higurashi no naku koro ni 26 (tsumihoroboshi 5)
Categories: anime, episodic review, higurashi
Tagged: higurashi
37 Comments »
Our last dance with Keiichi and Rena.
Chie gets a call from Rena that leads her out of the building… which is Rena’s plan…
… which she apparently got from Revenge of the Sith. The kids look like the Jedi children right when Anakin pays them a visit.
Rena takes the class hostage. What you don’t see is Roger Moore filming the scene for his upcoming documentary, Bowling for Hinamiwaza, which will be about how Hinamiwaza has turned into a toxic dumping ground thus causing the kids to go crazy. Damn, dirty Republicans.
“Retake.” Kinda fitting considering how the doujinshi group who wrote “RE-TAKE” is working on their own version of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni… and… surprise! It’s better.
Rena has taken fifteen of her former classmates hostage, and instead of springing for Kevin Spacey or Samuel L Jackson as negotiators, they just use Ooishi and their chief negotiator. Why do I get the feeling that The Japan Times will be running a “Fifteen Year Old Girl Kills Fifteen Classmates, Commits Suicide” story tomorrow?
Rena has everyone tied up except for K1, who she considers an “ally.” That’s as big of a mistake as thinking Krispy Kremes are part of a well-balanced diet. I like how everyone is tied yet, and K1 is just chillin’. I wonder what he’s thinking… “Rena is a complete whack job. I still wouldn’t mind making out with her, though, assuming she doesn’t claw her throat out first.”
Rena tells Ooishi-san that if he’s her ally, he’d start this invesigation of the Sonozakis and this parasite ASAP. Ooishi tries to call Rena’s bluff by asking if he can talk to K1, and Rena lets him. We’re quickly treated to Ooishi’s, “Hey, am I doing good for my first time negotiating a hostage situation without any training in this sort of thing?” face.
Love this screenshot. So Miontastic on so many levels.
Ooishi manages to pump some info out of K1, which is as difficult as installing WordPress. Why are there frickin’ swatches of black everyone this episode? Are they censoring K1’s collar so they have something to show off in the DVD version?
Rena is still picking at her maggots– are these real or imaginary maggots? Didn’t Tomitake claw himself? As did K1 in the first arc? And why neck maggots? Do you suddenly get them if you start doubting your friends? Doesn’t explain Tomitake’s case… unless he called Takano “fat” or something.
Rena sends K1 out with Takano’s notebook trying to convince them that the Sonozakis are housing a parasite lab on their compound… it’s next to the brothel near the heroin storeroom. Interesting thing is that Ooishi has to introduce himself to K1 since it’s the first time that they have met this arc. In each arc, Ooishi seems to pick someone different to pump for information first, and that person usually cracks. In the first, it was K1. In Tsumihoroboshi, it’s Rena. Ooishi is Oyashiro!
Ooishi sends K1 back with presents– mace and a transmitter. Ooishii is most definitely not up to par with Q. In 1984, I highly doubt that they have wireless technology that can be integrated into such a small device and transmit out to Ooishi in 1984. Hell, I can barely get a Bluetooth headset to communicate with my cell phone.
(In 1984, you can design a radio receiver/transmitter using six discrete transistors as well as forty or so other components. The problem is that none of these would be integrated and will require significant space as well as a PCB board. You would also need an antenna around a fourth of a wavelength long, and with techology in 1984, you couldn’t build circuits that achieve high enough frequencies such that stub or PCB antennas were useful. You would also need a battery and power source. K1’s earpiece has none of these components. Remember Zack Morris’ huge, XBOX-sized cellphone? That was circa 1992!)
(My guess: K1’s earpiece was manufactured by the same people who made Jack Bauer’s PDA. That thing doesn’t seem to need batteries either.)
K1 returns to the classroom to find Rena soaking everyone in gasoline. OMFG. Rena does not do this hostage thing half-assed. She is serious. Though if I had run a poll, “Which anime character do you think would set fire to their school first?” who else would round out the poll options? Haruhi Suzumiya? Osaka? Ichijou and her feast?
(Gasoline has a reddish-rust color here in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, yet has a teal complextion in Zero no Tsukaima. Gasoline is normally yellowish, except certain countries dye gasoline– in the US, white for jet fuel and red for untaxed gasoline.)
Ooishi finds out through a letter from Rena that she also hid a gasoline bomb elsewhere in the school triggered with one of Nayuki‘s alarm clocks. But my favorite part of this exchange is Rena writing, “Since I’m probably going to claw my throat out by this evening, the deadline is seven.” Even though she’s completely lost it, she’s still a rational killer.
To kill time, Rena decides to play the “dochira wa Mi-chan?” gay-mu. I highly doubt this episode will ever make it on CN. Anyway, the black bands are back again. Ugh.
Emo facial distortion. Can’t have psycho-loli torture sessions without them emo facial distortions!
Poor Mi-chan… it’s weird seeing Mion tortured instead of doing the torturing. I wonder what’s going on Mion’s head right now… and if it’s Shion instead, I know what’s going on in her head! “Satoshi Satoshi Satoshi Satoshi Satoshi.”
