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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (TV).


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jqsilver



Joined: 27 Jun 2006
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:33 pm Reply with quote


Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (TV)

Genres: drama, horror, mystery, psychological, supernatural, thriller
Themes: conspiracy, death, goddesses, harem, revenge, time travel, tragedy

Plot Summary: The endless cycle of hatred and death that befell the small village of Hinamizawa continues. Rika Furude, who is the sole witness of all those tragedies, tries to find a way out of it with her friends' help, without knowing if there is one after all.
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The second season / sequel to my favorite horrifying anime is off to a good start, although I was expecting a more cheery opening. I enjoyed the X-files style introduction, and seeing Rena (my favorite girl) as a grown-up.

The ending montage was pretty sweet, too. spoiler[I especially liked the sudden transition from happy playing to Rika's dead body. I'm intrigued by the implication of alternate universes - I wasn't sure if that idea would come up within the story. ]

What do you guys think?
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5515
PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:40 pm Reply with quote
Anyone who wants to refer back to the first season can go back here:

animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24230

Good thing there's a separate thread for this since the second season supposedly will answer a lot of the lingering questions we had before, and hopefully solve the mystery of what the heck is going on. Heck, the first chapter is an anime-original chapter that will address some of the lingering points that were presented in the original visual novel but not in last season's.

So basically, anyone who started watching Higurashi should BE VERY CAUTIOUS in looking through this thread! Surprised

In another note, has anyone check out the new OP song? Supposedly if you play it backwards, it sounds like the beginning part of the first OP song. Imagine the symbolism with that! Wink
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blind_assassin



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 755
PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:45 pm Reply with quote
I just got through the first episode. It's not the most amazing episode but it's a great way to start off the series since it's both a nicely general recap of the events at the end of the first series and it carries enough important detail to refresh for those who have already seen the first season but have gotten rusty on it.

I can't wait for it to progress a little farther. And hopefully another group will fansub it since the current one isn't very good. I can't speak Japanese fluently and I was correcting some of the subs in my head so thats a bad sign. Hopefully I didn't miss anything due to that.
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frentymon
Forums Superstar


Joined: 27 Nov 2005
Posts: 2362
Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:26 pm Reply with quote
The plot is great as always but some of the voices really bug me.

Not really spoilers...spoiler-tagged just in case.
spoiler[Akasaka is about in his 50's by now but he sounds just like he did in the first series (seems like Daisuke Ono just can't sound old no matter what role he plays). Rena doesn't sound older than 25. The kouhai's seiyuu was horrible. Good thing the kouhai will be gone soon and it won't be in the future for too long.]

The character designs seemed to have improved a bit though.
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LuckySleven



Joined: 13 Mar 2007
Posts: 426
Location: Refer to page 2
PostPosted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:33 pm Reply with quote
Episode 1 was alright I guess. I can't really say that I liked it nor hate it but it was nice to see Rena change. The animation seems some what improved but still carries the same style.

Ha...Guess what was the first thing we hear at the start? One thing I like so far is that the opening and ending songs are more melodic so it's more tempting to sing along with the subs. Smile
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:18 am Reply with quote
First episode was nice recap-ish episode that tied into several of the previous chapters. From what I hear, they basically animated one of the TIPS.

The opening was nice, though I liked the first series' opening much more. The ending was alright, but nothing special.

An interesting little video
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7994
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 1:35 pm Reply with quote
^Creepy..that had to have been planned. Shocked

Well I recently saw the first episode and liked it quite a bit. It still manages to keep me on the edge of my seat even when all that's going on is conversation like the previous series. The opening theme was good though I definitely liked the first series' opening song better.
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hentai4me



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 1313
Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 3:33 pm Reply with quote
All I can say is

Oh no!

spoiler[End of the world evil? Please, no matter how nefarious, sneaky and the like it may be it just carries no weight.]

I sincerely hope that they return to the style of the first series, it was creepy and it worked because spoiler[the characters were crazy and evil because of who they were, not because of some kind of supreme evil master plan. true the whole three families bit was a major element but they were still local, they were never a threat to the continued workings of society at large, they would merely terrorize the local community. That is far more fear inducing. Why? Everyone knows everyone in a small community, everything they do to you is an extension of their true desires towards you. In the torture arc for example, everything that was done was what she WANTED to do to them, not just a kind of 'torture them because I am evil' deal.]
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Kruszer



Joined: 19 Nov 2004
Posts: 7994
Location: Minnesota, USA
PostPosted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:25 pm Reply with quote
Sounds kinda like you missed the point of the first series. Sure they all were following their own motivations spoiler[for their crazy antics but there was always some conspiracy, some higher force at work behind what was making everyone go nutsso randomly because they all relatively mentally stable until they began learning things they weren't supposed to. (Despite their pasts that is) They hinted at it on so many occasions really, I'm surprised you're suprrised at the direction of the sequel so far.] This hopefully is the answer to what that is, spoiler[be it the Sonazaki and other two main famies behind it, an alien invasion, or a demon curse, ] it'll kick butt either way for me.

