When They Cry
a review by Shinji515
Shinji515
3 years ago·Jun 27, 2022
100
/ 100
a review by Shinji515
3 years ago·Jun 27, 2022
This review contains spoilers for "Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni" and it's sequel: "Higurashi Kai". While the spoilers are all marked, I recommend watching the show before reading any reviews. It should be no surprise that, by this rating, I highly recommend the show. If the gore is keeping you back, all I will say is that it is very purposeful and it always gives the audience time to mentally prepare for it.
Also, despite being a Denpa, the ending is satisfactory. I feel the need to clarify due to most Denpa having unfulfilling and or abrupt endings.
“I trusted her.
...No, I still trust her.
Even in this very moment, I trust her.
But… I’m starting to realize.
I only wanted to trust her because I refused to accept the truth.
It was as if I was trying to convince myself, in such a silly...sobbing voice…
That kindness made me happy.
That adorable smile brought me joy.
I liked petting your head.
I loved how demure you were .
...Because this will be the last time.
Because when I swing this down [kill], I’ll forget.
This is… my…
First and last… bouquet for you
Perhaps… I really did… ...love you.”
~ Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni - Onikakushi-hen Visual Novel
________________
As humans, we can never completely have trust in each other. No matter what, we are fated to always have the slightest bit of doubt about each other. Even undeniable companionship can be suspected and doubted.
“Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni” (Higurashi) and it’s subsequent sequel “Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai” (Higurashi Kai) explore this idea of learning to trust your friends with undeniable certainty. While the former focuses on the character’s descent into paranoia, the latter shows the fight against paranoia - to have faith in your friends and defy fate.
Higurashi, referring to both sections, has an extraordinary story with powerful themes that are effectively discussed.
In the first episode, protagonist and transfer student - Keiichi Maebara - visits the junkyard with his friend - Rena Ryuugu - where he discovers that a brutal murder occurred in Hinamizawa where the victim’s body was dismembered by a group of people. Concerningly, one of the perpetrators hasn’t been found. Every year since then, a murder of one and the dissapearance of another takes place during the village’s Cotton Drifting Festival. The locals attribute this to “Oyashiro-sama” - a deity of the village. If one upsets this deity, then they will be punished accordingly.
At the end of episode 4, Maebara Keiichi claws at his throat and kills himself not before murdering his two classmates - Rena and Mion Sonozaki. Peculiarly, in the next episode, all of the characters are brought back to life; they are all friends again as if the events of the previous arc never happened. All of the events are locked in a time loop which all occurs in June 1983. In each arc, while most of the plot points stay the same, something slightly different happens that causes a character to doubt their friends, provoking their violent tendencies.
That is the basic structure of a “question arc”, which includes the first four arcs of the series. As the name suggests, they create questions, such as “Why did ‘Character A’ kill?”, “What happened to ‘Character B’?”, and, most importantly, “Why is everything happening?”.
These arcs put the audience in the position of the terror-stricken detective. Each subsequent arc supplements the audience with just enough information for there to be a possibility of connection between them. This compels the audience to have a more intimate relation to the story. We might believe some information to be true - only to be denied by another arc, completely destroying your previous understanding of the story. The pieces are all there; we just need to figure out if they connect, how they connect, even if they are real - or part of some character’s imagination.
Interestingly, at the beginning of most arcs, there is a preview for the end of each arc. The audience is transparently told which characters are going to die. Unlike many mainstream horror works, which mostly revolves around jumpscares, no shock value is used in Higurashi. The audience is scared, not because of the fear of “who’s going to die” but “how this happens”; how these kind friends come to murder each other.
These terror-inducing scenes are intertwined with “slice-of-life” episodes, which creates a major tonal dissonance with the later parts of the arc. It is jarring, which helps create uneasiness. The audience is conflicted between indulging in the enjoyment and being cautious. They are just waiting for someone to kill another; they doubt the friend group’s ability to ascend out of paranoia
In contrast, Higurashi Kai generally has all of the “answer arcs”, which answer the questions posed by the “question arcs”. It discusses defiance against fate and learning to trust your friends
This creates a huge tonal shift in the series that some people did not enjoy. It is a lot more somber and emotional - rather than horror based. Throughout all the time loops, the characters have struggled and failed to try and reach their happy ending; in all of their attempts, they have failed and met tragic ends. However, there will always be a light no matter how dark the tunnel is. It may be a cheesy ending but it's a fulfilling one that fits the story's themes.
Most time-loop stories fall into the trap of having boring side characters, with only the main characters being compelling. Higurashi takes a different approach by, instead, teaching us a different aspect of each character in each loop. The characters technically never change, but their actions and our perspective does.
Keiichi comes across as a generic relatable protagonist, which prompts the audience to sympathize with him. He goes insane over doubting his friends which leads to, sometimes, exaggerated reactions. However, he shows face when the situation calls for him. Throughout the second season, he actively works against what he would naturally do and takes the best course of action to ensure everyone is happy because, at the end of the day, he loves his friends. The audience is led to sympathize with him as we see everything from his perspective for the first three arcs. As such, their relationship with the whole world and its characters are through Keiichi.
