Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu

Rika Furude and Satoko Houjou are best friends who have lived in the small village of Hinamizawa for their entire lives. Alongside their other friends, they spend every day together, and every moment is filled with fun and laughter. However, as Rika and Satoko begin to grow older, a life-changing opportunity presents itself to both of them. Rika is determined to follow her dreams and wants Satoko by her side.

Although Satoko is hesitant, she decides to walk this path with Rika. However, the realization of her dream forms a rift between them. This leaves the girls living in completely different worlds, with Rika enjoying her new life and making new friends while Satoko grows more and more isolated.

Longing to return to the nostalgic days in Hinamizawa, Satoko despairs and wishes things could be changed. Just when she is at wits' end, an encounter with a supernatural entity changes Satoko's perception and imparts new revelations about her best friend Rika. This begins her journey to get the future she desires—by any means necessary.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Furude, Rika Main

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Ryuuguu, Rena Main

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Sonozaki, Shion Main

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Sonozaki, Mion Main

Yukino, Satsuki Japanese

Maebara, Keiichi Main

Hoshi, Souichirou Japanese

Houjou, Satoko Main

Kanai, Mika Japanese

Hanyuu Supporting

Horie, Yui Japanese

Takano, Miyo Supporting

Itou, Miki Japanese

Ooishi, Kuraudo Supporting

Chafurin Japanese

Akasaka, Mamoru Supporting

Ono, Daisuke Japanese

Oowada, Tomoyuki Producer

Nagatani, Takayuki Producer

Kaneko, Hirotaka Producer

Nakamura, Makoto Producer

Reviews

Sep 17, 2024

Evadro

Recommended

Honestly, in terms of psychological horror, this anime is the BEST one I've seen so far!!! The way the story explains its edges and its mysteries is really VERY well crafted!!!
The anime, in my view, as a continuation of good years later, manages to maintain the essence of the classic, having triple the amount of gore and psychopathy. The story itself does not disrespect the end of the second season, as it is very well crafted, with very well developed characters so that you create an attachment, or anger towards them and a story that is pure cinematic nectar!!!
And an addendum: in some scenes, the ... characters' behavior in dealing with certain situations can cause you some agony, but it's nothing that interferes with the anime experience.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 15, 2024

ChrisDC

Mixed Feelings

Before we start this review, I'd like to let you know I have not played the Visual Novel and have only consumed Higurashi content in anime form, so my perspective will differ from those who have read the Visual Novel.
It's also important to understand that both Gou and Sotsu are regarded as blasphemy by many Higurashi fans. I definitely can see why, but that doesn't mean the anime outside of a Higurashi perspective is bad or deserves to be rated a one, as the anime itself isn't that bad; it's heavily flawed and poorly executed, and its premise is quite interesting.

Requirements before watching:
Please watch ... the Original Higurashi series for context because it's absurdly good. Additionally, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou, despite being a hot dumpster fire for 18 episodes, will also need to be watched to understand the characters and the situation they find themselves in, as Sotsu takes place after Gou and, from my understanding, is a ''sequel'' to the original series.

Story:
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu is fundamentally a Machiavellian story. It mainly revolves around the trials and tribulations of Hōjō Satoko and her desire to stop Furude Rika from leaving her side by moving away to the academy we saw in Gou.
The story mostly takes perspectives from the original Higurashi series and flips them on their head, allowing us to see the story from a new angle, which sounds good in concept but is poorly executed, which is a huge shame.
Mainly because it felt like a poorly done repetition of the main series with some slight deviations; naturally, this led to a poor reception from long-time Higurashi fans for multiple reasons, and one of those biggest reasons is that the mystery behind the story and its twists feel considerably more absent, which differs from what Higurarshi as a series is generally about. It's not bad per se, but it doesn't feel like Higurashi, and that doesn't sit well with many viewers. However, it gets more interesting towards the end of the anime around episode 11, where things get spicy really fast, so I'd hold out until then.
This is something to note and take to heart before you watch this anime.

Characters/Cast:
If you're expecting significant character development from the main cast of Maebara Keiichi, Ryūgū Rena, Sonozaki Mion and Sonozaki Shion like the original Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, then I wouldn't recommend this anime to you.
As it's mainly about Hōjō Satoko and Furude Rika's battle of wills. As a result, both of them have a considerable amount of screen time but understand that the focus is primarily on Hōjō Satoko, who goes through a lot of character development for better and worse, depending on the individual watching this. I, for one, enjoyed her story and found it quite fascinating despite its predictable nature.

Animation:
I'm going to be extremely blunt. Passione's animation and design do not look good and still look just as bad as they did in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou. If you disliked how it looked before, you wouldn't like it now either, although I can't be too negative as they did fix Rika's hair; that gets a few points in my books. Everyone else, though, minus Hōjō Satoko, looks pretty awful.
Aside from the design, despite looking rough, the animations did improve from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou and got better towards the end of the series. The last two episodes are the exception to the rule and look very good.

Music:
The opening theme is a banger! As is the closing theme, but other than that, the rest of the soundtrack is entirely forgettable.

Closing Statement:
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu is a lousy anime for classic Higurashi fans, and I can understand why it has such a low score.
However, that isn't to say all those low votes are justifiable because they're not. The anime does have some bite, and there are some genuinely shocking moments and revelations toward the end.
I do absolutely think this anime is worth it despite all its faults.
It's very entertaining and has a good core philosophy regarding friendship and how we should let each other grow instead of suffocating each other with our own selfish desires. Also, Hōjō Satoko is very well written, so much so that people hate her. That should say a lot.

Final Scores:
If you're an original Higurashi fan and want a story full of mystery, intrigue and twists, it's a 3/10.

However, if you can look past the differences between both stories and enjoy the anime for what it is instead of what it can be, I'd rate it as a 6/10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 1, 2024

heydreamer09

Not Recommended

This sequel broke my heart. The OG seasons remain one of my favourites to this date, but watching this sequel was a torture spread over a couple of months. Every week before the next episode aired, I was full of copium that "this is it, it will finally get good" until the show ended. The hundreds of fan theories I've read online were million times better than whatever the hell this was.

The characters' actions didn't really make sense. There was no mystery or suspense, because you already knew who was the killer. At times, it was genuinely boring.

If you're a fan of the ... series, avoid this and continue in blissful ingorance.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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