Great news! Bepbo (on both YT and Twitter) and I have managed to compile a folder comprising the long out-of-print drama CDs for arcs 1-7! No Matsuribayashi unfortunately, but I'm really delighted to be able to share what we do have. Enjoy! drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XxNy6PDYZxHvHrgJ23_XPn3kTN6pEkYN?usp=sharing
@@taco4676 It might be tricky if you don't know any Japanese but you should more or less be able to just follow along with the VNs, they stick close enough
I think the biggest problem an adaptation of Higurashi must necessarily run into is that it *will* condense the story into something more time-efficient - and while a lot of scenes can be either streamlined or taken out altogether without taking away much in terms of characterization or story relevant information, I almost feel like the simple fact that the original Higurashi takes so much time to get from one emotional beat to the next and deeply indulges in trivialities is what gives the reader enough time to fully immerse themselves in the "atmosphere of the present", so to speak, to forget about the impending doom and engage with the characters on their own terms. Giving the story that much "breathing room" is what makes the transition from slice of life to mystery/horror so effective: As a reader, you are given time to slowly, gradually lose your grasp on what this fun slice of life story is really about and be torn between coldly questioning character motivations, trying to figure out what the hidden allegiances might be at play and reduce the gameboard to a puzzle, and engaging with the characters, allowing yourself to stay emotionally invested in them. I think Ryukishi succeeded here where he failed in Umineko: We really don't want to believe that Keiichi's friends are deceiving him, we *want* to trust these characters, even though we know that finding out the truth is just as important. Even knowing that "the peaceful atmosphere of this first act isn't going to last", acknowledging that there's probably some dark secret (be it a mass murderer, a cult or an ancient evil deity) lurking at the heart of Hinamizawa, we still can't help but be invested in Mion's character in Watanagashi and Satoko's character in Tatarigoroshi. And when you cut down on the length of the journey, that internal tension is diminished. The audience is no longer forced to endure being torn between peace/love and truth and reflect on what that means - it's like walking through a desert for a day instead of a week (or 100 years). It's not just a quantitative difference, there's a real sense in which two experiences are incomparable.
Well said. There's also the aspect where we come to love the characters and the happy times they spend together. And so when they're having fun it's like we're having fun alongside them, and don't want that to ever end. Making it even more tragic when the horror and tragedy inevitably arrives. Generating those feelings in the audience takes time, lots of time. Much like a real friendship or relationship takes time to deepen in feeling. So, condensing the series inevitably takes away some of the Pathos and joy. I actually think the scenes of the gang just hanging out and messing with each other might be my favorite part of the entire series. The "redundant" writing of the visual novel is also a key part of why it's such a masterpiece. There are certain storytelling effects that can only be achieved through the use of rhythm and repetition. The famous 1500 seconds scene is a great example of this. It goes on for a while, and says the same things over and over, but the repetition deepens its power over time. One could also say that human thought itself is highly repetitious, and so his writing actually captures this element, making the characters feel more alive. Also, why would you want the series to be faster anyway? The entire time during the visual novel, I was hoping the scenes wouldn't end because I was enjoying them so much. Heck, I wish a lot of the visual novel was even longer than it was. You can only truly get lost in something massive, messy, and sprawling. I was always sad when an arc would end.
I agree with everything except him failing in Umineko. Umineko has a different tone and is aiming for something wildly different than Higurashi is, so Umineko was never supposed to be built upon those themes. They in fact almost completely disappear from the story once Battler understands the game, to the point that none of the games in the Answer Arcs fully conclude like they do in Question Arcs, but equal weight is placed elsewhere the more you understand of what's really going on. Whether you prefer one or another is another thing, but he definitely succeeded at what he was trying there.
Agreed, except regarding Umineko. It doesn't "fail" at this because it's going for the opposite approach: whereas Higurashi is a story about trusting that your friends didn't commit murder, Umineko is a story about how your family _did_ commit murder and that you need to find out why.
I gotta agree, the horror elements hit incredibly hard after reading through long and detailed slice of life of the characters. The time when "Rena was standing behind the door" in Onikakushi was the moment i got hooked real hard on Higurashi. These and other scenes wouldn't hit quite as hard if not for the long and hard thinking of Keiichi and other characters. That's what made it difficult for me to watch anime, the question arcs which i was reading at least 2 months whizzed by in the span of merely 26 episodes, which also leave out a bunch of points, whereas i was expecting smart foreshadowing and utilizing much more visual media if not for more great story-telling but at least for setting a greater mood of the series. Didn't get either, which is a shame. I did almost drop the VN at Tatarigoroshi, because at times it was really drawn out, but i don't regret a second of reading through entire Higrashi AND Umineko (which is arguably even more drawn out, still a banger show). And i know i ended up just praising VN, but the OST and Seiyu voicing the entirety of 100+ hour novel in GREAT quality is just *chef's kiss* super awesome.
