When They Cry: Higurashi - Reviews

It's hard to find good horror shows in anime. Either the shows struggle to maintain a good quality of storytelling (Future Diary), the plot twists just ruin the overall experience (Death Note), the characters go through a change that just makes them really unenjoyable (Death Note, Parasyte -the maxim-, Claymore), the cast gets ridiculous as the show goes on (GANTZ, Future Diary, Claymore) or the show turns into something completely different from it's opening concept (GANTZ, Elfen Lied, Parasyte -the maxim-, Deadman Wonderland).

I watched Shiki right before When They Cry: Higurashi and I thought that Shiki was going to have to carry the torch for the horror genre all by itself for quite a while but I have to admit that When They Cry: Higurashi is up there with Shiki. When They Cry: Higurashi gives us an interesting concept and a lot of 'what if's' which really make When They Cry: Higurashi an enjoyable experience. The further the story progresses, the more you learn about the characters and their situation while becoming more invested in the show itself.

The show tells a basic story but withholds information on purpose which leaves you with a lot of questions but the missing puzzle peaces will be given to you later down the road.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the art style itself. It feels rather sloppy at times and it's not animated that well but it does allow the characters to be extremely expressive. Even though I'm not a fan of the art style, I do have to give credit for the way the director handled the transition from a really playful setup in the early episodes to a high level of insanity that doesn't slow down nearing the end of the series.

It's a very easy watch with some great moments but I do wish the production quality of the characters and the animation style could have been a little bit better.

I love this mystery. It keeps you guessing through out the entire series. I have to warn you, YOU MUST watch all the different variations to truly understnd what is going to the village. It's crazy kwel!

Good story, but it is way too long. feels like infinate fillers. its a 1 season 15 episode anime and they make it into 2 seasons...

After I watched some of my first horror shows, I kept seeing the word "Higurashi" just SOMEWHERE everyday. And I never really picked up on it because not as many people saw it as I thought. So once I saw more horror shows and essentially didn't have much to watch, I picked up Higurashi...

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When the Cicadas Cry) is one of those anime where casual anime watchers (i.e. people who really only watch mainstream like Sword Art Online and Naruto) will have NO IDEA what you're saying, then you go to the deep side of the otaku or other places like 4chan and people will be like. "Oh yeah, that one!" Horror is not very popular in mainstream, as only a few like Tokyo Ghoul, Hellsing, and maybe even Akira are the only ones many people know of. Not that this is obscure, it's just not popular. This review only covers the first season.

STORY

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni takes place in Stephen King Land a small country town surrounded by trees and far away from any existing city. A young man named Keichii Maebara, who is ALSO AVERAGE, (Stop it guys, Stop it) moves into said town and eventually gets a few friends. He learns that every year, during the "Cotton Drifting Festival," (Or polluting water with cotton whatever you wanna call it) One person dies, and another disappears. And since this town is like CONSPIRACY DEMON POSSESSION DEATH GOD 101 TOWN, and Keichii is just average, he goes on to believe that there is a murderer...

Higurashi is the most horror of all horror anime. It's not scary, but it's better than others, like Another, Corpse Party, or even classics like Hellsing. Not as horror as Higurashi.

The interesting thing about this anime is that it runs on a Groundhog Day setup, where every new arc, everything resets. Except there is something different each time, like a different murderer, different "main characters," different events, etc. Except there are some things who are always the same, such as how there is always the detective, named Oishi, meeting a character, the same two characters die each Cotton Drifting Festival, and basically everyone dies.

Naming a specific scene to newbies is also quite difficult, It's never "____ door scene," it's always "____ grabs the lock at the door then gets her fingers crushed by _____ at the door scene."

There is something special about how it all ties up. Each arc is different, but the last arc answers (mostly) everything. There are still things left unanswered, (Some want to keep it that way) but the second season covers that too!  I am always bothered by the not-horror scenes. Sometimes they're funny, but all I wanted to see was horror. Sometimes _______ is adorable, but all I wanted to see was the horror. Sometimes they're watching horror movies or something, BUT ALL I WANTED TO SEE WAS THE HORROR. However...

