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shoujoboy's Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Tv Review

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni tv Review

Keiichi Maebara moves to a small village named Hinamizawa and joins a little club for playing fun games with his new friends at school: Rena, Mion, Satoko, and Rika. But as the days pass Keiichi starts to suspect that there is something unusual at Hinamizawa. As he learns more about the Watanagashi, a festival in Hinamizawa, strange things started to happen around him... Murders, disappearances, and the deadly wrath of Oyashiro-sama!

Synopsis: ShiXion

Story & Characters

Hi! How are ya? Watch any good anime lately. What am I thinking; of course you have, why else would you be here? So, tell me, what was it about? Did it have action, deceit, love and angst? No? Maybe cute robotic maids? Not that either? Don't tell me it was about hunting down Dragonballs? Well whatever it might have been, take a walk with me, I'm going to tell you about something you've never seen. I would like to introduce you to the world of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

The show takes place in a small community by the name of Hinamizawa. You follow the character Keiichi and his friends. One day while helping his friend Rena retrieve a figurine from a garbage dump, he comes across a camera man who makes mention of a gruesome murder that happened there years ago. When he asked Rena and his friends about this, they all seemed to say the same thing, almost as if they were hiding something; something deadly.

Seriously if that was all there was to it, it probably wouldn't have been that groundbreaking. But it was, for lack of better terms, Deliciously Sadistic. Truly this show shines as one of the absolute craziest and down right disturbing things I've ever seen. I've seen more than 90 anime series' in my period of otakudom, and this is a first. The plot is broken down into chapters, each that contain 4-6 episodes. Each chapter gives you one part of the greater story in a way to keep you guessing as to what the big picture is. It might be one different murder or another person's point of view. After reaching just over the half-way point, everything starts to come together piece by piece and creates one hell of an eerie and satisfying storyline.

Rating: 9

Art

My first thought after watching a few episodes for the animation was, to say the least, passable. There were serious proportionality problems. Some heads were too large for their tiny bodies. Mouths and noses were virtually non-existent on some characters; only enormous eyes. But as the show progressed, I realized that this was done purposely and actually gave the show a far more powerful ambiance. The eyes needed that extra added attention because emotion was a big part of what made this show powerful. Much of what the show is at is core is sadistic and overall psychotic characters. When they had their moments of sheer rage and bloodlust, the eyes gave an extreme chilling aura to the character. The show also proved to be quite gory, but the way it was done was chilling, without going over the top. You might see shadows of a psychotic murder going on, or the off-screen stabbing of ones appendages. It was done in a way that just ends up being unnerving. I will say this; I sometimes tend to have dreams involving the shows I watch. After I finished Strawberry Panic, I had dreams of what else could have been. After about 5 episodes of this show, I also had dreams about it. Needless to say, I woke up completely freaked out by them. The animation proved that powerful. And no, I'm not a wuss; moving on.

Rating: 8

Sound

The opening song is supposed to be a mood setter for the entire show. Never has this been done so well until this show. The opening song is by Eiko Shimamiya and its title is the same as the show. It's extremely dark and moody and after some of the show has set in, will actually give you goose bumps in anticipation of the next 25 minutes. That song made me seek out her CD's, it's that good. The BGM for the show also does exactly what it should. The show is all about creating a dark atmosphere and the music multiplies that. The music is great, and definitely contributed to the overall '10' in this category, but let's get to the meat of this score.

The voice acting was superb. Initially the voices may seem a bit cliche or even a bit too high pitched for the female characters. But once they are able to expand their emotional parts, they really start to shine. Rena is given a very high pitched and innocent voice, the usual cutie school girl voice if you will. But when she goes into her sadistic phase, she is downright scary. Even the little girl Rika, who enjoys adding the ~desu to the end of her sentences, shines when she is able to get out of that cute girl box. The best voice acting job, hands down, goes to Satsuki Yukino. She plays the part of Mion and her twin sister Shion. Their personalities are quite different in everyday life as Shion is much more feminine than her counterpart. They are both quite playful and friendly, but they too have that dark side. When they go berserk, they go absolutely crazy, and the laugh they give off is still ringing in my ears. Phenomenal work.

Rating: 10

Presentation

This is one of the most finely crafted pieces of work since the human eyeball first started functioning. I won't say best anime's ever; I will say best viewing experiences ever. It does what many shows cannot do well. First, it grabs your attention right from the start and never lets go. But the thing that is the most impressive is that it hits the ending in such a way that is completely not what you are thinking, but it does it well. Once you get the last 10 or so episodes, it is very hard to stop watching. It has everything that makes it a worthwhile watch. A great, and ORIGINAL story. Insane characters and plot twists. It's as addictive as nicotine. The music is perfect. This show is not to be missed.

With all of this said, this show should be watched by anybody with an open mind about what they watch, anime fan or not. Yes it's gory. Yes it is absolutely sadistic. The story is way out in left field. But it is one of the best told stories when all is said and done. Go see this show now or may Oyashiro-sama's curse befall you.

I will revisit this review and review the scores upon release of the second season.

Rating: 9

Final Verdict

9.0000 (very good)

Reviewed by shoujoboy, Jan 10, 2007

Comments

  1. Rosegirl18 Jan 12, 2007

    Geez, why are all the good shows bloody-gory?!?! I can't even check out the anime journals because they have screencaps of this!
    Quite the interesting review - I was surprised when you gave the art a 9, but you stated your reason well.
    Anyhow, this series must be really good, seeing as you gave it an overall score of 9. I want to see it!

  2. Wocaky Jan 20, 2007

    er......the show is just another "what if" type anime for children. The sound, animation and presentation is basic with the characters involved showing signs of minor depth( and insane looks). Rating it 9.0 is a misdirection to all viewers in fact the only thing that is holding the story togather is the crazy chick with a taser.

  3. yue_hikaru Jan 21, 2007

    it's the game that's good in my opinion. this series got lift so high cuz the popularity from the game. the anime it self is just an average one. it will get to be quite nice if only they would dig deeper.

  4. Tsunoh May 02, 2007

    dig deeper, and it'd be too hard to understand for the average viewer. As it is now, it's great.

    I fully agree with your review(especially about Mion and Shion, and the animation). In fact, I might even rate it higher... which is not at all like me... ^^

  5. Keiichi Feb 01, 2008

    I ve been watching this anime lately, and i m totally hooked by the story and characters. It just keep you wondering what's coming next... i agree with your review, very acurate so far with other reviews i ve been reading and with my own opinion on the anime.

  6. Vboy Mar 10, 2008

    Well it was good but not very good. The same plot was told many times by different characters perspective got boring quickly.

    Only the first arc which introduces us to plot deserves a 9.
    After that it went downhill.

  7. SchRita Jan 15, 2010

    Thanks for the review!

  8. fatalattacker09 May 18, 2011

    nice review!

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