Then we find out while it started airing that this is not a remake but rather a remake/sequel hybrid with emphasis on sequel. While that intrigued me, it also worried me as the OVAs proved, Higurashi’s story is wrapped up, it’s done. There wasn’t really anything to go on from there. But it’s approach to it was interesting. But then it was that line that series creator, Ryukishi07, said after episode two aired that this would be a series that would satisfy old fans of the series but also be a jumping on point for new fans to enjoy. Which I say, bulls**t. A lot of it does require context to the original Higurashi and it straight up spoils the mystery of the original so you won’t have the same experience if you decide to go back and watch the original after watching this. So I will say this:
IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH THIS SEASON FIRST, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON’T. WATCH OR PLAY OR READ THE ORIGINAL FIRST, THEN COME BACK TO THIS SEASON IF YOU LIKED IT.
Okay with that cleared up, let’s talk about this new season of Higurashi and if I found to have lived up to the hype and my expectations.
Sit back, relax and I hope you still have some laughing gas left to breathe manically with as I present to you the anime review for Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Gou. Let’s begin shall we?
Also, some spoilers if you have not seen or played the original Higurashi or Higurashi Kai.
Story: 3.5/10
Set in June 1983 in a small Japanese village of Hinamizawa, Keiichi Maebara has just moved into this village and is already enjoying his life here with his friends being Rena Ryuuguu, Mion SonozakI, Satoko Hojou and Rika Furude. They go to school, hang out and play games with each another. All is well until Keiichi finds out about a series of murders and disappearances that occurred every night of the Watanagashi festival. With it happening again and his friends keeping secrets from him, he soon learns that there is more going on in this villagethan he realises.
MEANWHILE…
Rika finds herself awakening in one of the fragments between worlds without knowing how or why she is here. Only for Hanyuu to tell her that she is being sent back to June 1983. Annoyed but determined, Rika vows to get out the loop that is June 1983 and find out why she is sent back there in the first place.
So like I said earlier, this is a sort of remake/sequel hybrid. So while it does take place after the events of Higurashi, Higurashi Kai and Higurashi Rei, it’s set in the same time period as the original with the similar arcs to previous entries, but with some subtle and not so subtle differences. And much like previous entries it is divided up into question arcs and answer arcs with question arcs laying out clues and mysteries only to be explained in the answer arcs. So the groundwork is laid out, the problem is in it’s execution. One of the dynamics to the original’s mystery was what the character’s see and what they believe to be true or not. Is it real or is it merely a figment of their imagination. Gou doesn’t use this to it’s advantage to screw with the viewer and throw them off the trail. Most of the time, it’s mainly used for shock value and have little meaning outside of the big picture and even then, it wasn’t really effective. I imagine it’s to try and not confuse viewers since two mysteries are going on. The mystery of the curse of Oryshiro-sama and how Rika got sent back to June 1983 and how to get out of the loop again. But the original mystery kind of gets thrown under the bus because while there are clues to the mystery of Oryshiro-sama, the full on execution of that mystery is done p**s poor here. It’s neglected and straight up spoils the reveal without the build-up or knowing how we got into this position to solve it, undermining it entirely despite its significance to the overarching story of Higurashi.
No, the real focus is on this new mystery and how Rika ended up back in June 1983. This is where the changes in each arc happen with how the characters act and how scenes and events change due to those character actions, it does make things unexpected since we don’t what these subtle actions and changes will do the narrative. So when this new mystery does open up more and you get this feeling that multiple people are pulling the strings here. People who have watched or played the original would probably pick up on these (some obviously quicker than others) and it does make for a nice brain tickler to pick out these differences and what do they mean. But here lies my problem, while people with previous knowledge of Higurashi would understand it. But here lies a problem with this being a jumping on point for new viewers because the show is more focused on the new mystery, the Oryshiro-sama’s curse mystery is a complete mess that doesn’t properly get explained for a new viewer to understand. This is why I say you should start from the beginning with the original because on top of the half baked mystery from the original not executed nowhere near as well as the original and a new mystery that kind of needs knowledge of previous seasons for some much needed context. Yeah sure, the original obviously left clues and mysteries that puzzled viewers, but it was never in your face about it and again, this is a sequel that is also meat to be a jumping on point for new viewers. The narrative just fails and being a jumping on point for new viewers who haven’t seen, haven’t played or even read the original because of that poor execution.
