Higanbana English Patch

Finally!

Well it is finally here the full english patch for Higanbana the first night thanks to those at Ronove or now known as spider lily translations. The patch it's self is pretty easy to set-up/install for nearly everyone please keep mind however this is a manual patch.Grab the patch over at ronove's site then go to the directory folder and copy paste the english folder to c:program files:7th expansion: Higanbana".  Keep in mind not to overwrite any orginal install files or you will mess up the entire game have to start over.

The directory should say c:program files:7th expansion: Higanbana:Higabana English when you you are done. After you do this then click the onscripter/Higanban icon and whala you are ready to read through one of the most grotesque visual/sound novels I have read in years. So keep an eye open for my review in the coming month and please try not to feel to trolled from r7's latest work. The link to grab the patch is below as well as is a optional subbed OP.


Higanbana The First Night English Patch

Optional OP/Movie Patch

Legally Buy The Visual Novel 

Edit/Update Version 1.1 of the translation is out which will fully translate the music room, fixes minor spelling/grammar errors etc. You can download the new patch below, however please keep in mind this will mess up saves you have. Feel free to leave any feed-back or comments below and thoughts on this visual novel so far..

In The New Update~

Updated Patch Version 1.1


-Cecil The Dark Knight~

Witch-Hunt's Final Patch Is Out

Ange Getting Some Pay-Back

For those who have been waiting very patiently "for nearly a year now", the final patch for Umineko answer arcs or 5-8 is finally out. After this long ass waiting period we can finally found out what happened on the island..or we will be fucking trolled by Bern and Lambdelta all over again. Sadly I can not spoil this "you must make/reach this decision for yourself at the end of arc8".

Keep in mind this one simple question "is it magic or a trick", will determine the entire outcome for the series "just make sure to save before hand". That's it everyone let me know your decision in the comment section below. As an early gift I will host a hyper-link to the patch and where to order the game. Oh and I do apologize for any spoilers... but get the hell over it.

-Cecil The Dark Knight

Final Patch

Legally Purchase The Game

Best Bgm Ever "Birth of a New Witch"

Just In Time For Halloween... A Review More Depth Look On Higurashi

Rika Will Make You Submit..

This review is an updated more thought for the entire Higurashi series "this will cover the visual novel and anime". This review does contain spoilers so if you really hate that sort of thing.. all I have to say is, just deal with it

This series originally came from a visual novel adaption from 7th expansion which first came out in comiket 62 august 10th 2002, and the squeal arcs where released up until 2006 comiket 70. There is a full English adaption out for this visual-novel from manga-gamer and as of now you can also purchase the first arc for your Ipod/Iphone and Ipad via I-tunes for .99$. If wish to play the p.c. version the head over to manga gamer to buy a legal copy or can download a free demo for the first arc. " I also highly recommend you getting the sprite hack for the visual novel, this makes it much more bearable to look at."

What an I say about this series that makes me flinch. Well one thing comes to mind is that the series animation is done by "studio deen" which is known for quailty works. It's also quite obvious where the animation falls flat on ass, which sadly do cut away from the serious tone the series is trying present. However the series as a whole is picked back up with it's plot/story/characters and sense of mystery with horror elements that happen to kick all of that out the window. So I am able to handle some drops in the overall quality in the animation. One thing I wanto to point out is that if you are not fan gore or are squeamish in any-way please avoid the t.v. anime and read the visual novel.

This series starts off with our male lead Keiichi Maebara who has moved to the country side with his parents in small town called Hinamizawa "this is the usual set up for the typical harem anime and slice of life series however I was proved wrong within the first thirty seconds of episode one." The village that keiichi moves to is in the rural country side so he is in for a bit of cultural shock as well since he is from the city after all "Again I do realize this is cheap set up however it fits the series just perfectly" One other thing I love about this show is that it takes place in the early 80's so there is no chance of DNA evidence to prove who done it "this is a mystery/horror series after all"


Keiichi adapts pretty quickly since he had a reason for wanting to leave his old home town but I will not spoil that for you. He makes friends with one of the main heroine's "Rena Ryugu" who has a fascination with cute things no matter the gender or what kind of toy it is. I also wish to add one of the biggest anime quotes happen to come from rena-chan which is " I am going to take it home". Since the town has such a low population "around two thousand or so" all of kids go to the same school/class not matter what grade you are in, "adding more to reality that the characters do live in rural country side". 

