*WARNING THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!*
Video Review Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVsGvTb5F8E
Heist #01: Higurashi – When They Cry: Kai [Season 2]
Story-line: - C – 7
In terms of the story-line behind Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, I was informed that this season contained the answer arc portion to all the mysteries surrounding the season one adaptation. The mysteries consisted of the mysterious deaths, the outbreak in Hinamizawa, and the person who was behind it all, and yes, that is exactly what we received. Now the problems, I have with this season of Higurashi would be its take on the horror & gore scenes, and its structure. Everything
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regarding the answers given for the outbreak, Rika’s powers, and the mysterious deaths, I can get behind to some degree, but these three categories kill the story for the show a little bit. And I will kindly explain my reasons why, starting with its take with the horror and gore.
In season one, we were shown to have scenes where the characters would undergo some type of mental struggle which would cause them to commit deadly acts of violence on others. Heck, we even seen an older woman endlessly stab a young child, for her sins. However, the problems I found in the horror and gore in Higurashi Kai is that it seems a bit fluffy and nonexistent to be a sequel for Higurashi. I admit we do receive scenes where the characters are abused, or beaten, but it seems that in certain moments, we receive a fade out or other type of transition to get back on track with the explanation of the story.
Another example of where the horror and gore seem to take a nose dive could be seen in episode four where;
Example – Episode 04: a policeman is killed by a member of the Yamainu and it gets covered by some type of Red Screen which is seemingly supposed to symbolize the blood shed from this man. And I found that to be quite bothersome.
There are other moments where the deaths to seem to follow this format, but I wouldn’t count it as censorship in the slightest since the series still has its crazed moments through facial expressions, abusive moments with Satoko, and certain scenes consisting of the gore, but it feels as if the series was trying to erase the darkness that it once had to focus on answering the questions from season one.
With regards to the Anime’s structure, I found the issues to lie within certain episodes, preferably episode 14 which is the start of the festival Accompanying Arc of the series. Now in episode fourteen we receive the history behind Miyo’s backstory and how she became the woman she is now. However, I didn’t find it to be an enjoyable experience since the episode kept shifting to her adult and child form within the first ten to so minutes. One bit, we get her suffering as a child, and then the next she’s accepting some type of encouragement from someone, and it seemed pretty odd. Thankfully, it stopped near the end of the episode, but it seemed off to me at the time. Another instance where the Anime’s structure seemed to be off can be seen in episode twelve
Example 2 – Episode 12: where Rika decides to spill the beans behind the outbreak and history of Hinamizawa. The scene does become tense as she explains her points to her friends, which makes the episode not too much of a drag, but the amount of information dropped in one episode could be overwhelming to some individuals.
Other than that, I didn’t find the whole supernatural premise behind Rika’s powers to seem that outlandish considering how there seemed to be some set-up of this in the prior arc, but I did feel as though some of the horror and gore elements, structure, and small chances of hope were quite bothersome after witnessing the amount of suspicion and realism, left behind in season one.
Alright now normally Mecha would crank out the gamepad for the character portion, but I believe we’ll just let the menu of Z do that for us, folks.
“Fades Out White”
Characters: - B – 8
After having these characters go through the detective’s analysis machine in Higurashi season one, let’s see how they stack up in season two, but this time, I will be grouping them together. So let’s start with Keiichi Maebara and Rika Furude.
Keiichi/Rika – As you all know Keiichi was the boy next door type of character who received plenty of screen time in the last season of the Anime. We got to learn a bit more about his character in terms of his internal/external conflicts with the girls during the Spirited Away Arc and his life as a teenager in the city before moving into Hinamizawa. However, how does he stack up in season two? In this season I feel that Keiichi gathered a strong sense of unintentional character development, being that he developed as a character, but doesn’t know he did, due to it being a different world form of his character as explained through Rika’s dialog in episode six of the Anime. A couple of examples of this unintentional development can be seen during
Example Keiichi – Massacre Arc –Episodes 07 – 13: the Massacre arc in episodes seven through thirteen. He shows this development by giving Mion the doll and tells her he views her as a girlish type of woman, which in the prior arcs he felt she was a bit boyish. Rika even states that Keiichi has learned to accept Mion’s girlish feelings toward his character by doing this. Another moment would include this example where Keiichi stands in front of Shion to prevent her from killing Satoko’s uncle, which shows that he believes that killing him would not be the best solution. And this provides more evidence that he has grown as a character.
Although there are some instances where Keiichi seems to be a random stock character, if we take into account that this is the series’ second season and group this with season one that would make him a strong dynamic or round character, in which these examples prove that even though he may fall victim to pessimism that he has knowledge now of what not to do.
RIKA – Now in terms of Rika Furude’s character, she obtains the amount of screen time that she desperately needed in season one. Since she is now our “main” protagonist of the series, she is expected to have the toughest challenges and best growth out of all of the characters in terms of her role in the plot, and quite frankly, she does receive this. As we start to learn more about Rika’s character in terms of her origin, powers, and goal to defeat fate, I felt that her mysterious stock character role changed to being that of a more realistic human being. Although human beings don’t have god-like powers like Rika’s character, what I’m referring to is her emotions throughout the run of the series and how they tend to change.
For example, if we take a look at Rika’s character during the beginning of the series she can seem a bit annoying and boring to some since we get the rinse and repeat scenario of her feeling optimistic about one small change in the world, and when something flips it up, she converts back to pessimism which I find to be a humanistic part of her character since human emotions do tend to converge from happy to sad most of the time. However, her true ounce of character growth can be seen during this example in the
Example Rika – Massacre Arc – Episode 10/11 – Massacre arc near episode ten or eleven when she realizes that thinking about waiting for another miracle to happen would be pointless to some degree, and that taking an effort to save Satoko and not being a useless spectator would be the best option to finding this peaceful world she’s been seeking.
Although, like Keiichi, she does end up slipping and falling to the ounces of despair, and desperation, she is able to realize that fate can be changed through her words with Keiichi. This may be the reason why I grouped these two together since Keiichi is the foil to her character during this arc, and gives Rika the idea of standing against fate, which is one of Rika’s biggest challenges she ends up defeating by the end of season two.
Hanyuu/Takano – Alright, next up we have the duo of our mentor character Hanyuu Furude, and our main antagonist or bad girl, being Miyoko Takano. Let’s start with Hanyuu’s character. Hanyuu is the calm, clumsy and newest protagonist of the group. We learn that she plays the mentor role for Rika’s character and that she is the one responsible for helping Rika travel to all of these worlds to find that “just right” world. She seems to be Oyashiro Sama herself, and we gain slight information about her character. For me, I felt that her character seemed a bit underwhelming in terms of her backstory, maybe due to the fact that I wanted to see either a flashback of her past life, as she stated that she died to protect the sins of man, or the villagers at the time. However, her growth as a character does come out to some degree.
An example of where Hanyuu received the much needed character development could be seen in the beginning stages of the Massacre Arc where she seemed to have less confidence in Rika’s ability to find this peaceful world, when everything was starting to go her way. But by the end of the series, we learn that her character is the missing piece that the others needed in order to find this peaceful world, and this snaps Hanyuu into believing that a peaceful world is possible. Though I found her character to be slightly underwhelming to some degree, I still found Hanyuu to be an enjoyable protagonist.