As for the arcs themselves, they serve their purpose but the pacing of these arcs is quite rough. This is because of the gradual descent from slice of life to psychological horror isn’t as well paced compared to previous arcs of the series. What made the horror work in previous seasons was that gradual descent into madness as things started to escalate until we reached that arc’s climatic point. Here, it kind of happens all at once and rushes through it, rather than it slowly escalating as the situation gets worse and worse. The mindf**kery isn’t nearly as effective as it doesn’t give it time to breathe and process what has happened? What is real? And what is merely a figment of the characters imagination? There isn’t that tension or that sense of uneasiness as our characters find more and more about what’s going on.
It ain’t all bad though. Gou’s fifth arc, “Satokowashi-hen,” is easily the best arc of the season and captures what makes Higurashi great. Being this season’s prominent answer arc, It greatly captures the horror and tension while slowly revealing some answers to this new mystery at a great pace. I love it but I wish the other arcs were executed just as well for the other arcs of Higurashi Gou.
Characters: 8.5/10
Honestly, there isn’t much to complain here about the characters of Higurashi Gou. They are all pretty much how we remember them with their quirks and flaws that make them great characters. Well I say that, it is there but not as effective as previous seasons. Rika still is still the clear, over-arcing protagonist despite three of the arcs are from Keiichi’s perspective. Rika does give of this sense that she is tired of this and just wants to live a happy life that doesn’t end up with her being dead and repeating it again. I mean her constant death and rebirth makes Subaru’s a walk in the park. It wants to show that Rika is at her breaking point and make you sympathise with her and wish for her to live the life she wants. By seeing her gruesome deaths not just in Higurashi Gou but in previous seasons as well and it only escalating, you would naturally feel sorry for her and wish it would end. It doesn’t force you to make you feel pity for her, but rather just show her plight, even if we are not in her perspective in particular arcs.
Then there is this seasons antagonist, the “Puppet Master” as it were. I won’t spoil it but let’s just say if you have a keen eye, you could pick up on who it is with the hints across each arc but the way it is laid out is that something is clearly going on relating to that person. The way it builds it up across the arcs to the reveal is pretty well done honestly as slowly becomes more and more obvious instead of it just coming out of nowhere, with it revealing just enough before the big reveal. The motivation is a bit out there but in the context of Higurashi and the reasons why people go crazy and irrational, it makes more sense than you realise.
Animation: 4.5/10
This is one of the areas that I was most looking forward to seeing how it was done. Previous seasons of Higurashi (specifically season one) have not held up all that well in terms of it’s animation. Despite the sloppiness adding to the horror at times, some scenes that were meant to be scary just look silly and the designs looked basic with disproportionate heads. Kai certainly improved it but not to an impressive standard. So I was certainly looking forward to seeing how this was done. But instead of Studio Deen doing it this time, it’s studio Passione who did the animation for this season. Odd choice since this is a studio more known for it’s fan service type shows. Heck, the previous anime that they worked on before this was the controversial but still enjoyable Interspecies Reviewers.
So the animation for Higurashi Gou looks okay. The moe, slice of life art style does capture the lighter tone of the show before going full horror with bright colours to make it more vibrant and to help transition from these characters going from slice of life to psychological horror. But it’s that change of tone to horror where I do have some gripes. Firstly, as if they are trying to signify that we are in a horror scene, the screen gets darker in the corners and the visuals start scratching like in old movies, as if to change the tone visually. But it doesn’t work because it essentially is like flipping the switch to horror mode instead of it just slowly transitioning into that “oh s**t” moment. It adds artificial horror that this show doesn’t need. That’s not the only noticeable thing though as character designs also look sharper as well with a heavier black outlines that makes the scene more serious. This I don’t mind too much as while it does carry the same problems, it’s less jarring and actually adds to the unnerving nature of the scene much better than dimming the brightness of the scene.
