Higan Review

story 5/10

I’m a big fan of pretty much anything Studio 4C, so needless to say, I jumped at the chance to watch Higan. Don’t get me wrong, the "story" (if you want to call it that) wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t substantial in any way, so I can’t really score this section highly.

In a nutshell, there are two guys in mecha fighters that are fighting some armored tanks.

... no, really, that’s all there is. With the exception of a short sequence at the end that might be considered "sad" (if it was actually longer than seven minutes and actually had a plot), this is literally something you’d watch only for the visuals.

There are no other characters of note besides the mecha fighters (and presumably people in the tanks), there’s no twist, there’s no character development and there is not much of any genre. Violence is aplenty, but nothing as far as gore or horror. Zero comedy, and little drama. Again, this is pretty much only something you’d watch for the visuals; and thus, I can’t give this any higher than a 5. Don’t let this detract you from watching it, though... just keep in mind what the point of it is.

animation 9/10

The animation is easily the best reason to watch Higan, and is definitely impressive. Having seen quite a few of Studio 4C’s works, I can say that the animation overall tends to be a mixed bag. Sometimes it’s beautiful and 3D, other times it’s very crude, and yet other times it’s just... bizarre. In Higan’s case, the animation takes on a more realistic side and comes across as stunning, to say the least. The entire seven minutes takes place at night, in a dark forest. The shadows are lit up by creepy glowing goggles, that have a very sci fi and cyberpunk feel to them. We can feel the suspense as the characters move through the thick underbrush, looking for the tanks. Fights are beautifully animated with plenty of realistic looking explosions and gunfire. Out of all the animation, I especially enjoyed the scenes where the characters were looking through their goggles, showing us a green and futuristic looking console that zoomed in on the attackers. Occasional close-ups were effective, and in general, I was quite impressed with the job Studio 4C did.

sound 6/10

It’s hard to rate this section due to its nature: there was no music. Literally, I don’t remember hearing anything that even closely resembles a tune, except for the ending credits song. Admittedly, the background "track" does fit perfectly with the suspenseful sounds of the jungle and combat, blaring gunfire, screams of the combatants and whirs of the machinery. Much of the appeal of Higan is the way you feel like you are right in the middle of the action, and the sound effects cement that. Heavy breathing can be heard when an enemy approaches, and above all else, the silence before the storm that is deafening.

Voice acting is very minimal but seemed fine.

characters 4/10

Yet another hard section to rate, due to the OVA's length and utter lack of a plot. While Higan’s goal is to provide you with pretty visuals, it unfortunately also tries to throw in a bit of character information that isn’t really explained, and ends up being left unanswered. Specifically, you never really know why the war of sorts is taking place, or who the real bad guys are. We see through the eyes of one character in particular, and watch his interactions with other characters that we don’t know anything about. It’s hard to feel a sense of connection with any of them due to their utter transparency in pretty much every way. Thus, when the end credits approach, the "twist" of the plot really doesn’t affect you at all, and that’s a shame. I normally would have rated this section a 5, just like the plot, since the plot was neither good nor bad. With the characters, though, I had to rate it down slightly because of the unanswered questions and such.

overall 6/10

Higan isn’t bad, it’s just not that good either. Visually, it’s a real treat, and is definitely fairly interesting as far as the content, but it seems to be lacking something that would make it a better watch. Is it the lack of characters and development? Or the absence of a plot? Or the fact that we are left with mild – but still unanswered – questions? Who knows. What I can tell you is that this is a beautiful 7 minute viewing that will tickle your fancy, but probably won’t make it in your top 10. At any rate, it’s short, so why not check it out?