"Oh Rika, I told you to pick one, didn't?" ~ Satoko Houjou
24 episodes, a dream: to continue a franchise of almost 20 years at the height of visual novels and anime. Higurashi no Naku koro ni returned in 2020, with a surreal season. In the first season, we saw crazy, disturbing scenes and a shocking story. Higurashi Kai softens and resolves the disruption and brings a great ending to the entire series. Higurashi Rei is shorter, only 5 episodes, serving as a sequel after Kai. Now, in 2020/1, Higurashi Gou is broadcast and a new information clash is used in order to create two more cours for the show. "14 years have passed since the original broadcast, will they still like the anime?", That question has bothered me since the first of October, but today I can finally understand who liked it and who hated it, after all, it is not common in the days of today having an anime like this.
To begin with, it is visible the work and the high effort of Passione studio and the director, Keiichirou Kawaguchi, in making episodes without any reference to games and bows different from what we already knew before. Of course, the first thirteen episodes brought many impactful scenes and managed to recreate iconic moments (like Rena's "USODA !!"). It was definitely surprising how the first half of behaved positively as being a sequel, after all, Rika is already tired. A hundred years in loopings ... I must admit that this reference to Higurashi Kai may seem confusing at first, but it managed to bring up a new hypothesis: what if she leaves Hinamizawa, after a happy ending in 1983? Well, that's what happened. Rika enrolls at St. Lucia College and begins her journey. Obviously, we don't know how the end of this world was, since she herself doesn't have all the memories herself (even Hanyuu offering everything she has in Nekodamashi). It is incredible this change of perspective, in which Rika goes from being a simple and not very important character, to the protagonist of every anime. "But, wait, what? What's going on with Satoko ????". Yes, now we have a situation where Satoko knows more than the viewers themselves and even Rika herself. You know, I had some problems with the first two seasons. Interesting characters, like Oishi and Satoko, were not fully utilized. In most cases, they were more like a character group that is only important to be quoted or used specifically in some episodes. But look at how we are doing: Oishi has gone mad in Tataridamashi and Satoko finds Eua, an entity, like our dear Hanyuu, who also has creative powers from other worlds. It is difficult to say and explain all the points and relevance of Eua without mentioning Umineko (another series in the When They Cry franchise), so much so that it is understandable to see people disgusted by this introduction of a sudden character, but I must say that it was a great choice of scriptwriter for this fourth season. He brought a continuation with material shortened by the Ryukishi07 series limits and transcended the limits for something big.
Rena, Shion, Mion and Keichi are the ones that were most "forgotten" during the second part of the anime. In fact, this is unpleasant. It is not the same impression of character development that they had, compared to the old anime. My favorite Shion (even Higurashi Gou), was practically nonexistent in the entire show. Rena again became the "yandere" character of the show, maintaining many climaxes and iconic moments, especially in Onidamashi. Keichi, on the other hand, became the protagonist of the entire first half, but again presented some construction flaws with the show in the sequence. I don't say it was bad, since the outcome was purposely focused on Rika, Satoko and Hanyuu. Speaking of Hanyuu, she finally had more explanations regarding her limits as an entity that personifies Oyashiro-Sama. She did in fact become a fundamental piece for Rika during the final events, but I was sad to see that she apparently had a not very good and even melancholy fate.
And how can we not mention the masterpiece that was episode 16? Among all that we've seen, this moment was much more exciting and cathartic than anything we've seen before. It was a promising entry from a different Satoko. It seemed that she was the villain of the series, and in fact, she comes to be. When Eua offers part of its powers to Satoko, it uses it to normalize the problems that Rika leaving Hinamizawa would leave forever marked in these infinite fragments. It is not common, nor usual to see Satoko being a scary character in Higurashi. The cases always involved Rena, Shion, Keichi and Mion as the biggest protagonists and cursed. Satoko has never been so prominent before, and I loved it. Her personality having a little change, experiencing everything that Rika lived, was a great narrative to follow the story forward. I like alternating postures and psychological dualities in Higurashi, but Satoko's perspective has outgrown much of what has already been brought up. She starts from a child who loves her friend as her only family to a young woman unsure about the upheaval that changes in her friendship with Rika could change Hinamizawa's course. And even though this seems to be a spook on Satoko's part, her side of concern for her home village is visible, after all, even if there is a perfect destination, Higurashi always contains tragedies and plot twists, where some moments are not predictable. Higurashi Gou was like that and knew how to use his elements very well.
Another issue to be valued is the production of the show. Of course, Higurashi was never an anime to be praised for its animation, that I confess, but the Passione studio brought a much better look than the art of 2006 and brought it much closer with the version of the games. This aesthetic is reminiscent of the Monotagari Series (of course, the show's designer did direct work on this series), in addition to appropriating more up-to-date environments. Again, some episodes are not well used even with this improvement, it is not easy to accept the Kimiyoshi scene in episode 15, for example, but it was the best they were able to do in its entirety. Many moments had a very good and above average graphic, which made me happy from the beginning. In addition, the songs again are one of the strongest points of the franchise. The opening was very good for the situations that the anime was in with the time, besides the endings were absurdly good. Irregular Entropy and God's Syndrome are songs that will mark me forever, because in addition to adding well to the message that Higurashi wants to convey, he promoted a great artistic style in the images that composed them throughout the show. The plot? As already said, he was creative, innovative and brought a different posture. It was a perfection made by the show's screenwriter, who knew how to take advantage of many of Higurashi's details, in addition to his references to the old one and the game, which are huge. The director was also impeccable at many times (episode 16 was, for me, the best of all anime in 2020, easily). The franchise can surely celebrate with the result obtained. When They Cry and 07th Expansion must be happy.
Many are wondering if Higurashi Gou can continue with a sequel. I feel like yes. At times, the show has convinced itself that it has more to show. It's not like everything that happened was empty, there are already 3 other seasons that show that clearly. But it would be great to see other strands and attempts in history, to continue the series seriously. Particularly, Hinamizawa has a lot of content to be explored, that is a fact. So, continuing with a few more episodes and a new sequence would bring new chances and adaptations to the show as a whole.
(And look what a surprise, before sending the review, Higurashi will have a sequence confirmed by Funimation.)
Finally, if you've made it this far, you should realize that it's not just any anime. Higurashi marked generations (me too) and broke many paradigms of horror and suspense, something that has not been seen for a long time. 2020 was a difficult year, the anime obviously suffered from the bad reception of many fans and newcomers with the show. I must say, it is normal and I respect the position of these people. Nobody imagined that these more controversial versions and changes in history would be chosen by Kawaguchi. However, I loved everything that was proposed. Higurashi has entered my favorites because of this season, which, for me, is nothing short of great. I really hope for a possible reinterpretation of people with the show, in fact, we are talking about a unique and exclusive content, the beloved of Ryukishi07, a little commented masterpiece. Congratulations to everyone who pledged to make this anime. Congratulations to Passione, for taking such a good title and continuing with great originality. To those who didn't watch the first few seasons, I highly recommend watching it, if it pleased you. You will certainly have no regrets about this.
NIPPAH <3
