Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (When They Cry)
Review by Miranda Villanueva, Grade 10
The anime Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni or ‘When They Cry’ was directed by Chiaki Kon and produced by Studio Deen. Originally, it was a ‘sound novel’ (light novel but with need of little player interactions) and more story arcs were added in the form of manga chapters and game arcs. The anime consists of additional story arcs as well and was released in 2007.
The setting takes place in a small, mysterious village called Hinamizawa and revolves around 5 main characters: Keiichi Maebara, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude, Satoko Hojo, and Rena Ryugu. The anime belongs in the psychological horror section, just like Jigoku Shoujo and most of the anime I prefer to watch, and leans towards supernatural themes.
The first time I encountered it was in a ‘Top 10 List of Horror Anime You Should Watch’ of some sort on GoBoiano. There were a few GIFs from the anime posted on that site along with a short description I paid little attention to because the GIFs looked very interesting and had a lot of blood. However, the first episode was very misleading since it looked more like a scene out of a slice of life anime. Definitely not what I was expecting. However, as I continued watching it started to take a much darker turn. The cheerful slice of life story soon transitioned into the creepy, psychological thriller I was expecting…
Which ended abruptly on the 6th episode. Which was yet again something I didn’t expect but probably would have discovered if I had actually read the description. Turns out, there is no overall storyline in Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. And that was what caught my interest about the anime.
The whole 24 episodes are divided into different chapters and scenarios. All of them occur in Hinamizawa and revolve around the same characters. However, it played around with the concept of storyline. A chapter would link to another chapter chronologically, some chapters would share the same storyline but told from different character’s viewpoints and some chapters are just vaguely connected to each other.
It takes a whole lot of attention span to be able to connect the pieces that fit together. Since discussing each chapter and the connections with other chapters would cause a lot of headache and probably reveal way too many spoilers, I decided to compile a list of elements and events that are common throughout all the chapters.
The Dam Construction: Chronologically, this is the first important event that occurs in Hinamizawa and is mentioned throughout all the chapters. There were plans to create a dam in the area which would therefore cause to village to be flooded. Most of the villagers were against the construction of the dam and the whole incident ended with the bloody death of one of the dam site workers. The killer was never identified and because of that, the dam construction was discontinued.
Oyashiro-sama and His Curse: One of the main reasons why Hinamizawa was considered as a strange and mysterious town by some of the outsiders was because of their ‘history.’ According to myth, the people of Hinamizawa in the old days had demon blood and called ‘Onigafuchi.’ They would run down the hills to terrorize other villages and eat human flesh. This myth was hinted to be true several times in Higurashi but because of the different scenarios and stories in the anime, it cannot be proven to be completely true. But myth or not, the current citizens of Hinamizawa still believe in the demon called Oyashiro-sama who is the center of their superstitions. The ‘Curse of Oyashiro-sama’ was said to have begun during the dam construction when the construction worker was killed. At the same time, another person went missing and was believed to have been ‘spirited-away’ or taken by the demon. Either way, this phenomenon continued on the same day throughout the following years.
Satoshi Hojo’s Disappearance: Satoshi Hojo was the elder brother of Satoko Hojo who went missing a few years after the dam construction incident. He disappeared under mysterious circumstances, some chapters specified that he was either ‘spirited-away’ because of Oyashiro-sama’s curse or killed because he tried to leave Hinamizawa. The reason for his disappearance also varies but will not be specified because of spoilers.
Keiichi Maebara’s Transfer: Keiichi Maebara transfers to Hinamizawa almost a year after Satoshi Hojo’s disappearance. Satoshi’s friends, the 4 female main characters, see a resemblance between the two of them and therefore try to befriend Keiichi. The reasons as to why he transfers to Hinamizawa varies between chapters however he mentions that his parents used to live there and decided to transfer back.
Symbolism wasn’t used that much in Higurashi however it was very strong in characterization. Even though there were different stories and scenarios, the 5 main characters remained constant in terms of personality, backstory, and even role. The diversity among them also enhanced the stories of the different chapters in Higurashi.