At any rate it's impossible to judge the direction of a whole series on the first episode. If there's one lesson to learn from Higurashi it's that nothing is ever as it seems.
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Jarius



Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 39
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:13 am Reply with quote
yes cant really judge how this sequel will go.
Though the first episode gives me the feeling that this sequel is just the explanations of all the arcs and what is exactly happening to the village.
It probably wont be horrifying as compared to the first season. thats what the feeling I'm getting.
But i wont rule out that somewhere in the second season there will be murders again.
well episode 1 pretty work out for me recapping the general events that happens in the various arc and its still deeply rooted in my mind when i saw the flashbacks and explanation.
Kinda like the theories that they comes up with though the spoiler[alien consipracy] is pretty lame.
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hentai4me



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 1313
Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:20 am Reply with quote
I know quite well that there was an overarching theme to it all. spoiler[But despite this everything seemed much more personal, and thus creepier. If they do follow on with the 'find a new village, wreak evil' thing I feel it would lose some of the tension and mood.]
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frentymon
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Joined: 27 Nov 2005
Posts: 2362
Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:35 am Reply with quote
There is still the miniscule chance that spoiler[Takano is completely wrong/deluded and/or purposely recorded false information, and everything happening in Hinamizawa has absolutely nothing or very little to do with extraterrestrials. Especially since we've heard absolutely nothing from Rika's point of view and she's arguably the biggest mystery thus far, and Takano's scenario seems way too perfect to be true.]
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Amasa



Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 340
Location: Japan
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 3:42 am Reply with quote
I'm really scared to be in this thread.... more scared than I ever was actually watching the first series. If anybody leaks any game spoilers I will personally come and stab you with my machete.

Anyway, this is one loli exception that I am willing to watch. I really liked the first season and it has stayed in my memory like I watched it yesterday which means that it obviously achieved what it wanted to.

As for the first episode of Kai I thought it was actually very good. As far as setting the mood and foreshadowing I don't think it could be done better. spoiler[The whole alien thing irritates me though. The frightening thing about the first series was that the children were murdering each other in horrifying ways. I can go to other series to see space invasions or extra-terrestrial mysteries but Higurashi is somewhat unique in it's unnerving contrasts from children playing to children clawing their throats out. Honestly I will stop watching the series if there are some stupid-looking aliens hiding in the shadows but I don't think that will happen judging from what happened in the first series.
As for Takano's point of view, I don't think we are supposed to believe all of it (i.e the alien part) because in my opinion the reasoning is anything but perfect. As hentai4me said I want the evil to be local and "normal" if you could say that... I mean without massive toxic disasters and UFO landings, just perhaps a psychotic family you didn't want a disturbing secret to be known.]

But all I can do is WAFO, wait and find out.
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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 1:31 pm Reply with quote
frentymon wrote:
There is still the miniscule chance that spoiler[Takano is completely wrong/deluded and/or purposely recorded false information, and everything happening in Hinamizawa has absolutely nothing or very little to do with extraterrestrials. Especially since we've heard absolutely nothing from Rika's point of view and she's arguably the biggest mystery thus far, and Takano's scenario seems way too perfect to be true.]


I would be really, really surprised if aliens were really involved in anything.

hentai4me wrote:
I know quite well that there was an overarching theme to it all. spoiler[But despite this everything seemed much more personal, and thus creepier. If they do follow on with the 'find a new village, wreak evil' thing I feel it would lose some of the tension and mood.]


Why on earth would they switch to a new setting and characters? We'll be getting more pyschosis and murder soon enough. This first episode was more or less a recap episode. Why would they change the setting and characters all of the sudden? You did see the opening right?
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hentai4me



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 1313
Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
PostPosted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 2:18 pm Reply with quote
Of course I did.

spoiler[What I really don't want to see is the idea, even if not the execution, of the 'find new target' theme. I feel it would make the events that do occur less personal, like it is entirely incidental that it is these characters and Hinamizawa. If they bring in that as a plot point then it just brings to mind that while these people in this place act this way it is not unique. If it is less unique it is less personal and local, if it is less personal and local it is not as creepy and the series then just becomes a mystery simply because they don't give you enough information, not a shock horror story with mysterious bits. At least to me anyway.]
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