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This Week in Anime - Is Higurashi Gou as Terrifying as the Original?


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jenthehen



Joined: 23 Dec 2008
Posts: 835
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 1:53 pm Reply with quote
I think it's a bit of a disservice that they keep pushing this as accessible to newcomers ... like, yeah, I'm sure they can understand it and there will still be some mysteries revealed along the way, but you're totally missing out on a HUGE amount of context that lowers the enjoyment. Not only will watching this spoil the original series, but you miss out on the WTF moments when little things change in surprising ways.

Rena turning out to ACTUALLY be there to murder him was a HUGE twist for those who understandably assumed in the original arc Rena was innocent / not plotting anything at that point.
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 998
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 2:25 pm Reply with quote
jenthehen wrote:
but you're totally missing out on a HUGE amount of context that lowers the enjoyment. Not only will watching this spoil the original series


You say this but most of the people watching this are newcomers and many of them are enjoying it without any complaints

And the only things of importance it spoils are the time loop-ish aspect of the story, Rika Is Important, and Hanyuu Exists. But it very deliberately leaves out all of the context surrounding them and how they relate to other aspects of the story. Rika even goes as far as saying that she knows the rules of Hinamizawa as well as the culprit who kills her but doesn't actually state what either of them are. Because that would be an overwhelming amount of information for new fans, so it leaves them unmentioned. Now, that could very well change later, but that's for later
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Yuma39



Joined: 30 Apr 2019
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 3:10 pm Reply with quote
jenthehen wrote:


Rena turning out to ACTUALLY be there to murder him was a HUGE twist for those who understandably assumed in the original arc Rena was innocent / not plotting anything at that point.


How was that a "huge twist" exactly? if you've read/watched the og story you would know from ep1~3 (ESPECIALLY EPISODE 3) that Rena was going crazy /L5 (like in Tsumihoroboshi-hen), how did you miss the stuff in ep3? it was so obvious.
So no, the old fans didn't feel a "huge twist" in episode 4 unless they forgot most of the story (so they're like newcomers in a way lol).
The only "twist" for the old fans was the stuff in episode 2
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MegaMooseJam2008



Joined: 20 Sep 2010
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 3:39 pm Reply with quote
Yuma39 wrote:
jenthehen wrote:


Rena turning out to ACTUALLY be there to murder him was a HUGE twist for those who understandably assumed in the original arc Rena was innocent / not plotting anything at that point.


How was that a "huge twist" exactly? if you've read/watched the og story you would know from ep1~3 (ESPECIALLY EPISODE 3) that Rena was going crazy /L5 (like in Tsumihoroboshi-hen), how did you miss the stuff in ep3? it was so obvious.
So no, the old fans didn't feel a "huge twist" in episode 4 unless they forgot most of the story (so they're like newcomers in a way lol).
The only "twist" for the old fans was the stuff in episode 2


But *was* Rena actually crazy? spoiler[It's still a little unbelievable that someone coming at you with the intent to kill would fail to do so when stabbing you a dozen times in the gut. She may well have been trying to talk Keiichi down after he freaked out on her peeling apples or something. So far, both interpretations are within the realm of possibility, since we know it's not exactly easy to just talk down someone at that stage.]
(Spoilered because this series is best to be safe with.)

Either way, I do like the reversal.
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 998
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 4:22 pm Reply with quote
MegaMooseJam2008 wrote:
Yuma39 wrote:
jenthehen wrote:


Rena turning out to ACTUALLY be there to murder him was a HUGE twist for those who understandably assumed in the original arc Rena was innocent / not plotting anything at that point.


How was that a "huge twist" exactly? if you've read/watched the og story you would know from ep1~3 (ESPECIALLY EPISODE 3) that Rena was going crazy /L5 (like in Tsumihoroboshi-hen), how did you miss the stuff in ep3? it was so obvious.
So no, the old fans didn't feel a "huge twist" in episode 4 unless they forgot most of the story (so they're like newcomers in a way lol).
The only "twist" for the old fans was the stuff in episode 2


But *was* Rena actually crazy? spoiler[It's still a little unbelievable that someone coming at you with the intent to kill would fail to do so when stabbing you a dozen times in the gut. She may well have been trying to talk Keiichi down after he freaked out on her peeling apples or something. So far, both interpretations are within the realm of possibility, since we know it's not exactly easy to just talk down someone at that stage.]
(Spoilered because this series is best to be safe with.)

