When They Cry: Higurashi - Reviews

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (a.k.a. When They Cry) is one of those unique Anime’s where you have no idea what is going on at first and then you grow to love it all the way towards it’s psychotic ending. When I discovered that this Anime is based off of a murder mystery video game the random moments when the characters came back to life sort of made more sense to me.

The story overall is not too bad. There are like 3 or 4 stories that play throughout the 26 episodes; some follow around Keiichi Maebara (our main guy heroin) Mion and Shion Sonozaki (twins who are totally fucked up) and the following cast consist of Rena Ryugu (who constantly wants to take things home lol) Satoko Houjou (who has a wonderful uncle) and Rika Furude (who has a bigger part in the sequel). With plenty of horror themes and blood to go around it’s really an enjoyable experience and there never really is a dull moment. It gets you hooked right off the bat which I really love.

The animation is sleek and nice; the scenes dealing with blood and gore are absolutely fantastic and keep your eyes glued to the screen. The animation really sets the mood for just about every scene; one minute you can be in a foreboding atmosphere the next the group can be enjoying themselves at school and the color then are bright and beautiful. It’s simply amazing how quick the scenes can change at times (especially in the character facial expressions).

The opening and ending music is done nicely but what really makes this show shine is the eerie soundtrack throughout the series, just as the animation sets the mood to send shivers down your spine the music enhances that feeling and takes it to another extreme. During some torture scenes alone I found myself not blinking for minutes on end lol, this is what the music will do to you.

For the most part the characters are just average, don’t get me wrong I like them and grew to care for these characters but to me they didn’t have anything special going on other than being fucked up in the head or just trying to stay alive. I watched this particular Anime subtitled and I suggest you do the same; I tried to watch one episode of the dub and just couldn’t watch it. I was so used to them subbed that I couldn’t watch it dubbed. Each character is unique in their ways such as Satoko’s evil laugh, Rika’s “Nippa’s” , Rena’s cute voice and always insisting on taking cute things home, Mion’s leadership in her club, and Keiichi having his moments of triumph and being particularly awesome with a baseball bat. (Sorry but Shion to me was just a twin with a bad case of insanity, no offense to any Shion lovers out there.)

Overall I’d watch this again and recommend this to any horror/murder mystery fan. The show hooks you in right from the beginning, the characters are likeable just enough for you to care about them, and there are plenty of twists in this series to make you go WTF. If you hate blood and torture then stay away, but if you like to get a little sadistic with your Anime’s then check this one out. You will not be disappointed.

Before I started to watch anime, I was scared of anything and everything. So then, I picked up my first volume of manga--one of the earlier volumes of "Bleach." I was so terrified, I couldn't even look at "Bleach" for a few years. So I decided to overcome my fears and watch a horror anime (horror manga would come later). I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, but I didn't want to be such a wimp. Therefore, I started to watch the only horror anime of which I'd heard. I missed the first episode, so I watched the second. It was so not-scary; I was laughing the whole time. How was this horror?

That anime goes by the unsuspecting name of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni."

Story: Maebara Keiichi moves to a new town, Hinamizawa. Well, it's more of a village, actually. There he soon meets new students in his class--Ryuugu Rena, who's weakness is anything cute; Sonozaki Mion, the tomboy and leader of the gang; Furude Rika, the shy girl who is ace at most games; and Houjou Satoko, the loud girl who often teases Keiichi. (If you haven't noticed, this is a harem anime. Come on. How the hell is a harem horror?) They play a card game, and if you are the loser, you have to play a punishment game. Keiichi tends to lose and therefore has to dress up in drag (it's quite entertaining, actually). Soon after, he meets Sonozaki Shion, the busty identical twin of Mion. Keiichi doesn't believe Mion has a twin, but after seeing them together, he comes to accept the fact that he another friend.

That's the point of the anime: friendship.

This is where friendship really comes into play.

The anime probably sounds like some stupid harem right about now, and yes, it may seem that way. But then you hit episodes three and four (or four and five; I can't remember). As it turns out, Hinamizawa has a curse where every night of the Watanagashi (Cotton Drifting) festival, a person dies and another goes missing (that's the gist of it, anyway). Keiichi soon learns that this is true, and he is kind of confused. It's June, and Watanagashi is arriving very, very soon.