Would you classify Higurashi no Naku Koro ni as the first snuff anime? I wouldn’t argue against it.
Geez Rena, you look kinda like some throwback comic book.
So Ooishi calls Rena to distract her while his assistant can get in touch with K1 and tell him about the bomb. He’s like a meter behind her– Rena definitely overheard ya, K1. You don’t need an HP board member to figure out where this leak is coming from.
After playing the “dochira wa Mi-chan?” gay-mu, K1 moves on to inspect all the lolis that he’s selling to a wholeseller in Akihabara. Satoko would fetch a nice price, he thinks. Actually, they overhead his conversation with the cops– which he should realize that Rena has overhead as well. I keep telling myself– idiot plot– hey! I know! They’re all Cylons! After they die, they just get transported into a new body and placed back to start anew! That’s it!
Loved Satoko’s “I’m all about traps” boast. Didn’t she lose to Rena earlier already? The lines are drawn– everyone against Rena.
Hinamiwaza, a great place to raise kids.
LOL FANG-TAN!
Where’s the yakisoba…
K1 makes up a lame excuse to leave the room and look for the bomb. The odds that he’ll screw up and be caught by Rena has just been taken off the board at Vegas!
Yep, he got caught. “Hidoi yo!” Sounds like something Love-Love Louise would say to Saito after she catches him with Siesta.
USO DA! Just kidding.
Rika– Rika! Saves the day. Isn’t this like Haruka saving the day in Mai Otome?
K1 getting protected by a loli who impaled herself a few episodes ago. His manhood– what manhood? “Rika-chan…” “K1, this isn’t the first time. Last time, if only I had tried harder… and didn’t screw up aiming the bug spray!”
(K1 also gets Rena’s lighter, which he thinks will stop Rena from igniting the gasoline she poured out earlier. Rena can just rip out an electrical outlit and fry everyone with that.)
Even Rena isn’t impressed with the matchup. It’s going to be like Tyson-Spinks all over again.
K1 left one killer loli to find another killer loli. Satoko has an idea where the bomb is– the roof! Mystery solved!
After K1 pets Satoko for a job well done, she tosses him Satoshi’s bat and calls him “nii nii.” This is definitely the “good guy starts rallying back” moment– but it’s K1. I’ll believe it when I see it.
With Bomb Diffusal Magical Girl Bohemi-chan’s help, K1 manages to stop the bomb.
I count about seven kids escaping. Toss in K1, Mi-chan, Rika, and Satoko, that’s only eleven.
Gotta love how it’s a hostage situation, and there’s zero medical staff around. Notice the paramedics treating Mion– oh, wait– there aren’t any! This is what happens when you put Ooishi in charge.
Heaven or hell, let’s rock!
K1 tells Rena that her aliens, parasites, and proposed script for episode 27 are all just BS. But they’ll settle things the only way the Killer Loli SOS Brigade settles things– the penalty game.
And… we’re off! I’m giddy. There hasn’t been much to look forward to with respect to this series for a while, and I’m glad we’re finally getting some crazed machete play juxtaposed with meido fantasies. Good times… good times… good times.
“Rena, if you lose to me, you better prepare yourself.”
“What will you do if you beat me?”
“Obviously, you’ll become my meido! From ‘ohayo gozaimasu’ to ‘oyasumi nasai’, you’ll be in my service! ”
“Ah ha ha ha! That’s just like you, jason… err Keiichi-kun!”
I’m just waiting for Miki to arrive with the ramen now.
No paramedics. Worst. Hostage negotiator. Ever.
K1 and Rena’s epic conversation continues. Honestly, their conversation is more interesting than their battle. School about to blow up? Psycho girl with a machete on a killing spree? None of that matters. Meido matters.
“If I win, you’ll become my personal meido and serve me to my heart’s content each and every day. And you’ll have to properly refer to me as ‘Goshujin-sama’!”
“Not unless I get to wear a cute outfit!”
“Oh, thanks to my good friend Yoshitaka Nakabayashi, I have plenty ready for you!”
“I prefer Victorian meido fuku.”
“If you win, I’ll believe in aliens. Even if you claw your throat out and die. We’ll just spawn in our new Cylon bodies anyway.”
“Even if I win, it’ll be boring.”
“Eh? You want to change your prize?”
“I would like… the same prize you’ll get, K1.”
“You want me to be a meido?!? I’ll claw out my own throat!”
“No, you don’t have to be a meido. But the rest is the same. I want you to wake me with ‘oyaho gozaimasu’ and tell me ‘oyasumi nasai’ in the evening. I would like you to fill me with lots of kindness and joy. With these stakes, even if I win or if you win (not happening), we’ll always be together.”
(Besides sounding like a marriage proposal, I could have sworn that I overheard this during ã‚ã‚ã£å¥³ç¥žã•ã¾ã£.)
“We’ll be together, but if I win, I’m going to add Mion, Rika, and Satoko as meido in the future!”
The winner is…
… most definitely not K1. There was just no way K1 was going to win.
