Horror anime has a tendency of looking like a terrible comedy. The execution manages to be sluggish, lacking any oomph in its performance, including a sense of assurance. This goes to make the frightful moments fly over your head, leaving you either expressionless or bored out of your mind. Maybe you are even insulted or purely annoyed. From what I have seen of horror in anime, it's usually mistaken as delivering a gratuitous amount of gore without any substance or direction. Forgot all about a gradual suspenseful build-up, solid character facial expression to deeply nail the emotions. Even the whole sound aspect is simply thrown out of the window, including voice acting, effects, the soundtrack. These things are important for a solid horror experience. If only all of these parts where handled with more care and attention to detail. Thankfully we are not entirely out of luck. Some effective, compelling, brilliantly executed horror exists, even if they are not that many. They handle those aspects mentioned above with passion and proper care. One of them and the most famous is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni franchise.

It's set in a rural village of Hinamizawa, a town frozen in time. Nothing gets in and out, a relatively short place where everyone knows each other, and it's hard to get lost. It got its own set of hierarchy that's quite ancient and dates back hundreds of years, its own traditions and values. Even the family names can be traced back for centuries. One day a new resident, Keiichi Maebara, moves in, easily eases into the community, and makes a circle of close friends. He ends up doing everything together with them. They become really close friends. Keiichi genuinely feels close at home. All his newfound friends are as competitive, energetic, and odd as him. Usually, their group ethics involves playing some strange games that are meant to embarrass the loser—this a typical day for this quirky bunch. Everything is happy-go-lucky until Keiichi finds out one-day that there are darker and disturbing parts to this lively village. This thread leads him to find a more scary and painful incident that has happened.

Despite all this being fresh in the minds of the villagers. It's like this tragic incident never even took place. Was it all a dream, a nightmare, or even rumors? What's going on in Hinamizawa? Before Keiichi can process the village's sinister goings, the peaceful town is not so peaceful anymore. What's more, despite our cast being all smiles and happy, something is just not what it seems. Trying to dig into what's hiding in might do more harm than good. Unless you value your life, one better pretends nothing out of the ordinary exists and live your life at peace. Even if those horrors will eventually find a place for you someday. It's still better to not invite evil willingly when you have that option available. Otherwise, you will come to deeply regret your actions. But by that point, it will be far too late to go back to simpler and not so painful times.

You are not wrong to call Higurashi a horror, but first and foremost, it's a mystery that will make you feel very dumb. Give you a headache trying to piece together the puzzle that is way more complex than a spider's web. If you try to untangle it, you will find yourself unable to escape before making sense of all the shit that goes on here. Higurashi is split into two portions, the question and answer. The former purpose is to make you wanna rack your brain until it explodes. Simultaneously, the latter feeds you all the answers is not a very direct but understandable way. If you're bright, you might even figure out the answer with just the first arc, but that's doubtful. It's not as easy as it sounds. One of the joys of watching Higurashi for me was to try to piece things together and crack the code of what's going on inside of Hinamizawa and beyond. Spoiler alert: I was utterly lost in my first watch-through.

Why do I label Higurashi a masterpiece and my favorite horror of all time? Well, because it's, as implied, very diverse, deep, and complex. It starts out simple, but you get more confused and wonder if you even have a brain up there with every passing episode. This is a very intelligent story where you need to have your mind on full-throttle. No, It's not EVA and especially not SEL. Higurashi is sprinkled with short story arcs throughout the season. They might seem hazy and loosely tied at first. But every loose thread gets tied exceptionally well in the sequel, blowing your expectations and mind out of the water. This is one of the many reasons that makes Higurashi an absolutely engaging and addictive ride. The story also carries underlying heart-warming themes of friendship and subtle signs of how chaotic the world would be without trust and friendship. How it shows the results the way it affects society is a scary and realistic cut.

I remember watching the anime for the first time, not understanding a thing, then when I watched the answer arc. I was blown away by how much of the mystery was hidden in plain sight. It's a cakewalk once you know the details. Let's leave it at that. There's foreshadowing sprinkled across, hinting at the bigger picture even if it's not clear at first glance. More than that, Higurashi has such a strong emotional impact on me because it explores very delicate touchy-feely topics shared in the real world. Such as being bullied for having a different opinion or ethics, feelings, or the sad urge to commit suicide. You can even see signs of manipulation and psychical and emotional abuse. It goes through how it feels like being betrayed. It doesn't stop there. It touches on many other very offensive elements through both the surroundings and how it affects the character and their mind. Higurashi got a well-written flawed cast of characters that grow throughout the ride. Each of them got a unique and colorful personality that's more than meets the eye.

When it comes to production, it's made by Studio Deen, a not so highly favored studio nowadays. Still, they had their fair share of solid adaptations in the past. Konosuba swiftly comes to mind. Higurashi is no exception to that rule as it's a solid adaptation of Ryuukishi's brilliant visual novel. The author behind this masterpiece. It uses the same idea of Madoka Magica by hiding behind a cute and moe style. I think this option elevates the experience and emotions more. When you suddenly see someone harmless, change at the drop of a hat, the style harmonizes with the person's mood. It's a very satisfying and exciting spectacle that keeps you at the edge of your seat. Well, it might be hit or miss. The reason for that is the bizarre facial expressions Higurashi throws at us where the voice might not always hit the nail on the coffin. Despite so, it has thrilling and many well-executed moments that send chills down your spine several times over. Not to mention, the voice acting is top-notch.