So Keiichi is friends with mainly just "females characters such as Rena, Mion, Shion, Satoko and Rika" but this does not  fall into the harem territory unless you really want it to. " I really thought it was going to be an harem anime at first..I was proved wrong, majorly wrong by the end of arc1.  Keiichi unlike most male leads also helps teach his younger/older class mates, due in part his education is much higher since was learning at a higher level from at his previous school. Even with all of this Keiichi is still a newbie at there afternoon school club where you play card games or old board games and have you have to suffer from a batsu punishment if you loose.

The Village of Shirakawa, Gifu In Japan
This is what Hinamizawa was based on

The other main focus of the series is on vast range of serial murders that have been happening for five years that take place from 1978-1983. Everyone thinks this is a curse from the local deity Oyashiro-sama for wanting to leave/tear down the home land during the dam war "this would flood the whole town and force everyone to move". The curse revolves around some one dying and some one disappears from with-out a trace. Is this truly the work of god/goddesses or is it something more major "you will have to come to that conclusion on your own". However if you wish use the old bastard Ooishi or the detective in the series as medium to gather clues.


Hinamizawa it's self dipped in traditional Japanese culture all over the place, from the festival of departed souls to main head family and being ousted for what your family did even though your child. Even with all of these barriers it is still very enjoyable to watch "although it's not for the faint of heart". There is even use for old Japanese torture devices from the Sonozaki family use to keep sin/punishment in order "you could relate them to yakuza if you wish, due their power they hold in the village". They are even to be suspected behind the murders at one point.. maybe they are or maybe it's some one you are least suspecting "I did not see the reason why, how or who at all and neither will you until arc four or five". Another thing that did surprise me was around arc four you realize no only a few people die..everyone in the entire village does, but how or for what reason???

You Fu**ed bro

Overall Higurashi is a good example of Japanese style horror that will keep you edge of your seat asking what the hell just happened. However  If you have a problem with gore or even "child abuse",  which does happen in some arcs then avoid this series at all cost. Something else that might bother a few is the fact the story "re-sets every arc after every five to six episodes" This will really confuse some at first however it is essential to show or set up different perspectives from other characters, if you hate that type of writing the just avoid the series. However unlike many shows this anime/visual novel has a true/happy ending that is worth fighting for which is obtainable through miracle in the second season kai or answer arcs.

Noting like some bernkastel wine.. " do you get the joke?"

Another huge plus for this franchise is the creepy music it uses to set the mood. This helps establish when something major is going happen "such as some-one being killed or closing in the culprit."  The t.v. anime does a wonderful job on this level with the bone chilling op from season one that even to this day makes me cringe. Higurashi overall does something very important for the mystery genre. They do established who done it and how they done it. However the cover the most important part which is WHY they done it. 

I can not stress enough the reason why is one of the most important branch in a mystery series/novel.This helps gives the reader/viewer a chance to see through the killers eyes and understand what's going on through their brain. It also helps/set up an understanding why a person could kill over two thousand people just to obtain their goal no matter how deprived it may be. Personally even I felt sorry for the person that was doing the heinous acts towards the end, However I think that is the point in covering why the done it in the first place. 

Well I could go on but there isn't any need for me to. There is no longer anyone that holds the anime licensed in America so if you want to download it then be my guest, however the visual novel and manga is here to legally own. If you ask kindly enough then maybe I will post links to download the anime if you wish but I will not provide links to download the game or manga "please do support the legal means of supporting the series if you can". That's all she wrote on this one, just leave me some feed back and tell me. Now do you have what it takes to solve the mystery or will you just let two thousand innocent people die???
 