To make a long story short, I didn't sleep for a week after that. I don't want to say exactly what happens, but Rena and Mion die, followed by Keiichi.

WHAT?! Three main characters are DEAD?!

Then the next episode comes up, and Rena, Mion, Keiichi and everyone are sitting around, playing games and laughing like usual.

Here's what makes "Higurashi" so scary: the suspense and mystery. The "reset" storyline (it's explained later) means that our beloved cast can murder and be murdered over and over.

But the gore isn't the scary part... watch it to find out what is.

Animation: The animation is, in a word, hideous. No sparkly eyes, no fancy lolita dresses, no shiny hair. (But the art for the VN looked even worse.) But the ugliest thing of all is the grotesque faces which add to the overal fear factor of the show. The animators take advantage of the fact that this is an anime--unnatural lighting comes into play. For example...

(This is an actual screenshot.)

WTF the sun is behind her!

The backgrounds are not very detailed, the animation is average, character designs are mediocre, and the blood and torture scenes are downright disturbing.

Sound: The opening song, "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni," is hauntingly trippy and great. The ED isn't very memorable. Insert music is creepy within the series, but listen to the OST on their own and you will be both horrified and entranced (some of my favorite OST are here). The only purposeful insert sound is the sound of the cicadas crying (chirping, I guess). Voice acting is effing incredible... at least in Japanese. None of these characters are easy to portray. All of the seiyuu do superb jobs (and the infamous laughs are done well, too). English voice acting is so inferior, it's disappointing. I haven't heard much (obviously, if the Japanese is so good, why would I want to waste my time with English?), but among the lack of emotion, laughs and turning "Nippah~~:3" into "Nee-PAH," the English is not worth it.

Characters: Hurrah! There is are backstories and some development, and a super high risk of spoilers! But don't worry about that; I'll evade the spoilers by shutting up. >.>

 

(Note: This flowery stuff never happened! Keiichi and Satoshi never even meet.) Characters: Brown-haired boy: Maebara Keiichi; blonde boy: Houjou Satoshi; green-haired girl in front of Keiichi and Satoshi: Sonozaki Shion (I'm guessing); blonde girl in yellow kimono: Houjou Satoko; blue-haired girl next to Satoko: Furude Rika; purple-haired girl next to Rika: Hanyuu; orange-haired girl in pink kimono: Ryuugu Rena; green-haired girl next to Rena: Sonozaki Mion.

Maebara Keiichi: Has anyone here read Stephen King's "The Langoliers?" Perhaps the most memorable character in it is Craig Toomy, who brings paranoia to a whole new level. I mention this because Keiichi may be even more paranoid. He honestly thinks that the entire village is out to get him, and that everyone around his is completely insane. He, being the main character, truly defines the "friendship" message... in a very, very odd way.

Furude Rika: Her extreme cuteness and unnaturally calm attitude could be seen as creepy, but I think the unsettling air about her (it's there, but you can't put your finger on it) is the creepiest thing. I may spoil if I continue, so on to the next character.

Ryuugu Rena: Remember the picture in the "Animation" section? That's her. She is incredible schizophrenic and switches from innocent schoolgirl to cleaver-wielding sociopath loli and back again in a span of about fifteen seconds. She is a contender for "scariest character," and she truly is terrifying.

Sonozaki Mion: The only really friendly person in the group, her relationship with Shion forms the core of the torture scenes in the anime.

Sonozaki Shion: I will spoil if I go any farther.

Houjou Satoko: She is annoying most of the time, but one can build sympathy for her once Satoshi's arc rolls around.

Takano Miyo: I think she is the scariest character, or at least a close second to Rena. There is something seriously wrong with her. She is completely messed up, but her backstory is so sob-worthy... T.T

Ooishi Kuraudo: He is rarely called by his first name, mostly because only Keiichi talks to him. He is the police officer who helps to solve the mystery.

Houjou Satoshi: Despite the fact that he rarely even appears in the anime, he is one of the most important characters. I run an insanely high risk of spoiling, so I'll stop.

Hanyuu: I'm going to spoil.