Speaking of character designs, well they certainly retain the designs that made them recognisable, some changes I’m not a fan of. Most notably, making character’s hair look shiny. For some characters, I do think it works, for others not so much. Mainly Keiichi as the shininess makes his hair look wet. It was a gripe that I had before the show aired and it still is as it just looks off. Still, his change in causal clothes to a thin, sleeveless vest from that flak jacket he had before looks more realistic.
Then there is the violence and gore that this series is kind of disrespectfully known for. Sure it’s there but it was always used sparingly. Here, it’s still the same case as the violence and gore is still used sparingly. But this is certainly the most visceral Higurashi has ever been, even more so than the Outbreak OVA. Blood is everywhere, guts are exposed and heads are getting smashed or even cut off at times with more clearer visuals. It definitely has scenes that make your stomach churn. It definitely has the body horror element nailed down. But again though, most of the time, they do use it sparingly, barring episodes 15 and 16 but that was mainly due to story structure.
The last thing I want to talk about are some of the scenes remade in this season. This being small part remake, some of the scenes were bound to make a return for narrative reasons and most of them worked out. The Mion ladder scene looks much better than it did before, even if they kind of cheaped out on the animation. But other scenes like Rena’s “USODA!” is just not as unnerving as it was before.
Sound: 9/10
Kenji Kawai remains one of my favourite anime composers to date, mainly for his work in previous Higurashi seasons, Gundam 00 and No Guns Life and thankfully, he has returned. Although saying that, a lot of the ost remains the same ost used before in previous Higurashi outings. Not that’s really a complaint as Higurashi’s soundtrack is one of the best and it’s still used in the right moments. There are some new tracks in there as well and they do stand out to be noticeably new. The most notable of which is probably the one played during the climatic point of episode four and the one played in the show’s second PV. It’s a great ost of a scene spiralling down into madness with no going back. Of course, we can’t forget the show’s use of cicada’s and their sounds used ominously to signify that something bad is has or is going to happen.
Then there is the opening, "I believe what you said" by Asaka. Now, Higurashi openings have always seemed to match the tone of their respective seasons. Hell, even that abomination of an OVA in the form of Higurashi Kira has an opening that fits with the tone of the OVA. Here, it’s no different. There is a sense of mystery and desperation with how the OP sounds with a hint of horror to go along with it to make it a bit more chilling. Visually there is the visual scratching that plays throughout the op which is nice aesthetically but doesn’t really add anything tone wise. But it’s also littered with clues of objects that relate to the plot of Gou as if it is a visual hint of things to come; with also a character cloaked in shadow that Umineko fans were probably licking their chops at knowing exactly who it was.
Then there are the endings which I think are the best in the series. Both “Kamisama no Syndrome” by Ayane and "Fukisokusei Entropy” by Ayane as well are both good songs that carry a certain tone to them. The first one especially with it sounding rather depressing with gorgeous art in the background highlighting the friendship between these characters and their own personal burdens they face alone. The second one as well does similar things but I won’t say anything due to narrative spoilers.
Conclusion
I’m very indifferent about Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Gou. My feelings towards Gou gives the same feelings of how I felt about another favourite anime of mine, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Resurrection. Nice to have but completely unnecessary. While it does contain it’s own mystery that does get better as time goes on, it disrespects the original mystery by using it as merely a stepping on point. Spoiling it as well doesn’t help new viewers who might want to check out the original Higurashi and Higurashi Kai. It’s that line that Ryukishi07 said that this would be a great jumping on point for new viewers to experience this series. In that case, it fails to deliver a satisfying note for new viewers to jump on to. Plus, not being fundamentally good as previous seasons as well doesn’t help. Having only one arc that delivers on the expectations set beforehand doesn’t make the series as a whole good. It ain’t bad as a whole and does have some good qualities but Higurashi Gou does not live up to my expectations when compared to what came before it. While we ain’t done yet, I think my opinion on Higurashi Gou is set in stone.
For fans of the series, it’s serviceable enough to have some enjoyment but you have most likely seen better. For new viewers though, this is a stay away until you’ve watched or played the original Higurashi, it’s sequel Kai and even the OVA Rei to some regard but that one isn’t required as much.
My Personal Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall Score: 6.1/10 Recommendation: Consider it
I think this has been my longest review yet.