Rena is apprehensive about killing K1… going emo instead over “Why did I destroy these happy days?” and realizing that her mistrust of her friends was what caused everything to snowball.
I was rooting for K1 to kiss Rena. I think that would have been for the best. But still, it’s good to see that “Oyashiro” is really “mistrust” and that the secret to a happy and non-emo life is to believe in your friends and to talk with them.
(I liked how K1 said that at least now he can more easily tell which sister is which comment… I wnat to slam a blunt object into Kaoru/Hikaru’s skull as well… actually, it means that Shion/Mion is in this arc too…)
(This ending still feels rushed. They left a lot of dangling plot threads… like… oh, why would paranoia and mistrust itself cause Rena to claw at her own throat like what K1 did earlier?)
Happy end. Kinda. WTF happened to the art?
Maybe we’ll get to your story next time Rika… maybe next time.
Like most of its characters, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a bipolar series. It started out very strong with the original arc being extremely enjoyable. Then it kinda went downhill from there. There’s two aspects to the show– the over-the-top killer loli harem aspect (that I found to be the most enjoyable) and a series life lesson/mystery aspect. I think Higurashi could have succeeded if it narrowed its focus and did one or the other, but not both.
It is also a very divisive series as people either rallied to it saying, “Hey, the game is great! If you check out these TIPS that were never aired, you can somewhat understand the plot!” and other people ripping on it saying, “This pacing, plot, and production quality is horrible.” The problem is that people see the show as they see the game– I tend to judge anime by what’s shown on the TV rather than what I played. F/SN is one beast of a doujinshi game, yet one stuffed bear of an anime. Is it fair to grade up the anime based on the game? Do I give Xenosaga slack because I enjoyed the game series? Same goes for Higurashi… it’s not about what they could have animated, it’s about what they did animate.
Higurashi could have done a lot better plot and pacing-wise if the show focused on a just a few arcs. By the time Tsumihoroboshi rolled around, I already have reboot fatigue. The amount of reboots and the amount of prior endings made this final K1 sweet talks Rena with meido images ending seem, well, just like any other ending. (Except the meido portion– I was paying close attention– yet we didn’t see Meido Rena, which may cause me to go on a seven prefecture killing spree.) The only difference is that I won’t be tossing up a Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 27 post next week. I think thirteen episodes for the first two arcs, get them fleshed out, start presenting more of what’s missing, and the series could have been phenomenal. Then the two answer arcs as a second season of thirteen episodes… the reboots wouldn’t be as bad if they spaced them out.
Overall, I found myself liking Higurashi for the same reasons that I enjoyed Mai Otome and Da Capo. It’s just bad enough to be fun– like watching an b-movie– and there’s plenty of entertaining moments. From every emo facial distortion to every killing spree to every “this ain’t possible” moment, Higurashi never failed to provide unintentional comedy.
Fight on K1 and Rena. Over and over and over again.
37 Responses to “higurashi no naku koro ni 26 (tsumihoroboshi 5)”
Leave a Reply
There were a ton of dangling plot threads going into this episode, not one of which they even took a swing at. In fact, off the top of my head, I can probably list off a good 2 dozen questions in need of answers right now… and honestly, I’d be happy to see answers if any of the game playing/tips reading types want to take a swing at it.
What’s the deal with the cop? What’s the deal with the photographer? What’s the deal with druggy girl? What ever happened to that whole freaky religious cult angle? What’s with the mysterious trucks? What’s with people being seen in places they aren’t? Why was this person insane this whole arc? What the heck is up with the unconnected story arcs to begin with for that matter? WTF is up with that one arc ending with everyone in town spontaniously being killed by a cloud of poisonous gas? What the heck does Ohoho girl’s brother have to do with anything? Or the twins? Or the character you didn’t introduce until the very last arc? What ever happened to that statue of Colonel Sanders from the first episode? If that person’s a good guy, why were they the one carrying the evil mind control syringe? What rationalization is there for anyone totally flipping out at any point in the series? What did Arc #4 have to do with anything else in the series, or itself for that matter? Why do all these freaks keep insisting that the writers for this show have any frelling idea what they’re doing? How is it that the first arc and themesong manage to be so darn good when they’re attached to this steaming pile of dren? How does the ending of any given plot arc make any sense at all? What’s the story with the hallucinatory neck maggots and how did that person manage not to die digging them out? What the frell do cicadas have to do with anything? Why didn’t they make an attempt at pacing the show in such a way as to include a story arc that might possibly answer these questions? What the heck was up with that whole “Director” bit from the first arc? If we’re going to rule out any sort of possession/hive mind angle, why does anyone who’s really going psycho always seem to know everything that Keichi does when nobody’s around? What chain of events lead us to the naked loli crow feeding frenzy in arc 3? The list goes on!
I think the animators tried to do ALL the paths in a multi-ending game. =P
I originally thought that the series was about possibilities to an end, hence each arc seemed to be unrelated to the other yet still ended in tragedy. Now that it’s been revealed to be some giant Groundhog Day thing with Rika playing the role of Phil Connors and the story told through everyone else’s perspective, it seems to tie everything together.