The manga did the Tatarigoroshi arc way better than the anime. My experience was that I first read Tatarigoroshi as a VN, then read the manga then watch the anime for all perspectives of what happened due to how confusing the ending was reading it for the first time. The first notable difference is how they portrayed the events leading up to the infamous 1500 seconds scene. The VN first gives you a tip listing statistics against children for that year with satoko's glazed over look in the background and it plays ominous music when it lists the final most heinous crime you can do to children. Then after Satoko goes back to school, when Keiichi tries to rub her head, she aggressively swats his hand away before breaking down in tear while profusely apologizing. Rena goes up to Satoko and askes her what her uncle did to her, and Rena ends up so upset, she starts knocking stuff down. I had the brilliant idea to finish Chapter 3 after Dinner on a full stomach, and after that scene following Satoko's actions could see the soup I drank for dinner all over the floor. The anime felt so censored, because it merely showed Satoko seeing a vision of Satoshi and then by Keiichi's mere light touch on the forehead, causes her to break down. Never before in my life had I felt so emotionally cheated.
That scene in the school... oh boy, it broke me. I was 12 or something when I first read it, so the subtlety was lost on me -like Keiichi- but rereading it... well shit. I can't begin to explain how bad it makes me feel.
Coming from watching the new adaptation, Gou, and it actually did the scene justice, but still suffers a problem of being condensed. It's not a problem exclusive to Higurashi though. Having read Game of Thrones and watched it, despite the behemoth of show length (at least 10 hours per season, and 8 seasons), many many plotlines from the source material were still cut. I still think all the anime adaptations are well done in the story telling department, and most of Ryukishi's original vision is present, just unfortunately lacks some of the key character development beyond superficial slice of life tropes to get (ironically something akin to Rena's "cute" mode) a vibe of security.
I am very interested in seeing your thoughts on the new Higurashi anime coming out this year at some point! This video was such a good watch and its great finding someone making videos for the series with the amount of love you have for it.
I watched Higurashi when I was a pretty young kid, maybe around 12-13, and when the new Higurashi anime started airing, I was excited, thinking we'd be getting a remake. Once it became apparent that they fooled us and it was actually a sequel, the new title being Higurashi Gou... I panicked, because I didn't remember much of the story at all. I scoured the internet, hoping for a quick way I could get back into Higurashi in time for the new anime's next weekly episode, and decided that the manga would be the quickest way for me to do it. However, I found that the manga is enthralling in a way that I think is absolutely unparalleled. It roped me into the series in a way that I'd never felt before, and I was so excited to feel like I finally understand this franchise. Now, I'm even going back and watching the old Higurashi anime just to compare and contrast between the manga, and even though there's lots of differences, I'm still having a lot of fun just comparing the adaptations. I may never have the time to read the game/novel as a college student working full time, but the manga really revitalized my love for this series, and I really hope more people pick it up sometime. I really enjoyed your video! I might have to scour the internet to hear some of those drama CDs some time, even if I can't entirely understand it. Your insight was very eye-opening. Thank you for the time and care you put into this video! I'll definitely be watching more :)
@@TheGaboefects prior to higurashi anime memes I had 0 contact with 7th expansion until I got recommended the Umineko manga which I read and then when I learned that a lot of it was referencing Higurashi I then read its manga
I personally adore the anime (as you can tell from my pfp), but this brought up a lot of good points! I just started the sn, and I have to say I love it so far. I completely fell in love with the anime, (I plan on purchasing the box set of the entire series) and I can say that it’s personally one of my favorite anime of all time, especially because of the 2nd season. I loved season 1, but I felt season 2 wrapped everything up very nicely. Based on what I’ve seen, I’m going to have a similar (if not better) experience with the SN! I will say, I completely adore Kenji Kawai’s soundtrack for the anime, and I’ll certainly miss it, but I’m excited to see the original story!
The anime was my favourite bar none for ten years! It was only when I read the original that I realised, while good on its own, how much it was lacking in comparison. The soundtrack is rough for the question arcs as it's all royalty free stuff but the music in the answer arcs is brilliant. Enjoy!
Like Hinamizawa calling me again, this series has taken up space in my mind ever since I first watched the anime in middle school. There was something about the anime that stuck with me for years to come. So to finally start reading the sound novel, I engage my curiosity to understand why I fell in love with this series in the first place. Thanks for the video.
