Anime Review: Higurashi: When They Cry

RollForInitiative

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Anime Review: Higurashi: When They Cry

Watching Japanese teens brutally slaughter each other has never been so interesting.

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bladeofdarkness

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higurashi is awesome
but it has to be viewed as a single unit with kai to really make sense
the answer to the mystery about oyashiro sama is actually rather funny when you think of it
it not only exists, but is in fact the cutest character in the show
 

Takoto

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Mar 25, 2009
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I read one of the Higurashi manga, and then was wondering whether of not I should watch the anime.

This review has convinced me too.
 

Katherine Kerensky

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Mar 27, 2009
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Sounds like a very interesting anime.
I suppose I'll add it to 'The List'..
I don't know how I'm going to manage watching everything on the list...
 

Kiutu

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Ugh...my brother watches that show, in japanese. I HATE that girl's hair, the blue one who is like, the main character. My brother also always tests me if I remember the japanese title.
Higurashi no saku koro ni or something like that. I know its not completly right though...
 

ila

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Higurashi was one of my favorites when it aired. I was always impatient waiting for the next episode to air. The whole disconnected plotlines are misleading at first, but in the end it creates something far more amamazing than other time loop series can hope to achieve. Umineko No Kaku Noro Ni isn't bad either, I'd recommend keyholing that to anyone who enjoys Higurashi.
 

Mstrswrd

Always playing Touhou. Always.
Mar 2, 2008
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Huh... why did they change the title from the more literal "When the Cicadas Cry?" I always thought that was an interesting title... not that it matters, I point blank refuse to partake in any series within the "No Naku Koro Ni" series, inlcuding, but not limited to, "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" and it's related anime and games, the prequels which I will refer to as the "-hen" series (both games end with the word -hen), or Umineko no Naku Koro ni :)iterally "When Seagulls Cry.")

Sorry, just not into Horror anime. However, your review actually almost made me want to watch it, so congrats, this was an excellent review.
 

Loop Stricken

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Jun 17, 2009
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I don't need a review, I watched all of it recently. And it is awesome.

Wanna know what convinced me?
this [http://z0r.de/L/217.swf].
 

Azraellod

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i thought higurashi was brilliant. i didn't like the second series as much, since i didn't think it was very well put together, but nonetheless it was amazing.

ila said:
Umineko No Kaku Noro Ni isn't bad either, I'd recommend keyholing that to anyone who enjoys Higurashi.
very well, i have noted that down. thanks.
 

Ancientgamer

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I really loved Higurashi, actually made me paranoid and nervous. Excellent atmospheric horror.
 

Aptspire

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Loop Stricken said:
I don't need a review, I watched all of it recently. And it is awesome.

Wanna know what convinced me?
this [http://z0r.de/L/217.swf].
Thank you for the happy song. Ps, that's the beginning of the second(or third) arc of the 1st series, so no love lost.
 

RollForInitiative

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Mstrswrd said:
Sorry, just not into Horror anime. However, your review actually almost made me want to watch it, so congrats, this was an excellent review.
Haha, that's quite the compliment! I appreciate it. Despite this and Higurashi Kai being my two favorite titles, they aren't something I just recommend without question for exactly the reason you've stated. Horror is a dicey genre with a specific fan base so, no matter how good I think this show is, I can't recommend it to people that don't have at least some interest in the genre.

Granted, with that said, the person that originally recommended it to me didn't like horror either. He just stumbled across it, ended up loving it, and passed it along.

Takoto said:
I read one of the Higurashi manga, and then was wondering whether of not I should watch the anime.

This review has convinced me too.
I've read the four volumes that they've released here and they match up fairly well with the anime; more accurately than I typically expect, to be honest.
 

NeutralDrow

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I was half-wondering if I should hold out for the visual novel...I think I'll look up the anime, now, instead.
 

RollForInitiative

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NeutralDrow said:
I was half-wondering if I should hold out for the visual novel...I think I'll look up the anime, now, instead.
Which one? There have been many visual novels released for Higurashi already. If you can read kanji, a number of them are available for import, including recent DS releases of several titles.
 

Bobby_C

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RollForInitiative said:
NeutralDrow said:
I was half-wondering if I should hold out for the visual novel...I think I'll look up the anime, now, instead.
Which one? There have been many visual novels released for Higurashi already. If you can read kanji, a number of them are available for import, including recent DS releases of several titles.
when people just refer to "the visual novel" they refer to the originals: Higurashi and Higurashi Kai are originally visual novels, the anime and manga are mere adaptations, and then there are spinoff novels that supplement the original eight arcs.

While the manga sticks rather closely to the novels the anime had to lose a lot of details and the original pacing (as a VN series Higurashi was made of four arcs that set up all the mysteries and Kai of four arcs that give the corresponding answers).

And yeah, though once again the anime loses part of the flavor Umineko, the spiritual sequel, is awesome and full of mysteries, even for people who know the whole of Higurashi, since it plays with its structures. Things about the novels' structure that were the big reveals in Higurashi are almost immediately admitted here and then it plays with your expectations.

This time around it's sorta based on "and then there were none", from Agatha Christie. A number of people are stuck for two days on an island, together with a serial killer who seems to be following an esoteric poem. Most are quick to suspect the legendary witch who supposedly haunts the island and whose resurrection the poem is about, but because the protagonist would rather believe the culprit is very much human, he has to figure out all the seemingly supernatural murders before his turn comes. And from there on it becomes a great mindfuck peppered with Phoenix Wright-esque confrontations and all manners of demons, not to mention a thorough deconstruction of whodunits plus a few very unique twists on the usual visual novel structure.
 

Katherine Kerensky

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Mar 27, 2009
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Wow, on a side note to earlier about adding it to the list, I just finished watching the first 2 episodes.
All I can say is, thanks for reviewing it and bringing it to my attention :D
 

RollForInitiative

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Greyfox105 said:
Wow, on a side note to earlier about adding it to the list, I just finished watching the first 2 episodes.
All I can say is, thanks for reviewing it and bringing it to my attention :D
You, sir, just made the time I spent writing this review worthwhile. My goal is to bring this series to the attention of a few more people since it seems to get easily overlooked based on the overly cute box art. It doesn't exactly give any impression of what the series really is, and most people that stumble across it pass it by accordingly.

If I can put the series into the hands of even one more person, I consider my goal to be met. Not that I'd mind putting it into many more hands than that. ;)