Takano – Now in terms of Takano’s character, she seems to have the role of the antagonist in this season. She also receives an intense amount of characterization because of this role, and I found her story leading up to who she is now, to be pretty interesting. We learn about how she lost her parents to some bus accident, goes through a life of despair in an orphanage, and meets her adopted grandfather Hifumi and other key characters that push her to pursue this goal of revealing the truth behind the Hinamizawa syndrome to avenge her grandfather’s pride. She went from being this side/questionable researcher stock character from season one, to being a fully developed antagonist in season two, and I didn’t seem to be bothered with this conclusion.
If you remember what the detective said in season one, you could pinpoint various hints regarding her role as being the true villain behind the outbreak, and I really can’t disagree with his claim here. I do admit, that some of the events with her character that lead up to the end of the arc were quite weird and strange, but I felt that since her character was able to provide some type of twist in the story, and interesting information of why she’s doing the things she’s doing, that I can’t really knock on her for that reason. Overall, these two characters seem to tie together in terms of a moral dispute, and that is why I find both of them to be interesting in the slightest.
Shion/Satoko – Alright, now it’s time to go to our next duo being Shion and Satoko’s character. Let’s start with Shion Sonozaki. From what you have learned from the previous season, Shion wasn’t the best when it came to who to trust after losing her love interest, being Satoshi Houjo to the point of where she would end up killing almost everybody that she felt didn’t seem kind to her. With that being said, how does she stand up in season two?
Well, in terms of season two Shion has fallen prey to mixed development within the series which kind of bothers be to some degree. At certain points she does seem to gather some type of patience and kindness with this concept of unintentional development, however, when it came down to the decisions of how to solve certain issues, she resulted to murder being the best answer which kind of loses her development points with me.
An example of this moment could be seen in episode 8
Example Shion – Episode 8 – during the Massacre arc where Shion fails to come to terms with having Teppei survive, with the only way of her changing her views was to result to violence to beat down Keiichi during this scenario. I understand that most people have to do some act of violence, to let out steam, but in Shion’s case she doesn’t have any sign of growth since she still clings to Satoshi a bit too much than she needs to. Nonetheless, Shion is a great character in terms of her representation as a real world girlfriend, possibly, but I wished she could grow out of this phase just a tad.
With respect to Satoko’s character, we learned that she could be bratty, comedic, and fun during the lighthearted moments, but with respect to negativity, she holds her emotions in and views this to be some act of courage and strength. With that being said, how does she hold up in Kai?
Well in terms of the Massacre arc, Satoko does become the Macguffin of the tale, since Teppei Houjo abuses, and threatens her with Satoshi’s room being on the line for her. In terms of character growth, Satoko doesn’t necessarily grow on her own accord. The only reason for Satoko’s character development during this arc was because of her friend’s efforts to save her, and is this necessarily a bad thing, to me, not really. This event in itself symbolizes the theme of friendship that Ryukishi seemed to want the story’s main focus to be about. And with this in mind, I can’t really argue with the author of this tale since it showcases the strong bond that Satoko has with her comrades.
Regardless of this fact, would I have loved to see Satoko grow on her own, and tell the Counseling Center the truth, certainly, but from looking at it from a moral and realistic perspective, it wouldn’t be possible due to the events that transpired after this arc? Overall, I found the needed development, expansion on her character in terms of her family’s inner conflict, and her infection explanation, to help her character recover from the events in season one.
Also before we shift, I wanted to mention the reason for their groupage, was due to the fact that both of them found Satoshi to be vital in terms of their characterization and growth.
Mion/Rena – Alright, now it’s time to go to our final duo being Mion and Rena’s character. In terms of Mion’s character, the problem that I and the detective came across was that she seemed to be the weakest character of the batch, besides Rika. The only sign of grace to her character was how she played the foil role to most of the characters in the story and seemed like a plot device for the big Shion reveal, and that’s it. So, how does she rank in season two?
Well, in terms of season two, I believe Mion gathered the spotlight she deserved in terms of helping certain characters move past their endeavors, but she seemed to still be the weakest character in terms of any sign of development due to her not really having any sign of personal issues in season one. As a plot device, Mion played a perfect role in the story. Examples of this would be during the events of episode seven where Rena explains that the reason for her not changing would be by consulting with Mion, and Shion evens admits to doing the same. However, we never receive any major issues when it came to Mion’s character, and believe it’s because she didn’t really come across to having any problems in that season besides the Spirited Away arc bits. Overall, Mion although characterized a lot to some, doesn’t seem to showcase any signs of development.
RENA – Alright now we’ve reached our final protagonist on this board, and that’s Ryuugu Rena. Now in terms of the previous season, Rena’s character seemed to have redeemed a lot of character development during the final arc of season one. We learned that she had problems with her family, and her pastime as a young child, but ends up overcoming this struggle by learning how to trust her friends. Now how does she fair in season one?
Now since Rena has developed from the events in season one, I felt that her character in this season just reflects on those ideals to the point where she is able to contribute to her friend’s goals toward their own sense of happiness which makes her an integral piece to this season’s plot. She does endure some type of internal struggle near the start of Kai, but since she learned how to trust her friends from the other worlds, unintentionally, she was able to defeat this mindset easily to the point where her life became great and wonderful. The only problem I can see with her character is that she ends up playing the therapist role toward her allies, but since she kind of settled the events in season one, I can’t really complain here. Overall, I did find Rena’s character bland throughout this season of Higurashi, but due to her integration in the plot, I don’t really hold this trait against her to a small degree.
Now the reason why I grouped these together would be due to the fact that they seemed to be the overseers of the group to make sure no one gets engulfed by the darkness surrounding the village.
Minor Characters – With regards to the minor characters in this arc, I’ll just make this a bit brief. I feel that after the events of season one, that each and almost every minor character gained some type of character development throughout the story. A few examples would include:
Ooishi coming to terms that the Sonozaki family weren’t involved with his friend’s murder, thereby helping them defeat and trick Takano near the end of the story.
We learn that Irie, seems to be pursuing some type of medical career to avenge his father for his crimes, and we get to see more signs of characterization behind Tomitake, Akasaka, and even the side characters in terms of their goals, roles in the plot, and other aspects leading up to the very end of the story.
I feel the side characters all gained some type role in the story that either helped them grow for the better or dive deeper for the worst. Although, I feel that some side characters should have received a bit more screen time, I loved the fact that Studio Deen or Ryukishi gave them some type of characterization so they wouldn’t seem fake or unrealistic to the eye.