Great video! My favorite adaptation is the manga, especially the minagoroshi-arc manga was brilliant in art and imagery direction, when I first read the arc in the manga it really stuck with me emotionally
I've seen people saying things like "don't watch Higurashi's second season, it's lame and not scary because it doesn't have enough blood and violence" 💀 It frustrates me so much because Higurashi, and horror genre in general, isn't just about that. Yeah, I gotta admit I watched Higurashi because of gore because I was an edgy kid, but I found out later it's actually a beautiful story, and the horror in it isn't just blood and killing, but rather building an uneasy atmosphere and causing the feeling of despair. Two years later after watching the anime I decided to pick Higurashi visual novel. I'm currently on chapter 6 (Tsumihoroboshi or something like that) and it's fantastic, really deep, well written, meaningful (not just about killing) and for me much more memorable than the anime. Idk, when I was watching the anime I was mainly just focusing on violence and fear and I didn't really remember much from it. I liked it, but too many things were cut out and I understood almost nothing, even after Kai. Besides, like I said before, I watched it for gore and didn't pay much attention to the meaningful topics it contained, that's why I forgot most things and only remembered some random scenes, but with no context behind them. So reading the visual novel is like a totally new experience for me, since I don't remember like 90% of the story, I just know it's a loop and who's the "culprit". And the vn is a lot more detailed and slower, so I can remember more from the story. Although I loved the anime, it didn't really have a big impact on me, but I can't say the same about the vn; it's very memorable, much easier to understand and it made me more emotional than the anime. I can say for sure I won't forget it the same way I did with the anime. Sorry for writing such a long comment, but in short: Higurashi is great at building the horror atmosphere, but it's also a wonderful and impactful story about important topics. I gotta say, it wouldn't catch my attention if not the gory anime adaptation, and even though I still enjoy the gore scenes, in the end I found out that there's so much more to Higurashi than just that. I'm so glad I discovered this masterpiece. I still have 3 chapters to finish, but for now I can say that Rena may be my favorite fictional character ever. She's so much like me that it shocks me such a character even exists. And this is the end of this suprisingly long and chaotic comment, idk, I just needed to write all of this somewhere 💀 Edit: Okay, a little correction: I can't say the anime didn't have an impact on me, it's very nostalgic and has amazing, mysterious, irreplacable climate; for me, the poor art just makes is all better and fits the atmosphere. The openings are also wonderful, especially Naraku no Hana; it always makes me wanna cry, it's beautiful and captures Rika's feelings perfectly. So the Higurashi anime is really important for me. But there was just too much going on in such a short time, and because of that, I didn't really understand nor remember the story and the meaning behind many scenes, I was just like "omg they're finally killing someone". That's why the vn has a bigger impact for me, because it has more details and makes the story more memorable and easy to understand. I like both the anime and the vn; the anime will always be important and nostalgic to me, but the original (vn) will always be a better experience. That's all
I've never seen anything of Higurashi outside of cultural osmosis but your videos really have me considering picking it up! The comparison between the music was really incredible, I got chills just from reading, and even just from that small clip I can see where the anime falls short for some things. Great, concise example :D
6:05 "no one watches it now cause it looks bad " still watches it in 2020 anyway cause i like to watch it (i have all 4 seasons) and still re watch them every couple of years or so. :) i'm slowly getting the sound novels and from that i have seen they are better yes as they are more cohesive and expanded but i still think the anime is a masterwork of horror and pacing for what it is
I went and binge watched the entire old series after Higurashi Gou got to episode 4. I found it very enjoyable though I was immensely unsatisfied with the last 2 episodes of Kai as they literally Home Alone their way to victory and it felt very contrived and forced to get to the outcome of nobody killing or dying. I would have far preferred a climactic battle somewhat akin to some scenes of Higurashi Outbreak as realistically there should be no way to achieve victory without sacrifice from that demonic trap of fate Takano's will has forced upon them. The only exception to that I could conceive otherwise would be to turn Takano against the plan (No doubt a monumental undertaking) and would probably only work if she was convinced that her superiors were just going to kill her after she wiped out the village as she would be seen as an unstable lunatic who had outlived her usefulness.
The anime removes hours and hours of content from the last few episodes and actually changes the final showdown between Takano and Hanyuu. Can't say whether you'd be more satisfied with the VN version but the events certainly have a lot more thematic weight.
