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
About time I rated something higher than a 5. This anime is definitely worthy of praise, starting with the story itself.
The character lineup seems average, almost like a harem-type lineup, but then nothing in this anime is as it seems.
The standard 'peaceful, happy town where nothing happens' approach. I am so happy they put in that teaser in
the first episode, or I might have stopped watching. (more in Presentation part, as usual)
Rating: 9
Art
When I hit play, the first thing I said was 'oh man, the art s*cks!!' In this day and age there are still
characters with misproportioned heads and really kiddy animation?!' And for a thriller anime!
However after watching about three episodes, I changed my mind. The creators used the lousy animation as a weapon to
attack the unsuspecting viewer. I mean, we typically expect a lovey-dovey-tangled-triangle-with-fanservice from a show
with a bunch of lolis right? But here, it was different. The creepy way the first episode starts made me wonder,
throughout the rest of the episode, what happens. I gradually began to see past the loli-ness.
Overall, it matches the story of the anime and would not have worked as well if it was a different style. More fluid
character movements would have been a plus, but as for the style itself, it goes perfectly. It was a bit of a shock
though, since I expected better from Studio Deen after seeing their art for Jigoku Shoujo.
Rating: 9
Sound
No anime ever deserved a 10 in sound as much as this does, or at least from the shows I've seen. Feel free to argue
with me about that, but this is one of Higurashi's high points in my opinion.
The OSTs are brilliant. The opening theme, which has the same name as the anime, has a haunting and meaningful quality
to it that really makes it stand out. It's one of the anime songs that has never left my playlist from the first
time I heard it. The ED is not as good, but it fits the story. A calming song, though with somewhat garbled wording.
Still acceptable, considering that the Japanese do not naturally use 'L'.
The voicing is topnotch. They add an unreal credibility to the characters, showing true emotion- and more importantly,
they can freak you out if you watch this alone or at night. No annoying granny-voice-for-toddler moments here. The
changes in tone are all very suited to the events in the story. My personal favorite is the voice for Mion/Shion. She
had to voice different personalities and mood swings. Rena's voice actress is great too.
Other than that, the BGMs are fairly typical, except for the stand-out tune of the cicadas. But then, the mark of a good
OST is if it blends into the anime itself and does not call too much attention.
Rating: 10
Presentation
Ahh, the best part.
My average is a 5, which should give you a clue how much I enjoyed this anime. Sometimes the humor seems a little
forced, but the overall effect is balanced. It is odd though when previously dead characters resurrect (lol), or when
dead characters die again, like the whole thing reset itself, but the 'Arc' presentation makes it all the more
interesting without being annoying. The first arc of the story draws you in, 2nd arc is like 'Hey what
happened?!' but it gives depth to the characters. By the 3rd arc, you're getting used to the reset thing, but
you are still mad with curiosity what the heck is going on. And by the fourth it all makes sense. The use of
foreshadowing was also very well played. They give something away, but not what happens, thus attracting one's
appetite to find out more BUT without giving away how it will happen. I especially like the Rika foreshadowing in the
fifth episode.
Some characters' motives did not satisfy me, like Shion (sooo boy-crazy) and Keiichi's in the Satoko-based
arc, but it was fine. The only thing stopping me from giving Presentation a 10 is because of the way it all ends.
It's like Keiichi's backstory was thrown in just for fun, it's pointless putting it in at that moment in
time. The last episode also gets very chatty. Plus when Rena did that (watch it for yourself, I'm not spoonfeeding
you the details) in the end, I felt like I preferred her going crazy and such. It would have been interesting in my
opinion if they made it like that.
Yes, I am morbid.
I wanted some more screen time for Rika too. But then, those are minor flaws.
ACTUAL RATING: 8.5 for PRESENTATION
Rating: 8
Final Verdict
8.8333 (very good)
Reviewed by Tsunoh, May 25, 2007
