YouTube Video Review Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSozDl23oNM --> In case you'd rather watch then read.
Quick Synopsis:
Alright, to give you a short run-down of this Anime’s dimension, the story begins in 1983 where our male protagonist, Keiichi Maebara has moved into a peaceful village called Hinamizawa for some unknown reason. Furthermore, we are introduced to our female protagonists, Rena Ryuugu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Hojo, and Rika Furude who welcome our friend Keiichi to Hinamizawa and their after-school club. Pardon me for this next comment, but Ryukishi, my ninja, you really couldn’t come up with an interesting club name, my boy!? Anyway, under these lighthearted elements of fun and excitement, hides a dark undertone filled with despair and ultimately, death. This undertone is caused by the series main event known as the Watangashi [Cotton Drifting] Festival which has a certain history with having one person disappear and one die after the event. Which the natives of the land tie into the wrath of their benefactor god, Oyashiro. Not only does this festival bring suspicion to our male protagonist, the female protagonists of the show become suspicious as well, in which Keiichi’s primary goal is to uncover the truth about the mysteries surrounding the village’s dark past.
And here’s another tidbit to tickle your fancy. The Anime’s plot is broken up into various story arcs, each featuring a story for each protagonist mentioned above, besides one in particular. I know the Anime’s structure sounds odd at first, but all will be discussed for the season one evaluation. As for the questions I normally address about the show, since the second season covers the answer portion of this series, I will avoid the questionable issues concerning this season’s adaptation, for the season two review being When They Cry…Kai. What is with these titles bruh…
Also, for this discussion about the story-line I will be referring to the arcs by the English translated names. For example, if I say the Spirited Away arc
I’m referring to the Onikakushi-Hen arc.
Well, I believe it is time to dive into the Anime adaptation of Ryukishi07’s sound novel of Higurashi: When They Cry….walks off….”Season one!”
Story-line: - B+-8.5
In terms of the story-line of the Higurashi Anime, I was already informed about the way the story played out. Basically, the first season is an adaptation of the Question Arc portion of the sound novel developed by Ryukishi07 while season two has the Answer Arc portion of the series. I believe going into the series with that mindset will be the best option of understanding the reason behind season one’s ending and structure. Also the following transition scene from episode 26..
Example 1: Where Rika Furude says, “I’ll play with it during this endless June.” As much as I want,” signifies her importance in the upcoming season being Higurashi Kai and why that season is of importance to watch after you witness season 1.
However, if season two was never made, how would I go about ranking this season based off of the information given above? Well, to tell you the truth, the possibility to solving all the questions that you would have after watching episodes one to twenty six can be solved by watching the season one adaptation very closely which could be debatable to some. With that being said, let us discuss this story of Higurashi season one, its structure, and how I view it as a whole.
Based on this information, what I wanted out of the Question Arcs were strong senses of mystery, suspense, dark elements, and small hints of foreshadowing toward the answers behind the anime’s setting of Hinamizawa. And I believe the series at most points was able to execute these ideas perfectly within the six arcs. A few examples of this combination of foreshadowing and darkness could be seen as you progress through the time-loop that the story sets itself in. To shorten up what I mean by a time-loop, it would resemble a restart button in a video game. Basically when the character’s undergo a major crisis or crime near the end of an arc, this “refresh button” would occur in which the next arc will not follow suit with them being dead or crazed, but rather would show them how they were in the start of the first arc.
Anyway, in terms of story-line examples where you could see this time-loop effect take charge and work really well would be between the Cotton Drifiting Arc [Mion Arc] and the Eye Opening Arc [Shion Arc].
For example: [Mion Arc Episodes 5-8] – in the Cotton Drifitng Arc [episodes 5-8] where Mion is the primary focus, you learn that Keiichi basically flipped up by choosing Rena as the person to give the bear to and not Mion because of her tomboyish approach toward him. As time progresses and events unfold, you’d expect Mion to be the one pulling the strings behind the scenesin this arc. But then, in the midst of the arc we are introduced to her twin sister Shion who seems to be the one locked up in the cell chamber in this arc, when in fact it becomes known in the Eye Opening arc [episodes 16-21] that she was the one who pulled the strings due to her love for Satoshi Hojo, Satoko’s missing brother in the series.
