"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
-J.K Rowling
Warning: Not sure if I really need to tell you this, but this review will contain spoilers for the ending of the first season of Higurashi no naku koro ni. You've been warned.
Click here for my review of the first season of Higurashi no naku koro ni.
a byproduct of the nature of the first season, taking the second season in a new direction, a direction that could have worked, bringing the franchise into a mixed tonal experience of awesomeness. But for whatever reason, whether it be a few key mistakes at critical moments, or simply that the creators of Higurashi simply did not think this whole thing through enough, Higurashi Kai is ultimately a swing... and a miss.
Hello people of "The Wired", my name is Quan, I hope you've been having a lovely day, because it's
time for the long overdo review of Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai, something I promised, hell, what was it, 10 months or so ago? It's pretty crazy I've lasted this long actually. For fear of pushing the same information down your throats, I will be not repeating the studio and people behind this season, because they remain largely unchanged from S1, and if you want that info for cataloging or something, feel free to check out my review of S1. For everyone else, let's jump right into the plot.
Story
At the end of the first season, a couple of things became clear. Keiichi suddenly remembered a couple of things that he probably shouldn't have forgotten in the first place, namely that he killed Mion and Rena savagely with a baseball bat, and through a short talk with Rika, he confirms something that we the viewers have been suspecting all along. That the plot of Higurashi is not in fact a mash-up of possible "what-if?" scenarios, but rather a veritable Groundhog Day situation of an infinitely repeating loop of death and murder that will never ever stop, erasing all memories of the traumatic events every-time it goes around for another go. Well... almost all memories, because as it turns out, Rika is the only person who remembers every single iteration, and is becoming slowly desensitized from the transpiring events as she re-lives the deaths of her friends over and over again. Not only this, Rika is the only one aware of the presence of Hanyu: a mysterious girl invisible to basically everyone, that may hold the key about this repeating summer(and also may be the person that Rika has been talking to when she is all by herself this entire time). Upon this realization, Rika slips from the role of the mysterious onlooker of the anime to the spotlight of Higurashi's main protagonist. And so, the stage is set for Higurashi Kai, as Rika Furude must struggle to not lose hope and keep going in the face of the seemingly inevitable result of the death of everyone in Hinamizawa, as she must dodge conspiracies, murderers and the twisted hand of fate in this infinitely repeating labyrinth of sorrow, so maybe, one day, she can find an outcome where everyone can make it out alive.
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| Move over Keiichi, we've got a new protagonist. |
The first problem lies in pacing. While Higurashi season 1 was a series of wild, savage arcs that all eventually boiled over in blood-soaked mayhem, Higurashi Kai takes a much slower, more reflexive approach. Since it's from Rika's point of view this time, we get many monologues from her about the situation she's in and her ponderings, which are interesting at first, but quickly become boring as they drone on and on, over and over again, like they didn't have enough other things to fill their time with. Actually, everything in Kai seems unnecessarily dragged out. One arc: "Massacre", lasts a grand total of 9 episodes, nearly twice as long as an average arc in the series, and it doesn't help that this arc is half boring slice-of-life, and half more deeply exploring Satoko's situation with her abusive uncle, which is helpful for character development, but is also milked for all its worth. Now putting that arc together with the first two arcs of the series, one which is confusing beyond reason, and one is which is basically just Rika reflecting on the situation, and the first half of Higurashi Kai ends up being a slow slog with hardly any of the gore, horror, and Rena stabbing people that we've come to expect from this franchise, and I guess it's no wonder that that pissed a lot of fans of season 1 off. This is somewhat redeemed at the end of the "Massacre" arc in spectacular fashion, but we'll get to that later.
