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

Oh I See What You Want!!

Well with the poll closed for what visual novel I should play/stream next in a close vote between shuffle coming in second. In all honesty I really didn't expect any of you want to see Higurashi.. I just hope you all realize you're in for long haul. Each arc last around can last around ten to twelve hours, so just get your-self ready and prepare for some total mind-fu**. Actually this in just perfect for the month of October being the month of horror/mystery/murder. I will start live streaming the visual novel starting on the 8th, so look forward to seeing it then.

Side Note: I will be using the ps2 sprite Hack for the game, however there is no voice over patch what soever. I really wish there was, but I am unable to do anything about that.

-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

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Ps3 Opening For Umineko

Stein's Gate VN Progress

OST Cover

This is just a small update to let you all know that the Stein's Gate Visual Novel is getting a few visual novel English translation from a hard/dedicated group. This is the only other visual novel besides Higurahsi/Umineko and Clannad that I can openly recommend to the all ages audience as well. That aside I am really exited about their small amount of progress they have made so far. I have already ordered my copy for the p.c. version from Japan so when the full translation is up that will be even more time taken out of my life. Stein's Gate also happens to be one of the best spring/summer shows for 2011 and I will have my review covering the show up soon, although it's posted on earlier date so I will provide a hyper-link for the review soon.

-Cecil The Dark Knight

 

Legally Buy A Copy

Translation Site

Official Patch

Steins Gate Anime Opening Hacking Into The Gate

This Is Science and Dr.Pepper.. A Review of Steins Gate

Free Wall-Paper

So what the hell is a Stein's Gate?? Well let's just say you will need to drink a lot of Dr.Pepper to figure this one out. Like most anime in this day and age It's adaption based off of a visual novel developed by 5pb and Nitroplus that our came out for the Xbox 360 on October 15th 2009. A PC version did come out a year later on August 26, 2010, which I am happy to announce, is getting a fan translation which will complete before the year is over. I also wish to add that Funimation added steins gate to their list for a domestic DVD/Bluray release. The anime is being done studio white fox which is a new comer to the stage on a project like this with music from Takeshi Abo

I do realize that the series nearly over now but hell I feel like it's better late than never to do the review for the series, also don't mind the publish date I just did a time-leap to do it is all. I will say one thing this series, based on the premise alone was enough to have me asking... What?? "Sending Text Messages To The Past" but it has blown my expectations out of the damn water, just like Clannad and Higurashi did when I first watched them. I will admit I didn't expect much from this series but it's what a good Sci-fi series should be. Also all of the roles in the series are filled by characters that actually look/act their age as well.

Behold AHAHAHAHAHA

Steins Gate revolves around our main lead Okabe Rintarō who quite frankly has to be one of the strangest male lead I have seen in a really long time. "Mainly his habit of talking on a cell-phone about the evil origination sern and drinking D.R. Pepper." The first episode starts off Okabe going to class about time travel with his child hood friend Mayuri Shiina who is off buying a coin slot item which she happens to loose by accident but it's worth a cool 100,000 Yen "Just how rare was that Item??"  Mean-while Okabe is debating the theory and relativity of time travel Kurisu Makise or CCCHHHRRRIIISSSTTIIINNNAAA as okabe calls her with his trad-mark laugh. Kurisu also happens to swear that she met Okabe fifteen minutes prior but he has no memory of it.. 

A little time passes and while going upstairs he finds that Kurisu has been stabbed covered in blood so he then texts one of the other male leads Hashida Itaru. After sending the text, everything get's all damn trippy where you see Okabe walking down the street alone even though he was just talking Mayuri. When Okabe awakens from this surreal dream he learns that the class room that he was hit by a huge satellite. It's later that Okabe discovers while he is talking to Itaru on a elevator that the texts he sent him about Kurisu was some-how sent a week ago. However the biggest mind-fu** at the end of the episode is the fact Kurisu is still alive and well, then that's it for the episode one.

So Tsun.. So Tsun..

I will admit that Steins Gate is a series that is really hard to follow, despite this flaw once you catch on to the main focus it's one of best series for 2011. The characters, story, they way it's being handled is just something I was not expecting for a series like this. Stein's Gate genially makes you care for each character, always keeps you guessing what's going to happen next and the twist they have done so far I didn't even some coming from a mile away. Another worthy note is the art style and music they choose for the series. Okabe himself looks like he really is an mad scientist with the beard and lab-coat, the focus on facial features for each characters and the back-ground are really above par as well.

One thing I love the most is the theory of time-travel the are using for this series. Mainly the use of world lines or the possibility of every small choice can change our outcome in life, even our gender if we are not careful enough. Small changes like this however are not enough to fully split the world in A to B lines. Something so drastic such to split the world lines for example what if “September 11^th never happened or if Y2K did affect our computers”. I personally sit around pondering these what if scenarios all the time.

It needs to be something to drastic that it changes everyone’s life not just yours. The other fascinating thing is that later on when a main character is killed; despite Okabe’s best efforts he can not change her fate. This is due in part that she is meant to die no matter what they would need something like I just mentioned to make sure it doesn’t keep re-occurring but at what cost?? This could be linked to a theory called the butterfly effect, however I don't have the time to explain that here and I am sure for many of you this theory is way over your head.

Now for a series being based off of visual novel can go either way and they really took the high ground with this one. The music is just wonderful with a great Op and Ed that still even personally give me chills every-time I see them. One funny thing to point out is the random product placement of Dr. Pepper in the series. Okabe loves to mention the fact that this soda/drink is only meant for high intellects such as him-self. Well I could go on and on about this series but there isn’t a point I just want to get this review out of my way. If you haven’t caught this show yet you really need to, it’s worth your time and you will not be disappointed.

Edit/Update: After completing the full series I wish to add it has one of the most satisfying endings that I have personally seen in a long time. Most if not all the questions are answered and doesn't leave any logic error's lingering around. There is also an ova floating around the net that adds a little more to the series but nothing major. I do hope however that funimation will have this along with their release later next year.

Stein's Gate ED The Twelve Time-Governing Covenants

Age Rating 16+

Animation 5/5

Story 5/5

Music 5/5

Characters 5/5

Overall Rating 5/5 "PERFECT"

-Cecil the Dark Knight

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