Well, almost, anyway. Like Rika said, the whole thing is repeating itself again, and the key seems to lie in Tomitake’s death, the one main constant that’s happened throughout the whole series. IIRC, Tsumihoroboshi isn’t the last of the answer arcs, hence the whole story still hangs after that point.
I bet they’re gonna make an OAV out of the last two arcs, Minagoroshi and Matsuribayashi. If they are, I’d wanna see that to see if Oyashiro-sama is really just mistrust or if there’s more to it than that. I just hope I see less of Ally-Mcbeal Rena and more Healthy Rena. :3
>> So Ooishi calls Rena to distract her while his assistant can get in touch with K1 and tell him about the bomb. He’s like a meter behind her– Rena definitely overheard ya, K1. You don’t need an HP board member to figure out where this leak is coming from.
Rena rolled natural 1s on her perception rolls.
****SPOILERS****
> Googleshng
For what it’s worth, a lot of the answers you pose were answerable from within the realms of the anime itself. Your character-specific ones are way too open-ended though, so I won’t answer them here. I am answering these questions only from the anime as much as possible.
1) What ever happened to that whole freaky religious cult angle?
That’s just one angle made up to explain Oyashiro-sama’s curse. Think about it with a logical mind – What are the chances of something like that happening? What would be the point of it, and who would have the manpower to do it? It’s a lie, as the Sonozaki family says.
2) WTF is up with that one arc ending with everyone in town spontaniously being killed by a cloud of poisonous gas?
Don’t tell me you actually fell for that, right? It might be the reason listed on official records, but it sounds totally ridiculous, right? Hence it’s a lie. There is no gas.
3) If that person’s a good guy, why were they the one carrying the evil mind control syringe?
I’m confused as to who “that person” is, but what evil mind control syringe? There was no mind control syringe from the start. What do syringes usually contain?
HOWEVER, especially in Higurashi’s case, within every lie is a nugget of truth, i.e. even if a theory is false, there may be parts of it that are true.
4) What rationalization is there for anyone totally flipping out at any point in the series?
Who are the ones who “flipped out” that we know of? Keiichi, Shion and Rena. What part of their background do they share? That is the risk factor. What do they all go through in the chapter/s they went insane in? That is the trigger.
5) What’s with people being seen in places they aren’t?
This one is surely the most obvious one – it was practically answered for you back in ep 25. They were “seen” in places they weren’t – but these were only eyewitness accounts, were they not? It’s a lie, of course – and the reason for the eyewitnesses making up such a lie should be obvious, whether it was in the Tsumihoboroshi arc or the Tatarigoroshi arc.
6) What’s the story with the hallucinatory neck maggots and how did that person manage not to die digging them out?
You answered it yourself – they’re hallucinations.
7) What the heck was up with that whole “Director†bit from the first arc?
It wasn’t “Director” – they were saying “Manager” (as in, say, a baseball manager), though it’s easy to confuse the two. And who’s the Manager? What’s his job?
8) If we’re going to rule out any sort of possession/hive mind angle, why does anyone who’s really going psycho always seem to know everything that Keichi does when nobody’s around?
The answer to this is three-fold:
a) Remember the listener may be having delusions if he/she is in a poor state of mind
b) Keiichi may not have been alone even though he thinks he was
c) Other people have brains – they can guess if Keiichi’s done something if he gave out enough clues beforehand
***END SPOILERS***
At the conclusion of the Tsumihoroboshi chapter, together with the TIPS (which should come with the DVDs) the keys to answer most of the “mystery” elements of Higurashi are probably there even within the confines of the anime, even if they’re not presented to you on a plate. Specifically, every mystery “within” an arc should be answerable, although the mysteries “linking” the arcs may not be.
>Loved Satoko’s “I’m all about traps†boast. Didn’t she lose to Rena earlier already?
I’m actually thinking that she talked about another meaning of trap. Kinda proved your speculation on Satoshi being gay (Meakashi 5).
> I tend to judge anime by what’s shown on the TV rather than what I played.
Not arguing for Higurashi here, just as a general sort of thing:
It depends on whether you view anime as a standalone product, or you view it as just one element of a whole. Why ignore all the other elements if they help complement and add to the enjoyment of the story? It could be a corresponding manga, novels, a character guide or world guide book or even a radio show. Sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of time and research, and “Bam!” the original material is cast in a better light (although the opposite can occur as well ^^;)
>> Rena has taken fifteen of her former classmates hostage, and instead of springing for Kevin Spacey or Samuel L Jackson as negotiators, they just use Ooishi and their chief negotiator.
Good times with that movie… but I like more the guy from Phone Boot.
>> Remember Zack Morris’ huge, XBOX-sized cell phone? That was circa 1992!
