"Higurashi no naku koro ni" (2006) TV series

User Rating:

8.9/10   

Creator:

Ryukishi07

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

5 April 2006 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a story of many chapters. It's about the town of Hinamizawa, and the people who live there...

Plot Keywords:

Cicada | Based On Sound Novel | Beautiful Girl | Multiple Homicide | Gore

Cast

Soichiro Hoshi	...	Keiichi Maebara (22 episodes, 2006)
Mai Nakahara	...	Rena Ryugu (22 episodes, 2006)
Satsuki Yukino	...	Mion Sonozaki / ... (22 episodes, 2006)
Yukari Tamura	...	Rika Furude (22 episodes, 2006)
Grant George	...	Keiichi Maebara (22 episodes, 2006)
Mela Lee	...	Rena Ryugu (22 episodes, 2006)
Mika Kanai	...	Satoko Hojo (21 episodes, 2006)
Fûrin Cha	...	Kuraudo Oishi / ... (16 episodes, 2006)
Toshihiko Seki	...	Kyosuke Irie / ... (10 episodes, 2006)

Also Known As:

"When They Cry" (USA)
"When They Cry: Higurashi" (International: English title)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Japan:R-15 (AT-X)

Company:

Higurashi no Naku koro ni Seisaku Iinkai

Trivia:

The nickname Rena uses when referring to Shion (Mion's twin sister) is Shi-chan. Shi means Death in Japanese. Whether this was intentional or not is up to the viewers.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Higurashi ga naku koro ni (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Higurashi no naku koro ni

When cicadas cry, this horror dies

So yes this is a nice harem Anime, oh wait, this is supposed to be a horror? You sure could have fooled me. In terms of horror and suspense Higurashi is a complete and utter failure. Elfen Lied has nothing to fear now, it still probably can top this. Okay seriously I am very disappointed in this series, considering I wanted a good suspense thriller that wasn't based purely on 100% excess and shock-factoring.

Higurashi is a story of several different arcs. Each arc is a different version of the same story. In 1983 a young male transfer student comes to a small town. A town with a deadly secret. Apparently after a traditional summer festival one person will be killed and another will disappear. The story repeats in the same fashion through each arc usually ending in a brutal murder or murders of some one or some people, but something.

As wonderful as the plot sounds it really isn't. The series had immense potential to create a suspenseful masterpiece, but instead it's like watching a filler arc when something finally happens after 6 episodes. Each episode is as long winded and wordy as the next, until something may just happen only for it to be a classic and clichéd horror blunder trick. Oh but don't get me wrong, eventually something does happen, but when it FINALLY does it provides maybe a few minutes of fright but that's it. So yes this series seriously lack suspense, half the time you feel more like you are watching a slice-of-life comedy instead of a thriller.

Until some annoying detective constantly shows up to go over the SAME mystery we heard 5 episodes ago! The series can work up it's suspense and chill level, but fails to keep it long enough for us to get remotely interested. The whole time you are just questioning should I fast-forward or not? Sure I like a talky as much as the next guy maybe even more than the next guy, but excessive dialog simply doesn't usually work well in a thriller. The series tries to build and build but the suspense just keeps falling down again. But there are a few eerie moments, (key word being few) such as the wonderful psychotic laughter from the tiny little ones. (see: http://tinyurl.com/2w5tll) and when it finally does get to the horrifying climax it can give you a few chills, before it abruptly cuts off. Other than that, the series heavily relies on it's dialog and music to give any sense of a creepy atmosphere. And that is all it has going for it.

I can't express how dull of a horror this really was. Die hard horror lovers may want to stick to Elfen Lied, as for general suspense lovers (Like me) you may want to avoid this one. Apparently when cicadas cry, this horror dies.