Soundtrack: - B – 8
For this season’s soundtrack, I found it quite meaningful and depressing compared to its season one counterpart, but in a good light. The opening theme titled, “Naraku No Hana” by Eiko Shimamiya was a perfect match for the series. The opening theme through its art direction, composition, and vocalist’s performance captures the motive of this season, quite nicely. It truly capture’s Rika’s desperation to escape this destined fate of June 1983 through it’s slow start to its incredible build up near the middle of the song as if this is Rika herself saying that I can defeat fate. I especially loved how they switched up the opening theme’s art near the reveal of the villain behind the outbreak as an attempt to make it seem fresh and new. Anyway, the opening theme was able to mix together these opposite emotions so well, and I couldn’t be prouder. Another highlight for the soundtrack used in this series would be the voice acting. And sadly for you English dub fans, if there is any, there is no dub for this season as of right now.
Speaking of the JP voice acting for the show, I believe all the voices fit well for the characters. Similar to season one, their performances during the child-friendly, and critical moments was spot on. During the comedic bits of the Anime, I do admit to chuckling to some of the jokes the characters would make because of how the child-friendly art complimented their wacky voices during these moments. However, the points where the voice acting kicked it up to high gear would be during the breakdowns of these characters.
An example where the voice acting really hit home in terms of breakdowns could be seen in Takano’s backstory, preferably in episode fourteen;
Example 1 Episode 14 – Festival Accompanying Arc: Where Takano has escaped from the orphanage and comes face to face with one of the workers. She ends up biting one his thumbs in which the worker gets infuriated with her, and is about to deal a heavy blow. And what makes this scene terrifying is Takano’s scream as he approaches her. Being able to imitate that level of terror in a young girl’s voice made me quite impressed with her voice actress.
And quite frankly there are more voice acting build up scenes like this that just add to the horror/thriller lore we come to expect from this series. Although the horror and mystery aspects of the second season wasn’t near the exact level of it’s first, the voice acting in the show makes up for some of its lost atmosphere.
In light of the OST and ending theme of season two’s adaptation, I found the ending theme in this series to stand out a tad bit more than season one’s ending theme. While in terms of the OST I found it to be quite standard. Similar to season one’s ending theme, the ending theme titled, “Taishō.a” by anNina was also relaxing and peaceful, but my reason for liking this theme over season one’s ending theme is that the theme of this song, seems to match the overall feeling of this season’s Anime adaptation, precisely. I admit, there were moments where I just skimmed over the ending theme to see another portion of the episode or the usual clip with Dark Rika and Hanyuu at points, but this ending to me seems to closely resemble the somber tone and mood that the show produces through its setting and characters. On the other hand, the OST in this show is standard to me, since it was already used in season one’s adaptation. There were a couple of different background soundtracks here and there, but they didn’t really stand out to me.
Although, I do praise Studio Deen for keeping in the best tracks from Season one.
And, as a quick compliment toward the sound department for the Anime, I really appreciate the fact there weren’t any signs of audio desynch age from the characters facial movements. Also the background character audio, doesn’t interfere with any plot discussion moments, which is another great step up from season one. The audio sync and background character audio issues bugged me in Higurashi’s first season, but thankfully with the incorporation of the new art style in the mix, this issue was avoided.
Though I found the background OST to be pretty bland and standard, I found the opening theme, ending theme, and voice acting to be the soundtrack portion’s greatest strength!
Animation: - C+ - 7.5
In terms of the art and animation quality in Higurashi: When They Cry Season 2, I find this to be a great step in the right direction. In season one there are moments where the characters looked deformed, and an instance when one of our protagonist’s being Rena Ryuguu’s body twists as if she was a piece of Laffy Taffy in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. However, does this season’s new art and animation style still hold up during the creepy and dark moments, and in my perspective of things, I believe it does, but not to the same degree as season one’s art style.
To many people, like myself, the art quality in Higurashi’s first season is rather off, but captured the lustful, and vicious lore that the show generated through its divided arcs. It’s what made Higurashi, Higurashi in a sense of its iconic, “Higurashi Laugh,” and mysterious, yet creepy, physically expressive emotions. And compared to season two, the art quality, although sharp and organized, most of the time, doesn’t seem to capture the same level of horror that the bad art of season one set up. Nevertheless, does this really hurt the series in the art style department, and my answer is no.
Although it doesn’t meet the same expectations of the art from the first season, and still has slight hiccups in the facial structure of certain characters, I still believe there are scenes which produce the same level of terror. For example,
Example - Episode 08 – Massacre Arc: In episode 8, during her chat with Takano and Irie, Rika snaps and starts sharing hate felt remarks to these characters for not helping her, help out Satoko during her abusive struggle against Teppei Houjo. If you take a look at Rika’s facial expressions during this moment, it exhibits this same sense of horror and terror from season one’s facial art features. I mean just look at her, she looks like a TROLL!
Other examples where this bad art pops up in the story would be during the other characters’ negative emotional moments. Like Satoko’s depressive state, Takano’s cries of fear montage, and even in some of moments where the characters reflect upon scenes from the past worlds.
With all the character art style choices aside, how do I feel about the animation, and background elements of season two? Well, where season two’s animation department shines most compared to season one, would be through its animation, and background elements. Although there are scenes where some of the facial structures of characters seemed to be misplaced during small discussions, I found the animation to be better than the first season’s usage of animation, in these categories. One example that I found, where the animation looked great in terms of its predecessor would be in
Example 1 - Episode 6: episode six where Rika is in some paranormal dimension, and discusses about the instances from all of the other worlds she has lived in and experienced. And for a typical CGI hater that Mr. Z is, I actually liked seeing the past dimensions through these fragments of time.
It produced some sign of engagement as Rika told her tale and her overall goal in the series to the viewer, or Hanyuu for those who like to spoil the fun.
And not to beat a dead horse, but the facial expressions during the chilling moments in season two seem a bit refreshing, and new. I felt that using this new direction in art style gives the show a new way to express certain emotions, and that if they were to keep the old art form, it could have been repetitious, or an excuse to use old tricks for the sake of the Horror mood, to some viewers.
Although there are definitely errors in the animation and art quality in this season, I found that most of the time, season two was able to avoid a lot of common mistakes with their new art and animation direction, that mostly, season one failed to fix.
Enjoyment: - B - 8
Personally, while watching season two of the series I was really looking forward to learning about the answers to these questions we all had during season one. Although, I have mixed emotions with how this part of the Higurashi series turned out, I found some enjoyment out of it. However, we must come to terms with ourselves here. Does this season have its flaws? Yes, yes it does. And obviously this is the part where I would question recommending the Anime, but since this is Higurashi’s answer to the question arcs of season one, asking myself the question of recommendation to my audience should be a no brainer. Nonetheless, if I wanted to change anything from this season to make it a tad bit better than what would I change? Well…honestly, the only way I would fix this series would be by…
List of reasons, possibly three ways at most.
1.) Fixing the art quality in some of the character’s facial expressions since they seem to still have some issues.
2.) Piecing together some of the Takano backstory bits in their proper format since switching from her childhood flashback to the present was kind of unorganized to me.
3.) And possibly moving some of the big chunk of information given about the syndrome into two separate episodes while disregarding some of the comedic bits that hold no weight to them would be a good solution.
Nevertheless this season provided me with answers to the questions that I had about season one’s adaptation during my re-watch of it, and I wouldn’t mind giving it another re-watch some time in the near future.
