Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

Imagine you are an Olympic boxer, about to enter the gold medal match. It's going to be you're toughest fight, the world title holder thrice in a row. You've studied his moves, you're prepared, you know you can win and relish the challenge. You enter the ring and prepare for the greatest fight of your life. The bell rings! You launch forward... only to find your opponent collapsed on the ground due to a heart attack. You won! But what's the feeling? Elation? Disappointment? Or a weird mixture of both? Whatever that emotion is, that's what'll you feel upon completion of Higurashi Season 2. Brilliant twists, unparalleledsuspense, the series builds to a full crescendo as the true devils behind the horrors of this countryside village is revealed is stunning fashion. All that is left is for the final confrontation, the one that will end it all... You brace yourself. You know what the characters you've grown to love are up against, you know it'll be an uphill struggle. Yet, you know that with their sheer brilliance, they'll likely succeed. The three final episodes are finally here, and you prepared yourself to wowed, just as you were for the past 26 episodes... eager to see just what ingenious plan Kiechi and his group of resilient girls have brewed. Then... suddenly, you're watching something the looks like came straight of Home Alone. The antagonist's forces, always so powerful, so disciplined, and so deadly, has magically transformed into a mob of bumbling fools. The comedic, idiotic and pathetic ways in which the villains appear totally out of place. Its like watching Terminator, where after surviving massive explosions and shot gun shellls to the head, Arnold suddenly got killed by a Knife in the gut. You scream `WTF?'? Where's those snipers? Where those silencers? Did all the villains just drop themselves in a a barrel of toxic goo and had their IQ reduced by 50? It seemed like he writers just run out brilliant ideas something so powerful could be defeated... and decided to take the easy way. This a true pity, given that the second arc was a true masterpiece, one-upping everything in both seasons combined. In the end, a final rating for Higurashi ni Ki difficult to give. Up till the final episodes, the series deserves a 10/10. The meets, and even surpasses the incredible standards set by the season before. They have managed to construct a mystery that is unpredictable, and yet fits naturally with all clues given before, creating that elusive `Eureka' moment that is almost magical. Yet, Higurashi fumbles at the critical moment, where the protagonists must use this knowledge to change their hellish destiny. The ending episodes are not bad (They deserve 7/10), but look immeasurable weak when compared to the hand standards set before. Is it worth watching? Absolutely! Is it an masterpiece? Almost. But just like seeing Terminator die to a knife wound, one just cannot help but feel a little disappointment at the ending and endings tend to have a last impression.

After finishing the first Higurashi series, I was actually looking forward to seeing what Kai had in store for me. Despite my dislike of the horror genre, I was more than willing to give this one a chance too, since I was proven wrong by the former. I was proven wrong, all right, but it was not for the right reasons. Where the first Higurashi was centered on shocking the viewer at every turn, Kai went for a slower, more suspenseful approach. Because of this decision, this approach turned out to be exceedingly slow. With only two major arcs present and twenty-four episodes to use, manyevents were stretched out beyond their limits. There were several occasions where the story virtually stalled for two episodes at a time with almost nothing being accomplished. Perhaps because of this, the twists that were thrown in became more surprising. There were just enough of these to help me see this series to its unexpected end. Luckily, thanks to this pacing change, I did see some good come out of Kai. With several major questions raised at the end of the first Higurashi, the series took each one and explained the reasoning behind everything clearly. I can safely say that I had no further questions about any past events when the final credits rolled. There was one other good thing about this slower approach; something that I didn’t expect. The amount of back story given was a rather nice treat. Most of this was focused around Takano, someone that barely received any time in the first season, but proved to hold much more that what I saw previously. Her story was more compelling and memorable than the actual plot ever was at any given point. Throughout the entire run of Kai, there seemed to be something missing. The sense of paranoia that was so prevalent in the first season was absent. Granted, this had to do with the focus shift, but there still could have been a way to keep it in the plot. Without the constant fear that someone or something may be lurking around the corner, this series felt rather dull outside of Takano's story. At least the beginning and ending of each episode is enjoyable with the new opening and ending themes. When all was said and done, I could do nothing but sigh. The ending may have been satisfying, but I still wanted more. Despite my distaste for graphic violence and horror, I actually wished that it were there from the beginning. That, my friends, is saying something.

before you start to hate me for the low score listen to my reasons. I watched the first season and found it to be amazing and easily deserved a 10 rating. This season was the same universe but felt like it was written by someone else. Where the first season gave you suspense and fear, the second season was too corny and drawn out at boring parts to do anything for me. While I found Hanyou adorable, I also found her to be detrimental to the story. The first season made it possible for the cause of madness to be anything from disease to aliens. Withthe introduction of Hanyou I expected her and Rika to start fighting crime in sailor fuku. The ending was in my opinion horrible. All of a sudden these characters who were so human and vulnerable were able to take down an army. I could talk more about the conclusion but it would be a spoiler filled rant. One thing I never get or like is when all of a sudden the main character becomes a supporting character. This season seemed to be all about Rena, Rika, and Hanyou where the first season focused on Keiichi and Rika. I found that it hurt the character development you get to see in the first season. In all this would have been an okay anime by itself but following such amazing first season, in comparison, it is rather mediocre.

You know, after playing the excruciating visual novel of Higurashi for PS2 Or the PC game. I told myself that when the anime adaption I'd Undoubtedly hate it. To my shock the anime was such an improvement I Just could not get over myself. The story, just like it's previous season is Unique and a bit confusing, however, this season is where things are finally Starting to be explained. All of the "wait I don't get it" and "I'm confused" That you may have been saying to yourself or out loud stop. In Kai, Losing for Rika & Hanyū are not an option. Theintense story and drama Overall shape the relationship between our beloved friends in Hinamizawa. So moving on, The art is still cliche for it's time. Can't really say it's bad, but There really could have been more improvements made to our characters. That said, the OST is amazing, it complements the nonstop drama in Hinamizawa. Now, if you did watch the first season I would recommend this Enjoyable, watchable, and dramatic season. Higurashi Kai does a really Great job finishing off where Season 1 left off, When you start it, it's not At all like you're going into something completely new, 7th expansion does a Magnificent job at giving you something old, changing it adding new Elements and etc. Overall I gave this show 9/10 out of ten because personally I felt more could've been done to make it new watcher friendly, and more background information on the characters so that it's even easier to understand. That aside, regardless of its defects. Kai was and is still a masterpiece in my opinion and will always be one of my favorite shows. Read the first letters down dudes.

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