[Anime Review] Higurashi no naku koro ni

"Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again."
-Narcotics Anonymous

You don't find a lot of horror anime out there. I mean yes, you could point to shows like Another, the currently airing Tokyo Ghoul, or even though I haven't found the time to see it yet, I hear Monster is absolutely fantastic show. But the fact remains that horror anime are few and far between, and this is because of the disconnect of animation and real life. I touched on this in my Coraline review, but in anime, the very style of animation instantly separates the viewer from what's going on, unlike in a movie, and thus it's a lot harder to actually scare anybody watching. To be truly frightening, an anime needs to be damn good at what it does. Higurashi no koro ni is an anime that is almost unique in the ways that is plays with your expectations, keeps you in the dark of what's actually going on pretty much the entire time, and by the end of the first season, completely warps your views on everything that has happened beforehand. It'll leave you clues yes, maybe giving you hope that you will be able to wrap your head around what the hell is going on, before doing a 180 degree turn and using what you thought were hints to screw with your head. But it's also a show, that when you reach the end of it all, and take a step back for a moment or two, thinking about everything that the anime has told you, you realize that (almost)everything makes complete sense.
     Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, and I hope you're doing lovely on this first day of August, 2014. Today, we will be looking at the horror mystery mindf*ck, Higurashi no naku koro ni, or if you prefer the unfortunate English title: When They Cry. Before we get started, I'd like to point out that while I'm not technically spoiling anything in this review, if you're the kind of person who likes to know nothing about a show before you watch it, you should close this review now. It's like if you went into Madoka Magica not knowing the true nature of the show. If you knew what it was like before you watched it, a certain surprise might not have as much impact if you hadn't known what you where getting into. Now, if you don't know a certain "twist" of this show, one that is made quite clear by the end of episode 4, I'd say stop reading and go watch Higurashi, you'll be even more confused and intrigued then you would usually. However, if you are aware of the unusual way Higurashi tells its story, that's fine, nothing else will be spoiled in this review. Now with that, let's get started with this review.

Higurashi aired its 26 episodes through the April and September of 2006 and was produced by the people over at Studio Deen, who haven't exactly been one of the forerunners of animation as of late. They've been around since the 1980's, but really, there's not a lot of their works you can point at and say: "that was a good anime", and looking down the list of shows they've created, I'd say Higurashi is still their strongest work. However, they were responsible for the original Fate/stay night anime, the semi-popular offbeat harem series Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? and of course, who can forgot the recently aired, and let's be fair, disaster that was Pupa.
     Higurashi was directed by Chiaki Kon, who again, really hasn't been involved in a lot of notable works, though get this, she directed the romance anime Golden Time, which you know, really couldn't be any more opposite than Higurashi, so I'll give her points for range I suppose. She also directed some yaoi for some reason. Huh. The script was handled by Rika Nakase, who like her director, seems a little hit and miss. While she did work on the script for Bleach(though she was one of like 6 to do that), the rest of her works are very forgettable or anime that I've just never heard of. Now with that technical shenanigans out of the way, let me try to explain just what the plot of Higurashi no naku koro ni revolves around.

It's a new start for teenager Maebara Keiichi. He's moved into the quiet little town of Hinamizawa, a town so small that there's only one school, with only one classroom, made up of all the town's children. He quickly makes a number of friends and joins their small club: who include the chipper and happy girl Rena Ryuugu, the club leader Mion Sonozaki, the young mischievous Satoko, and the mysterious Rika Furude. For a short time, things are peaceful for Keiichi, he hangs out every day at the club room and plays cards with his friends, but things aren't quite what they seem in the small town. Keiichi learns from a woman named Takano that a sinister curse lies over the town: The Curse of Oyashiro-sama, which decrees that every year around the time of the town's annual Cotton Drifting Festival, one person will be found murdered, and one person will just disappear all together. It is a time of mass paranoia for the town, and while Keiichi tries to find out more, his new friends seem to be unwilling to talk about it, and are growing slowly more strange and detached, as if they know something they don't want Keiichi to find out. Keiichi tries to unravel the secrets of the town and his friends, but as Oyashiro-sama's curse descends, and events play out, by the end of it, nearly every one of our main characters is dead. Yes, that's right, by the end of episode 4, everyone is basically dead, from Rena, to Mion, and even Keiichi is found with his throat scratched out.