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| "You are not a flower in Hell." |
It doesn't help that the answers to the questions raised by the first season are sort of ridiculous. Of course I won't straight out say what they are, but let's just say some are more satisfying than others. I mean, one of the biggest things I appreciate about Higurashi Kai is that is actually answers questions and ties up pretty much all loose ends from the first season, and what it doesn't straight out tell you, can usually easily be gathered from context clues or perhaps re-watching a few choice episodes from the first season. Some of revelations are even amazing in both delivery and the way they were built up throughout the franchise. Answers like what exactly happened to Satoshi(remember him, Satoko's older brother?), and one particular piece of information dropped in episode 12 or 13(I can't quite remember), that had me, no joke, jump up from my seat, walk in circles around my living room, yelling "Oh, snap!" repeatedly for a good 5 minutes. Yeah, I know, I'm a nerd.
On the other hand, for all the well-built up and foreshadowed answers, there is a couple that make me wonder if Higurashi is making up this crap as it goes along. Like, aliens? Really, Higurashi? Aliens? You had no better answer for why- oh never mind. |
| Wave goodbye Rika. |
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| On the left: Hanyu. On the right: Rika. From top to bottom on the left cards: Shion, Satoko, Takano. On the right cards: Keiichi, Mion and Rena. |
The characters are a mixed bag, though mostly a positive one. While development has been pretty much burned out completely for the main cast by the start of Kai, we still have one character to shine the spotlight on: the new protagonist of the show, Rika. Now, I will recognize that the basic idea of her character isn't exactly anything new: an all-knowing yet helpless onlooker, worn down to the point of apathy, but I think the reason she works so well as a character in this season lies in the execution. Even if her monologues become tiresome in the first half of the anime, Rika still voices clear thoughts about her stance in this endless summer, and it becomes rather fascinating as her desire to protect her friends clashes against the knowledge that no matter what she does, the result will always be the same. It's admirable really, how she keeps going in the face of utter despair, quite similar to [ERASED FOR SPOILERS] from Madoka Magica, but what really sells her character for me is that she is clearly more tired of this sh*t than anyone, and continually becomes more frustrated and dismissive as the series goes on. As she continually gets her hopes up that maybe the actions she takes this time will change the outcome, only for her preconceptions to be crushed by the crushing hopelessness of her situation. This is illustrated beautifully in one of my favorite scenes of Kai, when Rika, finally pushed to her limit, unleashes a flurry of rage and frustration over her hopeless situation at the world, as her final hope putters out in the face of an impossible challenge. And it's just... so good.
Hanyu is the new character for Kai, and unfortunately, she is not nearly as interesting as Rika. While we never get a proper explanation on what exactly she is, we can gather form context clues, and honestly, it's pretty stupid, especially when you consider the implication this has on certain events of the first season. As for her motivation, it pretty much begins and ends with wanting to protect Rika, and that isn't a bad motivation per say, but now I have nothing much left to say about her, for that is what drives her character throughout the entirety of Kai. The only interesting thing about her is that she is much more pessimistic than Rika about, as she puts it, "overcoming fate", and encourages Rika to just give up on trying to beat death so she won't continue to disappoint and hurt herself. But now that's just looking for depth that isn't there.
The last character to talk about is "the villain", who will remain nameless and gender-less so you won't be spoiled on one of the biggest and best surprises of the season. Anyway, I can see you raising your eyebrow(yes, I can see you), and I understand completely. Higurashi was never the kind of anime that needed a villain; the antagonist of the first season was more or less the dark side of humanity, and that was the way I liked it, but I think you'll find that this villain more than makes up for the loss of subtlety in that regard. I don't know, maybe I like this antagonist so much is that once the antagonist is first revealed(in one of the most awesome ways imaginable) about half-way through the season, it heralds the coming of the best episode of the season, in which a visceral, awesome, satisfying and honestly, quite soul-crushing last 10 or so minutes follow, and makes you think "hey, this almost feels like the first season again." I also quite liked the back-story and unique motivation, for that matter. I thought it was rather interesting.