Overall: "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni," which translates to "when the cicadas cry," is an incredible addition to the horror genre. I, like so many people, am still searching for a better and more terrifying horror anime. You won't notice it's a harem, which I guess makes it the best harem anime of all time, and the rewatch value is really high. Why do I say this? (SPOILER ALERT UNTIL THE END OF THE WHOLE THING, SO IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ ANY SPOILERS, STOP HERE AND DO NOT READ ON, AND YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO LOOK AT THE PICTURES, EITHER. SPOILERS FOR "UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO NI," TOO.) The thing about "Higurashi" is that it's one big conspiracy. Watch it once and have nightmares. Watch it again and be amazed at how seamlessly the mystery works. Then, watch "Umineko no Naku Koro ni" and find out how incredibly the two blend.

Oh, and one more thing about "Umineko" and this... many people don't seem to know how the Rikas and Bernkastel work.

Frederika (if you put that name into romanji and change one letter, you get Furuderika. OHOHOHOH) represents all the Rikas, since Rika is her game piece in the game that is "Higurashi" (Lambdadelta's piece is Takano).

Here's another thing to notice...

(This is Bernkastel, by the way.) Bernkastel and Rika look exactly the same, except for Bernkastel's dead eyes. Actually, with this in mind...

Lambdadelta and Satoko--I MEAN Takano look kind of similar, too.

(By the way, sorry about the boring pictures. All the gorgeous ones are of the two of them together. Hmm... to end on a high note...)

Feast your eyes on this. :D

Wow. I REALLY got off topic. Now here's to hoping all these pictures show up.

Higurashi No Naku koro Ni, is based on a series of events that seem to keep happening in a small village called Hinamizawa. The story(or stories) revolve around a small group of friends and a supposed curse that has been inflicted on the village.

I won't talk about the curse because it is talked about often through out the series so that you 'know' what is going on. Although actually understanding what is going on may be tough because the show does not do much to explain what keeps happening.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni(1st Season) is spread upon 6 chapters(with a total of 26 episodes), where each chapter tells of the same timeline of Hinamizawa but with some character and perspective changes.

~STORY

As explained earlier, it is the story of a group of friends and the curse of a small village. If I push on further with the story, I'm afraid I will give off vital information.

Just remember this- keep Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai(2nd Season) readily available to watch right after finishing the first season. You should know this that the first season has the 'Question Arcs' while the second season has the 'Answer Arcs'.

So if you are confused with what is going on, then remember that season 2 is there to answer all your questions. 

~ANIMATION

Although the animation wasn't 'that' great as a lot of animes available now, I felt that if the animation was any different than it is now- it would not have made the same impact it did on most people that watched and understood the beauty of HNNKN(Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni).

Not like I can explain it properly, but to me HNNKN's animation had been done perfectly for maximum effect. There is this vibe you get when you see cute animated characters go into their psychotic modes. Backgrounds are done beautifully and colors are quite nicely done. Character models are great too.

~SOUND

I have not heard or watched the Dubbed version of HNNKN(When They Cry), so that is to be disregarded. The original voice actors did an awesome job at keeping the paces of what had been going on on-screen. I was surprised by how they could go from making such nice and cute voices to psychotically murderous tones.

Other than the voice acting, the only reason why SOUND does not receive a 10 is because, all through out the season- during the episodes- all i can remember hearing are the cicadas crying.

I admit that the OP and ED are both brilliant, also some YouTube-ing reveals that this series has many beautiful songs('Dear You')- but i just can't remember listening to any music 'during' the stories/episodes.

~CHARACTERS

All the characters are nothing short of awesomeness. The Main character cast has little kids to kids almost out of their teens. Most people who watch the series can actually relate to these characters who have detailed backgrounds from where they came from and why everything on screen seems to happen.

This is the reason why a lot of people get partially paranoid and scared after watching this show. The characters are very real and prove that even the most sane person can have a truly bad day- no matter where they come from. 

don't.be.fooled...even.for.a.second.

 

~OVERALL

This review also partially takes in Kai(2nd season) & Rei(3rd season/5 episode OVA) into consideration, and overall I rate it to be my no. 1 anime as of this moment of writing. 

Remember that this series involves a lot of thinking and open mindedness. You cannot watch it if you do not give this a chance, that is why I will implore you to watch the first 7 episodes before judging it.

When you first watch it, it looks like any cute harem, but once you watch the 2nd or 3rd episode you realize there's more to it than that. The 4th episode marks the end of the first arc, but keep watching till half of the second arc(7th episode) before choosing to continue on this mind boggling journey or missing out the opportunity on such a rare gem.

