Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4084 |
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I'm glad to see someone other than me notice it. I think it's GOU's way of setting up mysteries. I'm 5 episodes behind now and I just don't care anymore as GOU isn't just an insult to the original anime, it's an insult to Kai. Real mystery: "Who did it?" GOU's fake mysteries: "What happened? Was Keiichi lied to again?" The show can't tell us what happened without SHOWING what happened but if they show what happened then there's no need for Keiichi to DOUBT. And for a sequel series to an anime that started with Keichii murdering his friends in one story and him dying in the next, it's curiously afraid to involved him in the heart of the story, choosing to keep him at a distance. It is possible that it's all plot related and that Hannyo is doing this to Keiichi so he remembers how he's lied to each time in order to sus out an even greater mastermind BUT... the whole amnesia thing doesn't help anybody, let alone a probable detective. |
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2863 |
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what gets me the most about this is that rika said she has been looping for a hundred years, yet bernkastel has said to be looping for ten thousand years. so i think kai was not the real "ending" and there are still mote ways for the story to play out.[/quote]
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Gem-Bug
 Posts: 1208 |
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Yeah, I really feel like we're getting trolled here. Maybe(ideally) more one fake out arc and then the larger plot will take shape for the remainder. Worst case, this really is just a poorly-written imitation with small differences.
I hope that this version of Neko passes on the silly costumes though. I doubt it, of course, since Ep 5 gave us loli-visuals to what was left to the imagination in the original... 
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rizuchan
 Posts: 975 Location: Kansas |
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I mean, Minagoroshi was a big bait-and-switch too...
I agree that Gou is becoming a little frustrating, but isn't that just because we are familiar with the original series and are feeling impatient waiting for the new content? Assuming this is still a question-answer arc format, we're supposed to be completely in the dark at this point. The only thing I'm really frustrated with in Gou is the "say it instead of show it" format. I've seen a lot of theories floating around Reddit that the reason we aren't seeing anything, especially in this arc, is because Satoko is actually lying about it, but I don't buy it. Actually I've see a lot of theories thrown around out there about changes that I suspect are not really significant, but actually just adaptation time savers... but I suppose we'll see! Edit: Was Nekogoroshi never released in the US? That’s frustrating, I wanted to watch it before the next episode... |
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FMAvatard
 Posts: 195 |
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More than anything, thematically this is all just getting more disappointing.
I was intrigued by all the subtle differences and of course the major divergences from the original series, but overall this show isn’t delivering on much of anything. Too much is happening offscreen for anything to have any real impact. At the very least the original had its trademark hyperviolence to make things at least visually exciting. After the end of the first arc everything just plateau’d into everyone taking in circles. This is a personal side-note, but spoiler[sexualizing Satoko and Rika and then having FIVE episodes of the characters fighting the unfortunate bureaucracy of child abuse while being super serious about it, just for it all to end in another offscreen incident has really soured this whole thing for me. Hopelessness is fine, but hypocrisy is another thing.. ]. |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1009 |
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I mean, several of the original arcs were the same way? Watanagashi in particular And like, they're question arcs. The confusion, the obfuscation, the withholding of information, that's the point of it. We still don't even know what the long-term aim of the show is. We know even less than we did at this point in the original.
Genuine question here that isn't meant to be patronizing, but is your criticism that there's too much dialogue and not enough violence to make it interesting? Because that's always what Higurashi has been about. The original anime ramped up the gore and hyperviolence at the expense of the mystery and that gave the series a false and shallow reputation, but the VN was always about engaging with the material and speculating over the questions and mysteries that have been presented to you. Higurashi Gou is, in that sense, no different and in fact more faithful to the original intention of the story. You get out of it as much as you put in, basically.
This is a very strange take. A bit of light fanservice doesn't clash with a very agonizingly real social problem that the writer has personally had to deal with himself for much of his previous career because the two aren't even comparable or at the same level? Or, really, even have anything to do with each other. |
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kyokun47
 Posts: 231 |
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I know everyone's opinions of this last arc has been mixed at best, but as someone who marathoned the original series through Rei to prep for Gou (and is currently reading the VNs for extra details), this last arc has been my absolute FAVORITE the series has had. Satoko's arc has always been the most powerful for me and I had absolutely no problems watching it again with the slight changes until that final episode turned everything on its head. This formula has really been working for me and I'm finding myself brainstorming about possible answers with every new episode. It also helped that the entire scene at Satoko's place this episode shook me to my core, to the point where I had to look away from the blows. Props to Keiichi's VA!
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yeehaw
 Posts: 423 |
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As someone who never watched Higurashi before this my feelings on this arc was that it dragged a bit, basically they went to CWS, got no response, gathered more people and went back until they got response and then Ooishi just lost it and I don't really have a reaction besides "huh."