We need Screech then… it was 1989 Jason…
>> There hasn’t been much to look forward to with respect to this series for a while, and I’m glad we’re finally getting some crazed machete play juxtaposed with meido fantasies. Good times… good times… good times
Bloody Hell! Finally some action between those two
The gas disaster most likely happened. It also happened the day after Keiichi saves Rena in Tsumihoroboshi:
SPOILER
Rika’s body was found watanagashied like in Tatarigoroshi that night and the next day the gas disaster happened and everyone died. Sucks for them. As far as the Tatarigoroshi manga went, Keiichi was wearing a gas mask and there was no blood anywhere on the bodies being loaded into the trucks. And so far, the gas disaster has happened in 3 of the 6 scenarios for sure, and in two of the scenarios, it was confirmed that it DIDN’T happen. The only ambiguous one was Onikakushi, since it left Rika alive.
But yeah, as a stand alone anime, there are only a few parts that are good. It really should have been a 52 episode series so they could have expanded on everything and included the last two games.
But good news, if you buy the game, there’s a translation project being started on the last two games in the series.
And melodrama has always worked better in novels than it does in movies or tv. I mean, they had to tone down the melodrama for Gankutsuou. They probably should have toned it down for Higurashi too. Especially Keiichi’s cheese-tastic dialouge.
Google>>>1) What ever happened to that whole freaky religious cult angle?
That was just a plot point to confuse the viewer with.
CR>>>Don’t tell me you actually fell for that, right? It might be the reason listed on official records, but it sounds totally ridiculous, right? Hence it’s a lie. There is no gas.
If that’s the case, then how did those people die? What’s the point in them dying? How does this fit in with the rest of the story?
CR>>>I’m confused as to who “that person†is, but what evil mind control syringe? There was no mind control syringe from the start. What do syringes usually contain?
I think he’s talking about Rika. Syringes usually contain cocaine. What’s that supposed to mean?
CR>>>HOWEVER, especially in Higurashi’s case, within every lie is a nugget of truth, i.e. even if a theory is false, there may be parts of it that are true.
What does this have to do with the syringe?
Google>>>4) What rationalization is there for anyone totally flipping out at any point in the series?
Like jason said, “mistrust” is Oyashiro-sama. I personally wouldn’t call that rationalization “rational” though. Apparently, people start seeing things if they don’t trust people in that town.
Google>>>5) What’s with people being seen in places they aren’t?
It’s another plot point used to confuse the viewer as it doesn’t really have anything to do with anything.
CR>>>You answered it yourself – they’re hallucinations.
I think he was asking how someone could go that crazy from just being paranoid, and why Rena didn’t claw her throat out given that she was that crazy.
Google>>>7) What the heck was up with that whole “Director†bit from the first arc?
That was just Rena and Mion going over to K1’s house and inviting him over to join the baseball team.
Google>>>8) If we’re going to rule out any sort of possession/hive mind angle, why does anyone who’s really going psycho always seem to know everything that Keichi does when nobody’s around?
Because the viewer is seeing this from K1’s point of view and K1 is crazy, therefore it wouldn’t make much sense.
Oh yeah. Higurashi is actually one big Edgar Allen Poe tribute. Except Poe’s stories from a crazy person’s point of view actually do make a good amount of sense and don’t involve parallel universes.
If anyone’s interested, here’s how stories from crazy people should be done:
http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/works/blackcat.html
Yes, Jason. It might have been a train-wreck, but it was my first train gone for the wall! ‘Twas special, indeed.
“Uso…USO DA!”
weird that the series with little kids (higurashi) ended up having more fanservice then the serie with the drunk 20 year old (muteki kanban musume), thats just wrong.
Yes, granted. Everyone who ends up being a mass murdering hallucinating psycho freak first talks to Ooishi, and has some combination of guilt and paranoia working on them (except K1 in the first arc, all he really does before then is hear about the town having a history of annual murders, and he always learns that).
If that was all it took to turn someone into a completely delusional psychopath, and make them end up killing all their friends, the witness protection program would be a serial killer factory. We need another common factor in there, or the assumption that everyone in the series is severely unbalanced mentally going in. That doesn’t really hold up though, as people all seem perfectly calm and rational in arcs that don’t involve them flipping out. The Silent Hill 2 angle doesn’t really get supported here.
CR>>>Why ignore all the other elements if they help complement and add to the enjoyment of the story?
Because if it took that amount of effort to understand and enjoy the story, then there’s really no point in watching the anime. Why don’t you play the game instead?
Personally, I wish the series focused more on Rika and Sakoto’s lovely, loli friendship. I don’t really care if I get spoiled by the mystery, because I think it’s the least interesting part of the franchise, but I am intrigued by interaction between Rika and Sakoto. I think there’s more to them than meets the eye. And, the games probably flesh them out to the max.
And, Jason have you seen a picture of Oyashiro-sama yet? You will fucking lose it.
No “Kiraaaaaaaa!!!” “Athuraannnnnn!!!” moment? (or a “Narutoooooo/Sausakeeee!!!” moment, depending on which friends-turned-enemy match you like better)
Well I was close on the ending. Good old train-wrecks, I may have to watch this final episode just for the variety of random insanity and expression Rena shows.
