HIGURASHI NO NAKU KORO NI
An average MURDER high school comedy DISMEMBERMENT
Review by: M.H. “February 2nd” Torringjan
Length: 26 episodes
Genre: Mystery, horror, killer lolis
Watched: entire series, subbed
I’ll admit, this is a title that I downloaded just to spite the licensors, and that I really had no interest in it before downloading it. I had hardly heard of the tale of killer lolis that was certain to spark controversy when released here, thanks to numerous soccer moms who like to meddle more than they should. Regardless, once I picked it up and watched it through (and through and through), I found that there was a decent amount to enjoy in this dripping, soggy box.
Plot Summary: Keiichi Maebara is a transfer student to the small town of Hinamizawa, who goes to school everyday with his friends, Rena, Mion, Rika, and Satoko. It seems like a normal, peaceful life until the Festival of the Watanagashi, a festival of atonement, where a local photographer turns up dead (Oh, my god! They killed Tomitake! You bastards!). As he begins to investigate the history of the town and the mystery surrounding the proposed building of a dam, he uncovers a seedy underbelly of the city, centered around his new friends and a cult of the goddess Oyashiro. However, since he finds out too much, his own life may be in danger.
Artwork: The art style is soft for the most part, generally reserved for slice-of-life or romance series, with characters that look fairly generic (but still distinguishable), pastoral settings, and bright colors splashed all around. However, considering the dark side, the artists can give the character designs an abrupt U-turn, turning them from cute-and-cuddly to psychotic killing machines. There are also a series of dark, gritty backgrounds that accompany the darker parts, because apparently these guys haven’t heard of the concept of irony. There are, however, some visual shortcuts and outright sloppy moments that keep this from being a decent series. Overall, the series is about average in terms of artwork.
Music: The soundtrack of the series runs the gamut from light-and-bouncy to creepy horror music. Most of the tracks are synth, and fairly generic, so this is nothing to get all that excited about. And besides, a good soundtrack isn’t necessary for watching a good blood-splatter. The opening track is suitably creepy and sets you up for a good scare that never really comes, while the closing track is a slower track that really does nothing for the mood and isn’t really that exciting musically. Anyone watching this and expecting a technical masterpiece will be sadly disappointed.
Characters: Maebara Keiichi is generic anime guy (TM) who moves to a new school and is trying to fit in with his new crowd of friends. He has an unassuming way about him, and he just wants to fit in with his friends. However, he’s easy to read and becomes suspicious easily of others. His real flaw is how quickly he gives up information, which often puts him in danger. Repeatedly. Ryuugu Rena is a sweet girl who obsesses with whatever she thinks is cute and just wants to be happy with her friends. She is painfully familiar with the history of the town, and wants to keep it secret from outsiders at any cost. Her devotion to the city often manifests itself as an obsession with Oyashiro. Sonozaki Mion is a boisterous girl who acts as the mediator in conflicts at times, the instigator at others. She is the daughter of the local crime syndicate, and next in line to take charge, meaning she has a high level of responsibility and her honor is tied heavily to the identity of the town. Houjou Satoko is a young, athletic girl who likes to fight with Keiichi often. She usually keeps to herself and doesn’t like to talk about her family life much, especially her brother Satoshi, who disappeared in the past. Furude Rika is the daughter of the local priest, who has been training her entire life to take up the trade of running the temple. She is the only person who Satoko completely trusts, as they’ve been together ever since her parents died. Her role as the Priestess is exemplified by an intimate connection to Oyashiro. The characters themselves fit very well into the plot and move things along smoothly for the most part, although at times, their actions seem somewhat forced. However, as more of the backstory is revealed, the characters’ motivations become more clear with time.
Plot: If you thought that non-linear story-lines were hard to follow, try circular plots! The story has a cyclic nature, very much like Groundhog Day meets Disturbed. While often the general elements of the story stay the same from iteration to iteration, many of the specifics appear to change from one time to the next, making it difficult to determine exactly what happened from one time to the next. This is definitely a series that requires multiple watches to get some points, and even then much is left open at the end (hence the sequel series soon to be released). The confusion of trying to integrate all of the times through into one comprehensive storyline began to wear thin with time, but the overarching theme of the series is made painfully clear in the end. Overall, the feel of the series is more like some vignettes strung together with the same characters, a feeling which will hopefully be remedied in the second half of the series.
CHICKS!!! In this series, about the only thing you’re going to get in terms of chicks is cleaved in half, shot, poisoned, thrown over a cliff, disemboweled, gutted, or beaten to death with a heavy piece of wood (possibly with rusty nails in the end). And, as added incentive, the majority of the chicks here are much less than legal age. While there are some pretty pieces of eye-candy to be had here, you might be better served avoiding the bunch of them. I certainly will.
Overall: While this series was hailed as a horror series on par with Kakurenbo, very little of the series is actually that scary beyond the first four episodes, after which point you’re more confused trying to piece together the storylines. While I was slightly disappointed, because I was looking for a good scare, I got around to enjoy the mystery elements of the series more than the horror. The sequel series has strong potential to solve some of the remaining mysteries, and always can close the series strongly the way that the final episode of this series tried to do. Until then, I would recommend at least giving this series a look to see what you think.
In a Nutshell:
+ Intersting mystery elements
+ Zero to crazy in less than a second
- Generic technically
- Not very scary
- Characters seem forced
Final score: 7/10
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