Okay, so, I'm not one for watching any show or movie that falls under the gore or horror genres. Many of my friends enjoy horror and gore, and since I hadn't really seen any before, I was reluctant to start this. This anime was kinda a stumble upon, and from this anime, I started to watch anime on a more regular basis. When I started watching Higurashi, it was awfully confusing, and it was nowhere near what I had expected in what looked like to be a rather simple plot. I could understand why some people may have dropped it, but when I continued watching on, I found it rather rewarding and enjoyable. Just a note that there are a lot of laughing screaming girls around...
It's kinda hard to explain the plot without giving too much away. To say it rather simply, a young boy called Maebara Keiichi and his family move to what seems to be a relaxed and quiet little village called Hinamizawa. After a few days, he becomes known around the village, and rather easily makes friends at his school. One day, he accidentally finds out about a series of murders and disappearances that take place around the village every June during the celebration of The Shrine God. These murders are believed to be a "curse" that falls upon one, when they have angered the Shrine God. The question remains open to you, as to whether the murders and disappearances are caused by human means, or whether it is supernatural. The answers are revealed to you slowly, and the truth may be a little startling.
The story was mainly confusing, as I did not, at first, understand the concept of "arcs". After a while, it became clear that this was more than a simple "who dunnit?" mystery. Each arc presented us with both questions and answers without going so far as to driving our brains into overdrive. The first half of the series told the story from Keiichi's point of view. The unknowns surrounding both him and the audience give us a feeling that we are in the same position as him, and that in order to uncover the truth, we have to decide ourselves what is fact or fiction, who is deceiving us and who are the people we can believe. The second half of Higurashi presented to us many answers. It revealed to us some answers, and the truth that may make you get the feeling that bugs are crawling beneath your skin... Certainly a strong plot, and a rather interesting way of presenting it, it did lack the suspense and tension that are produced by other anime. The plot stays firm, and does not veer off into something else. Everything is related someway or another.
Now, personally, I don't really think you can call this "horror" though. The plot was very complex but the animation is rather horrible and of very low standard. It is very inconsistent and the position of facial features seem to vary every few episodes, giving a feel that this was a rather low budget anime. Don't get me wrong, the character design is fairly interesting, although a lot of the time, the facial expressions, the character's movements and "camera angles" did not match the expressions of what was being said (most notably, the ladder scene early in the series). Thankfully though, the animation is compensated by an excellent soundtrack and outstanding voice acting. The soundtrack is simply beautiful! It matches the tone and mood of each scene almost perfectly. The opening and closing themes were also excellent (despite the closings bad engrish), although there was room for improvement in the opening, but I think I'd be asking too much for an already very good opening. Exceptional performances by the voice actors, especially from Hoshi Souichirou playing Keiichi and Yukino Satsuki voicing both Mion and Shion. Rena's voice seems to fluctuate a lot, and varies every so often.
Okay, so the animation is fairly terrible, and the plot at the start was a little confusing, although after watching it for the season, the complexity of the plot becomes clearer and what is revealed to be an interesting story, which I found very much enjoyable. Interesting and complex characters, high quality soundtrack and outstanding performances from the voice actors makes me give this anime an overall 8.5 out of 10. For those who have watched this, if you haven't already, I would strongly suggest you watch Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai. Kai has many more answers to the series, and ties the whole thing together, although contains much less blood than this season.