Keiichi Maebara: He is the main protagonist of the anime and the only male character among the 5 main characters. His personality is that of an average main male character. Slightly dense and a bit of an idiot but with good intentions. He usually plays the role of the ‘Hero’ however that can be argued. Keiichi is very protective when it comes to his friends to the point where it clouds his judgement on what is good and bad. At the same time, he also plays the role of the ‘Victim’ because in addition to bad things mostly occurring to him, he is also new and unfamiliar to the mysterious village of Hinamizawa.
Rena Ryugu: Little is shown on Rena’s past and backstory and out of all the 4 female main characters, she’s the most mysterious one. She is seen as having some sort of a dual-personality. Her personality is like that of a little kid since she likes cute things and people as well. However, she is also shown as having a dark and menacing side. Rena can be stoic and emotionless but extremely destructive as well.
Mion Sonozaki: Mion is the heir of the Sonozaki family who basically runs all of Hinamizawa. Like Rena, she also has some sort of a dual personality. Most of the time her personality resembles that of a tsundere and she has a tomboy-ish personality. The reason behind her dark side is connected to her family ancestry. The reason why the Sonozaki family has so much influence and power in Hinamizawa is because they are believed to have demon blood within them, just like the people who lived in the village in the old days according to myth. Therefore, Mion’s dark side is said to originate from the demon blood within her.
Rika Furude: Unlike Rena Ryugu and Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude is more benign and without a dual personality. Her family, the Furudes, are the shrine priests of Hinamizawa and therefore she has connections with the supernatural. She has a cute personality and is often seen as the little sister of the group. But at times she is shown as being far wiser and mature than she actually looks. Throughout the different story arcs, she is usually depicted as the one trying to save either Hinamizawa or Keiichi. Her character is the opposite of Mion Sonozaki’s and the two are usually seen pitted against each other.
Satoko Hojo: Satoko Hojo is yet another character without a dual personality. She is usually shown with Rika because the two of them are very close friends. Unlike Rika, she’s very energetic and slightly mischievous. But her usually cheerful personality is a cover-up for her tragic past. The targets of Oyashiro-sama’s curse were members of Satoko’s family and it is therefore believed that she is also cursed. As for role, she also plays the victim that needs to be saved.
The slightly abstract structure of the different stories of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni was the main feature of the anime. The concept was very original and was able to set Higurashi apart from other psychological horror animes. However, it is also very difficult to execute and present, especially for an anime in that specific genre. Horror is a hard genre to master because it takes a combination of different elements such as music, animation, sound, voice acting and others to create that mood.
I didn’t like the animation in particular because it was too simple and plain for a horror anime. The only thing that I liked about it was how the character’s facial expressions were drawn especially in scenes where they were laughing maniacally or screaming in pain. The voice acting was done very well and I commend all the voice actors for being able to do that transition from a ‘cute and innocent’ voice to a ‘sinister and murderous’ one. The voice acting was one of the only elements that managed to maintain the creepy feeling in Higurashi because the music and sound, also very crucial when it comes to horror because it sets the mood, did not create much of an impact.
As for theme, well I felt that it was lost in the anime since there was little concentration on that area. It was very hard to pinpoint because of the very confusing storyline. However, I think that the main message that the anime wanted to relay was “Things aren’t always what they seem.” The structure of the different chapters created multiple scenarios meaning that there are different ways of looking at each story. One story may portray one character as the antagonist but another one told in a different character’s point of view may portray that same character as the protagonist. The anime concluded with most of the mysteries remaining unsolved in Hinamizawa.
Overall, I did not particularly like the anime but the main reason for why I continued to watch it is because of the intriguing story structure and because I wanted to see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Sadly, I wasn’t satisfied with the ending because there was very little impact. The anime was also easily forgettable and until now I find it hard to recall some of the pieces of the storyline. The dialogue was monotonous making it hard to pay attention to. As an anime, it did not succeed but I think that it would have made a really good visual novel because of the complicated mystery. If the anime had better animation and music and more engaging scenes then it would have been more of a success.
I would recommend this anime to people who are fans of the mystery genre and seek an anime that is different from the ordinary. People that have a high attention span are definitely suited to watch Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni because a lot of attention has to be paid to the story arcs in order to fully appreciate them. Gamers who are familiar with Higurashi’s background are also given a slight edge. Although I may not have fully enjoyed it, I still believe that it could be enjoyed by other people.
