×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
EP. REVIEW: Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU


Goto page   Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 10:57 am Reply with quote
There are a lot of minute differences in these handful of episodes compared to the original that, while individually most of them might not seem terribly significant (aside from spoiler[Tomitake being "missing" instead of confirmed dead, which is such a huge red flag because the original practically stressed that him dying in the same way the same time was something that happened every loop without fail]), collectively they paint a very different picture as to what's going on.

Someone wrote up a list of every changed or added detail in a pastebin, so I'll post it here, though I should preface this for new viewers by saying that there will be spoilers from the original anime.

https://pastebin.com/yQCtk5pv
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
consignia



Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Posts: 391
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 10:59 am Reply with quote
Quote:
But it's that ambiguity that has ironically placed me in the unenviable position of trying to decide whether GOU is approachable for newbies or if I should refer them back to original to watch first.


I think on balance, however it plays out, I'd probably recommend the original first.spoiler[ Revealing Hanyuu and Rika's looping so early in the game brings out too much of the supernatural elements which somewhat dampen the mystery, or push you down certain thinking. It's not major but I think some of what makes the original special is weakened because the reorder.] (No real spoilers there, but just in case for any newcomers)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
AnimeFlyz



Joined: 31 Aug 2015
Posts: 363
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 11:57 am Reply with quote
Where did you get the impression that the arc would wrap up in Episode 4? Its been taking its sweet ass time compared to the 2006 anime. Other then Rena, nobody else has even gone apeshit yet.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Zerreth



Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 207
Location: E6
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:10 pm Reply with quote
One thing I'm confused about episode 3 is how the subs are made. I would think that Funimation received the script directly and translated accordingly, but there's a strange part in the subtitling that stuck out as erroneous. spoiler[Ooishi specifically singles out Ryuugu Reina but the subtitles say "Rena" ] While this isn't a big deal for newcomers it's a matter of a hint hidden in plain sight and there shouldn't be a need to sanitize it. spoiler[Chafurin is very articulate and deliberate with his acting so this can't be a matter of just hearing something different and the script being another.] I don't expect Keiichi to pick up on it, but I'm pretty sure it's definitely something left behind for viewers. This should've been caught at any script review check.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
stilldemented



Joined: 16 May 2015
Posts: 232
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:34 pm Reply with quote
I know next to nothing about Higurashi, so I'm treating myself as the guinea pig for this reboot/remake. A lot of fans are running around the internet informing people to watch the original adaptation first, but I just find that to be a double-edged sword. People are requesting you to become a fan while telling you to avoid watching/supporting the new adaptation until you've done all your research. Eh. That hasn't been my style of late. Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind. See what happens.

There's that...and I watched the first three episodes of the original series several years back and dropped it. This new adaptation has already caught up with everything I seen, and it has done a much better job about keeping me invested in the situation that is unfolding in the village. In fact, I think the big reveal about the blue-haired girl in episode 2 added the necessary context to keep me from dismissing all her interactions as unnoteworthy slice-of-life shenanigans. spoiler[I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have thought anything of her giving the camera guy a headpat otherwise. But because of the context, I'm getting the impression that no matter how many times she loops, she can't save him from his fate...]

From what little I've seen of this new adaptation and what little I remember of the old one, I think this reboot/remake is doing a better job at selling what sort of story they're telling at the end of the day. And, so far, I'm pretty here for it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Christian Castellanos



Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 4:32 pm Reply with quote
I also confused if this is a remake or just another alternative reallity version of the original series...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
consignia



Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Posts: 391
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 5:11 pm Reply with quote
Christian Castellanos wrote:
I also confused if this is a remake or just another alternative reallity version of the original series...


