Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
(a.k.a. When They Cry 2)

Synopsis, screenshots, recommendations ~ Add Recommendations

Discuss individual episodes and first impressions of this anime here; reviews and final impressions should be posted in the Anime Reviews Forum. Post format and full rules can be found here.

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I didn't realise this had been made until i noticed the extra word in the title, but it seems to have started airing last month. Has anyone started following it?
it's the sequel to Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni if you hadn't noticed :p

Yeah, I've been following Kai since it began airing and I must say I really like it so far. The series this time around is beginning to answer questions that were left unanswered in the first season.

From what I know Kai will be telling the last two answer arcs Minagoroshi-hen (which I've heard is supposed to answer almost everything about the mysteries surrounding Hinamizawa) and Matsuribayashi-hen (where all the pieces of puzzle finally come together) as well as an anime only arc Yakusamashi-hen which recaps information from the first season as well give some information that was left out of the first season, as well as introducing us to zombie tag .

My impression of the series is that it will be focusing more around answering the mysteries rather than the murders which the first season was so famous for. I would definitely recommend following this season to anyone who was a fan of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni.

So far it has been a good series, but as emed795 said it is focusing a lot more on mystery than murder this time round. I only hope they don't give too much away, as one of the things I liked most about the first series was that you never really found out who or what was behind the murders.

Also, don't know if this should be in spoiler tags, but better safe than sorry so don't click unless you've seen at least one episode/ unless you like spoilers:

\yeah, I'm starting to get what you mean about mystery over murder, I just watched the first 3 episodes and everyone seems far too sane. And the cutesy bits just don't work without the psychosis to balance them out.

There will be psychosis, don't worry :p. At least I hope so, they can't call something a 'Massacre Chapter' then leave out the violence...

Still it's more for mystery than slaughter. Last ep of first arc didn't show us anything that wasn't seen before in matter of bloody solutions. But
Sec season has more comedy as well. And yeah, zombie tag is so fucking hilarious and ... creepy, haha. Swanny Kei-kun is also great village attraction :P

And sec arc

Rena's bloody machete should be the greatest tourist attraction! FTW!!! ^^'

Isn't this series (and the first series) confusing?

The first series didn't really bother to explain itself and left lots of questions unanswered, but that was part of the appeal, really.

hedgehogblues said:

The first series didn't really bother to explain itself and left lots of questions unanswered, but that was part of the appeal, really.

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Ditto, that's what I loved about the first series. Whereas this series is beginning to answer it all, so far I'm not liking it as much. Hopefully this arc will end well, with a few psychotic murders as usual, and hopefully they shall explain a bit more about Hanyuu too towards the end.

Yeah I haven't really been able to get stuck in to the second series. I had to abandon it and go on a Those Who Hunt Elves bender instead.

I'll bear with it, it's not actually that bad it's just not as good as the first series (and lets face it, the first series is usually the better series, whatever the program).

Actually, I disagree completely. So far this has been a much better series, as it actually follows competent storytelling values, and, as such, is actually coherent and watchable. It's probably since it's made up of answer arcs, and stuff stupidly cut from the first series by its inept writers. The first arc especially (Spirited away by Ogres) was downright awful. The second arc was better (except the ending). I haven't watched the rest, hoping I'd enjoy it more (or should I say, at all) at a latter point. Strangely, even though I haven't finished the first series, the second one still makes infinitely more sense anyway. It's like the question arcs aren't necessary.

The first arc wasn't that bad IMO (though my only knowledge of Higurahi comes from the anime, I've not played the game or read the manga). It did it's job, creating a cute yet sinister feel in the first episodes and ending with a seemingly normal boy going paranoid and killing his friends. And although none of this was really explained, that just added to the mystery and made me want to watch more.

The fact that this series is dispelling some of the mystery by providing answers is what I dislike. I guess it's all down to personal preference; whether you prefer murder and mystery or a good plot with answers.