-Cecilthedarkknight
 
Animation 4/5
 
Music 4.5/5
 
Story/Plot 5/5
 
Characters 5/5
 
Overall Total 4.5/5

Age Rating 17+

Buy Legal Copies Of The Visual Novel

Arc's 1-4 

Arc's 5-8

Buy A DVD Set "beware of price gouging"

Season One DVD Set

Promoting The Ps3 To PC Patch For Umineko

I So Want This Van

This goes way back to the beginning of my blog mainly on the Ps3 to Pc Umineko Patch. The person that has been doing seems to have stop completely leaving the project dead. However it seems that some people at the site where it stated have decided to pick it back up to make sure that the Umineko fans can fully enjoy the visual novel in glorious 1080p. This does however contradict my support for the localization of the game from NISA, but that's still a long-shot after all.I however legally own the PC and Ps3 versions so I really don't see a problem here. 

Moving on past that, the person in charge of the project is known as Saq is doing the main project. A link to his site will be provided below as well as some samples of his work so far. That's All I have to say on this subject for now, I will keep you updated with the progression of the project and provide a link once it's fully done.

Partial Patch Beta Pic

Project Page


-Cecil The Dark Knight

Support The Ps3 Localization of Umineko

Official Art-work From The Game

Yeah I know this goes way back to a post that I made about three months ago, about the Ps3-PC patch for Umineko. Well as of now it seems that project is officially on a permanent hiatus and some other things have come to light on the subject. It seems that there is a-lot of support on the Nisa forums to bring over the game state side legally. I recently just bought a legal copy of the PC version for the core arc's "one through four" and I am currently playing through the second arc right now with the witch-hunt translation. 

Don't Mind Me, I am Just Being A Boss

That little bit aside If anyone can sign up and show support and help to bring this better version over legally please do, I will do my support by hosting links, trailers etc for the Ps3 version of the game. I am not going to sit here lie by saying this isn't a long-shot but come on everyone do the impossible, believe the unenviable, row row fight da power. Well I will catch catch you all around here soon and until next time, peace out everyone.


-Cecil The Dark Knight

Show Your Support "Nisa"

Support From Face Book 

Sign The Petition 

 

Ps3 Opening For Umineko

R7's New Visual Novel Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni

Looks Interesting...Another Female Lead .. Hmm

Well all I can say is that I am happy that 7th Expansion is working on a new sound visual novel for this years summer's Comiket, which will be this Coming Thursday August 11th. As of now I am not really sure what the series is going to be about nor do I know when a fan-translation will begin for this series but pre-orders are already available on-line for the game but I will just bide my time and see if group is going to pop up for series. One thing I do know is that this is based off of manga from R7 and 7th Expansion so being the fan-boy that I am there I will be giving some major support there. personally I do hope that it does not have a huge troll ending like Umineko had in arc eight twilight of the golden witch. Well that's it just a small update and some-thing I am actually excited about, I will keep you all updated on how the game will turn out.

-Cecil The Dark Knight

Pre-Order A Copy

Edit One: I do have a small update, I manged to find the opening for game. From what I can gather it's another high-school anime but with a murdering twist.. Also from what I have seen from the manga it's rather brutal so it's not for the faint of heart.. just how I like it

Higurashi Kira File One Review

Oh Hell Yeah.. Finally

Warning the review below contains spoilers

That pretty much sums my feelings after watching the first animated ova after nearly two years since rei. The episode starts off with Keiichi dressed in a females cop uniform after loosing a "penalty game". He prays to pretty much every-single god out there and all of the sudden the other three soul brothers pop out of the ceiling willing to help him.."oh boy I can see where this is heading..maybe..", mostly "Kuraudo, Jirou, Chie" talk about how weak willed Keiichi has become from loosing so many games. So the soul-brother call to a meeting to order and discuss what "Rika, Shion, Mion, Satoko, Takano" should do if k-chan wins the games, "so yes you can tell where this heading..."

