Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni - Discuss!!! (may contain spoilers?)

[darkangel76]

***Putting up the disclaimer for SPOILERS since I've no idea how discussion will go and anyone who might be watching or plan on watching this anime, well, you've been warned that they MIGHT pop up eventually!

So, this anime is just one of those worth discussing. Honestly, it's one of the best anime out there in my opinion. The story was fantastic and the characters were just amazing! I loved the gore and sadism in season 1 immensely. It had me hooked like nothing else and the story just kept me utterly engaged. So basically, you didn't have gore merely for the sake of it. Everything was carefully planned out and all the answers were finally revealed in season 2. The build was torturously slow, but that made it all the better. You were literally dying to learn the answers and understand what was happening and it wasn't until later that things came together. However, the journey to that point was just marvelous!!! Absolutely MARVELOUS!

So, anyone else watch this anime? Anyone else love it? Discuss away!!!

 

[malin]

You know there was always something that bothered me with Higurashi. at the start of the third arc, in the episode "Older Brother" it starts off with land ladies in a town that is clearly not Hinamizawa, who find a box filled with a dead person. Everything else in the anime every murder, every body, is accounted for. But not the box?

Who's in the box? why is the box important? It's never referenced again in any of the other arks, and it only appears for like 3 minutes. The body is so beaten and so destroyed that you can't even tell who is in the box. It doesn't even play into the ark. It's just a box in a river filled with dead person meat.

Higurashi is a really tight, really controlled mystery show. It raises all of the questions it needs too and then answers them all... it's a great show but every time I re watch it I always end up screaming at my TV, and it always ends up sounding like that scene from Seven.

 

[Tierhund]

Totally agree- while having to watch it in confusing sections on Youtube meant I didn't understand some of the plotline because of the narrative, rewatching it lately really got me thirsty for psychological horror. And it's so fucking hard to find in anime, my second favourite being Elfen Lied.

 

[darkangel76]

Psychological horror is THE BEST horror. Period. *nods* You couple it with carefully placed gore, however, and you suddenly have perfection. *is so biased though* >///< But, that is one of the reasons as to why I adored Higurashi so very much, especially season 1. It wasn't bloody hack and slash every two seconds, but it had its fair share. And it also developed one of my favorite Yandere in anime--Rena.

Also, Elfen Lied was pretty damned awesome! XD

 

[Tierhund]

I really enjoyed how disturbing I found the slow degradation into chaos in Higurashi, and the really well chosen music for the intros. The small psychological horror that began to escalate in season 1- it was a fantastic experience. Watching things unravel and the storytelling being so good that you actually invest in a character and their emotional turmoil is one of my FAV EXPERIENCES. A good story has me suffering everything the character is suffering- when Keiichi becomes aware that secrets are very clearly being kept from you in a domestic, realistic enviroment, that you begin to not trust your very closest friends, to feel under threat from people who otherwise play nice with you, who are growing in sinister behaviour that causes increased distress and threat in you. Fantastic

I also liked the idea that maybe the many different versions were exploring how little interference it takes to make someone lose their mind with desperation, to do unspeakable things, to be pushed to violence and for their lives to unravel into horror and madness in such a domestic, real world way

Also, children being pushed to violence in such an intimate (as in, you're there for every little thing, not just a zombie or murderer child that seems otherworldly cuz you have no idea how they got there) setting is always disturbing and pleasantly shocking

 

[darkangel76]

I think that is exactly why Higurashi was so fantastic. The exploration of the mind and how, depending on the situation, one can either choose to walk along Path A or Path B...one leading to the deterioration of mind, body, soul while the other leads to potential victory or even another set of choices. It truly is amazing at how easily the mind can be pushed and/or manipulated and that, when one truly thinks on it, there resides an inner darkness waiting to be tapped. People might like to think that they are pure, inherently good. But, fact of the matter is that there's a balance and that it can, in fact, be tipped if the situation is JUST RIGHT. Goes to show just how flawed the human psyche is and how malleable we all are. No one is perfect and no matter how we slice it...inner demons reside in us all.

On the flip side, there were also some interesting explorations as to how far the characters would go to protect the other. Some went to great lengths--enduring torture, among other things. So, while it showed that we all have our demons and darkness, it showed that we also have an inherent desire to protect those closest to us, those who genuinely mean something to us. And, when given the chance to redeem...we try to do so.

Honestly, the show was astounding with its exploration of the psychological. I loved every bit of it.

 

[Tierhund]

Personally I'm really bored with inherent/born 'good' or 'evil' in all its forms, it's just not possible in my mind. It's more, to me, about the fragile and interconnected complexity of the human mind, and how every straw is the straw that could break the donkeys back and push you into the unthinkable. It's less to me that we have untapped darkness, but we all have the potential for violence. We just don't engage in it very often, and it's usually more prevalent when we're pushed to fear for our lives- AS seen in Higurashi.

That and there is this STRONG concept of suffocation- these characters narratives don't include having any allies, any outs, any safety nets. They're stuck in an unbearable situation and it's just a ticking clock of pushes and jabs before they fall off the edge.

 

[darkangel76]

Yep, pretty much. I think that is why it has its appeal. At least, for me and probably others who've actually taken the time to watch it. I'm sure there are those who can't get past the gore...but they are taking it too literally in my mind. Then again, can't help what you're fascinated with, I suppose. But I've always enjoyed watching and analyzing things like Higurashi. And it's probably why I'm drawn to Yandere characters and find them so utterly fascinating on so many levels. A lot of people also have a misconception of the Yandere and all too often take them to the extreme....ALL the time. But, they run deeper than that, at least from my own POV. I find them to be rather complex and intriguing and trying to get in their heads is something I find rather thrilling to do. >.<