Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

ChatterboxZombie | 7 Oct 2010 | tl;dr

I’m not trying to brag about it, but I’m pretty desensitized to most sorts of violence. After years of killing zombies and sitting there laughing my ass off at Elfen Lied, anime has never really been the sorta thing that brings to me, I don’t know, shock. Surprise, chills, creeps, anime has never been the media to make me feel these sorta things. Enter Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, a series with a reputation for its yandere characters and eerie guerrilla warfare like approach to the psychological thriller genre. It’s every psychopath for himself, and this is one series that can hold its own.

It’s 1983 and Keiichi has moved to the quiet mountain village of Hinamizawa. He spends his time hanging out with his friends, doing after school club activities and playing games. Its not long however before Keiichi discovers that the little town has a dark and disturbing history of murder and curses. As Keiichi finds out more and more he begins to realize the dangers that he faces, and soon the consequences become very gruesome. The series has quite a unique setup though, choosing to scrap the progressive plot and start again after about 4 or 5 episodes. These “Chapters” contain all the same characters, locations and setups, but tackle a different interpretation, or even different possibility of the events based on what characters become the focus. It’s a unique way of doing it, and while it does feel a little chunky in its progressive flow, the chapters are usually nicely contained with their own solid endings and morals. You’ll fit into the swing of things after a chapter or two, but it does start off quite slow, and takes a while for the whole plot to start rolling.

The story is easily the strong point of the series, offering a banquet of morals and climactic scenes open to your individual interpretation. It is very bold in its form, plunging into gruesome themes such as death, murder, disease and violence all while playing on the mental treachery that the characters face over and over. Its not without its faults however. Everybody will have their favorites, but some chapters are noticeably weaker than others, lacking the oomph and vulgarity that make some of the chapters so defining and memorable. The series has the typical tendency to kick you into the world absolutely clueless, and slowly reveal itself as the plot develops. Its great writing, and its amazing the way that the subtle and sinister events gradually materialize in front of you. But with so much going on at one time, and the events all gradually becoming related through the chapters, it gets quite difficult to follow. Its like watching a double helix as it twists upwards. You may be able to keep track of either side, but when they come together it gets truly confusing as the events suddenly spiral out in either direction. Even with these annoyances and a somewhat lack luster ending, Higurashi presents its story with beautiful elegance and care. Its obvious that the story would be more understandable in its original visual novel form, but this adaptation is still a pristine example of immersive and intelligent anime at its best.

The cast is populated by a firm group of important and varied characters. In the rare, more relaxed scenes the series plays on the standard character archetypes, even throwing in the paper-thin school romance aspect. However this is usually used as a clever mask to disguise the characters for their real forms. Most of the characters are likable when they’re in their normal state, but as you’ll find out, each has their own aggressive and violent alter-self that is released at the key points. Its truly chilling as a calm and quiet conversation suddenly cuts to a harsh and gritty game of psychological cat and mouse, and seeing your favorite character suddenly snap is a mesmerizing and stirring experience that’s hard to forget.

While the characters are great in their own merits, offering some disgustingly creepy transformations throughout the series, some of the edge is lost after the rare predictable event or tragedy. The characters are really remarkable in their own actions, and seeing Rena stare you down from across the room is something that would never become comfortable. The odd predictable action is usually repetitions fault, but the pure shock and magnitude of the characters is a force to be reckoned with. Some of the interaction between the characters is absolutely bizarre. You’ll be puzzled at how fast characters seem to kiss and make up, or at the awkward tendency for characters to revert back to being friendly and cute right after a huge and vulgar emotional out burst. It just feels so alien, and it definitely chips away at some of the realism and grittiness that the themes build upon. This inconsistency was probably my biggest annoyance with the series. Still, the horrifying and downright creepy climaxes will have you shaking in your seat, and its mostly responsible for the brilliant development of characters.

Its hard to keep track of motives as well. You’ll often find yourself working out how everything is happening but then be stumped at why the characters are doing these ghastly and frightful things. The series usually patches this up, but often lacks clarity, making it a bit confusing and often not moving beyond simply “they had a dark history”. Whats more a few of the chapters place the focus heavily on the twins Mion and Shion. Because the two are obviously identical in appearance and voice, it makes it really difficult to keep track of who’s who, especially when they begin to impersonate one another.

There is some pretty gruesome scenes in this series. While its not exactly a blood bath, there are some super creepy and cringe-worthy moments that will have you glancing away from your screen for a breather. Its not often that you see a series engage in such agonizing and aggressive stuff, and the show pulls it off almost flawlessly, creating some really morbid and climactic scenes that you’ll watch with baited breath. Torture, homicide and murder are all fair game here, and some scenes are really quite stunning in their presentation, rarely fumbling on the dramatic power of the scenes.

Visual presentation is a bit up and down. With a simple and clean art style character models don’t have a lot of detail or definition. This being said, facial animations are still fantastic, as stirring and gripping emotions are smeared across characters faces perfectly, adding a huge sense of depth and realism to the characters. Overall animation quality is good, if not a bit sluggish in some of the faster action scenes. Settings aren’t overly varied, but offer a great sense of isolation and space in the expansive green fields of the Japanese countryside.

Sound quality is good. Some fantastic voice work has been done by the various actors, spearheaded by the shocking and sudden lashes of emotion that spec the various scenes. Sound effects are nice, with some realistic clashes and subtle rustles making for some great recordings. The background music is well composed, offering authentic and believable Japanese music one minute and dynamic orchestral strums the next. The opening theme is quite eerie and creepy, setting a good tone for each episode, but the ending theme, while well composed, has awful vocals, with some of the funniest engrish you’ll ever hear.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a stirring and multi-layered story of paranoia and crime, showcasing some brilliant use of development, characters and writing. The story is a little hard to get a hold of, and often feels unapproachable with its unique pacing and structure, and the prominent use of gore and violence will put some viewers off. Whats more an irritating tendency to develop inconsistent characters is a bit of a flow breaker. However few anime can compare to the sheer form and interpretable depth that it holds. Its not without its flaws, but Higurashi offers something different, and blinding stab at a genre that isn’t the most common for the media, all while still remaining intelligent and fresh. One of the few series that has reeled me back for another episode faster than i could finish, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a beautiful and illusive story of suffering and society, personally recommended by me.

There are many mysteries to solve in the quiet town of Hinamizawa, not for the weak of heart.

Written by ChatterboxZombie.