Satoko and and Rika is that they never resolved their conflict by themselves, the club basically stepped into force them back together. It's poor writing.
Overall 3/10
Not worth your time. Read the Manga for a better experience, but avoid the anime. If you are a new fan watch the 2007 Original + Kai, I gurantee my life, that it will be magnitudes more satisfying than this. That is all.
In Retrospect ......
"When they cry, I laugh." - The Messiah, Ryuukishi 07. (I'm not sure if he actually said this I just think it's relevant)
Higurashi and even Umineko had a theme of protecting children. Preserving childhood. However SotsuGou completely turned this message on its head , and gave us something else. Doesn't this entire thing make Ryuukishi 07 a bit of a hypocrite? I can accept many things - but when you start redeeming child abusers and rapists that's where I draw the line. In many ways I think death of the author is applicable here.
BT, bless his soul. He was more important than you would think. Higurashi originally was planned to have Irie as the villain, however BT felt that it was a bad idea so he made Ryuukishi change it. BT is no longer with us, and I wonder if anyone at 07th expansion atleast try to keep Ryuukishis ideas in check.
Ryuukishi is a man of many ideas, and by his own admission is someone who gets influenced a lot ( he wanted to make Keichii fight aliens in Tsumiboroshi because he had watched an alien movie) so why he doesn't have anyone to 'filter' his ideas I beyond me.
Higurashi Mei still exists, and ironically has a better story than Sotsu. There's also Ciconia. However since it's reception has been poor even among WTc fans, I wonder where thing will go next.
Higurashi is 07th expansions most popular series. Umineko only has a faction of it's popularity, and Ciconia is virtually unknown. Was it worth harming your most well regarded series for no reason other than money?
It's honestly best if each WTC remains separate. Connected universes may be cool, but in regards to WTC it just causes more issues than it's worth, and probably will hamper Ryuukishis creativity. They should never be connected.
Have a good day, and don't forget to rate SotsuGou with your respective rating.
Edit :
What REALLY screws with me about Sotsu is the simple fact that
Satoko didnt even TRY asking Eua to heal Satoshi. She didnt even CONSIDER it.
If your ever needed proof to show that Satoko is a one note caraceture of a half assed Yandere whose entire universe revolves around Rika and ONLY Rika this is it.
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Sep 30, 2021
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu
(Anime)
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Full Sotsu Review from the perspective of a longtime When they cry fan.
Where do I start? *Warning* Heavy spoilers ahead! Story 1/10 The biggest disappointment to my parents since me. Everything was handled poorly and with sub par quality. ... |
