Back to Rinkusan's Profile Rinkusan's Profile

First of all, I just want to be fully transparent by saying that although I've used myanimelist for quite a while now in order to find anime to watch, I've never made an account let alone made a review until today because of how absolutely livid I am that an anime of this level of quality has such an abysmal and, in my opinion, COMPLETELY inaccurate score.

Story: 10/10

So first off, I'm sure you've heard this from multiple reviews already, but I want to nevertheless reiterate that this anime is NOT A REMAKE; it is a sequel, and despite being briefly mentioned as something newcomers ... can enjoy, I highly recommend that you watch the original Higurashi anime by Studio Deen before watching Higurashi Gou.

Whereas the theme of the original Higurashi is all about overcoming inevitability by reaching out to your loved ones and not putting the entire burden on yourself, Higurashi Gou, without spoiling, is about what happens when you become too attached to the past without accepting and adapting to the reality that people and places change over time. It's a relatable story about the need to move on and live for yourself that's roughly the opposite (but not mutually exclusive) of what the original Higurashi anime is all about.

The horror and mystery of the original Higurashi is still very much present in this series. It's a slow burn during the first half - especially for Higurashi veterans - for a reason, but the payoff for said slow burn was VERY much worth it.

Art: 8/10

This time around, Higurashi Gou is animated by Studio Passione rather than Studio Deen. The art style is much more clean and "shiny" compared to the original, which some fans of the original will enjoy and some won't. Ironically, the character-model inconsistency in the original Higurashi was a strength as it gave an element of "distorted horror", especially with facial expressions; as a result, Higurashi Gou lacks that distorted horror element of the original series.

I personally find this completely understandable for Gou because questioning reality was a key part of the viewer experience as it relates to the mystery of Hinamizawa Syndrome and empathizing with its victims in the original Higurashi; Gou assumes that you are a returning viewer who's fully aware of its nature.

However, that's not to say that Gou doesn't do a good job of conveying its own brand of horror through its art. Its more realistic and fluid animation compared to the original makes the murder scenes hit much harder, and, without spoiling anything, one particularly fluid piece of animation in the first half of Gou has an amazingly horrific payoff around episode 14 (not the exact episode to avoid spoilers).

On a final note, the OP and ED are absolutely stellar, the OP being my favorite of all the Higurashi OP's.

Sound: 7/10

The sound is what I'd consider the weakest part of Gou. There's nothing exceptional or lackluster about it; the background music and silence compliment their respective scenes well, but nowhere near as well as the melancholic and spine-chilling BGM that made the original Higurashi such a well-known classic.

With that said, the music for the OP and ED is absolutely amazing and, rather than spine-chilling horror, conveys high-tension desperation more along the lines of "why do I hear boss music?" Shikura Chiyomaru completely blew it out of the park.

Characters: 9/10

There really isn't much for me to say here. The characters are the same as they were in the original Higurashi; if you liked them then, you'll like them here.

Enjoyment: 10/10

As someone who's into good mysteries, I can confidently say that I'm enjoying this anime more than any other anime currently airing this season, which is saying something since this season is stacked with amazing and understandably hyped anime like Re: Zero and Attack on Titan. With that said, if you aren't into detail-oriented mystery, graphically symbolic horror, or any of Ryukishi's previous works, you most likely will not like this anime. However, if you fit into any of these and have watched the original Higurashi, please give Higurashi Gou a shot.

EDIT: Just another note. For those of you who are turned off by the censorship in one of the early episodes, don't worry; later episodes are very much uncensored.