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| An example of the typical animation of Higurashi Kai. Who's this? Spoilers |
Presentation & Sound
Just because I hate Studio Deen doesn't mean I can't give them credit where it's due. Compared to the animation of the first season, Higurashi Kai has drastically improved in several key areas. For one, characters look a lot smoother and better integrated into the world, and speaking of the world, the environment is lot more bright and expressive, with a lot more variety of colors compared to the dull temperatures of the first season. Some say that they prefer the rougher and uglier designs of the first season, arguing that they helped pound home the brutality of the show, but honestly, that seems a little to me like they're grasping at straws. The first season had bad animation, end of story, and Higurashi Kai looks a lot better. I mean, it still doesn't look particularly good, but it's probably one of the best efforts I've seen from Studio Deen. Not that that's saying much.
Kenji Kawai has returned for Kai's soundtrack, and as per usual from the composer, it is quite superlative. If you remember, the strength of the soundtrack of the first season was the palatable creepy atmosphere that the music let off, and Kawai has done much of the same with the OST for Kai, though this time, he has adjusted his music for tone. There's still a couple of good and creepy tracks in there like "Shinsou", but Kai's soundtrack embraces the thriller and supernatural aspects of the season, changing the atmosphere of the music(and by extension anime) by quite a bit. You have proper battle music like "Gekitotsu", and even some emotional tracks thrown in for good measure. But undoubtedly the highlight of the music is the OP: "Naraku no Hana", a truly haunting and beautiful song that captures the desperate feel of Kai perfectly, using symbolism and meaningful lyrics to its full advantage. I like it so much that I may even think it's better than the first season's OP: and if you know me, that's not said lightly.
Naraku no Hana
Gekitotsu
Shinsou
Verdict
So, throughout this review, it has probably become quite clear that I have some mixed feelings when it comes to Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai. Is it sinful blotch on the legacy of the Higurashi franchise? Not really, because despite being not as good as S1, there are plenty of good things to talk about as well. So is it a worthy successor to the original Higurashi no naku koro ni? Well no, it's not that either, because it pretty much takes everything that made the first season good and throws it away without a care, especially in that good awful ending. So then, what does that make Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai? What I would say, if I were to judge Kai solely on its own merits- well, there's the problem. Actually, if I were to say, I'd say that that is the problem with Higurashi Kai. It's impossible to judge on its own merits. Regardless of what Kai wanted to be, it's still attached to arguably the best horror/psychological mystery anime of the past decade, and that shadow is being cast over it the entire time, overshadowing the good points and enhancing the flaws. It's something just kind of good being compared to something great, and in the end, that "something good" is always going to be seen as a disappointment when compared to "something great". That's why for all the things I don't like about Kai, I can't find it in myself to hate it. Because, really, it never stood a chance. Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai is a decent supernatural thriller, with a great protagonist and villain, but ultimately is let down by poorly handled pacing and an ending that is just kind of... stupid. It's passable. It's something I can enjoy. I just wish it wasn't part of Higurashi no naku koro ni.
Final Verdict: 6/10
P.S: Oh... so she was never dead to begin with.
Recommended Anime:
Blast of Tempest
Another supernatural mystery thriller with a mind-bending time-line, that doesn't really go for the horror aspect as much as intrigue. It's slow like Kai, but manages to pull its interesting threads together to create something interesting by the end, unlike Kai. Also head this way if you want to see trees as antagonists.
Shinsekai yori
However, if you really want to mix the darkness of Higurashi's first season with some supernatural perfection, Shinsekai yori provides one of the best developed and interesting worlds ever brought to animation, with some of the most original concepts this side of Higurashi... and also this series also has one of the best "villains" out there, so there's that.
Unfortunately, Higurashi no naku koro ni and Kai are not available for legal streaming on Hulu or Crunchyroll. Sorry.
Goodbye for now guys.
Click here for my anime review of Kyoukai no Kanata
Or here for my review of Over the Garden Wall.
And finally, my Footnotes on fan-service and sensuality is located here.
Find Me At:
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| https://hummingbird.me/users/Quan |
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| https://twitter.com/QuanReviews |
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| Email Me At: quanqreviews@gmail.com |
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