Post by Skywalker on Mar 21, 2008 19:46:39 GMT -5
Length: 26 episodes split into 6 arcs
Original Airdates: 4/06 - 9/06
Demographic: Seinen
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Drama, Comedy
Also known as: When the Cicadas Cry, When They Cry - Higurashi, Higurashi
WARNING: Contains brutal violence and scenes of torture involving kids.
One-Sentence Summary: "Cute girls killing each other w/ knives, bats, and meat cleavers."
Plot Synopsis
On one hot summer day in 1983, a transfer student named Maebara Keiichi comes to a peaceful rural village in Hinamizawa. There, he befriends his 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.
(From ANN)
Personal Opinion
This show is proof that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. (Well in this case, an anime).
If you look on Wikipedia, the images shown seem to promise a typical harem school romance w/ 5 girls around Keiichi.... this couldn't be farther from the truth. The first scene in the anime depicts Keiichi beating 2 of these girls (Mion and Rena) to death w/ a baseball bat. This scene is complete w/ blood and the sickening sound effects. After this, cue the opening credits... w/ a haunting melody that fits the anime perfectly. After the credits, you see Keiichi talking hapilly w/ Mion and Rena, both in good health... This is where you say "What the f***"
Welcome to Hinamizawa, the setting of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
The anime is split up into 6 arcs: 4 "Questions arcs" and 2 "Answers". Each Question arc starts of the same w/ comedy and mini-harem. However, after the Watanagashii festival that takes place, things start going downhill. In each question arc, someone gets paranoid, uncovers something new regarding Hinamizawa, and then people die... brutally. Everything resets for the next arc, and repeat cycle. The primary purpose of the Question arcs are to set up the mystery surrounding the village of Hinamizawa.
These mysteries are answered in the Answer arcs. The Answer arcs look at a nearly identical situation from another perspective. For example... the 2nd questions arc was told from the perspective of Keiichi, it's respective answers arc told the same story, except from the perspective of Shion (Mion's twin sister).
Eventually you'll get used to the violence... though i should warn, the gore gets more and more graphic. 2 scenes involving "nails" and "maggots" will leave you cringing, if not give you nightmares for a week.
I was actually expecting a lot more horror elements in this anime... and, if you know me, then you should know that i dislike overly-gory horror flicks. However, I could handle the gore in this anime (probably because it's animated). But the thing that i really enjoyed about this anime was the suspense. Higurashi will get your heart racing more than running a mile in 5 minutes would.
2 question arcs are not answered in this series... they were saved for the second seasons, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. I will probably watch that series in the near future.
Overall: Great suspenseful mystery that'll leave you wanting more.
RATING: 3/4
Similar to...
Nothing I've seen so far
Original Airdates: 4/06 - 9/06
Demographic: Seinen
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Drama, Comedy
Also known as: When the Cicadas Cry, When They Cry - Higurashi, Higurashi
WARNING: Contains brutal violence and scenes of torture involving kids.
One-Sentence Summary: "Cute girls killing each other w/ knives, bats, and meat cleavers."
Plot Synopsis
On one hot summer day in 1983, a transfer student named Maebara Keiichi comes to a peaceful rural village in Hinamizawa. There, he befriends his 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.
(From ANN)
Personal Opinion
This show is proof that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. (Well in this case, an anime).
If you look on Wikipedia, the images shown seem to promise a typical harem school romance w/ 5 girls around Keiichi.... this couldn't be farther from the truth. The first scene in the anime depicts Keiichi beating 2 of these girls (Mion and Rena) to death w/ a baseball bat. This scene is complete w/ blood and the sickening sound effects. After this, cue the opening credits... w/ a haunting melody that fits the anime perfectly. After the credits, you see Keiichi talking hapilly w/ Mion and Rena, both in good health... This is where you say "What the f***"
Welcome to Hinamizawa, the setting of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
The anime is split up into 6 arcs: 4 "Questions arcs" and 2 "Answers". Each Question arc starts of the same w/ comedy and mini-harem. However, after the Watanagashii festival that takes place, things start going downhill. In each question arc, someone gets paranoid, uncovers something new regarding Hinamizawa, and then people die... brutally. Everything resets for the next arc, and repeat cycle. The primary purpose of the Question arcs are to set up the mystery surrounding the village of Hinamizawa.
These mysteries are answered in the Answer arcs. The Answer arcs look at a nearly identical situation from another perspective. For example... the 2nd questions arc was told from the perspective of Keiichi, it's respective answers arc told the same story, except from the perspective of Shion (Mion's twin sister).
Eventually you'll get used to the violence... though i should warn, the gore gets more and more graphic. 2 scenes involving "nails" and "maggots" will leave you cringing, if not give you nightmares for a week.
I was actually expecting a lot more horror elements in this anime... and, if you know me, then you should know that i dislike overly-gory horror flicks. However, I could handle the gore in this anime (probably because it's animated). But the thing that i really enjoyed about this anime was the suspense. Higurashi will get your heart racing more than running a mile in 5 minutes would.
2 question arcs are not answered in this series... they were saved for the second seasons, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. I will probably watch that series in the near future.
Overall: Great suspenseful mystery that'll leave you wanting more.
RATING: 3/4
Similar to...
Nothing I've seen so far