What I’m trying to point out is this, the story may be set-up as a jigsaw puzzle and some viewers may find it to be odd because of how it steers away from the classic narrative structure, but I believe it’s initial purpose as a mystery based Anime, is for its viewer to collect the clues regarding the outbreak and mysterious deaths, and find out who is the true murderer, like the classic board game clue, by yourself.
With that being said, the storyline’s main problem that I could find while watching the series would be its structure in general. But this would have to depend on the person who watches this Anime. In your standard JP animation series, you’ll get a plot that revolves around a character who you expect to obtain or accomplish the goal set for them by the end of the show. But with Higurashi, it’s different, since most, if not all of the tales, come together while showing you the perspective of each character and how they interact with the world that they are in, while gathering more and more clues that tie into what you want to know the most. And that’s the answer to who, why and what is the behind the outbreak of this land of Hinamizawa.
Other than this weird Anime structure, and how the ending of the Anime leaves you questioning what you just watched while forcing you to re-watch the series for the clues that the story gives out on an occasion, I found the Anime’s storyline rather interesting and fun to a large degree in terms of puzzle solving and adding everything together in a 1 + 1 = 2 sense.
Characters: - B-8
MAEBARA – If I had to choose what character to talk about first, I would have to choose Keiichi Maebara. Keiichi is the boy next door type of character who has traits of a being who is comedic, pleasant, and actually intelligent. At the start of the story, Keiichi could be looked as an annoying punk with no intelligence who’s on a quest of perversion, or a stereotypical character in a sense. However, as you progress through the story, Keiichi’s character starts to open up in its entirety to the point where his character transforms from a stock character to that of a Round and Dynamic individual. We start to learn of his past in his previous city, and we get to see a lovable brotherly side to his character during the Curse Killing Arc.
An example of his transformation could be seen by analyzing his personality from the Spirited Away Arc [First Arc] and the Atonement Arc [Final Question Arc].
Evidence Video Text In Box:
“Keiichi despises his friends, has no trust for them, and kills them.” - [SA Arc]
“Keiichi learns to trust his friends, maintains trust with them, and doesn’t kill them.” – [Atonement Arc]
As you can see, Keiichi was able to learn how to trust his friends, and that some secrets can be left unrevealed if they are on a personal level. With all the added backstory, personality traits, and ways of interaction that Keiichi showcased throughout the Anime, he was able to maintain a realistic quality to his character that fit well for the series.
RENA – Alright, we now are going to take a look at our girl next door type of character being Ryuugu Rena. Rena is a cheerful, calm, and trustworthy character for the most part. But like most of the characters that will be discussed later in this portion, she has a breaking point that transforms her from this stock character to a round character. Rena’s characterization for the most part wasn’t given until her representation of the main protagonist role in the Atonement Arc of the Anime. Before this arc occurred, she would just be viewed as this character with a love of adventures at the dump, cute things, and losing her stuff when things didn’t lean toward the happy side.
Although, I was kind of disappointed for not getting more information about her in the earlier arcs besides her relationship with Oyashiro, I still found her evil personality in the Spirited Away arc to fit perfect with the mood of the arc. After learning about her family mishaps with her mother, her complications with Ritsuko, and the additive of seeing her degrade in trust toward her friends, I honestly overlooked some of these earlier issues to a point. Nonetheless, Rena does carry a lot of great things for her character, but there were some complications I had with her earlier presentation in the series. On a side note, KEVIN NYAA, you may not know who I am, but RENA IS BEST GIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRL.
MION – Who doesn’t like role models and leader’s right? Well at this point, let’s take a look at our leader and messiah Mion Sonozaki. Mion is the older-sister, cheerful, and tomboyish character. Mion, in my perspective has to be the weakest character of the bunch because of her role in the series for the most part. Now, to the Mion lovers, chillax. Although we are given information about Mion being the next heir to the Sonozaki Family, I felt as though she was used as a foil character for most of the other characters who will be mentioned in this portion. We get a few quirks of her loving Keiichi and helping him overcome the secret and Rena’s friendship issue, being close to her sister Shion, and being a nut job during the Spirited Away
Arc. But I feel like her character was incorporated to highlight the others’ turmoil, importance, and plot to some degree.
Example: An example of this foil-like quality to Mion’s character could be seen during
“She reports to Shion that Keiichi doesn’t give her the doll.”