By your powers combined.. oh wait..

So yeah.. most of this ova centers around the soul brothers swapping fantasy stories about what characters they would like to see doing embarrassing things. Even though most of the fantasies are short in general it is rather funny to see. One example that I will give is that Rena-chan would have to wear a maid uniform, take a spoon in her and dip out yogurt. Then Rena would have to walk slowly making sure not spill the yogurt on her.. oh for the love of God there goes my new pair of pants. I am not going to lie found most the fantasies hot as hell but the one with Rika has me asking why.jpg? She is the last character I want to see sexualized in any-way shape or form, unless it's her adult form.

I have No Nut-Bladder

After having more and more fantasies about each of the main female leads it turns out that Keiichi was dreaming all along.. or was he?? Then Keiichi wakes up in the middle of class, where Satoko and Rika point out that he was having pervy dreams about them, then out of nowhere one of the other male leads pops up Satoshi. This in no way should be possible what-soever if you watched any of the series and even Keiichi wonders what the hell is going on. Then things just get weird again... and I do mean weird. For all of the fan-girls out there this was a dream come true to see both of Keiichi and Satoshi in bunny maid out-fits where he was nearly kissed for losing another..penitently game. So Pretty much every yaoi-fan girl's dream have came true if not just for brief moment..I will now be forever scared after seeing it.

No Context Needed...

Again after this NIGHTMARE, he wakes up to find himself in the "Irie Clinic" where it seems he has the first true case of Hinamizawa Syndrome. This means that he will be forever lost in delusions unless they find a way to help him.. yes I said delusions which is all of this has been so far...Hmm I see where they are heading this time around for Kira. Most of it will focus on way for Keiichi to break out of the delusions one by one and try to snap the hell out if it. There is even has a delusion way-back to the first arc of Higurashi, where he is stuck in the phone both about be slaughtered by the curse.. this time however we get to see who it is.  All Keiichi can do is try make it back to the real 1983 Hinamizawa.. I do wish him the best of luck on this.

..Oh boy he is screwed

So is this ova necessarily bad?? It just seems Studio Deen is just trying to add more to the story when it's not necessary, unless you count the Nintendo Ds game exclusive arcs. However this doesn't mean that I am not happy to see my favorite characters on the screen again, even with the level of fan-service this time around but as usual this will make people rage/flame/troll and so forth. Even though I just stated that the dream sequences can be unique, there is one huge factor that it's a big "screw you". Personally I don't have a problem if it's used right although it's just to early to tell how or were it will be heading at this point..and knowing this series that can't be a good thing.

I need a new heart...

One of the high points this time around is the animation. All of the characters look wonderful in in the 720p-1080p res this time around, even with the drops here or there in quality it's nowhere near as bad as season one or two of the series. Now the op and ed however might throw a people off because of the upbeat nature. Now this is what lured me to the series in the first place, It makes you feel all secure and safe then BAM!! You just happen to get stabbed in the back by the person you least suspect, even by the person you love the most..However it doesn't seem to be the case this time around...or is it??

...I know that feeling all to well.

Overall this is not a really bad addition to the franchise just meh. I feel like there could have been such more done. The dream in dream has been done before, if not to death but to actually have to escape from that.. this might be something new which the franchise is known for doing.It seems that moe~ to sells quite well in Japan and I wish to add this fact that might piss off a-lot of you hardcore fans. Higurashi has been and always be a moe~ anime, however it has huge elements that break it away from the sub-genre. If you wish to flame/troll/  or rant after reading that then be my guest. Well that's it everyone, the next ova will be out 9/22/11 so I can not wait until then, catch you later.

-Cecil The Dark Knight


Age Rating 16+


Rating 3/5

Buy A Legal Copy