Closing:
Well, for our first Heist, I’d like to say we completed a good chunk of it. You’re also probably expecting me to discuss about seeing Rika or Hanyuu due to the events of Case Journal Episode 02. Sadly, that won’t happen for now since I have something that must be done first, if you recall Hanyuu’s message from the prior Case Journal. However, I can leave you off by showing you what you all wanted most, and that’s the results based off my ranking system. Without further ado, here’s what yours truly believes the second season of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni deserves.
Overall Score = C+
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Aug 19, 2016
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
(Anime)
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*WARNING THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!*
Video Review Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVsGvTb5F8E Heist #01: Higurashi – When They Cry: Kai [Season 2] Story-line: - C – 7 In terms of the story-line behind Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, I was informed that this season contained the answer arc portion to all the mysteries surrounding the season one adaptation. The mysteries consisted of the mysterious deaths, the outbreak in Hinamizawa, and the person who was behind it all, and yes, that is exactly what we received. Now the problems, I have with this season of Higurashi would be its take on the horror & gore scenes, and its structure. Everything ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 28, 2016
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
(Anime)
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*THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS, BE SURE TO WATCH SEASON 1 OF THE ANIME FIRST BEFORE READING AHEAD.*
YouTube Video Review Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSozDl23oNM --> In case you'd rather watch then read. Quick Synopsis: Alright, to give you a short run-down of this Anime’s dimension, the story begins in 1983 where our male protagonist, Keiichi Maebara has moved into a peaceful village called Hinamizawa for some unknown reason. Furthermore, we are introduced to our female protagonists, Rena Ryuugu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Hojo, and Rika Furude who welcome our friend Keiichi to Hinamizawa and their after-school club. Pardon me for this next ... comment, but Ryukishi, my ninja, you really couldn’t come up with an interesting club name, my boy!? Anyway, under these lighthearted elements of fun and excitement, hides a dark undertone filled with despair and ultimately, death. This undertone is caused by the series main event known as the Watangashi [Cotton Drifting] Festival which has a certain history with having one person disappear and one die after the event. Which the natives of the land tie into the wrath of their benefactor god, Oyashiro. Not only does this festival bring suspicion to our male protagonist, the female protagonists of the show become suspicious as well, in which Keiichi’s primary goal is to uncover the truth about the mysteries surrounding the village’s dark past. And here’s another tidbit to tickle your fancy. The Anime’s plot is broken up into various story arcs, each featuring a story for each protagonist mentioned above, besides one in particular. I know the Anime’s structure sounds odd at first, but all will be discussed for the season one evaluation. As for the questions I normally address about the show, since the second season covers the answer portion of this series, I will avoid the questionable issues concerning this season’s adaptation, for the season two review being When They Cry…Kai. What is with these titles bruh… Also, for this discussion about the story-line I will be referring to the arcs by the English translated names. For example, if I say the Spirited Away arc I’m referring to the Onikakushi-Hen arc. Well, I believe it is time to dive into the Anime adaptation of Ryukishi07’s sound novel of Higurashi: When They Cry….walks off….”Season one!” Story-line: - B+-8.5 In terms of the story-line of the Higurashi Anime, I was already informed about the way the story played out. Basically, the first season is an adaptation of the Question Arc portion of the sound novel developed by Ryukishi07 while season two has the Answer Arc portion of the series. I believe going into the series with that mindset will be the best option of understanding the reason behind season one’s ending and structure. Also the following transition scene from episode 26.. Example 1: Where Rika Furude says, “I’ll play with it during this endless June.” As much as I want,” signifies her importance in the upcoming season being Higurashi Kai and why that season is of importance to watch after you witness season 1. However, if season two was never made, how would I go about ranking this season based off of the information given above? Well, to tell you the truth, the possibility to solving all the questions that you would have after watching episodes one to twenty six can be solved by watching the season one adaptation very closely which could be debatable to some. With that being said, let us discuss this story of Higurashi season one, its structure, and how I view it as a whole. Based on this information, what I wanted out of the Question Arcs were strong senses of mystery, suspense, dark elements, and small hints of foreshadowing toward the answers behind the anime’s setting of Hinamizawa. And I believe the series at most points was able to execute these ideas perfectly within the six arcs. A few examples of this combination of foreshadowing and darkness could be seen as you progress through the time-loop that the story sets itself in. To shorten up what I mean by a time-loop, it would resemble a restart button in a video game. Basically when the character’s undergo a major crisis or crime near the end of an arc, this “refresh button” would occur in which the next arc will not follow suit with them being dead or crazed, but rather would show them how they were in the start of the first arc. Anyway, in terms of story-line examples where you could see this time-loop effect take charge and work really well would be between the Cotton Drifiting Arc [Mion Arc] and the Eye Opening Arc [Shion Arc]. For example: [Mion Arc Episodes 5-8] – in the Cotton Drifitng Arc [episodes 5-8] where Mion is the primary focus, you learn that Keiichi basically flipped up by choosing Rena as the person to give the bear to and not Mion because of her tomboyish approach toward him. As time progresses and events unfold, you’d expect Mion to be the one pulling the strings behind the scenesin this arc. But then, in the midst of the arc we are introduced to her twin sister Shion who seems to be the one locked up in the cell chamber in this arc, when in fact it becomes known in the Eye Opening arc [episodes 16-21] that she was the one who pulled the strings due to her love for Satoshi Hojo, Satoko’s missing brother in the series. What I’m trying to point out is this, the story may be set-up as a jigsaw puzzle and some viewers may find it to be odd because of how it steers away from the classic narrative structure, but I believe it’s initial purpose as a mystery based Anime, is for its viewer to collect the clues regarding the outbreak and mysterious deaths, and find out who is the true murderer, like the classic board game clue, by yourself. With that being said, the storyline’s main problem that I could find while watching the series would be its structure in general. But this would have to depend on the person who watches this Anime. In your standard JP animation series, you’ll get a plot that revolves around a character who you expect to obtain or accomplish the goal set for them by the end of the show. But with Higurashi, it’s different, since most, if not all of the tales, come together while showing you the perspective of each character and how they interact with the world that they are in, while gathering more and more clues that tie into what you want to know the most. And that’s the answer to who, why and what is the behind the outbreak of this land of Hinamizawa. Other than this weird Anime structure, and how the ending of the Anime leaves you questioning what you just watched while forcing you to re-watch the series for the clues that the story gives out on an occasion, I found the Anime’s storyline rather interesting and fun to a large degree in terms of puzzle solving and adding everything together in a 1 + 1 = 2 sense. Characters: - B-8 MAEBARA – If I had to choose what character to talk about first, I would have to choose Keiichi Maebara. Keiichi is the boy next door type of character who has traits of a being who is comedic, pleasant, and actually intelligent. At the start of the story, Keiichi could be looked as an annoying punk with no intelligence who’s on a quest of perversion, or a stereotypical character in a sense. However, as you progress through the story, Keiichi’s character starts to open up in its entirety to the point where his character transforms from a stock character to that of a Round and Dynamic individual. We start to learn of his past in his previous city, and we get to see a lovable brotherly side to his character during the Curse Killing Arc. An example of his transformation could be seen by analyzing his personality from the Spirited Away Arc [First Arc] and the Atonement Arc [Final Question Arc]. Evidence Video Text In Box: “Keiichi despises his friends, has no trust for them, and kills them.” - [SA Arc] “Keiichi learns to trust his friends, maintains trust with