Violence is not something that should turn you away from this. You are to watch it for a memorable story.

As I said before, keep Kai at hand as it clearly explains why your brain can't handle the awesomeness.

HNNKN- Rei is good to keep at hand too(episode 2,3 & 4)- but that's only the sweetest of toppings on a mind f*cking sundae.

(ok, it's not that much of a mind f*ck)

~ENDING/PERSONAL COMMENTS

Two years ago, I was watching a lot of Naruto and being an anime-noob. Having only watched(well to what I remember) DBZ and Ninku before, I had no idea about all the brilliant anime available.

While on youtube, I randomly stumbled upon an AMV that showcased Rena with her axe. Intrigued by it(i'm big on horror, mystery, mind f*cks, psychological stuff), I began my research and came across 3 animes.

DeathNote, ElfenLied & HNNKN... I took a chance and went with the middle choice(EL). Quickly done with it- I started both DN and HNNKN but for some reason I never watched past the 1st episode of DN. I got so hooked onto HNNKN that I still haven't(as of this writing) seen past the 1st ep of DN.

If you've watched the other two series, you should definitely give HNNKN a go.

ElfenLied, although an excellent show- lacked some of the emotion that you see in HNNKN.

So, dear reader- here's hoping my DN experience goes as well as your HNNKN experience. If you've already seen it, let me(a Higurashi wh*re here) know what you thought.

the smile of a yandere, before she rips the sh*t out of you.

Story: A group of seemingly harmless kids one by one turn psychopathic and kill each other, all because of the curse of Oyashiro who haunts the quaint little village by the name of Hinamizawa. Perhaps one of the most intriguing storylines to come my way in anime, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni takes you on a thrilling rollercoaster ride what is very memorable and keeps you wanting more and more, ignoring normal conventions and doing its own unique thing. The unique Story Arcs set in Higurashi can be confusing when you first watch it, but they provide a great background to the characters and the story- showing more blood, more extreme gore and more development of the characters.

Animation: Animation in Higurashi is typical of a anime from around 2006 or 2007. Its not outstanding by any means (It improves by the time Higurashi Koro Ni Kai comes round) But its still very good- the gore looks realistic and can make you gag and cringe a lot >< And the backgrounds are very pretty yet don't snatch your attention away from the 5 star cast.

Sound: The use of sound is exceptional in Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni.  The memorable OST of Rena's creepy singing, used a lot in Story Arc 1 is enough to set anyone on edge, and other song are just as chilling. No music is used in the killing scenes, making the limbs falling to the floor and the noises of various murder weapons sound all the more louder and creepier.

Characters: Easily some of the most memorable characters from any anime (mainly because of their incredibly brutal deaths and killings) the characters catch your interest and you fall in love with them. From Keiichi who gets erections whenever Rena gets all cutesy, to twins Shion and Mion who are famous for the psycopathic laugh whats written down in anime history as one of the most twisted sounds ever, to Rika, the girl who, its later revealed, to be somewhat of a toy in God's hands, getting killed in every story arc and remembering what way she is killed when she is revived. Then theres sweet little Satoko, the little girl who is abused by her uncle- leading to a couple other characters going on more murderous killing sprees. The characters developments are flowing and smooth and all of the characters you can relate to, even the evil ones.

Overall: Boy or girl, otaku or occasional anime-viewer, you should definitely watch this, as well as its sequel. Higuashi No Naku Koro Ni may seem to some like mindless gore, but its still a great anime viewing experience, and if you're looking more for the hidden intentions and reasons behind the killings, then Higurashi Kai is the one for you- In general Higurashi has something for everyone and is simply amazing.

When it comes to Anime, I’ve not heard much about it in the Horror genre, But when i heard about Higurashi (AKA When They Cry) and looked at the show's premise (Being based on a series of independent visual novel styled video games) it seemed like an interesting watch.

And it certainly was. Higurashi was quite a well done story which had some well executed story arcs to flesh out the characters it had to offer and does Horror right. The story is based around the innocent town of Hinamizawa and follows a group of kids and the yearly traditional cotton drifting festival where a myth has been going around that every year during the event that someone dies and another disappears, possibly sacrificed to the locally worshipped spirit "Oyashiro", giving the myth the label "Oyashiro's Curse". While the main character may look innocent on the outside, each one of them holds dark, gruesome secrets that are best not to be looked into. If anybody touches the wrong topics, it will spark horrific event after horrific event.