What I didn't like was that he was getting paranoid for no reason. This has sort of been explained, so it works a bit better, but as an introduction, it stunk. Also, the anime's choice of starting with a glimpse of the murder, only served to make the light heartedness feel out of place (I suppose some would argue that that's the point), and made the creepy moment feel tacked on "Oh look, it's trying to be scary" (like all they were there for was shock value instead of genuinely adding to the mystery). It just gave the show a very uneven feeling, so that the light moments felt forced, and the creepy moments were laughable. It just didn't support the concept of Suspension of Disbelief, something a show like this desperately needs.

It seems most of the people who praise this show just love the psycho lolis, despite the fact that killing poorly introduced and slowly developed characters like there's no tomorrow doesn't really add any shock or scare value, as we don't sympathize. Murder and death is boring as hell when you don't care about who dies nor given even a hint at true motive. Not to mention the moments that really are tacked on for cheap shock value (she was dead before you talked to her/ wait, she's still alive...[use of paranoral with no foreshadowing of any such at play, in other words, gaps in the plot]) So if you love grusomeness it's all good, but if you want good storytelling, watch it again. Don't forget to read the TIPS as it can't stand on it's own. It didn't add to the mystery for me like it did for you, it just looked like poor writing. The second arc was a tad better in the storytelling.

The new series is extremely better balanced in its storytelling, and I can actually get a feel for the characters this time. It makes sense, without spelling things out, and cuts the cheap tricks. That's probably because they're answer arcs. Like I said before, even though I feel I should watch the rest of the first series to trly appreciate the second, the storytelling is so wack in it, it's not even needed to get what's fully going on since this is the arc that does just that, where the rest is just boring murder crap.

Mercurial Morpheus said:

Also, the anime's choice of starting with a glimpse of the murder, only served to make the light heartedness feel out of place

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I agree with you there, I wish they hadn't done that. It's pretty much a spoiler for the events later in the story .

Mercurial Morpheus said:

What I didn't like was that he was getting paranoid for no reason. This has sort of been explained, so it works a bit better, but as an introduction, it stunk. Also, the anime's choice of starting with a glimpse of the murder, only served to make the light heartedness feel out of place (I suppose some would argue that that's the point), and made the creepy moment feel tacked on "Oh look, it's trying to be scary" (like all they were there for was shock value instead of genuinely adding to the mystery). It just gave the show a very uneven feeling, so that the light moments felt forced, and the creepy moments were laughable. It just didn't support the concept of Suspension of Disbelief, something a show like this desperately needs.

It seems most of the people who praise this show just love the psycho lolis, despite the fact that killing poorly introduced and slowly developed characters like there's no tomorrow doesn't really add any shock or scare value, as we don't sympathize. Murder and death is boring as hell when you don't care about who dies nor given even a hint at true motive. Not to mention the moments that really are tacked on for cheap shock value (she was dead before you talked to her/ wait, she's still alive...[use of paranoral with no foreshadowing of any such at play, in other words, gaps in the plot]) So if you love grusomeness it's all good, but if you want good storytelling, watch it again. Don't forget to read the TIPS as it can't stand on it's own. It didn't add to the mystery for me like it did for you, it just looked like poor writing. The second arc was a tad better in the storytelling.

The new series is extremely better balanced in its storytelling, and I can actually get a feel for the characters this time. It makes sense, without spelling things out, and cuts the cheap tricks. That's probably because they're answer arcs. Like I said before, even though I feel I should watch the rest of the first series to trly appreciate the second, the storytelling is so wack in it, it's not even needed to get what's fully going on since this is the arc that does just that, where the rest is just boring murder crap.

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My opinion to your post: 100% nonsense + not worth reading
also no worth responding but i try it (with no effort of course)

if u want to criticize something u should have watched it first and don't tell that u didn't see a reason why they do what they do before u have watched it all...
its a mystery and detective genre and it makes 100% sense if u have watched it all and/or played the game
also the answer arcs starts with ep 16 of the First season and don't say the question arcs are not important...