them, and doesn’t kill them.” – [Atonement Arc] As you can see, Keiichi was able to learn how to trust his friends, and that some secrets can be left unrevealed if they are on a personal level. With all the added backstory, personality traits, and ways of interaction that Keiichi showcased throughout the Anime, he was able to maintain a realistic quality to his character that fit well for the series. RENA – Alright, we now are going to take a look at our girl next door type of character being Ryuugu Rena. Rena is a cheerful, calm, and trustworthy character for the most part. But like most of the characters that will be discussed later in this portion, she has a breaking point that transforms her from this stock character to a round character. Rena’s characterization for the most part wasn’t given until her representation of the main protagonist role in the Atonement Arc of the Anime. Before this arc occurred, she would just be viewed as this character with a love of adventures at the dump, cute things, and losing her stuff when things didn’t lean toward the happy side. Although, I was kind of disappointed for not getting more information about her in the earlier arcs besides her relationship with Oyashiro, I still found her evil personality in the Spirited Away arc to fit perfect with the mood of the arc. After learning about her family mishaps with her mother, her complications with Ritsuko, and the additive of seeing her degrade in trust toward her friends, I honestly overlooked some of these earlier issues to a point. Nonetheless, Rena does carry a lot of great things for her character, but there were some complications I had with her earlier presentation in the series. On a side note, KEVIN NYAA, you may not know who I am, but RENA IS BEST GIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRL. MION – Who doesn’t like role models and leader’s right? Well at this point, let’s take a look at our leader and messiah Mion Sonozaki. Mion is the older-sister, cheerful, and tomboyish character. Mion, in my perspective has to be the weakest character of the bunch because of her role in the series for the most part. Now, to the Mion lovers, chillax. Although we are given information about Mion being the next heir to the Sonozaki Family, I felt as though she was used as a foil character for most of the other characters who will be mentioned in this portion. We get a few quirks of her loving Keiichi and helping him overcome the secret and Rena’s friendship issue, being close to her sister Shion, and being a nut job during the Spirited Away Arc. But I feel like her character was incorporated to highlight the others’ turmoil, importance, and plot to some degree. Example: An example of this foil-like quality to Mion’s character could be seen during “She reports to Shion that Keiichi doesn’t give her the doll.” “Which pushes Shion’s store degree to a degree.” Another Scene – Episode 21 “Shion mentions to Keiichi that you should’ve given Mion the doll.” “Which is why Mion [Shion] turned out like this.” With all being said, Mion didn’t truly appeal to me in these areas. However, her foil-like approach toward the other characters saved her in my eyes from being a failed character. Once again, Mion brothers come at me bro! SHION – Since we already talked about one sister, you already know we have to talk about the other one. Anyway, Shion Sonazaki is a kind-hearted, loving, and considerate character. However, Shion’s swapped personality is everything but happiness and roses. Shion has to be one of the most overly-attached, sadistic beings that I have seen from an Anime thus far. I believe the build up to her personality reaching this point was rather clever. Remember when I stated that Mion was a great foil character to the other characters, well that shining spotlight was given to Shion. She starts off as a basic character who runs away from school, and loves her sister. But the dread and despair that lead to the arc’s ending, was thrilling to watch. Shion’s stereotypical big sister traits become conflicted when she meets Satoshi Hojo. Since the Hojo family went against the Sonozaki family and people of the village for promoting the dam movement, you could already see why this relationship wouldn’t lead to anything good. After displaying responsibility by losing her nails, Satoshi, and her overall sanity as time progresses through a family conspiracy in the village, I felt her villainous role was clever in the slightest. Between both of the sister’s, Shion is way above Mion when it comes to characterization, but most people could find her to be stupid and idiotic without looking at the sense of realism she brought within each person she laid to rest. SATOKO – Now this character could be more debatable, in terms of her incorporation in the story. And the character I’m referring to is Satoko Hojo. Satoko is the self-centered, bratty, and trap master of the squad. The reason I labeled this character as a debatable character would be because of her personality in the story, and her quirk of uttering the phrase, “nii-nii.” Heck, if you look on YouTube a person even uploaded a video of her saying this phrase and found it to be an annoyance. Regardless of the feelings you may have for Satoko’s character, her backstory, perseverance, and strength makes up for these bad quirks. She starts to show these traits during the Curse Killing Arc which solely focuses on her character. During this arc, I found her character to be well-rounded, and her goal to show some semblance of realism as well. Wanting to withhold the barrier that her brother left for her while enduring the abusive pain of her terrible uncle, Teppei, showcased Satoko’s personality in an extraordinary way to me. I may seem a bit biased since I do infact know of child abuse or some form of it. So it could be a “this reminds me of this person I know” type of spiritual bond I have with this character. Although the ending of the arc shows Satoko’s loss of hope in Keiichi because of the experience of the Ritual tool shrine during the finale of the arc, I still find it to be rather plausible to some regard. Nevertheless, Satoko may share some concept of being an annoying twat, but I found her backstory, and characterization to be a good balance of the former and latter. RIKA – Now we’ve reached the final main protagonist of the series, and that would have to be Rika Furude. Rika is the most cheerful, calm and symbolic member of the group. With respect to the mask that covers Rika’s personality, you can view her as an empty shell who knows something about the outbreak of the village and the Higurashi world in its entirety. To me, Rika could also share the category of being a weak character due to the minimal screen time she shared in most of the arcs besides the Time wasting arc when she told Akasaka about the events that would unfold leading up to her death. I feel Rika’s character to represent signs of symbolism since she brings up the concept of fate regarding the village’s demise in every arc of the show. Although her character gets full attention in the Anime’s second season, I would have loved to get more into depth with the mindset of the dark version of Rika in this season as well. I loved the hints, and clues that she gave which are revealed later in season 2, but I feel like a little taste of that would have been highly appreciative to myself and most viewers. Though Rika didn’t get too much spotlight, and didn’t flesh out in this season like her other companions, she had some traits and quirks that could make her a good character. MINOR CHARACTERS – Alright, now I know in the last case I went in depth for those minor characters, but this time I will give you the good and bad aspects of each minor character since this is already long enough. So for the characters being that of Takano, Oishi, Tomitake, Irie, and Akasaka, I found them to fit their stereotypical roles quite lovely. The way these characters interacted with our main protagonists and stirred up the trouble and mischief surrounding the atmosphere of Hinamizawa was excellent. A couple of examples could be seen in mostly the third or second episode of every arc. You would see a character like Oishi interview one of our main cast, and ask them about an incident that happened in the village in a irritating manner, this would normally lie within a Takano and Tomitake MIA discussion. I found those discussions to fit well to the mystery aspect of the show. Takano and Akasaka’s character actually carried little to minor senses of depth with Takano discovering the parasitic virus of the curse of Oyashiro and learning about how Akasaka is a soon to be father, and seemingly Rika’s future husband. As for Tomitake and Irie, I found them useful when toying with the main characters’ mindset, preferably Keiichi during the Spirited Away and Curse Killing Arc. Overall, I would have liked to have seen more character depth with most of these characters since I felt that they were just planted into the show to fulfill the purpose of moving the story forward, but the way they were used to highlight the actions of our main protagonists had me switch my judgement upon them during my second re-watch of the series. Soundtrack: - C+-7.5 As I said with the previous case, this series’ soundtrack was standard, but memorable to me in some areas. The opening theme titled, “Higurashi No Naku Koro Nii,” performed by Eiko Shimamiya is a perfect fit for the series. The opening theme doesn’t sound cheery or is trying to hide the dark elements from you, it down right tells you, you’re going to have a bad time while watching this and to turn back now unless