Only read the following if you've seen the original:

spoiler[It's very definitely a sequel. The framing is Rika escaped the time loop, is now a teenager (in physical age) but has for some reason been dragged back to the loop. It's difficult to tell from the character design, but the key visual confirms that much. This arc is following a similar path to the original first arc, but things are different, so it's conclusion isn't definite. Keichi for example is clearly less paranoid this time around.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:11 pm Reply with quote
Zerreth wrote:
One thing I'm confused about episode 3 is how the subs are made. I would think that Funimation received the script directly and translated accordingly, but there's a strange part in the subtitling that stuck out as erroneous. spoiler[Ooishi specifically singles out Ryuugu Reina but the subtitles say "Rena" ] While this isn't a big deal for newcomers it's a matter of a hint hidden in plain sight and there shouldn't be a need to sanitize it. spoiler[Chafurin is very articulate and deliberate with his acting so this can't be a matter of just hearing something different and the script being another.] I don't expect Keiichi to pick up on it, but I'm pretty sure it's definitely something left behind for viewers. This should've been caught at any script review check.


When I watched the subs (two days later), this was corrected. Actually threw me for the opposite loop because I thought it was a typo.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
psipsy



Joined: 01 Jul 2005
Posts: 53
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 8:03 pm Reply with quote
Ooishi's car looks like it was something from Initial D because Japanese cars from the early 80s had a very distinctive angular style and I think the animators nailed it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 3:34 am Reply with quote
I’ve never seen Higurashi, unless bits and pieces of scenes in AMVs count. I’m not a big fan of horror or murder lolis, but so far the mystery and supernatural elements of this new version have been interesting (the slide of life parts are a drag). My favorite horror anime is Shiki, which also involves creepy suspense in a small rural village. I’ll stick with this for now.

The cop guy definitely says “Reina” in episode 3...guess that wasn’t a typo?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Roger Pepitone



Joined: 27 Apr 2016
Posts: 26
PostPosted: Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:45 pm Reply with quote
As for the Rena / Reina, this was mentioned in the TIPS for Onikakushi-hen, but was not mentioned explicitly in adaptations:

spoiler[Her legal name is Reina, so all official mention of her uses that name. When her parents divorced, she decided to drop the "I" from her name, so casual mentions go by "Rena".

(Reina is taken from a character is Final Fantasy 5, and Rei-Na (07) is behind the names "07th Expansion" and "Ryukishi 07")]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Thu Oct 22, 2020 9:56 pm Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
I’ve never seen Higurashi, unless bits and pieces of scenes in AMVs count. I’m not a big fan of horror or murder lolis, but so far the mystery and supernatural elements of this new version have been interesting (the slide of life parts are a drag). My favorite horror anime is Shiki, which also involves creepy suspense in a small rural village. I’ll stick with this for now.

The fun part is that the slice of life parts offers tips that help to solve the mistery; though most of the time you can only notice after you already know the answers. When they skipped tomitake playing with the kids, then explicitly said it did not happen this time, we suspected this was going to happen (episode 4).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 3:30 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
As for the Satoko-Rika murder-suicide, my thought is that it's likely Rika went to Keiichi's house to see if he went on his murder spree, found he and Rena, called an ambulance, took the knife, and went back and murdered Satoko and then herself to move on to the next loop.


I don't think the knife used to kill Rika and Satoko was the same Rena used. The sentence was worded a little ambiguously, but I just think they were saying Rika and Satoko were killed the same way by the same weapon.

I highly doubt Rika killed Satoko. First off, for her to even consider that, circumstances would need to be extremely dire, like spoiler[Satoko being at Level 5 of the virus]. And even if she did feel the need to do that, she'd make sure it was as quick and painless a death as possible. Mion specifically said they were stabbed in the neck repeatedly, which is way too brutal to really call a mercy kill.

What I think happened is that Rika killed herself with the knife, Satoko witnessed it, and she in turn killed herself in hysteria using the same knife.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
silvershion



Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 3:48 pm Reply with quote
If you think about it, Keiichi never scratched his neck. But he DID in the vision of him killing Mion and Rena.So in this time he was never influenced by the "curse" at all.
In fact, the reason Keiichi was afraid of Rena wasn't the hallucinations, but the visions of his other lives.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 3:52 pm Reply with quote
silvershion wrote:
If you think about it, Keiichi never scratched his neck. But he DID in the vision of him killing Mion and Rena.So in this time he was never influenced by the "curse" at all.
In fact, the reason Keiichi was afraid of Rena wasn't the hallucinations, but the visions of his other lives.


Interesting detail when he wakes up in the hospital is that he has a neck brace on, despite him not having touched his neck even once as far as we saw.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page   Next
Page 1 of 23

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group