>> Beowulf, Googleshng
> Like jason said, “mistrust†is Oyashiro-sama. I personally wouldn’t call that rationalization “rational†though. Apparently, people start seeing things if they don’t trust people in that town.
It’s not *quite* as simple as that. I don’t know how many people that read this blog would be bothered enough to play the game since the negative vibe is strong here, and IIRC some of what I’m going to say are spoilers for Minagoroshi, so beware!
*********************************
****SPOILERS FOR MINAGOROSHI*****
*********************************
Half of “Oyashiro-sama” is the “Hinamizawa Dam Project,” or rather, the flow-on effects of the project. The significant outcomes of the project included:
1) The image that the Sonozaki household was a powerful, conspiracy-laden group capable of anything
2) The scapegoating of the Houjou family as the “enemy” – the human sacrifice for the peace of the village, if you like
3) Oishi’s quest for revenge against the Sonozaki household
The above 3 are important factors in contributing to the breeding ground of mistrust and delusions placed on top of the risk factor of “Hinamizawa Village,” whose citizens are susceptible to spiralling into delusions, especially if like Keiichi, Shion and Rena, they have been away from the village for a period of time
…Onikakushi was a particularly unfortunate roll of the dice because right before Onikakushi starts Keiichi was only away for 2 days from the village.
The other half of “Oyashiro-sama” is man-made.
>Because if it took that amount of effort to understand and enjoy the story, then there’s really no point in watching the anime.
It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of effort…just as an example, how long would it take to read through the TIPS for each episode of Higurashi? 5-10min max, and many people say they enjoy the episode more as a result. How long would a guidebook take to read? Plus with internet purchases these days it’s fairly easy to get access to material like that.
Not all people who watch the show are going to associate it with the game in the first place. It was not as though the producers went out of their way to say that, “Higurashi is based on a game, and please, if you wish to understand the story better, go search the internet”.
Can you imagine movies doing that? Lord of the Rings was an incomplete adaptation from the novels, but they made do with what they DID include and produced a stellar trilogy.
An end-product that could stand on its’ own.
A LOT of game/manga->anime adaptations are incomplete ones, but again, most of these adaptations do not NEED background reading in order to be appreciated.
Higurashi is a show where a lot of English TV memes such as “hand-waving”, “a wizard did it!”, “wallbanging”, “idiot plot”, etc… applies, and not in a good way except for caustic humour.
If you are going to make a show that makes little sense without background reading, you better damn well make sure that you inform the audience about it, or the audience WILL judge the show as it is.
Higurashi, at this point, is just begging for a complete overhual.
~~~~ ~~~~
Jason says, “Happy end. Kinda. WTF happened to the art?”
—- —-
Probably the animators taking a final piss at the people who keep defending the animation quality in Higurashi.
Cheers.
CR>>>
Ok, that still doesn’t explain why people go delusional over things that people usually wouldn’t go delusional over.
Like Skane said, my point was that a medium should be able to stand on its own without outside references. Take for example, Orwell’s Animal Farm. If you don’t know anything about the Communist Revolution, it’ll just be an odd yet interesting story about animals that make changes. The story it self stands on its own and the reader understands whats going on and why things are going on. The reader doesn’t need to know about the Communist Revolution to appreciate and enjoy the book. (But if s/he did, it would make it all the much better.)
>>>What you don’t see is Roger Moore filming the scene for his upcoming documentary, Bowling for Hinamiwaza…
Um, Roger Moore? Don’t you mean *Michael* Moore? I for one haven’t seen too many former James Bonds making documentaries. Although I’d love to see Sean Connery making Trebek & Me.
“It looks like this is my lucky day. I’ll take ‘The Rapists’ for $200.”
>>Like Skane said, my point was that a medium should be able to stand on its own without outside references.
Certainly, that is desirable…but it is not NECESSARY. The “traditional” view is that any product, or should I say creative work, needs to stand on its own. I argue that in this day and age, with wider access to all forms of medium, it is no longer a necessary restriction on content. Why isolate when you could integrate instead?
We’ve started to see it with various different movies and anime – “Pirates of the Carribean 2,” for example, is clearly an incomplete work that requires the third movie to make its story work structurally (and you could even argue that The Two Towers makes no sense by itself if taken by itself without the assistance of the novels or knowledge of the other movies). Much of .hack//sign was smokes and mirrors until you integrate the games and .hack//buster novel to see the hidden gems in it…as you needed .hack//sign to see the gems in the games and novel itself.
Multiple-medium works that supplement each other are becoming more and more common. Take Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, for example – many people lament that it is too action-based, and not enough building up of characters, but this stuff can be found in the Drama CDs, novels and manga that came out around the same time or afterwards. We should be viewing these as parts of a whole, not as individual entities.
LotR was scripted as a trilogy, AND promoted as such( with PotC in a similar vein, since they decided to make a two-part sequel to the initial movie, and the studio announced it as such). Which brings us back to my point of the need of informing the audience if you want them to read up on other sources of material.
MS-Lyrical Nanoha( and A’s) is able to stand on its’ own. The drama CDs enhances the overall product, but even without them, the series is still golden.