you’re ready to hear them CICADA’S CRY, my brother! Anyway, the opening theme was able to capture the dark and chilling atmosphere you should receive from a Horror based Anime from start to finish as the crows fly past Rena and head toward the sky where you are then given a gateway to the devilish chamber known as Hinamizawa. Another highlight for the soundtrack used in this series would be the voice acting, preferably for the JP dubbing of the show. Speaking of the JP voice acting for the show, I believe all the voices fit well for the characters. Their performances when the characters turned psychotic, up to the point when they totally lost it was incredible. I gathered chilling vibes when I saw the female characters share the dreadful yet, amazing “Higurashi laugh” which captured their dark nature during the critical moments within each question arc. Whether it be for laughing at a death of a character, or out of pure animosity, you could tell when the characters really went from zero to one-hundred by the performance of both the actors/actresses and the OST being matched in perfect harmony, or disharmony in case of this series’ genre. Although the desync age of the actor’s audio with the character’s movement was a problem I noticed while watching the series, I will stress this problem more in depth in the Animation department of this case. In light of the OST and ending theme of the series, I’m a bit 50/50 when it comes to my stance, and taste of it. For this quick nitpick, I’ll talk about the latter than the former. Although the ending theme titled, “Why or Why Not” performed by Hiroyuki Oshima had that relaxing and chilling feel to it. I believe that it could have been a bit better in terms of quality. This could come as a personal issue, but I also disregarded the ending theme of the series to just move onto the next episode. I believe the song doesn’t grasp the same sense of remembrance as the opening theme does. On the other hand, with regards to the OST used for the series, I believe it’s used well during most of the dramatic moments of the show where the characters face a difficult task. Conversely, most of the time, the music could seem a bit bland and repetitive most of the time particularly during the relaxing and light-hearted beginning elements of each arc. Other than that, the ending theme and OST share remarkable feats concerning the series main theme and changes in direction, although they could use much work. Although I was rather lenient with the OST and ending theme of the series, I share a displeasure for some of the sound pieces used in the show. There are times where the background OST is raised to a point where I feel the OST could be lowered to enable the ability to hear the conversation between two characters. Example: An example of this could be seen in the spirited away arc where Keiichi and Oishi are discussing over the cell phone about Keiich’s suspicion of Mion and Rena’s behavior. During this scene, Oishi is sitting in his office and to me, the background audio of the fellow department workers seems to be colliding with the important dialog being given by both of these men. However, I noticed the raised audio in these scenes are fixed in the other arcs within season one, but at the time, it kind of bugged me while I was trying to gather information about the plot at the time. Overall, I believe the opening, and actors/actresses roles in the sound portion of this series were great. I believe the faults of the sound portion would lie in its ending theme, and some of its usage of the OST. Animation: - C-7 In terms of the art and animation quality in Higurashi: When They Cry, I find this to be the show’s weakest element. Mind you, season two does get a boost in quality, but since this is a season one focused review I will be showing this season, no mercy. The main features of the art quality that put a damper on things was the character body movements and some facial features that interfere with the voice acting audio sync features. With regards to the animation used for the character body movements, I felt that some of the characters looked like stuffed playdoh figures you would see in clay animation at some points. One point to note would have to be during this example where Example: Rena would go ballistic in terms of her level of violence. As she attacks Mion for thinking she betrayed her for placing the bodies of Teppei Hojo and Ritsuko in the Sonozaki secret place, you can see her body blown up in which the structure looks like laffy taffy. This sequence could also be seen in the fight with Keiichi as she twists and turns like some human formed licorice. – Episode 26 With respect to the body structure of the characters in the series, I have to give my input on the audio sync problem. While Studio Deen used the freakish art quality of the facial structure to add to the horror lore of the show, there were points where the character’s audio desynced with the character’s lip movement. An example of this lip movement could be seen in; Example [Episode 21] – episode 21 where Mion aka Shion holds the ladder for Keiichi Maebara. During this moment in the show, Keiichi is there to check up on Satoko due to Rika’s sudden absence. However, during this time, Shion becomes conflicted and angered just by thinking of Satoko. She udders very dark words and remarks toward her while having this creepy granny looking facial expression. While it show’s her aggression, I didn’t find the audio desynch age to be pleasant in the slightest. And sadly this scene was repeated twice since it first aired in the Curse Killing Arc, which is the second arc of the series. You would think Studio Deen would clean up this scene for re-using it in a later arc, but nope. There are other points where the synching of audio is off, but there is some good to come from the animation and art quality of this show’s first season. The good to come from Higurashi’s art quality and animation comes from the series, camera angles, background elements [including flashback art], and the bad art, itself. Now the camera angles in the series make up for some of the bad animation stated above because of how they are used to capture the horror felt moments, and the mindset of the characters in the series. An example of a good use of camera position to capture the horror tone would include Example 1 Episode [25]: In episode 25, near the very ending of the show you will see Ryugu Rena carrying a Machete or a hatchet. The scene with the additive of the Ost brings out the horror preparation of the show while showcasing the change of direction in terms of Rena’s personality. Example 2 [Episode 4]: Another example of good camera angle use would come from the close up given to Rena as she invades Keiichi’s home in episode 4. She is shown behind the door with a chain lock, to possibly indicate that she is trapped within the darkness that has engulfed her. As the scene progresses we get a scene of Keiichi trying to get Rena to scram, to prevent the evil from coming into his home. Most, if not all, camera angles used for the show added the needed bonus that the animation deserved for its faults. In terms of the background elements and the bad art, yes the bad art, I feel that when used correctly, they truly capture the mood the show springs upon you. The background elements with the forest, dark caverns, ritual shrine, and the dark iconography add to this dark and horror felt mood and the bad art is no different in this regard. Although I found the bad art to be displeasing in terms of movement and audio synch problems, the stills and camera angles once again, save it. I won’t point out any evidence in terms of how the bad art saves the show’s tone and mood, but I can say that the facial features of lust and craze shown by our characters in the series supports this to a large degree. Although I would have loved for the animation to be a bit better in terms of the character movement, and audio synch age, I was pleased to see the bad art, camera angles, and background elements supplement my viewing experience to the fullest. Enjoyment: - B+-8.5 Personally, while watching this series I wanted to put the clues “given in each plot-line” together to paint the picture that would reveal the truth about what and who’s causing the deaths in Hinamizawa. Once I was able to do so, I found this series lore to be very interesting. However, we must come to terms with ourselves here. Does the series have its flaws? Yes, yes it does. Would I recommend people who are new or love this genre of Anime, to watch this show? Of course. If I had the ability to change anything from this series, what would I change? Well…honestly, the only way I would fix this series would be by… List of reasons, possibly three ways at most. 1.) Fixing the art quality and animation used for the body features in some of the characters when they go Naruto Storm Awakening mode and during the casual moments. 2.) Maybe fixing the sound quality in terms of synching it with the character facial movements and taking it out of the equation during important moments when the characters are being interrogated for the crime situations. 3.) By matching some events next to one another while still containing key details that further progress the mystery surrounding the show. Nevertheless the series was able to provide the entertainment and mystery like aspect I was looking for in a Mysterious based Anime now and in the past, and I would definitely give this show a re-watch in the near future. MechaBladeZ 7/28/16 Overall Score = B
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 20, 2015
Gakkougurashi!
