Summary:
Cute girls wielding bloody hatchets? Insanity, paranoia, and intrigue to boot? Sign me up! I honestly knew little of what I was getting into when I started Higurashi. The first episode is rather normal stereotypical moe: New guy, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa, joins the after school club, goes insane, kills his friends, and claws his own throat out.
Wait, that’s not right…
Well that didn’t work. Hit the cosmic reset button Oyashiro-sama, and let’s see if it works out the 2nd time around…
Plot:
Out of all the different crime shows, anime, and literature, Higurashi really stands out. Nothing in this show is spoon-fed to the viewers or makes use of cheap CSI like clichés (e.i. We need to find a bullet casing! You mean just like the one over there?). Based off a series of amateur doujin games (visual novels) Higurashi makes good use of the so called “cosmic reset button”.
In other words, the show is split into separate arcs, each telling a self contained story with the familiar backdrop of Hinamizawa, while playing a bigger part in the entire story. Keiichi Maebara is new to the area and attends the local school with the other kids of the town. Many of these characters will help shape and weave together the story that is Higurashi.
Before Keiichi moved to Hinamizawa, a few years prior, the government had decided to create a dam near Hinamizawa, though it would require it’s residence to relocate, so the area could become flooded. The Three Head Families of Hinamizawa fought against the government trying to convince them not to go through with the dam project. Apparently there was a murder that took place where someone (a dam worker?) was dismembered. Five of the murderers were caught, while it is said the sixth underwent Onikakushi, other wise know as being spirited away by Oyashiro-sama never to be seen again. The dam project was apparently forgotten about for the time being.
According to the locals, every year, for the past four years ever since the dam incident, on the night of the Watanagashi Festival, one person dies, while one person undergoes Onikakushi. This has been regarded to as “Oyashiro-sama’s Curse”.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is only the first season, and explains much of what is going on within Hinamizawa, but by the end of it, not everything is completely clear. Is it a parasite, a curse, a person’s contagious insanity, or aliens (I shit you not, this is an actual theory)? To truly understand this bizarre series, look for the next season, Higurashi Naku Koro ni Kai.
Okay, another content warning… Higurashi is EXTREMELY VIOLENT! Even though things are not always explicitly shown, they are still highly disturbing. I am not kidding when I say this either. In one scene, a girl takes a knife, places it against a wall, and beats her head against it until she dies. Stuff like that. Defiantly not for those with a weak stomach.
Animation:
I was actually fairly surprised to find out that Studio DEEN was the company that adapted the game in anime form. I saw their rendition of Vampire Knight (the animation in that was terrible) and there is no real comparison. During the normal first episode, animation was okay nothing really special, but during violent scenes (there are many of these) or points when the face is the focal point, usually used to show a character isn’t exactly sane, animation is very well done. Frankly, they did their job when it came down to scaring the crap out of me. Those expressions will haunt me in my dreams… Just take a look:
But it does go without saying that a few of the “insane” faces to tend to look less than terrifying. But I’m willing to forgive. Backgrounds and settings were fleshed out and very detailed. With such a strong story driving it and better than average animation, Higurashi is Studio DEEN’s masterpiece.
Music:
The opening music is one of my favorite anime openings of all time. “メイン・テーマ” (the name of the song is the same as the series, I’ll use Japanese characters to differentiate) uses a lot of techno sounding effects, while retaining a creepy overtone. Vocals and lyrics both add a beautiful, haunting melody that reflects the style of Higurashi very well. The ending on the other hand, fell flat on its face. Maybe I just don’t enjoy a song sung be a Japanese singer in Engrish (if the previous statement made any sense go give yourself a cookie). It just didn’t sound natural. I guess if you don’t mind Engrish, you may like it.
Voice Acting (Japanese):
Being able to laugh manically, scream in rage and insanity, and still pull off a cute voice when the character is acting normal is no easy feat, and I applaud the voice actors and actresses for a job well done. They pulled off their roles flawlessly. I still get shivers every time I hear one of the Sonozaki sisters laugh in insanity. The only thing I have an issue with, and this is my nitpicky self coming through, but when Keiichi cries it sounds like he’s being strangled. That only happens once or twice though throught the entire series, so it probably won’t bother anyone else that much.
Overall:
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is one of my favorite series. I like shows such as CSI or Without a Trace, but those tend to get very formulaic after a while and Higurashi is a wonderful change of pace that will keep you guessing until the very end. The arc form of story telling may be confusing at first, but after a while, you learn to expect it. If you have a strong stomach and are looking for a good mystery series that doesn’t treat the viewer like a baby and spoon feed everything to them, give Higurashi a whirl.
Final Score: 5/5
-Midori