Oyashiro-sama's curse descends.

     Now you might think this is a massive spoiler, but here is where Higurashi springs a little of a chin-scratcher. Come episode 5, suddenly, everyone is alive again, and the Cotton Drifting Festival is still a few days away. And this is where the intrigue starts setting in. Yes, Higurashi follows an arc format, but by the end of every arc, everyone is dead. Maybe by different means, maybe a because a different character went insane, and maybe in a different order, but once the one "constant" in each arc: The Cotton Drifting Festival, occurs, you know that nearly every one of the characters is going to slaughter each-other. And of course, you the viewer have absolutely no idea why or how.
     And this is where the brilliance of Higurashi's story-telling starts to set in. Every arc just leaves enough clues and hints about what might be going in the bigger picture of things to keep you interested, but you don't even if there's a bigger picture, since the show never really tells you if these arcs are even connected at first. For most of the show, its left up to the viewer to piece together all the clues and hints the show leaves you, and try to determine who or what is causing the inhabitants of Hinamizawa to start going crazy. Yes, for most of the show, you have no idea, but eventually, it will all start coming together, and I promise during a certain scene in season 2, you will have that "Oh snap!" moment, as everything falls into place. Oh, did I not mention that? Yes, while I'm just reviewing the first season of Higurashi in this review, there is a second season titled Higurashi no naku koro ni kai, where they actually start telling you what the hell is going on. This makes the second season extremely important, 'cause while it might not be as good as the first season(I'll review it at a later date), it's pretty much the only way you'll be able to solve the mystery. Yes, season 1 does have a little climax of its own, where they do give a vital piece of information to solve the mystery, but nothing is really concluded, and it's pretty much left to you to watch season 2, and understand the whole show.

Higurashi's unassumingly insane cast from left to right: Top Row, Mion, Rena, Keiichi. Bottom Row, Rika, Satoko

What I love about Higurashi's cast is just how much they are more then first meets the eye. They all hold some sort of psychological damage, whether it be from abuse, to extreme  family issues, to just being born completely crazy. Of course, before the Cotton Drifting Festival, they are able to disguise and hide their own individuals forms of trauma, but of course, Oyashiro-sama's curse is the perfect way to drive out the worst of all of them. It becomes an interesting way to learn more about the characters, and of course, what their role is in this grand mystery, because nearly every character takes their turn to go insane, depending on the arc. Rena's arc at the end, and of course Mion's arcs are the best example of this, from being either mind-boggling or kind of epic. It's something to keep in mind when watching Higurashi, almost every character you meet probably has much more grand importance in the "bigger picture" than you'd think. Even our "main character" Keiichi, who seems at first a typical bland protagonist, is hiding a dark past from his new friends. Though if I had had to choose a standout, I would say, of course not being dramatic, that Rena Ryuugu is pretty the most awesome character that has ever existed. Yeah, she might seem like a happy cute girl at first, but just wait until she gets a cleaver in her hands, it's freakin' awesome. But yeah, besides from that, you might noticing I'm kind of avoiding character descriptions here. Well, I don't want to spoil more than I already have, so I'll let you experience this group of psychopaths for yourself, and get to know them well, since almost all character development for the characters stops once you hit season 2(again I review that eventually).

Turning to animation, this is probably be the show's biggest weakness right here. I'm not going to sugar-coat it, the animation is pretty bad, or at the best of times very average. Now, I suppose you could blame this on the year being 2006, but hell, if you look at Fate/stay night, which Studio Deen did only a year earlier, that show seems much more polished then Higurashi. Higurashi's animation suffers from a painfully limited color palette; everything in the show looks really bland and basic, and it might have been OK if the show had at least stayed at the quality where it was, but we don't even get that. During the final arc, it becomes painfully obvious that the budget is getting a little bit tight, so the fight scene we get at the end, no matter how awesome it is conceptually wise, suffers from the really quite poor animation. Also, I'm sorry, but I hate the character designs. They never look like they fit into the world quite right to me, especially with Rika's design, which never fails to make me wince every time I need to look at it. I know this is more personal preference, and is not so much Studio Deen's fault as it is the original visual novel that the anime was based off of, but it really bothers me either way. This faulty animation could potentially ruin the experience of a scary or psychological scene, but I think the anime is directed well enough to make you forgot about the animation and just concentrate on the massacre unfolding before you. I've said this before, but quality of animation isn't necessary important when the story and characters are good enough, and this anime is a perfect example of this, but in the cheerful parts of the anime before the Cotton Drifting Festival where nothing much is happening, it does become rather hard to ignore. If you can look past it, that's great, if you get hung up on it, it might take away from some of the psychological scenes.
     However, the one thing I really do like about the animation is something that's become known as the "Higurashi face". This is when the features of a character's face become extremely exaggerated and the eyes widen in moments of either madness or pain, and I must say, it's very effective, especially when coupled with the crazy laugh the characters do occasionally. It's the contrast when characters who have been nice and cheerful up till now have their face contort like this is what makes the face so creepy and memorable. A really cool feature, and one that only ramps up the fright level in certain scenes.