Higurashi however, is in a totally different field. Knowledge of the game is a NECESSITY, not optional, if you want to make adequate( and satisfactory) sense out from the anime.
That by itself, would not be a problem if the producers had announced about it beforehand. They did not; and by that, it is implied that the anime is meant to be taken on its’ own.
Cheers.
> MS-Lyrical Nanoha( and A’s) is able to stand on its’ own. The drama CDs enhances the overall product, but even without them, the series is still golden.
Putting aside the somewhat subjective topic of whether Nanoha A’s (which was the one I was referring to last post XD) stands on its own or not, consider that the Drama CDs, novels and manga don’t stand on their own. It just so happens in this case, the anime is the “hub,” so to speak, whereas in Higurashi’s case the game is the hub. Does it so follow that you can say that the other forms of medium are no good then, because they’re optional? No, of course not. Which is why I say, don’t look at Higurashi just as an anime – that’s an old-fashioned view. Again, I stress this is a form of creative work that is best rewarded by looking at it as a whole, not as individual pieces.
Just on a personal note, I first read “The Two Towers” (the novel) without knowing anything about LoTR. The version I had mentioned nothing about it being “Book 2” OTL. Predictably, I found it confusing to the point where I stopped reading it halfway through. A friend later told me about LoTR, so I was able to pick it up from FoTR again. Similarly, I never knew that Pirates 2 was meant to be the first of a 2-parter – movie trailers here said nothing about it, and I never checked on the net since I didn’t want to be spoiled.
For Higurashi links and references to the game are paramount both on the official sites, fansites, and even in forums such as this blog and animesuki. Anyone who looked up “Higurashi” on the net would have found a tonne of game-related material. Fans’ word of mouth is just as valid a medium of communication as any official release – in others words, what you and many people encountered is like what I encountered with the LoTR novels. Lack of information, which various people on animesuki have tried to rectify in their own way. Just as I am trying in my own little way, here.
In summary – get the game and play it! :)
The Drama CDs do not stand on their own, because they were promoted as supplements to the anime. For the third time, my point is that it is the producers’ responsibility to inform the audience on what they are trying to show.
Which brings us to your TTT experience. In all the editions that I have seen, it is stated very clearly that TTT is the middle part of a trilogy.
So the only problem here is that the publisher of your particular edition sucks, because they FAILED to inform YOU, the reader, that TTT is merely part of a greater trilogy. It was not a failing on the book then, but the people behind it.
And now we swing back to Higurashi, the anime. Not game. ANIME.
It was NEVER promoted as being a supplement to the game. Unless the producers explicitly states that the anime will not make sense without referring to the game, there is no reason why we, as reviewers, cannot review the anime on its’ own merits( and flaws).
With regards to PotC, I read about it in the newspapers when it was announced that there would a two-parter sequel. So it was, in an official sense, made clear that the 2nd movie would not have a conclusive conclusion.
With regards to Higurashi, or for that matter, any new show, I did some research on it to see whether it would be to my liking. I did not however, read up on spoilers, because I wanted to enjoy the show on its’ own.
It is for this reason that I enjoyed other adaptations such as Chrno Crusade, simply because the anime version was meant to be judged on its’ own, and it succeeded in satisfying me.
To use a more mainstream example, the Harry Potter movies. I read the books first, so I had pretty high expectations for the movies. Realistically however, I knew that it would be virtually impossible to cram every single last detail within the timespan of a movie. While I was disappointed, I was satisfied with how the movie carried the spirit of the books. On its’ own merits, the movies were entertaining and worth watching.
Okay, back to the world of anime. Let us look at SHnY, otherwise known as The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.
Again, like most of its’ ilk, SHnY is an incomplete adaptation of its’ source material. Was it necessary to read the novels in order to enjoy the anime then? No. Would reading the novels enhance your experience of the anime? Yes. There were plenty of fan-pandering in the anime adaptation( Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody references for example), but it was not necessary for the anime-only watchers to read the novels in order to be satisfied with the anime.
SHnY is incomplete, but still coherent, enjoyable, and satisfactory.
The same cannot be said for Higurashi. The game material should not be used as a form of defense in a proper review for the anime, because, and I am going to state it in BOLDED UPPERCASING HERE, IT WAS NEVER PROMOTED TO BE A SUPPLEMENT TO THE GAME.
Cheers.
> The game material should not be used as a form of defense in a proper review for the anime
That is the traditional view of “how a review should be done” – what I am querying is whether this is the ONLY way of viewing things. Yes, it is wonderful that Chrono Crusade, Harry Potter and SHnY are works that stand up for themselves admirable, that positive reviews can be made for Chrono Crusade the anime, Harry Potter the movie and SHnY the anime without reference to their original material. Yes, the Nanoha A’s Drama CDs were promoted as supplements (the manga wasn’t though…), hence we can review them in reference with the anime. But why the need to restrict yourself to such a rigid form of thinking? Why MUST you always consider an adaptation in a “standalone” light? Every creative work is different – you wouldn’t use the marking criteria for a piece of classical orchestral music to mark a pop-rock song from the 90s, would you?