“Which pushes Shion’s store degree to a degree.”
Another Scene – Episode 21
“Shion mentions to Keiichi that you should’ve given Mion the doll.”
“Which is why Mion [Shion] turned out like this.”
With all being said, Mion didn’t truly appeal to me in these areas. However, her foil-like approach toward the other characters saved her in my eyes from being a failed character. Once again, Mion brothers come at me bro!
SHION – Since we already talked about one sister, you already know we have to talk about the other one. Anyway, Shion Sonazaki is a kind-hearted, loving, and considerate character. However, Shion’s swapped personality is everything but happiness and roses. Shion has to be one of the most overly-attached, sadistic beings that I have seen from an Anime thus far. I believe the build up to her personality reaching this point was rather clever. Remember when I stated that Mion was a great foil character to the other characters, well that shining spotlight was given to Shion. She starts off as a basic character who runs away from school, and loves her sister. But the dread and despair that lead to the arc’s ending, was thrilling to watch. Shion’s stereotypical big sister traits become conflicted when she meets Satoshi Hojo. Since the Hojo family went against the Sonozaki family and people of the village for promoting the dam movement, you could already see why this relationship wouldn’t lead to anything good. After displaying responsibility by losing her nails, Satoshi, and her overall sanity as time progresses through a family conspiracy in the village, I felt her villainous role was clever in the slightest. Between both of the sister’s, Shion is way above Mion when it comes to characterization, but most people could find her to be stupid and idiotic without looking at the sense of realism she brought within each person she laid to rest.
SATOKO – Now this character could be more debatable, in terms of her incorporation in the story. And the character I’m referring to is Satoko Hojo. Satoko is the self-centered, bratty, and trap master of the squad. The reason I labeled this character as a debatable character would be because of her personality in the story, and her quirk of uttering the phrase, “nii-nii.” Heck, if you look on YouTube a person even uploaded a video of her saying this phrase and found it to be an annoyance. Regardless of the feelings you may have for Satoko’s character, her backstory, perseverance, and strength makes up for these bad quirks. She starts to show these traits during the Curse Killing Arc which solely focuses on her character.
During this arc, I found her character to be well-rounded, and her goal to show some semblance of realism as well. Wanting to withhold the barrier that her brother left for her while enduring the abusive pain of her terrible uncle, Teppei, showcased Satoko’s personality in an extraordinary way to me. I may seem a bit biased since I do infact know of child abuse or some form of it. So it could be a “this reminds me of this person I know” type of spiritual bond I have with this character. Although the ending of the arc shows Satoko’s loss of hope in Keiichi because of the experience of the Ritual tool shrine during the finale of the arc, I still find it to be rather plausible to some regard.
Nevertheless, Satoko may share some concept of being an annoying twat, but I found her backstory, and characterization to be a good balance of the former and latter.
RIKA – Now we’ve reached the final main protagonist of the series, and that would have to be Rika Furude. Rika is the most cheerful, calm and symbolic member of the group. With respect to the mask that covers Rika’s personality, you can view her as an empty shell who knows something about the outbreak of the village and the Higurashi world in its entirety. To me, Rika could also share the category of being a weak character due to the minimal screen time she shared in most of the arcs besides the Time wasting arc when she told Akasaka about the events that would unfold leading up to her death. I feel Rika’s character to represent signs of symbolism since she brings up the concept of fate regarding the village’s demise in every arc of the show.
Although her character gets full attention in the Anime’s second season, I would have loved to get more into depth with the mindset of the dark version of Rika in this season as well. I loved the hints, and clues that she gave which are revealed later in season 2, but I feel like a little taste of that would have been highly appreciative to myself and most viewers. Though Rika didn’t get too much spotlight, and didn’t flesh out in this season like her other companions, she had some traits and quirks that could make her a good character.
