Anime Review: Higurashi: When They Cry
- Thread starter RollForInitiative
- Start date
I couldn't agree more. That's why it owns all three slots in my personal Top 3 list.Motakikurushi said:
I'm sorta liking the first season, I generally love mystery anime and am also loving it's spiritual successor, Umineko, but the pacing of Higurashi is making it really hard to finish for me.
I mean I'm intrigued to find out the details behind the so called curse, and why all of the girls in this town are batshit insane, but I don't know if it is worth the time of sitting through another season and a half to have my questions answered.
I mean I'm intrigued to find out the details behind the so called curse, and why all of the girls in this town are batshit insane, but I don't know if it is worth the time of sitting through another season and a half to have my questions answered.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there. Having watched Higurashi, go on to watch Umineko no naku koro ni. See what Bernkastel does next. It's... horrifying and brilliant at the same time. And never NEVER have I been trolled so repeatedly by an anime and yet come back begging for more at every turn.RollForInitiative said:
The best Anime series I've encountered yet! Only (the utterly different) Spice & Wolf gets even close.
The first season is especially strong with both excellent horror and setting up a mind-blowing mystery. The innocent setting tenfold increase the unsettling once you (quickly) learn that everything and everyone is far from what they appear to be on the surface (and that perhaps even the surface itself cannot be trusted), creating an almost bipolar-between-scenes experience which you just can't turn away from. It truly succeeds in being a horror mystery at its very finest. Tying together the story from different angles was a great idea in Baccano!, and it works great here as well, even if you'll still have little clue what's going on by the end of the first season...
I'll also have to seize the day and shamelessly mention the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni user group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Higurashi-no-Naku-Koro-ni] for fans of the franchise.
The first season is especially strong with both excellent horror and setting up a mind-blowing mystery. The innocent setting tenfold increase the unsettling once you (quickly) learn that everything and everyone is far from what they appear to be on the surface (and that perhaps even the surface itself cannot be trusted), creating an almost bipolar-between-scenes experience which you just can't turn away from. It truly succeeds in being a horror mystery at its very finest. Tying together the story from different angles was a great idea in Baccano!, and it works great here as well, even if you'll still have little clue what's going on by the end of the first season...
I'll also have to seize the day and shamelessly mention the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni user group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Higurashi-no-Naku-Koro-ni] for fans of the franchise.
I found Higurashi to be awesome in every way.
I also seemed to laugh my ass of at the most bizarre moments. Which was weird...
I also seemed to laugh my ass of at the most bizarre moments. Which was weird...
Daaamn!
I want to watch this freaking anime, but I really, really can't stomach the brutality. D: I easily feel sick - I had troubles with Elfen Lied(still do, a bit) when I started watching it. :/
Maybe... one day...!!
I want to watch this freaking anime, but I really, really can't stomach the brutality. D: I easily feel sick - I had troubles with Elfen Lied(still do, a bit) when I started watching it. :/
Maybe... one day...!!
Higurashi is by far my favorite series, and definitely worth watching. Also, for anyone interested in Umineko no Naku Koro ni the visual novel is available here: http://witch-hunt.com/stage.html (links to purchase download site and English patch)
Let me begin by saying I dont watch a lot of anime. I liked a few of the old school shows like yu yu hakusho and outlaw star. Im usually driven away from most animes by how strange they can be. I stumbled across this review and thought I would the show a go. After the first episode I was hooked. Let me finish by saying this is definitely one of my favorite shows period. Great atmosphere, great suspense, and great writing all come together to form higurashi.RollForInitiative said:
Well, I'm delighted that my review lead you to the series and even happier to hear that you enjoyed it as much as many of us did. Did you check out the Higurashi Kai as well, to get the answers to it all?luckycharms8282 said:
Yes, I had watched the two seasons and the few bonus episodes afterwards. The second season was kind of slow, but I never the less enjoyed all of it.RollForInitiative said:
There's actually not that many explicit scenes of ultraviolence in Higurashi - certainly not compared to the somewhat overblown gorefests Elfen Lied regularly gets up to - it's more about the build-up and crushing sense of certainty that it'll all end dreadfully than actually showing it. Given this heavier buildup it's arguably played more straight than Elfen Lied does though, and it clash so severely with the setting it might ultimately still be more unsettling.MassiveGeek said:
How so?lokun489 said:
lokun489 said:
That's all I can find in terms of encouragement about ways to watch the show.From the review said:
The Japanese voice-over is included in the American release (thank god), and it's possible to import the second season from Japan as well if you know Japanese, so it's perfectly achievable through legal means. At least provided you learn/know Japanese as it explicitly tells you to.
I even believe Crunchyroll legitimately streamed the first season at one point as well, so that might account for any reference to online watching; though as mentioned I for one can't seem to find any.
Higurashi, When Seagulls Cry, and Future Diary are 3 titles I would consider in the different depth department besides ones like Battle Royale and Berserk (both which are brutal graphic violence cult classics with a twist of irony and betrayls.)Maybe even Ninja Scroll.
Is Higurashi as good as Battle Royale? Nope. Battle-Royale did not excuse any violence or taboo terms in the manga. Higurashi focused on more on the torture of the characters with shock when Battle-Royale was more about survival and the cruelty of higher-ups in position using students as mere pawns on a chess-board to play a game.
Berserk did not excuse any of the taboo or violence in it's own series too. Many of the demons the main-character battled with were creatures who would not hesitate to torture or kill humans in 'various'ways.
Other than using the shock-factor of the characters apperances, I would say Higurashi is on a scale of medium compared to Battle Royale or Berserk.
Is Higurashi as good as Battle Royale? Nope. Battle-Royale did not excuse any violence or taboo terms in the manga. Higurashi focused on more on the torture of the characters with shock when Battle-Royale was more about survival and the cruelty of higher-ups in position using students as mere pawns on a chess-board to play a game.
Berserk did not excuse any of the taboo or violence in it's own series too. Many of the demons the main-character battled with were creatures who would not hesitate to torture or kill humans in 'various'ways.
Other than using the shock-factor of the characters apperances, I would say Higurashi is on a scale of medium compared to Battle Royale or Berserk.