The comedic scenes are one of the special things of this show. It shows how fragile the residents of the town are, their faces immediately scrunching up, shouting at everyone else. They can overreact at the simple sound of a drip of water. So the comedy is supposed to keep you on edge, knowing that something is going to happen. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's story is great, and it is also one of the most psychological anime I have seen at all.

ANIMATION

Yeah, the animation is minimalistic. It still works light years better than live-action horror movies with cheesy intestines and stuff. It still goes that this show's animation is just not spectacular...

Sometimes things just let this show work, though.

I know this show came out in 2006, but the animation is not very good. On the other hand, this style works amazingly in the horror/night scenes. I like to see complex shadows in horror anime, it can change a scene completely. Watching this show without shadows is like watching Star-Wars without lightsabers. This show depends on the lighting to have working animation, and it's okay, because it does more than just holding it up.

SOUND

This is the best part of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Every song has it's place in the show. They don't compose a song and toss it in a scene. Nope, they just can't do that. Not only that, but some of it's music can just be plain creepy. And like most anime, there's always that one song that plays in the show for that kind of moment, yep this show has that too.

Of course in the happy moments, music you won't remember or really care about plays, so that's a few points down. But the soundtrack in general is fantastic, and one of my favorite soundtracks in any anime. (Next to Shiki)

CHARACTERS

So for horror-anything to really show it's magic, you need good characters, too. Since this show has the whole Groundhog Day effect, it gives you some better direction for characters, as you 'feel for them.' You can actually name each character. Like I said earlier, every character is more fragile than thin glass. You could be seeing the cutest thing ever turn into some of the most insane characters in anything, quite possibly beating The Joker.

The laughing scenes in Higurashi are some of the most notorious scenes in any anime

There are still a few flaws though. Some characters are just TOO identifiable at some points. Up to the point where you could say "Oh, it's THAT GUY!" and everyone that's seen the show will know who you're talking about. Each arc focuses on a set of characters. Usually it's not all of them. It may show exposition for up to about 5 characters, then ignores every other character in that arc, mostly. Some of the running-gags are what this show is known for. (Like Yuno from Mirai Nikki) And it seems like that's ALL it's known for. (like Yuno from Mirai Nikki) Also, they're all... quotes. Just quotes. That's not bad, and it's not as bad as YUNO FROM MIRAI NIKKI. But it's not really paying attention to the show itself. Kind of like when you're trying to talk to a football enthusiast about something, (Something you should avoid if you didn't know, unless you are one yourself) than they ignore you and start talking to you about football and pretend you care...

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's characters are really proficient in general though. Much better than other horror anime.

FINAL VERDICT

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is the best of it's kind. The (partially ignored) blossoming flower of horror anime. It has some flaws, but it's fully functional and works better than you'd expect. Give this one a go if you like horror. If you're squeamish for gratuitous gore or death, I wouldn't recommend it. Many who have seen it will agree with me that this is the best horror anime. If not, they're lying. ("Uso Da!")

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni loses it's calamity, and earns 8.7/10.

What I Liked: Good way of adapting a multi-faceted VN novel by showing most routes and delivering the same / similar information differently in each route, then tying the lot together with “time loop, that'll do”. Characters were interesting enough (for a group of rural 13/14/15 year olds). Soundtrack was slightly above average.

What I Didn't: The moe character designs were unnerving in the wrong way (occasionally, it was like the notion of anatomy was thrown out the door), character animation was sometimes rigid and didn't flow well. Voice acting in some scenes seemed flat against the footage shown and too dramatic in other scenes.

Final Verdict: While a brilliant (but possibly B-Grade) mystery horror series, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni had too many little problems that got in the way of me completely enjoying it.