==================
Just going back to Higurashi for a second (and this part is removed from my arguments above)…is it *so* important that the anime must have been “officially” promoted as a supplement to the game for it to BE a supplement to the game? Do our “unofficial” words mean nothing then? If I made a comment in this blog during ep 1 that “this is just a supplement to the game” would it have made a difference?
Why? The reason why is simple enough. ;)
To be fair.
Why should we give special treatment to Higurashi in a review? The whole point of reviewing is to judge the judged against its’ peers.
Cheers.
As a standalone or as a supplement?
…nevermind, I already know the answer. I feel like I’m hitting my head against a brick wall.
Incidentally, will you be reviewing the manga/s at some point in time? Because that IS something that is quite capable of fending for itself as a standalone product. Read it if possible – at least I know you won’t be disappointed by that.
And thus, we reach the conclusion that the anime sucks on its own, and that it is a (crappy?)adjunct to the game (does it even add anything? or is it just the same thing done worse?).
While what Skane said has a lot of merit there is one thing that I think should be mentioned. The anime feels incomplete because it is incomplete. The anime was stated and did contain all four “Question” arcs and the first two “Answer” arcs. This was widely known so some information about the anime being adopted from another source must have come out. The explanation of what the hell is going on isn’t made until the seventh arc and later added upon with the eighth. So given what Studio DEEN had to work with, which was the first six arc, it’s not as if they could have squeezed in at the end “Oh by the way, everything’s happening because of …….” because that wasn’t explained in the first six arcs.
Now I do agree that if Studio DEEN has no plans from making a second season, which would include the last visual novel two arcs plus maybe the ones from the PS2 game, then they damn well should have said “This is only part of the story. To get the rest of it read these.”
Also granted that within each individual arch the anime left out some scenes that would have helped explain some things better. Including the TIPS which contain many bits of useful information. But that’s understandable. If they tried to pack everything from the novels into an anime it would be worse than Dragon Ball Z where nothing would happen for episodes at a time. Would we really want to see an entire episode devoted to Mion giving a history lesson about Hinamizawa to Keiichi? I wouldn’t.
Overall the anime was nice but could have been a lot better.
>>> In each arc, Ooishi seems to pick someone different to pump for information first, and that person usually cracks. In the first, it was K1. In Tsumihoroboshi, it’s Rena. Ooishi is Oyashiro! … But still, it’s good to see that “Oyashiro†is really “mistrust†and that the secret to a happy and non-emo life is to believe in your friends and to talk with them.
You’re on the right track there. However, “Oishi” =! “Oyashiro” and “Oyashiro” =! “mistrust” but “Oishi” can = “mistrust” (not as though he purposely means to do so it just happens). In the first arc it’s Oishi who tells Keiichi about a violent incident in Rena’s past. I believe he also tells Keiichi to watch out for her, but I can’t remember for sure. It’s after this that Keiichi starts to mistrust Rena, and Mion. So it’s the words of someone else that influence Keiichi’s state of mind. Let’s not forget Tanako’s role in all this too. Anyone she’s talked to about her “research” ends up going crazy. It was also her notes that influenced Shion and Rena’s state of mind.
Sadly the end isn’t really much of an ending. It seems that the cycle of tragedy didn’t stop even with the “good end” in this arc. But regardless, the show was sometimes enjoyable, despite the mediocre mystery aspect of it.
No more “nii-pah” to look forward to next week. ;_;
Feh the image failed. >_> Here’s the picture that I was trying to post
http://imageigloo.com/images/3406rena.jpg
>>Though if I had run a poll, “Which anime character do you think would set fire to their school first?†who else would round out the poll options? Haruhi Suzumiya? Osaka? Ichijou and her feast?
Rena wouldn’t be the first. FLCL’s Minami comes to mind.
Higurashi is on AniDB’s Top10… LOL, seriously, I laughed very, very, very much.
Higurashi (the anime) had lots of defects: animation, music (Kenji Kawai, you failed us……where the hell is “you”!?), plot and character development (K1’s Kira moments made me feel like throwing up, especially since they do no justice to the awesomeness that is K1 in the answer arcs), to begin with.
Of course, neither the anime detractors (who are right) nor the defenders (who are also right: Higurashi was a nice anime, after all, it caught our interest) can claim to be completely impartial here. Those who played the game just cannot help bu compare it to the game and claim is incomplete, or use the awesomeness of the game to defend the anime. And those who detract the anime stubbornly refuse that Higurashi must not be criticized because, as you all are aware of, it’s an incomplete work. After all, everybody knows what the anime needed to be the greatest story of the year: Minagoroshi-hen. Not just for the fact that everyone gets their answers here, but for the sheer fact that Minagoroshi-hen is the most frickin’ awesome thing in history.
I didn’t have prior knowledge, and I finished the anime with a clear idea on most things, and rarely felt as though there wasn’t enough information. Though I am counting on that next series to give the last two answer arcs.
All in all I liked it very much.