(Anime)
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Recommended
*THIS REVIEW DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS!*
Video Review Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBsGvIUuBW8 Quick Synopsis: To give you a brief overview of this Anime’s dimension, the story starts off with a calm, and peaceful setting, as most programs do. The main characters given to us are as flat as Paper Mario, and show no sign of difference to them, while being compared to the MOE narrative form of “cute girls, doing cute things” for some explicit reason. These characters are also a part of School Club called “the School Living Club.” (Let that sink in for a minute or so.) However, ... as you continue watching, small hints of oddity can be gathered by the chilling sound effects and the dark iconography hidden in the show, which in turn, becomes the show’s staple force. To top it off, at the end of the first episode…when you least expect it, BOOM! The story reveals to you that this is not your ordinary MOE show, but a show of the dead, featuring, FOUR GIRLS, A DOG, AND 1 ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! Did I forget to mention that one of the main characters is shown to be a crazy nut job who thinks everything is fine and dandy…if not…well you KNOW NOW! However, after completing the series, there are a few questions that may leave you in a questionable state including? Why was the building so well-prepared for the outbreak? Are there any drawbacks from the medicine used for Kurumi’s wound/who created it? During the club outing segment, after saving Miki, why didn’t they just leave? Why weren’t the Zombies formidable antagonists for the girls in the story? Why would they bring Yuki, if she was undergoing this emotional trauma? Why didn’t we get to know any information about Yuuri’s intake/past events with the Zombie Apocalypse? Well, I believe it’s time to jump into what I find to be the pros and cons of the ANIME adaptation of Gakkou Gurashi! Story-line: After revealing the true nature of the Anime’s plot after episode one, I wanted the story to focus on the character’s attempts to fight through the consequences or problems the story would inflict upon them while having the desire to escape because of the Zombie Apocalypse. For the most part, the story was able to balance the MOE traits with the horror aspects well, but there were some slight problems in the Anime where the peaceful, and light-hearted tones conflicted with the story’s horror side. A few examples would include: Example 1: Episode 2 - Where Kurumi is conflicted about something, and Yuki breaks the tension with the Test of Courage idea. Example 2: Episode 9 - Where they lose sight on the emergency manual situation to have some pool time. However, the instances where the combination was executed brilliantly would include: Example 1: When they were investigating the broadcasting room area in episode 8. Example 2: Now this is kinda a combination, but at the end of episode one with the camera angles on Yuki as we are revealed that the world is not what it seems to be – Episode 1 In light of the events leading up to the climax of the series, I found it to be entertaining, but odd to some degree. The sequence of events are in no particular order, but seem to follow your standard narrative structure quite well. We are given an exposition that informs us about the situation the ladies are in, and then we’re given a few episodes which give hints of foreshadowing to various deaths, and some perspectives from at least two of the girls, being that of the bookworm Naoki Miki and our action girl Kurumi Ebisuzawa. The light-hearted moments with the girls having fun on the activities were adorable/enjoyable to watch, but sometimes it felt like they were dragged on to the point where I just wanted to see the gruesome, and darker elements which stem from its psychological portion! HECK, it’s labeled as a SEINEN Manga series for a reason now! However, the rise in suspense in episodes 10-11 were done well since they were able to capture the horror from the girl’s situation internally, and externally with the visuals, soundtrack, and the character’s facial expressions! Others and I may agree that the resolution of the show could have been a bit better, whether it be, one of the girls dying alongside Taroumaru, or that all of them could have died period. But, it makes sense by the logic given to us within the show, stating how the Zombies remember their previous lives/roles in society. Also, the fan service…and I will say no more on that note. Overall, the storyline had its cons and certainly had its pros, but it could have been better if the story focused heavily on the darker plot lines, while incorporating some interesting material from the Manga…*COUGH* Miki’s refusal to believe in Yuki’s dilemma! *COUGH* *HELICOPTER ARC* Characters: If I had to choose what character to talk about first, I’d choose Yuki Takeya. Yuki is the most energetic, airheaded, and surprisingly the oldest girl from the batch. To some, she could be viewed as bait for their zombie fishing rod because of the way she is presented in the show, but since she views the world to be equivalent to that of a bowl of Lucky Charms, instead of a walk on Elm Street, it transforms her from being the typical stock character to that of a more dynamic individual as the story progresses. Examples of this progress can be seen during: Example 1: Use the carefree Yuki bits from episodes one and two here to explain her beginning! (Put In Small Box) Example 2: Then use the bits in episode 5/6/7/10/11/12 where Yuki is shown to have some type of change throughout each episode in terms of her internal structure. She may be a stereotypical girl fit for the Moe genre, and her joyful prescience in the Anime may have its good and bad instances during the important moments in an episode, but toward the second half of the show she starts to grasp the concept of reality as we draw near to the show’s resolution. A quick pro or con for this character would include, strong character development and how her personality keeps the others from going insane. Though, through some eyes she may be shallow/annoying during the critical moments of the show, and that she may not hold any defining characteristics to her character other than what’s given to her. Alright, for the next character we have Mrs. Shovel Knight, Kurumi Ebisuzawa. Kurumi is the most athletic, thick-headed, and active member of the club. To some people she could be classified as the “best girl” due to her tomboyish appearance. She’s also one of the only members, who actually fights off the Zombies in every situation, but one. In terms of characterization, Kurumi is very reliant and calm in desperate situations, but could be classified as an emotional character since she typically believes she can handle every situation on her own which later bites her in the arm…hehe. However, I found her backstory/flashback rather lackluster compared to another main character in the series. Her flashback included a love interest for a male character during her high-school track team days. Although it was able to bring out the action hero we know today, I felt that if the minor character was given more depth as the one I shall mention later on, then her flashback could have been a tad bit better. Overall, Kurumi is given great development after the fact, and thankfully, behind her shovel-like armor, she has emotional weaknesses to bring out the realistic quality to her character. If I asked you the question of, “Who do you think is Mecha’s Favorite character from the club,” and you answered Naoki Miki, then you will definitely be getting some goods in your stocking this year! Miki or Mii-kun as Yuki likes to call her, would have to be the most fragile, skeptical, and reserved member of the club. In terms of characterization, Miki can be looked as the foil or sidekick to Yuki’s character, since they both have differing viewpoints on the zombie infested world, which enhance the qualities of Yuki’s character largely. Miki’s flashback would have to be the best one throughout the entire run of the series, since we are able to understand her personal emotions rather than her being a yes woman. Being able to see who she was before the outbreak occurred, and having lost her friend Kei to the Zombie apocalypse. Plus, with the additive of the symbolic CD player of friendship, I was able to feel sympathetic toward her character more than the other club members. An example of this could be seen throughout episodes 4-5 during the Miki retrieval mini arc. {However, there’s a slight note I have to mention that most Manga fans would discuss as well and that’s after she is included. Miki isn’t shown to be as resilient as she was in the Manga, and in this case I would have loved to seen more personal conflicts between Yuuri and her rather than what was shown in the Anime. Was this scene that big of a deal,…not really? But it would have brought her character to life a tad bit more, but I’m pleased with the ending result that was portrayed in the Anime.