^ I think it's a bit unfair to say it's all nonsense. Mercurial Morpheus mentioned a lot of good points in that post, and although a lot of it is down to opinion (i.e some of his 'negative' points actually made the series better in my opinion) they are still valid points.

Plus he was certainly right about the 'starting with a glimpse of the murder'. At least with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai you never know exactly where it is heading. Whereas most of the arcs in series one started with spoilers, telling you who dies and who committed the murders, taking away a lot of the surprise when it actually happened.

Wow DarkMissingno... Just wow... Where to start...

"My opinion to your post: 100% nonsense + not worth reading
also no worth responding but i try it (with no effort of course)"

Thanks for the opinion. Great to know your opinion is that I shouldn't have one myself. It's funny really, because I think you're describing your own post. While AngryJellyfish is right that it all comes down to opinion, you seem to have missed that. To then show your lack of tolerance with poor grammar and to even defy your own belief that it's not worth responding to is really, really lame. Heck, it's stupid really. What's your point in doing such? If it's not worth your time to respond, through your own admission, why did you? Nice way to start on a message board by laying to yourself and everyone else. Heck, if you're going to one up me (which is obviously what you're trying to do), at the very least, you should care enough to try.

"if u want to criticize something u should have watched it first"

I actually agree with you there. That said, I wasn't criticizing Higurashi as a whole, but rather what I've seen. Might I add that I'm still watching the damn thing? Naturally, since I've seen 100% of what I've seen, that gives me every right to critique what I've seen. My opinion still stands that the start of the show is horribly presented, and does a great disservice to building the mystery you seem to hold so dearly. One doesn't need to have seen the whole thing to come to that conclusion.



" and not tell that u didn't see a reason why they do what they do before u have watched it all..."

Man that's hard to read. So you're saying I shouldn't comment on a show unless I've seen all of it, hence defeating the point of an anime discussion board? That I shouldn't say that the show hasn't done it's job of efectively conveying motivation, when it truly hasn't? Bull. Seeing as no one's seen all of at as Kai is still airing, even you should be shutting your trap. ^_^

Of course, motivations become clear later. I'm saying that since we don't know the characters in the beginning at all, one has no idea where the homicidal tendencies come from, or if it's even within character. Hence the drama doesn't work. How am I supposed to react to Keiichi's paranoia when I have little clue who the heck he is, and that he isn't even consistent with it. One minute he's buddy-buddy, then he's not, then he is, then he's not, then he is, then he's not to the extreme. I get the mystery there is not knowing whether it founded or not, but the character isn't even acting in the limited sense that's already been established.

Surely one doesn't need to see an entirely show to start understanding the characters. Surely you don't believe that one shouldn't form an opinion of characters until after all facts are know. That's an outright retarded belief as it's completely impossible to do. The very nature of storytelling is to identify with the characters as you watch it. Hence you form opinions as you watch it, and they may change when it's done.

So your sentence is a straw man argument.

Besides, the post was meant to address points brought up in this discussion, not Higurashi as a whole. With the main point being that I've enjoyed Kai more as it was better told, didn't resort to cheap gimmicks and actually fixed season one's problems (namely being the lack of proper setup rendering the so-called "creepy bits" lame).

"its a mystery and detective genre and it makes 100% sense if u have watched it all and/or played the game"

You think? I would hope so, otherwise someone didn't write a very good story. Though your statement implies that you've done such. Seeing as the anime isn't finished, you've either read spoilers yourself to know this, or your grasp of Japanese exceeds your apparent limited grasp of English. Besides, as I've already pointed out, Kai is doing just that, and bringing some semblance of continuity to the randomness of the first show. Keiichi's paranoia is simply explained by Rika's monologue. Might I add that most fans of the game also felt the anime was lacking in presenting the story clearly. The makers even insisted Kai have a unique arc to explain the info Deen stupidly left out the first time around.