That goes for the sound effect too. I can still hear that utterly maniacal laughter in my head as I am writing this article. I can even clearly hear the brutal sounds of stabbing, blood spurt, and other grotesque bits that make me shake from the fright at the thought of it. While we are on the topic, Higurashi got two masterpieces of opening, and the ending songs are good too. But no one can deny the two opening songs that accurately capture the mood for their respective arc is the one most worth noting for most people. Both are filled to brim with symbolism, foreshadowing, and the lyrics hold such significant meaning. I still slap them on the highest volume to this day. I don't think I will ever get bored of them. Higurashi got a beautiful and soothing insert song as well, titled "Dear You." It never fails to make me emotional, and again it holds meaning to what happens in Higurashi.

Never have I ever been on edge on my seat watching horror in anime. Most time, I have only laughed my heart out and become nauseated by the unnecessary gore. Higurashi is one of the only times I have felt the need to have my guard up, possibly hide behind my hands to not get hit by a terrifying moment that makes my heart jump out of my chest. I have never cringed as much nor been utterly terrified to the point I need a break. Watching Higurashi at nighttime is one of the worst decisions I have ever made. Still, I loved the exhilaration it brought to the table. I am not a horror fanatic, yet Higurashi has shown that to not ultimately be the case. To this day, I still visit Hinamizawa when I feel the need to scare myself back to alive again. It never gets old. Those same moments always make me react with genuine emotions. I should note for Higurashi, when it comes to violent and bloody scenes, it doesn't hold anything back and does not shy away from censors. If you can't handle that, then don't step into this place you are sure to regret. Regardless of the amount of praise I can shower upon Higurashi, it's not without flaws unless you don't consider them that. In my eyes, this is a masterpiece, albeit flawed. For others, this might not even fall in the realm of good anime, which I find terribly disappointing personally.

Higurashi is relatively slow-paced and feels somewhat episodic at times. Unless you got patience, then it might not be for you. But trust me, at a certain point, when all the groundwork is over and done with, it's an absolute blast from start to finish. I love both seasons, but my favorite has to be Higurashi no Naku Kori ni Kai, otherwise known as the answer arc. If you also prefer your shows to have high production value, you might sadly find yourself disappointed. Then again, top-notch art and animation are not be all and end all if you look at a particular anime in 2020 that felt lifeless even with all that. Higurashi does not look terribly poor. Does who got issues with production need to look at the execution and direction, not the flashiness. One thing that's both Higurashi's strength and weakness is the crazy facial expressions we get bombarded with every now and then. Stunningly utilizing these. Studio Deen has made me both terrified for my life to wake up to one of those faces and got me to drown in laughter by how hideous and funny-looking they are. Despite being an anime from 2006, Higurashi offers a distinct and varied background choice. Many look quite solid. Studio deen excels at creating a somber and ominous tone and harmonizing it with a more cute and wholesome vibe. The shift could be instant, but it flows naturally, really shaking you up when it happens.

There's no denying I am biased when it comes to Higurashi. Before, I really fell in love, however. I had tried getting into the show many times without any luck. At some point, when I was more mature, I finally gave it a proper shot and absolutely fell in love the more I watched. There is a manga adaptation for those who don't wanna watch the anime that you will either love or hate, or if you don't wanna go through the incredibly long visual novel. It's seemingly 50-100 hours long. Not everyone will have time for that. I have yet to sit down and read it myself, but I have planned it for it one of these days. I think Higurashi manga, at least, is stunningly adapted. As you would expect, the anime has cut out scenes or changed around events to flow smoothly while animated or make more sense. Let's say you watched Higurashi, would there be a point in reading it? To that, I say absolutely. Reading it is such a more refined, refreshing, and incredible experience. Not only do you get more meat on the bones where anime skimped on, but it's also easier to digest the content at your own pace. The art-style is solid, and trust me when I say the horror moments made me jump from my seat several times over. I implied it earlier that Higurashi is split into question and answer part on the surface.

If you look into it further, there are in total of four arcs for each of them. Are you interested in reading the manga? This is the order—Onikakushi-Hen, Watanagashi-Hen, Tatarigoroshi-Hen, Himatsubashi-Hen, Meakashi-Hen, Tsumihoroboshi-Hen, Minagoroshi-Hen, Matsuribayashi-Hen. It might seem much at first, but most are less than 20 chapters long. The lengthiest is 35 chapters if I recall correctly. By chance, you mess up and start the anime from the sequel. The order is Question, Answer, Rei and the latest Gou. You can't go wrong with either the anime, but especially the manga is absolutely top-notch good-shit you don't wanna miss out on. Overall, if you're hungry for some horror and mind-blowing mystery, then give Higurashi a watch. If you can look past the low production value, you're sure to have a wonderful and thrilling time. This a must and should be watched at some point in your life. I want to say that this article is both a review for anime and a soft one for manga. In other words, my rating takes both of the adaptations into account. Let me lastly add that if you enjoyed Re:Zero by chance, you're more than likely gonna have a blast with Higurashi.