Either way, I do like the reversal.


Rena was absolutely crazy here, that's undeniable. Whether Keiichi is also crazy is debatable. spoiler[Rena never said anything explicitly antagonistic in Onikakushi, but Keiichi's syndrome distorted her intentions to make them seem more hostile and malicious than they were. He didn't imagine her saying anything she didn't actually say. Here, she explicitly states her desire to kill him. Even if Keiichi's syndrome was flaring up, it wouldn't put words in her mouth. Plus there was a lot of suspicious behavior from Rena that Keiichi has no knowledge of but the audience did, like stalking him at the end of the festival.]
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4064
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 5:43 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Cellphones pretty much make the horror genre null-and-void anyways.

I do hate this sentiment, which is wrong anyway. Isn't nice to know that help is always 10 minutes away?
What if you need it right now? Well, at least they can record your death sounds.

When devising horror in the age of mass communication, keep it, use it, play off it. Cell phones are a safety net that are more of a leash and we all know good leashes go 'round the neck, yeah? However, their safety is just an illusion... the perfect moment to cut back for a wide shot of the dark woods with some idiot screaming into a cell phone that help should be there like yesterday.

Or better yet, go for the hide in an enclosed place and whisper call.... wait... is your device emitting light? Which will come first first, the horror or the help? The tension is killing you... or not...

Or right, Higurashi. The first season is kicking the butt of this third season in every way. It doesn't help the third season seems to be trying to be both horror story and mystery. spoiler["The murder weapon used here... that also wasn't used here... was then used somewhere else."]

Sorry, that's supposed to mean something to these people? spoiler[They're dead.] That particular technique of mystery solving didn't come into play until the second season when the horror was shown the door.

"Was Rena actually crazy in episode 4?" That censor was sensing something, that's all I say to such a ridiculous question. As to what spoiler[saved Keiichi, it's almost like someone with nursing knowledge gave him immediate first aid, killed Rena, stole the knife and used it on Mion and Riku.] Two guesses on who it would be because...

It's a Scream, Baby, a real Scream. That's my guess,... which isn't much of a guess based on the epilogue of Episode 4.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 6:16 pm Reply with quote
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings wrote:
jenthehen wrote:
but you're totally missing out on a HUGE amount of context that lowers the enjoyment. Not only will watching this spoil the original series

And the only things of importance it spoils are the time loop-ish aspect of the story,

Why are you acting like that isn't the most important and hugest reveal in all of Higurashi Kai? Everything in Higurashi and Kai leads up to that moment.
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gedata



Joined: 04 May 2013
Posts: 615
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 6:16 pm Reply with quote
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings wrote:
jenthehen wrote:
but you're totally missing out on a HUGE amount of context that lowers the enjoyment. Not only will watching this spoil the original series


You say this but most of the people watching this are newcomers and many of them are enjoying it without any complaints

And the only things of importance it spoils are the time loop-ish aspect of the story, Rika Is Important, and Hanyuu Exists. But it very deliberately leaves out all of the context surrounding them and how they relate to other aspects of the story. Rika even goes as far as saying that she knows the rules of Hinamizawa as well as the culprit who kills her but doesn't actually state what either of them are. Because that would be an overwhelming amount of information for new fans, so it leaves them unmentioned. Now, that could very well change later, but that's for later

The reason why preexisting fans are concerned over how this new anime baits in new viewers is because they have the full picture. There's no problems yet, but once Rika starts playing more of an active role in what's happening, her actions will be informed by experiences from the previous seasons to at least some degree. That information gap could be a problem.
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2249
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 6:32 pm Reply with quote
I think the faster pace of Gou takes away some of the terror from it. Not all of it, but the lengthier slice-of-life interludes of the original series made it much more difficult to guess when the knife was about to fall.