"also the answer arcs starts with ep 16 of the First season"

Ummm.... Where did I say otherwise? I merely stated that Kai was made up of answer arcs, not that it was the only answer arcs. I'm fully aware of the first season. I know more about Higurashi than you give me credit for. Soooo, your point?

"and don't say the question arcs are not important..."

I can if I want, as it's an OPINION, and what I meant by it is that, even though I've only seen two question arcs and nine episodes of Kai, I still fully understand what's going on. Hence it's a valid conclusion. Kai (nay, the whole story) is setup in a way where prior knowledge isn't really needed to understand what's going on as the question arcs don't tell you that to begin with. It's all revealed in reverse. The overarcing story is contained in the the knowledge the answer arcs give. The question arcs merely show detail and facets of the characters. The question arcs are important in understanding the show as a whole. I never said that they weren't.

My point is, given my experience, they actually aren't so important as to be needed to understand what's going on, as Kai fills in such things (like how it went before), and that the way that they're presented they just don't work without that knowledge unless all you care about is cheap horror (which describes most fans apparently). I meant no more, no less. Basically, the question arcs are just that, question inducing arcs with deception and misinformation. Kai has actually encouraged me to continue season one, something your post greatly discourages in me

Now, since I am a much more gracious person than your post allows me to be, let me conclude with an apology for my rough response. I merely responded to your rude post in kind, and treated your opinions as you did mine. My thanks to AngryJellyfish for understanding my meanings and for knowing what an opinion really is, and not being the apparent "fan so enraged that anyone would dare see their favorite show differently that they just had to register to give them a poorly thought out piece of their mind and show just how well they misinterpreted the post and forgot about what an opinion is."

Welcome to the Planet. Might I suggest a spell checker, and a chill pill? Firefox's isn't half bad, and I'd have no problem discussing this in a more civilized manner.

For added reading, might I suggest this thread: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=464553#464553

Note that the opinions addressed are reflective of the the preceding posts.

Mind if I try actually enjoying the show now, with your permission of course?

It's true that the first three arcs were all but completely lacking in the overall plot department, and their value comes solely in the horror/creepy category. Of course, not everyone is going to like that aspect, and that's fine. Anyway, things get to have a little more continuity in chapter 4, and now in Kai they are fully continuous. I'm not sure if they intended to do Kai from the very beginning, but it certainly seems that way...

If you think of it as a 52-ep series, it doesn't seem bad at all to have the first 13 eps serve as setup. I think they are really necessary, though, not only to setup characters, but also to give you some example cases to have in your memory for when the plot starts to become apparent. As much as Kai explains things, it'd still be awfully awkward to be meeting the charaters, town, situation, etc. for the first time at that point.

So, yes, Kai is better, but that's to be expected since it's more like the second half of a 52 ep series than a sequel. I would argue that the first series was never meant to stand on its own, so probably should not be thought of as such - separating a series into two halves is becoming a bit popular these days - Black Lagoon, Higurashi, Tokyo Majin Gakuen, etc. It's certainly not unheard of...

The more I watch Kai, the more I'm warming to it. This arc really does look like it is going to end on a happy note, though I doubt that will be the case. But also the side of me that liked series one really wants some violence! Nine episodes in and all we've seen are deaths that happened in series one plus
I agree that the two work great as a whole, and to me the fact that the first arc of series one was confusing only added to the mystery (whether that was how it was intended to work, I have no idea). But even if the character intro was a bit weak, with every new story arc the characters are resurrected so in a way the whole first series could be seen as a character introduction.

The one other thing that they did wrong in arc one of series one, I've just realized, is that they neglected to show Rika's death. Which, as said early on in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, is something that occurs in every world along with the deaths of Tomitake and Takano at Watanagashi. They should have shown her die in some way, even if they didn't explain it until later.