At first when i noticed that the main characters consisted of 1 main male lead and the rest being girls i immediately had a bad inkling in the back on my head that it would go into harem territory (which i despise so much). But as i plunged into the story i was quite relieved that Higurashi never went into that direction and stuck with the horror aspect (A good thing for the viewers though ironically not so much for the characters :P). In a way i consider this show to be the "Anti Harem" which i was quite happy to call it :)

"They may look innocent here, but they've certainly got some dark stuff that you'll want to avoid!"

Speaking of which, the show does a great job in fleshing out its characters throughout each story arc. In each one we get to learn a bit of backstory about each character and the troubled pasts they have. While they may have quite a dark background to deal with, they do tend to have it covered up in the few comedic scenes in the series and while these comedic scenes aren't ground-breaking in the laughing meter they do tend to create a certain uneasy feeling, just with the knowledge that we know what these characters are really like and that any minute now somebodies going to say the wrong thing at the wrong time which will inevitably cause one of them to snap, thus executing the string of horrific events to come.

"Looks Like The Shit Just Hit The Fan O_O' "

The animation tends to have a gritty look to it which sets the tone nicely, though it can look quite distorted and weird at some points. I presume that maybe the budget for animation was a bit low, but in a way it enhances the eerie mood the show creates when the shit hits the fan, although some of the facial expressions can look a bit choppy and weird at times. The soundtrack was also pretty average. While there were some tracks the created the atmosphere, in honesty didn't really stand out, with the exception of the opening and closing themes.

The Opening Theme defiantly suited the show and i grew attached to it rather quickly (The Ending theme song also was nice to listen to). The Opening Theme had such a creepy, haunting tune which sends chills down my spine (with the only other opening song achieving that being Elfen Lied).

Opening Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvE8XO6YH6o

Closing Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPTGDWY5LrU

Speaking of which i can't help but think about Elfen Lied while watching this as both shows have quite a lot of graphical violence and before watching Higurashi i though Elfen Lied was pretty brutal (Especially in Episode 4 as a good example). But after watching Higurashi and witnessing some of the gruesome torture scenes that episode 17 and 21 had to offer (arguably the most cringe worthy scenes in the series) i can certainly say that it makes Elfen Lied look like the equivalent "The Care Bears". The Juxtaposition of Higurashi is what makes this creepy in its own way as just the thought that this madness is happening to children just makes it very unsettling.

"Now look back at the group picture above...I did warn you -.-"

With Higurashi, Being a regular dub watcher i had to admit that this is probably not the best example of a good dubbing, though its defiantly not the worst. Some of the voices were actually pretty good (Keiichi, Rena, Detective Oishi) and most of the voice actors/actresses delivered their lines pretty well, Especially with the more intense scenes (with the exception of the ladder scene being a bit off which was also a problem in the original sub) but overall it's probably going to be miss with sub fans and hit or miss with dub fans, though for me it's above average at best and a little irritating at worst.

Overall i was quite surprised with Higurashi and i consider it to be an Anime Horror done right, Being a mix of Groundhog Day, Anti-Harem and A Slasher Flick thrown into a blender and pureed just right. While the first season doesn't give you all the answers to the mysteries surrounding the curse and the events that occur, the second season will fill in most of the answers. Unfortunately with that in mind, for those of you going into this show to watch the dub will be a bit disappointed that the 2nd season and the other side stories have not been licensed so you will probably be forced to go to subs for that one. If you want an interesting Horror Anime which will get your brain spinning then i recommend this series, though i do slim down this recommendation to those who have the guts to witness some gruesome stuff as this series can get pretty nasty at times.

 

Pros:

• Horror Aspects are well done, and quite cringeworthy.
• It may look like a harem setting, but thankfully avoids this direction
• Each Character get's alot of screentime + backstory thanks to the separate story arcs
• Opening and Closing Theme

Cons:

• Despite not being a harem, it does have a few subtle hints towards it (though only a minor complaint)
• Artwork and Animation can look quite choppy, leading to a few messed up facial expressions (for better or worse)
• Many of the plot points aren't answered until the 2nd season
• Dub can be hit or miss depending on your preference (Also Dub is not available for further seasons)

Overall I Rate It 8/10 (Recommended for fans of Horror Series and Shows with Gruesome Violence)