The Higurashi face. 

The soundtrack for Higurashi was produced by the superb Kenji Kawai, who for a change, seems to have a number of notable works under his belt. He did the music for Eden of The East, the original Fate/stay night, and the currently airing anime Barakamon, which even though I haven't seen, everybody seems to agree is pretty damn good. This means that unlike some other people who worked on Higurashi, I've got quite a bit of expectation for him and I'm delighted to say he fulfills it. While not many standout tracks are here, the quite large OST is filled to the brim with delightfully creepy and catchy atmospheric music. Of course, you've got the typical slice-of-life jingles there for the the fun bits of the series, but those are necessary after all. Yes, the sound-track isn't particularly memorable, per say, unlike some other works by Kawai, but the music is mostly there to really build tension and make your skin crawl during scenes rather then being listened to on your musical device, and I am perfectly fine with that. I'll put a couple of examples of this kind of music below, but before that, we need to talk about the opening for the series. If you read my Top Ten Anime Op's countdown, you know that I included the opening for Higurashi, because damn is it good. The creepy chanting fits the off-putting atmosphere of the series perfectly, along with the schizophrenic visuals that are colorful, surreal and frightening at the same time. It's no doubt the best part of the OST.

The OP

Atmospheric Music

Now I usually don't talk about subs and dubs in my reviews, but for Higurashi I'll make an exception, because the dub is truly awful. No, I'm not a purist, I'm willing to watch a show dub or sub, it really depends on what I watch first. There are some dubs better than their sub counter-parts, like Baccano! or Cowboy Bebop or arguably Gankutsuou, and Higurashi's sub is simply much better. The dub really feels forced by all the actors, and the mad laughs they do or nowhere near as good as in the Japanese version. So yeah, that's just a little footnote, when you go watch the show, find the sub version. 

With that, I shall bring this review of Higurashi no naku koro ni to an end. Now, keep in mind, the opinions I gave and the rating I will give remain solely for the first season of the show. Higurashi no naku koro ni kai will get a review at some point; I couldn't just bundle the two seasons together judging from just how different they really are. So yeah, if you've been repeatedly frustrated by the lack of good horror anime out there, look no further than Higurashi. The first season is an awesome mind-boggling experience form beginning to end, and while the second season does have its problems, it ties up the mystery fairly nicely. Just keep your mind on its toes, and never trust anything the anime tells you, because its definitely going to be turned on its head by the end of the show. It's not for the faint of heart, but if you can stand a little blood and gore, give it try late at night, when the lights are off, and preferably when you're high on caffeine. You never know, it might just scratch that horror itch. 

Final Verdict: 8/10

P.S: So there was nothing wrong with the lunch?

A review of Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai is here. 

Recommended Anime:

Monster

OK, yes, I've never seen it, but what I get from the popular consistence is that it's maybe the best horror anime of all time, so if you liked Higurashi and all things creepy, go watch this anime. Unfortunately, it is an investment of time, what with being over 70 episodes and all. 

Elfen Lied 

FYI, this will be the one and only time I recommend anyone to watch this anime. But putting my personal feeling about the SH*T story aside, I won't deny that its filled to the brim with gore and blood. It's nowhere as intelligent as Higurashi, and requires you to turn your brain off, but it does its job as a horror anime, and I could see many people enjoying this.

Goodbye for now guys.

Like the review? Check my review on Angel Beats here.

Or my check out my First Impressions on Eureka Seven and Toradora! here.

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