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rizuchan
Posts: 975 Location: Kansas |
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A strange take? It's an arc about child abuse, and there's a character - a doctor even! - that jokes about saving Satoko... and then grooming her into a bride for himself. Yes, it's a joke, but it's pretty bizarre, imo, for someone to admonish someone for abusing a child one way and then joking about abusing her another way himself in the same breath. I personally think that the frequent sexualization of elementary aged children in Higurashi does take away from its messages about child abuse, but of course every anime fan has a sliding scale of what they think is acceptable fan service. That said, as much as would have liked for Gou to downplay or remove some of that stuff... the source material is full of it, so I don't feel like this arc of Gou on it's own can really be faulted for it, when those parts are just faithful adaptations of Tatarigoroshi/Minagoroshi. |
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Puniyo
 Posts: 271 |
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How are you keeping up not having watched the original? Personally I've seen all the previous series and even I had some issues making sense of a few things because I just forgot some stuff. I had to refresh my memory with the wiki lol
If I recall correctly, compared to the original the jokes with Irie seem to be lessened significantly in Gou. I don't think the joke is meant to deeper than a surface level "haha I just like satoko THAT much" which probably flew fine in the original when it came out, but nowadays it's harder to take as a joke because the severity of that actual situation is more widely understood. If that made sense. I'd have been more than fine if they removed it, that wouldn't be a continuity error I'd personally be heartbroken over, but it brings up a question about how accurate you should be when making sequels and stuff so far into the future. |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1009 |
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If the message in question was merely "Child abuse is bad", then I can understand this, but Higurashi's approach to the subject is more thematically broad than that, enough that I don't believe it takes away from it's intent. I do agree the Irie lolicon jokes are bad, but moreso because they're an unnecessary and incongruous aspect to his character that could be removed with zero consequence and not because I think it clashes with the more serious subject matter. |
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Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
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I agree with the previous posters about the creepy jokes etc., but apart from that I think Tataridamashi has been the only really good Gou arc so far. It was emotionally affecting, plausible in its setup, I wasn’t sure which way it would go, and I’m actually interested to find out the answer to it. Of course, if it turns out there is no answer that makes sense, that’ll be different.
While I don’t feel quite as negative about it, I also largely agree with Animegomaniac about the mysteries. In the original there was a whole lot to puzzle over regarding who was where when, how certain facts were physically possible if not supernatural, etc. (e.g. a corpse disappears without trace immediately after a murder. Did someone take it, and if so, who, how, and why? Was the murder itself a delusion that never really occurred? Was the victim still alive somehow and just wandered off?) Maybe they’ll pull a bunch of unexpected twists in the answer arcs but in Gou there haven’t been many questions I’m really wondering about and want explained apart from the meta question of why it’s all happening again. Most things have seemed to have pretty simple potential explanations once you accept that “character X was the crazed killer”. Last edited by Sven Viking on Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:54 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2633 |
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I actually somewhat disagree with the review when it said previous arcs were built up so you knew doom and gloom were coming. I’d actually argue that one thing that Gou is consistent about is that in every arc Keiichi specifically does the right thing and the arcs still turn out badly... we just don’t know why yet
1) In the first arc Keiichi trusts Reina 2) In the second arc Keiichi gives the doll to Mion 3) In the 3rd arc Keiichi doesn’t take matters into his own hand but works with his friends to save Satoko I will say that as I’ve been rewatching the original series in conjunction with this one. I do feel the direction of the original series is much better. But it’s hard to judge this series fully when so far most of what we have been getting is arcs eerily similar to the original with small changes here and there until the last episode of the arc something completely unexpected occurs based on our preconceived notions of the original series (well that is if you are familiar with the original series) I think the next half will be the real test if this series was worthy of a sequel. Kai really tied everything together beautifully will the second half of this series do the same? On another note I agree about Irie. I honestly didn’t remember the disturbing humor around him. Then again I feel most of the humor in Higurashi misses the mark. It’s my least favorite aspect of the series. |
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Gem-Bug
Posts: 1208 |
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Episode 14:
spoiler[So as far as I'm aware, this episode was completely original? First we are shown what we heard about last time; Ooishi rampaging. Couple things of note here: He's been infected with the syndrome(too much investigating led to paranoia, maybe?); he shows up with(presumably)Satoshi's bat that Keichi just killed Teppei with(meaning maybe he -did- release him from custody); and, more of a nitpick, but he fires like 10 shots with his revolver. The rest of this episode may be hard for some folks. The talk with Hanyuu is pretty heartbreaking, as we learn that this series is taking place 5 years after Kai/Rei, with Rika having moved on with her life only to have been pulled back. There is a lot of subtle and not so subtle suicidal ideation for the rest of the episode and it's pretty uncomfortable even if you are feeling empathetic to her particular circumstances(as someone who has experienced periods of these feelings throughout my life, this series has made me wonder "How many loops could -I- put myself through?"). As soon as they let Rika pick a game, I immediately knew she was going to choose something that would let her slip away to the shrine tool shed. Finally, we end with a bit of hope and an actual time limit, with Rika choosing to loop 5 more times before quitting. I kinda hope we get the winning run before the 5th/last, but with how this series has gone thus far, I'm unfortunately looking at it like "Okay, we get to kill everyone 4 more times". Overall, I appreciate the new content, and even with the heavy themes, this felt almost like a breather episode. ] |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1009 |
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There...kind of were actually. The Onigari-no-Ryou has been an established part of Higurashi's lore since the original visual novel's story, an almost iconic item in fact because of it's personal significance to Hanyuu. It just wasn't especially relevant to the events of the story, so I don't think the anime ever mentioned it. The fact that it can permanently kill someone like Rika is I think a new detail. |
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