MINOR CHARACTERS – Alright, now I know in the last case I went in depth for those minor characters, but this time I will give you the good and bad aspects of each minor character since this is already long enough. So for the characters being that of Takano, Oishi, Tomitake, Irie, and Akasaka, I found them to fit their stereotypical roles quite lovely. The way these characters interacted with our main protagonists and stirred up the trouble and mischief surrounding the atmosphere of Hinamizawa was excellent. A couple of examples could be seen in mostly the third or second episode of every arc. You would see a character like Oishi interview one of our main cast, and ask them about an incident that happened in the village in a irritating manner, this would normally lie within a Takano and Tomitake MIA discussion. I found those discussions to fit well to the mystery aspect of the show. Takano and Akasaka’s character actually carried little to minor senses of depth with Takano discovering the parasitic virus of the curse of Oyashiro and learning about how Akasaka is a soon to be father, and seemingly Rika’s future husband. As for Tomitake and Irie, I found them useful when toying with the main characters’ mindset, preferably Keiichi during the Spirited Away and Curse Killing Arc. Overall, I would have liked to have seen more character depth with most of these characters since I felt that they were just planted into the show to fulfill the purpose of moving the story forward, but the way they were used to highlight the actions of our main protagonists had me switch my judgement upon them during my second re-watch of the series.
Soundtrack: - C+-7.5
As I said with the previous case, this series’ soundtrack was standard, but memorable to me in some areas. The opening theme titled, “Higurashi No Naku Koro Nii,” performed by Eiko Shimamiya is a perfect fit for the series. The opening theme doesn’t sound cheery or is trying to hide the dark elements from you, it down right tells you, you’re going to have a bad time while watching this and to turn back now unless you’re ready to hear them CICADA’S CRY, my brother! Anyway, the opening theme was able to capture the dark and chilling atmosphere you should receive from a Horror based Anime from start to finish as the crows fly past Rena and head toward the sky where you are then given a gateway to the devilish chamber known as Hinamizawa. Another highlight for the soundtrack used in this series would be the voice acting, preferably for the JP dubbing of the show.
Speaking of the JP voice acting for the show, I believe all the voices fit well for the characters. Their performances when the characters turned psychotic, up to the point when they totally lost it was incredible. I gathered chilling vibes when I saw the female characters share the dreadful yet, amazing “Higurashi laugh” which captured their dark nature during the critical moments within each question arc. Whether it be for laughing at a death of a character, or out of pure animosity, you could tell when the characters really went from zero to one-hundred by the performance of both the actors/actresses and the OST being matched in perfect harmony, or disharmony in case of this series’ genre. Although the desync age of the actor’s audio with the character’s movement was a problem I noticed while watching the series, I will stress this problem more in depth in the Animation department of this case.
In light of the OST and ending theme of the series, I’m a bit 50/50 when it comes to my stance, and taste of it. For this quick nitpick, I’ll talk about the latter than the former. Although the ending theme titled, “Why or Why Not” performed by Hiroyuki Oshima had that relaxing and chilling feel to it. I believe that it could have been a bit better in terms of quality. This could come as a personal issue, but I also disregarded the ending theme of the series to just move onto the next episode. I believe the song doesn’t grasp the same sense of remembrance as the opening theme does. On the other hand, with regards to the OST used for the series, I believe it’s used well during most of the dramatic moments of the show where the characters face a difficult task. Conversely, most of the time, the music could seem a bit bland and repetitive most of the time particularly during the relaxing and light-hearted beginning elements of each arc. Other than that, the ending theme and OST share remarkable feats concerning the series main theme and changes in direction, although they could use much work.
Although I was rather lenient with the OST and ending theme of the series, I share a displeasure for some of the sound pieces used in the show. There are times where the background OST is raised to a point where I feel the OST could be lowered to enable the ability to hear the conversation between two characters.
Example: An example of this could be seen in the spirited away arc where Keiichi and Oishi are discussing over the cell phone about Keiich’s suspicion of Mion and Rena’s behavior. During this scene, Oishi is sitting in his office and to me, the background audio of the fellow department workers seems to be colliding with the important dialog being given by both of these men.
However, I noticed the raised audio in these scenes are fixed in the other arcs within season one, but at the time, it kind of bugged me while I was trying to gather information about the plot at the time.
Overall, I believe the opening, and actors/actresses roles in the sound portion of this series were great. I believe the faults of the sound portion would lie in its ending theme, and some of its usage of the OST.
Animation: - C-7
In terms of the art and animation quality in Higurashi: When They Cry, I find this to be the show’s weakest element. Mind you, season two does get a boost in quality, but since this is a season one focused review I will be showing this season, no mercy. The main features of the art quality that put a damper on things was the character body movements and some facial features that interfere with the voice acting audio sync features.