} Now we reach the club’s final member, and that is Yuuri Wakasa aka OPPAI JUSTICE! Yuuri is the most mature, kind-hearted, and resourceful member of the group. She normally plays the big sister role of the club, but when all heck breaks lose, she loses her calm nature and begins to break down emotionally. As far as characterization goes, Yuuri really doesn’t have a backstory to go along with her character sadly, and some may consider her to be the worst of the group because of this. Yuuri does go through some emotional break downs near the ending of the story, but throughout the entire run of the series not much comes from her other than the stereotypical big sister traits seen in most Anime. However, she played her role quite well in the series, which didn’t bother me at all. Hopefully, a second season, if given, will be able to bring life to this character, than what was portrayed in this season. In terms of the minor characters including the clumsy, lovable teacher Sakura Megumi (Megu-nee), the animal mascot, Taroumaru, and Miki’s best friend, Kei, they all played key roles in supporting the characters and story, as it progressed. With the incorporation of Megumi’s character in the story, the series was able balance the peaceful and gloomy scenarios well. Also, Yuki’s character was driven by the fact that she didn’t want to remember the character’s death, and without it, I believe she would just be a female with no inner emotions. Her impact on the rest of the cast including Miki was strong, since she was an integral piece to their puzzle of compassion. Though, the only down side to Megu-nee’s character was the way her death was structured. If you’re the type of person who likes a death that is straightforward than you may have complications with this specific character With regards to the other two characters they share similar traits to that of one dimensional characters since they seem to be placed in the story, to satisfy the viewer or to enlighten a character trait for a member of our main cast. Spoiler, they both die, but Taroumaru’s death was better in my eyes. Sound-Track: The soundtrack for the series was standard, but memorable to my ears. The opening theme titled, “Friend Shitai” by Gakuen Seikatsubu is amazing and honestly catchy. It’s a great refresher and kick-starter for Gakkou Gurashi, even though the soundtrack doesn’t match the story’s premise in any way. Another highlight for this opening would be how the voice actresses who play the characters in the JP dub are actually the one’s singing the song. Speaking of the actresses, I found the JP voice acting to fit well with the characters. During the intense and joyous moments of the show, the voice acting seemed to be on point from what I recall from the program. Although when comparing the voice acting to other shows, it could be standard at most. However, I was able to obtain the general feel for each character, and I can’t really complain there. In regards to the three ending themes for this series, they fit perfectly, but are not really special or mind-blowing. Although, they grasp the sadness and happiness of the series, they don’t seem to memorable, unless, your like myself who downloads the song and consistently listens to it during the random times of the hour. However, if I did have to choose the best track out of the three, it would have to be “Afterglow” by Maon Kurosaki. While listening to the vocal cover and instruments play in the background you could feel the sadness obtained during the reveals in the show. On the other hand, there are some instances where the sound effects in the Anime are used during the most random moments. One to note would be in episode four when Miki suddenly notices Taroumaru fled the room, there’s an instance where a wind sound could be heard. Now it’s quite miniscule I know, but it seemed rather odd to me at the time. However, the OST for the critical and light-hearted moments fit well for the series. Example: Episode 6: When Miki asks Yuki, who’s Megu-nee? Animation: In terms of the art quality in Gakkou Gurashi, there wasn’t really much that bothered me, besides two things, and that would be the misplacement of certain facial features and the lovely use of computer animation or as the cool kids say CGI. What I mean by the misplacement of character features would include scenarios where the children are given no eyes, or are losing parts of their appearance. This can be shown during Yuki’s delusional moments. I understand it’s a part of the child-like art form, but in most instances some of the background characters are given features that show them as dolls or figurines. Now the only time I found this to fit well would be during the comical and embarrassing moments for the characters, but that’s about it. Example: The character bubbles seen during the child-like moments of the show and during the instances when they tell each other off, in a humorous manner. In terms of the use of CGI, the only complaint I have with it would have to be the zombies and sometimes the background character designs. The cars, buildings, scenery, etc. didn’t seem to bother me in any fashion, since they never change to the traditional animation style. Some series like Rwby, I feel, use computer animation well because their series started as CGI and remained CGI. However, with the zombies and people they often change from the computer animation and traditional animation style frequently, and I felt that it should’ve stayed true to one animation style. On the other hand, I didn’t seem to find any problems with the background elements of the series, or the artwork on the character’s appearances since they clashed well when the series decided to flip the mood, occasionally. Heck, even the dark color pallets on the zombies and the red bubbles that surrounded Kurumi and the other characters during their quarrel with the dead made me shiver in excitement. The animation was standard, but interesting in the slightest. The camera angles used in some of the scenes really hit home during the emotional and climatic moments of the show. A few examples would include: Example 1: The zoom in features on the faces of Yuuri/Yuki/Miki during their encounter with the zombies. – Episodes 5/6/10/11 Example 2: The glass as it is falling down from the building because of the zombies gaining access into the school building. – Episode 10 Don’t even get me started with the awesome foreshadowing elements they placed into the opening sequence of the series, because I believe I would like to take a deeper look into that predicament, in the near future of my YouTube Channel. (Why did you have to steal my thunder, Mother’s Basement!) Although I would have loved for there to be more fluid animation in the action scenes rather than some elongated still frames, I still felt the series had pretty decent animation, nonetheless. Enjoyment: Personally, while watching this series I was rather stoked to find out what would happen next, and re-watching the previous episode to find out the hidden artifacts of the real world was fun in itself. Does the series have its flaws? Absolutely. Would I recommend people who are new to Anime to watch it? Certainly. If I had the power to change anything from this series, what would I change? Honestly, the only way to fix the issues for this series would be, by stretching the series to at least 18 to 21 episodes to fit the source material in perfectly. Keeping true to one type of animation style rather than mixing both of them together, and maybe giving some of the characters a little more depth to make them connect with the audience more. Nevertheless, the series was able to provide the entertainment I was looking for in a show at the time, and I would definitely give it a re-watch sometime in the near future.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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