Animegomaniac wrote:
I do hate this sentiment, which is wrong anyway. Isn't nice to know that help is always 10 minutes away?
What if you need it right now? Well, at least they can record your death sounds.

When devising horror in the age of mass communication, keep it, use it, play off it.


Agree with this. Aside from it just being impractical to save yourself with a smartphone much of the time, smartphones open up a lot of doors for horror, even as they close others. The killer's probably tracking your phone through an app with embedded malware, dont'cha know?
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2632
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 6:56 pm Reply with quote
I agree this anime isn’t friendly to new comers. Hell I am rewatching the original series now because I literally forget like 95% of it and I want to be able to spot the differences so you know when things don’t add up. That is part of the fun of this new version.

I guess new people can start here but they are definitely missing out on the experience. This is a sequel after all.
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 998
PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2020 7:09 pm Reply with quote
NeverConvex wrote:
I think the faster pace of Gou takes away some of the terror from it. Not all of it, but the lengthier slice-of-life interludes of the original series made it much more difficult to guess when the knife was about to fall.


It's actually slower believe it or not. Episode 1 was 98% the same in both, the material in episode 2 of the original was actually spread pretty thinly over episodes 2 and 3 of Gou, and episode 4 was dramatically different between each version.

Megiddo wrote:
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings wrote:
jenthehen wrote:
but you're totally missing out on a HUGE amount of context that lowers the enjoyment. Not only will watching this spoil the original series

And the only things of importance it spoils are the time loop-ish aspect of the story,

Why are you acting like that isn't the most important and hugest reveal in all of Higurashi Kai? Everything in Higurashi and Kai leads up to that moment.


Because it isn't really imo. Unlike other reveals in the story, it doesn't dramatically alter your perception of the narrative, unlike something like spoiler[Hinamizawa Syndrome] and if I'm being honest most modern viewers would've picked up on it anyway pretty early on now that we have a number of pretty famous anime that also use time loops as an integral aspect of the plot.

Really, the only early reveal that I have any real qualms with is Hanyuu, but so long as they don't delve too deep into her greater role in the original and just have her remain as more or less "Rika's ghost buddy" then I'll be okay with it.
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NeverConvex
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Joined: 08 Jun 2013
Posts: 2249
PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 9:00 am Reply with quote
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings wrote:
It's actually slower believe it or not. Episode 1 was 98% the same in both, the material in episode 2 of the original was actually spread pretty thinly over episodes 2 and 3 of Gou, and episode 4 was dramatically different between each version.


Hm -- if that's true, then maybe it's just the benefit of knowing what to expect this time around that's made Gou less frightening. For the original series, I went in full tabula rasa, and was super unnerved when the creep factor started to ratchet up.
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jenthehen



Joined: 23 Dec 2008
Posts: 835
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 12:23 pm Reply with quote
lol everyone is just SO stubbornly insistent that this isn't a sequel. Maybe they just hated Deen's animation on the original that much? Honestly, I think it fit and worked perfectly for Higurashi. It's clearly a sequel as the events are being changed! It can't be a remake since totally different and new events are occuring!

Anyway ... I never said new fans couldn't enjoy this series AT ALL, but there is absolutely no denying that they aren't going to be enjoying it AS MUCH as those who have seen the previous anime series. It also ruins the experience of going back and watching the original since it gives crucial information up front. Revealing Rika as the main character alone is a huge spoiler.
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Hellsoldier



Joined: 21 Jun 2013
Posts: 749
Location: Porto,Portugal,Europe,Earth,Sol
PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 1:50 pm Reply with quote
Okay, I am watching the first seasons first, before watching this new season, and I'll call it a season because clearly, this only makes 90% sense watching the original seasons. Put bluntly, Gou may welcome newcomers, but it seems clearly made for the fans.

Also, when will Umineko get a complete adaptation?
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2855
PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 4:58 pm Reply with quote
The most unnerving thing about this adaptation is having the ushiromiya mansión show up un the intro.
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