With regards to the animation used for the character body movements, I felt that some of the characters looked like stuffed playdoh figures you would see in clay animation at some points. One point to note would have to be during this example where
Example: Rena would go ballistic in terms of her level of violence. As she attacks Mion for thinking she betrayed her for placing the bodies of Teppei Hojo and Ritsuko in the Sonozaki secret place, you can see her body blown up in which the structure looks like laffy taffy. This sequence could also be seen in the fight with Keiichi as she twists and turns like some human formed licorice. – Episode 26
With respect to the body structure of the characters in the series, I have to give my input on the audio sync problem. While Studio Deen used the freakish art quality of the facial structure to add to the horror lore of the show, there were points where the character’s audio desynced with the character’s lip movement. An example of this lip movement could be seen in;
Example [Episode 21] – episode 21 where Mion aka Shion holds the ladder for Keiichi Maebara. During this moment in the show, Keiichi is there to check up on Satoko due to Rika’s sudden absence. However, during this time, Shion becomes conflicted and angered just by thinking of Satoko. She udders very dark words and remarks toward her while having this creepy granny looking facial expression.
While it show’s her aggression, I didn’t find the audio desynch age to be pleasant in the slightest. And sadly this scene was repeated twice since it first aired in the Curse Killing Arc, which is the second arc of the series. You would think Studio Deen would clean up this scene for re-using it in a later arc, but nope. There are other points where the synching of audio is off, but there is some good to come from the animation and art quality of this show’s first season.
The good to come from Higurashi’s art quality and animation comes from the series, camera angles, background elements [including flashback art], and the bad art, itself. Now the camera angles in the series make up for some of the bad animation stated above because of how they are used to capture the horror felt moments, and the mindset of the characters in the series. An example of a good use of camera position to capture the horror tone would include
Example 1 Episode [25]: In episode 25, near the very ending of the show you will see Ryugu Rena carrying a Machete or a hatchet. The scene with the additive of the Ost brings out the horror preparation of the show while showcasing the change of direction in terms of Rena’s personality.
Example 2 [Episode 4]: Another example of good camera angle use would come from the close up given to Rena as she invades Keiichi’s home in episode 4. She is shown behind the door with a chain lock, to possibly indicate that she is trapped within the darkness that has engulfed her. As the scene progresses we get a scene of Keiichi trying to get Rena to scram, to prevent the evil from coming into his home.
Most, if not all, camera angles used for the show added the needed bonus that the animation deserved for its faults.
In terms of the background elements and the bad art, yes the bad art, I feel that when used correctly, they truly capture the mood the show springs upon you. The background elements with the forest, dark caverns, ritual shrine, and the dark iconography add to this dark and horror felt mood and the bad art is no different in this regard. Although I found the bad art to be displeasing in terms of movement and audio synch problems, the stills and camera angles once again, save it. I won’t point out any evidence in terms of how the bad art saves the show’s tone and mood, but I can say that the facial features of lust and craze shown by our characters in the series supports this to a large degree.
Although I would have loved for the animation to be a bit better in terms of the character movement, and audio synch age, I was pleased to see the bad art, camera angles, and background elements supplement my viewing experience to the fullest.
Enjoyment: - B+-8.5
Personally, while watching this series I wanted to put the clues “given in each plot-line” together to paint the picture that would reveal the truth about what and who’s causing the deaths in Hinamizawa. Once I was able to do so, I found this series lore to be very interesting. However, we must come to terms with ourselves here. Does the series have its flaws? Yes, yes it does. Would I recommend people who are new or love this genre of Anime, to watch this show? Of course.
If I had the ability to change anything from this series, what would I change? Well…honestly, the only way I would fix this series would be by…
List of reasons, possibly three ways at most.
1.) Fixing the art quality and animation used for the body features in some of the characters when they go Naruto Storm Awakening mode and during the casual moments.
2.) Maybe fixing the sound quality in terms of synching it with the character facial movements and taking it out of the equation during important moments when the characters are being interrogated for the crime situations.
3.) By matching some events next to one another while still containing key details that further progress the mystery surrounding the show.
Nevertheless the series was able to provide the entertainment and mystery like aspect I was looking for in a Mysterious based Anime now and in the past, and I would definitely give this show a re-watch in the near future.
MechaBladeZ 7/28/16
Overall Score = B