Rika is one of the few characters who actually has a character arc. As such, she naturally has the most development. In the first season, she is the most mysterious. It’s clear she possesses some knowledge of the time loops but the audience doesn’t learn much about this until the second season. Her character shifts from the overly adorable little girl to a mature nihilist. She doesn’t believe that there is anything to do than trying again. However, she does not have hope. Ironically, even though she does not suffer paranoia, she doubts her friends the most. Her journey is to learn to have faith and trust her friends. Like Satoko, she puts up a facade of cuteness. Whenever the situation is tense, she says, “Nipah~” and the situation is quelled. This is her scapegoat out of any situation where her friends might gain too much knowledge. In the same way, Hanyuu also doubts the friend group. While her character may seem purposeless, she is intended to serve as a stand in for the audience. Like the audience, she doubts the friend group and simply waits for their demise.
The Sonozaki Twins are also compelling characters. Mion portrays herself as the super up-beat tomboy and Shion portrays herself as sensitive and feminine. The second question arc and its answer arc provide the most development and characterization for them. Because of her Sonozaki lineage, she has been characterized as possibly being the most villainous; the audience is led to doubt her the most.
All of the other character's all have depth and personality that is unveiled in each arc.
The animation of Higurashi serves thematic purpose and adds to the horror of the show. A common criticism of the animation is that, while it’s perfect for the fluffy “Slice of Life” moments, it is unsuitable for the horror. While, from an objective standpoint, this statement is true, it isn’t completely purposeless. The most notable contrast is, during the horror, the exaggerated detail in a character’s facial expression. This diverges heavily from the “Slice of Life” scenes where there is little detail on the character’s faces. This exaggerated detail gives the character’s psychopathic expressions much more weight - especially when considering the contrast between the “Slice of Life” bits and the Horror bits.
Less arguably, the lighting in the show is very well done. In almost all of the horror shots, there is an aspect of complete darkness and one of bright light. There are many possible purposes for this. It could represent the uncertainty of the information presented to us, with the darks. This is most apparent in the scene where
The character designs of the show all fit their intention as well. Due to Mion’s long skirt and jacket, which are commonly associated with the Yakuza, one may be led to believe the misconception that Mion is aggressive. Likewise, Rena’s character is intended to look overly warm and cute to contrast with the developments we learn in the first arc.
Higurashi’s music powerfully fulfills its purpose of creating the atmosphere. Half of the soundtrack consists of generic cheerful music for the more upbeat parts of the show. Whereas, the other half consists of depressing tracks for the horror scenes. The horror scenes are supported and are significantly more unsettling with their depressing tracks, as the audience sympathizes with the character’s mix of emotions.
Some of these tracks, such as “Main Theme”, evolve over the course of the series. After completing the show, the audience feels a complex mix of emotions, somehow feeling both comforting and unsettling. For example, the track is played both when Keiichi kills Teppei and when Rena is confronted in the junkyard. While in the first scene, the audience understands Keiichi’s dread, anger, and vengeance; in the latter scene, the audience feels Rena’s regret and the friend group’s resolve.
This is aided by the excellent Japanese dub. The voice actors do a good job at making these characters seem believable. During the scenes where the characters descend into despair, their screaming, crying, and yelling all carry emotion behind it. When Mion condemns Takano in the final scene, there is resolve behind her voice - resolve to protect her friends. When Shion laughs ferociously, the audience can detect her lack of remorse.
Up until this point, the audience has learned most of Satoshi’s story. Satoko’s brother, Satoshi, was working to buy a bear for her but mysteriously disappeared - supposedly at the hands of the Sonozaki family. Shion believes that Satoko and Mion deserve to be punished for not helping Satoshi enough. Satoko’s sheer willpower to not cry because there is hope that her brother might still be alive is almost beautiful. After her brother’s death, she has worked hard to ensure that she is no longer a burden to her brother - that she is worthy of her brother. In that way, her death goes directly against the themes of hope. This is necessary to build and condition the audience’s despair.
To the audience, Satoshi is already believed to be dead, which makes Satoko’s resolve much more powerful. She is clinging on to hope, only to be stabbed 25 times by Shion.
In the preview of this arc, the audience is led to believe that this scene is the end of the arc. The form of previews up until this point has been the conclusion of the arc. Even though this scene appears very early in the arc, the second episode, the audience has reason to believe that one of the characters will go insane. Rena’s monologue and the fact that her violence has already been triggered make this seem plausible. It’s eye opening that, despite the fact that Rena brutally massacred two people, her friends still reach out to her. Keiichi recognizes that Rena’s actions were atrocious and unacceptable but, as her friend, he accepts that. They trust her enough to forgive that murder. They trust her enough to hide the body, forget that her hands are bloody, and play with her. This begins the discussion of the themes of trusting your friends. So far, all of the murders only occurred because someone doubted the friendship. This, seemingly, evaporates all of that doubt. Their bonds are thicker than blood. Despite the sorrow tone in the main theme, it is played here which provides evidence for the audience’s suspicion that Rena might succumb to her paranoia. At the end of the scene, when no one is hurt, it conditions the audience to feel an array of emotions. The song now connotes both hope and dread at the same time. In the proceeding scene where they dispose of the body, no one talks and there is no music playing. The only audio features are the cicadas crying.
“Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni” is one of the best examples of storytelling, pacing, and horror that anime has to offer. Combined with its unique narrative structure and its compelling characters, it is definitely worth your time and I can't consider it any less than one of my favorite works of all time.
"There is no way to avert tragedy. There is no choice but to give up. But don't give up. Only you can stand up to this".
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