Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2020)

Title:Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2020)
Higurashi: When They Cry (2020)
ひぐらしのなく頃に
Overall:Unevaluated
Keywords: , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - Passione
Keiichi Maebara has transferred from the city to the village of Hinamizawa that lies deep in the wilderness. The village was spared from a plan to build a dam that would have sunk it under a lake, and it is now surrounded by nature and following its ancient customs. Keiichi makes new friends there and lives an ordinary life. But once a year, Hinamizawa village celebrates its festival, Watanagashi, and with it Keiichi's calm days are over, and a chain of unending tragedy begins.
(Summary Courtesy of Anime News Network)


TV anime that premiered on October 1, 2020.
Animated by Passione.
[edit] The "When They Cry" franchise:

↗Higurashi scenario: Higurashi Reboot: ↗Umineko scenario: ↗Ōkami Kakushi scenario:
  • (2010) _ Ōkami Kakushi (12 TV episodes)
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Unevaluated KBanger1 [series:4196#1694]
I watched about 95% of this series and overall I'm confused a.f. I didn't know that this was a reboot of the original series. I can't even describe if this series is broken down into different arcs or if there's a story about each character condensed in 12 episodes. The synopsis itself is clear but when I watch it just gets confusing in the latter part. Some characters show up out of the blue, some characters who were supposedly dead are back to life later on, etc. In the beginning, it seemed like there was a clear cut story but then it just takes an unusual turn to a new story. I may have to watch this over again in it's english dub before I can give my final review on it. This is probably the only anime that I've seen and have zero clue on what's going on.

Update: Finshed up to 17th episode

I am more confused as to what the underlying plot is. I honestly thought it was the story of the Keiichi but apparently it wasn't that. The summary of the anime does not convey what the story is all about. I don't know if that was intentional but it doesn't paint a clear picture. That makes me wonder if it's necessary to watch the original anime before this. Even though it's supposed to be a reboot, a lot of the story has a lot of plot holes which makes it hard to follow. I'm not down with having to think while watching anime even though it's a change of pace. For now, I'm giving it a 'Watch' unofficially until the series is over.

Last updated Friday, January 29 2021. Created Saturday, December 19 2020.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:4196#628]
(Two episodes watched):

It is made clear to us right from the start that brutal murder will play a part in this show; otherwise it would have been easy to conclude that it would be a lightweight show about goofy children and more than a few viewers would have soon switched to something else. Still, I was somewhat disappointed by episode one. I had gotten the impression that this was a brilliant psychological thriller, perhaps even a classic (I didn't see the original anime). But as of the end of episode one I felt that it had so far delivered very little. These girls definitely want to keep something from Keiichi, and might even be willing to kill him if he learns too much. But the characters were all still so simple at this point that it was hard to care all that much. So far, nobody seems all that psychologically messed up and scary. So, I'll continue watching but I wonder if this remake it measuring up to the original.

Worse was yet to come. Episode two opens with a bizarre scene of Rina having some sort of supernatural experience--was that some sort of deity she was talking with, or a twin sister, or what? Does she have some sort of multiple personality disorder? I had noticed no hint in episode one that things were going to get this weird, and it made so little sense that I was left wondering if I was accidentally watching episode three and had skipped number two. The remainder of the episode was back to psychological normal, but that didn't mean it was good. I couldn't help feeling that maybe it had been a grave mistake to try to mix comedy and horror like this show was apparently trying to, because maybe it's simply impossible to wind up with anything but a mess. I was left frustrated that we don't seem to be getting any closer to the secret that is being kept from Keiichi. Suffice to say this does not bode well for a series that seems likely to last for two seasons. I read a mention at ANN that suggested that this is not really a redo of the original, 'classic' series at all, rather it is a sort of alternate universe variation--one other way things might have worked out. The author of that comment was not enthusiastic, and neither am I. I think I will quit this series; there are lots of new shows this season and I need to separate the wheat from the chaff.


Last updated Thursday, October 22 2020. Created Monday, October 12 2020.

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