Even though the second season started and finished ages ago I started to watch the first season again. Every episode still freaks me out. We need to do more anime…this review has been stuck in my drafts for a while too

Mary did say ‘JUST put a bloody one up’

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
ひぐらしのなく頃に
When they Cry

Main cast: List Here.
Genre: Horror and Drama with a dash of Comedy
Episodes: 26 episodes
Broadcast period: 4/4/2006 - 26/9/2006

Theme song:
OP:「Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni」 by Eiko Shimamiya
ED:「Why, or Why Not」 by Hiroyuki Oshima feat. Rekka Katakiri

Synopsis

It was one hot summer in 1983, that transfer student, Maebara Keiichi arrived in the peaceful rural village in Hinamizawa. Here, the sounds of cicadas can be heard in the late evening. Though at a first glance the village seems normal, however, here is where lies a horrible secret which the villagers try to keep secret from newcomers.
Keiichi quickly he befriends classmates Rena, Mion, Rika and Satoko. Accepted as a full-fledged member of the “club,” Keiichi and the gang plays all sorts of activities ranging from card and board games to hide-and-seek. But just as Keiichi was beginning to be assimilated in simple rural life, he stumbles upon the dark history of Hinamizawa. As Keiichi dives deeper into the mystery, he finds that his new found friends may not be all what they claim to be.

My Thoughts

I only picked this series up because my friends at school kept telling me to watch it. I believe Mary watched a bit of this too. But she stopped at what…the third episode? Keep a good series to watch you if you like horror,mystery and suspense.

The whole series is based on a visual novel murder mystery game, set in the village of Hinamizawa. The plot revolves around a mysterious curse, where every year one person would die, and as a consequence another would disappear without much of a trace. The anime delivers its stories in “arcs” of 4 episodes each, each covering a different scenario of the same event, with the intro, the death, and all this with the drama of the schoolkids having to deal with the events, wether a part of them, or just a bystander.

Original Illustration

The story plot is somewhat a confusing one. Every few episodes is a chapter and that chapter is its own story in the series. It is not until you watch the entire series that you actually understand what these chapters lead up to and everything behind the events. The first series is called the question arc while the second season ‘kai’ is called the answer arc. Basically the answer arc reveals the truth about all the events from the first season and why they happened. Not planning on revealing too much here.

More info about the story plot at wiki.
wiki .

However don’t we all love cute Loli characters in our anime? What happens when some crazy animator made them in killers who still look cute doing it? That is what basically what Higurashi is all about (most of the time). The characters themselves are cute when they’re not agro. They all have their backgrounds and secrets about the village they live in.

My personal favourite would be Rika who would be the one character with the most secrets in comparison with the others. She’s the only heir to the local temple and normally dresses up as a Miko (priestess) when they celebrate the Watanagashi Festival. Despite her young age, she’s pretty smart and also she drinks sake too. Isn’t that just bit weird for a little kid?

However Keichii is the main character in the first series and the only main character that is a guy. Keichii recently moved to Hinamizawa with his family, and begun to adapt to life in the countryside. He’s normally the victim in the disturbing events that happen around the village.

RENA=CRAZY CHICK. Jeez no one in the series is scarier then Rena. For crying out loud she has a billhook as a weapon. Well she likes cute things as you can nearly see in every episode when she sees Rika( she grabs her and swings her around). Rena would probably the most dangerous out of all the characters. She even threatened to kill herself by clawing out her neck cause she had these bugs in them.

Mion and Shion are identical twins and it is entirely impossible to tell them apart unless you look at Mion’s back which has a tattoo of an oni (demon). You only see Mion for the first few episodes and Shion appears later on in the story when Keichii mistakes her for her twin working at a café. They are one of the most influential families in the village since they own a huge chain of bakeries and whose family has lived in the village for generations.

Shion and Mion (respectively)

Rika with Satoko

The last main character would be Sakato Hojo. Satoko is usually know for pranks and traps and always practises on Keiichi. She lives with her abusive uncle and aunt who have to take care of her since her parents where killed due to an accident. Her older brother, Satoshi, disappeared at the last Watanagashi Festival. I laugh at the fact she’s colour blind and can’t tell the difference between cauliflower and broccoli.

Who knew..

That cards…

Could blind you…?

Ah~ the Penalty Games

In comparison to other horror/gory animes, I’d say that I’ve seen worse. It’s not really one of those head chopping off things or the ‘I’m going to stab you with a pole on the side of the really tall building other there’. Higurashi to me would be ‘I’m going to stab you with this needle full of drugs’. But it gets repetitive after a while since *SPOILER* the world is restarted again when one of the characters dies *SPOILER END*

The great animation brought out the colours of corpses and blood out realistically. One thing I’ve never be able to get out of my head for a while would be seeing a hand nailed with at least 9 nails on the bottom of the river.

Opening Animation.

AND THE MUSIC!! The OP and ED, even though the song sounds scary, it goes well with the story/anime. The background music would give me the chills when they get the end of an arc.

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni PV by Eiko Shimamiya

Final Judgement

7/10. Definitely a good watch but not at night of course. Now I’ll be waiting for the Live action of Higurashi to come out in Japan.

And a couple more caps to end things off in.

and what used to be in my dreams..