I watched Higurashi when I was young. Was kind of in a dark edgy phase so the horror aspect was what I liked. However, while I still enjoy horror, I like happy endings a lot more. I've since read the manga and my favorite scene, by far, is the one where Keiichi and Rena give their curtain call. It is awesome.
I've only watched the anime 10 years ago, and as you might know, wanted to get into the visual novel for years now, and watching your videos and seeing how much you adore the higurashi series only makes me want to take it up even more. The way you talk abt it I can really see that it means so much to you, and I like how this video is done like... respectfully? You compare the anime to other adaptations and only now I can see how incomplete that is, and yet you have also good things to say about it. I didn't even know that higurashi had so many adaptations, and that like, movie and tv drama are different things, so this video is very eye-opening to me. The manga is now published in my country (not english speaking) and I was wondering wether to take it up (but it also costs money since the volumes are big) or if the translation will potentially skew the emotional moments even more badly, but then again since this story is so emotional and complex perhaps it's better to experience it in my native language, so I'll see how I do it. Anyway your videos made me seriously consider the manga as an real option (for some reason I was convinced it's just the anime but in manga form??) so who knows. Perhaps I will get seriously into higu this year (I wanted to rewatch the anime but also, if it's just the refreshment of the story perhaps it's better to watch another adaptation especially since every other got more heart in in compared to the anime) So, overall great work bess! I really like your video essays, and I can really see how higu means so much to you by them (just the fact that you have the videos longer and it takes time and effort to find all these things in the bg to make it all coherent). I hope your school goes well and am looking forward to more things in the future from you :D
i dabbled into the anime back in middle school, but i just recently bought the sound novel on steam. i can already say without a shadow of a doubt, reading through the original is much better than watching the anime, though i still love some of the visuals.
The Higurashi anime, when I look back on it is pretty bad, but I'm very grateful for it anyway because my edgy childhood self got into it, which eventually led to me falling down the 07th Expansion rabbit hole. Also Yu Inaba was Keiichi? Wow, Kamen Rider Keiichi. :o
I've been binging your channel. I love your content and the amount of effort and love you put into it. I really hope that your channel grows much more!
I'm italian and i had to watch the two live-action movies with english subs 'cause i could not find them with italian subs, and here i am in 2020 to see actual italian subs in an english-speaking youtube video :D
It’s cool to see some of the things that the original and Kai were missing be partially rectified and expanded upon through the sequels of Gou and Sotsu. Still not quite as in depth as the manga or SN, but genuinely great to see and makes the anime even better. Makes it even easier to recommend this great series to others too, cause whether they’re a manga type or prefer the anime they’ll have a great story to dive into!
I'm only a quarter of the way in to the vid, but I wanted to say that despite all of it's flaws the anime did manage to draw me in enough to not only come back for a rewatch(more for the theme of friendship in the end and the mystery at the beginning; I hated the gore), but to also get the manga and seek out the novel before they had even been released on steam. As condensed as it was, the strengths of key elements of the story still drew me in and I wish it was an anime I could show others with pride, being that asking them to read the VN is a lot.
7:11 this might be because I have a softer spot for the anime because it was my introduction, but coming from the anime to the sound novel of the first arc, I really miss the anime soundtrack and it was my favorite thing about hte anime.
there's also fighting spin-off games, spin-off card games, random references in japanese magazines, a radio broadcast with the voice actors, the hundreds of songs and albums, crossovers with other games, the new gacha game and a japanese google-maps-like app. it's basically google maps but you have mion, rena or rika giving you directions.
Being a non-native English speaker, the manga was the only thing beside the anime that’s accessible to me for a long time. And it’s what made me fell in love with the series in the first place... Though now that I have a better grasp of English and a means to actually enjoy the sound novel, I just don’t have enough time to sit down and finish it orz. Shoutout to the Onikakushi arc that’s been sitting in my steam library untouched for months now lmao.
For me, I also started out with the anime but I also know that the Sn is the best version. For me, I simply love more the detail so both the anime and sn did it good. I've only seen those two versions because how me and my father live but he knows how much I love this little 'cartoon' as he puts it. Once I start working for the first few weeks I'm gonna try and buy all of Higurashi's content at once but that's a few months to years away. But I just wish in my life time a translated version of the light novels even though I do have the text from the sn I hope a translated one comes. To put it simply for me, what Higurashi puts best is its ability to make me think and motivate me to one day do something as great as what Ryukishi did to me. I just wanna change someone and make them keep on going.
this is why i am so disappointed that Gou was a sequel rather than a remake. Higurashi really deserved an anime reboot and now i'm afraid it never will get that
Oh wow.. I can't believe I missed this video! Jeez Bess I admit I wasn't all that interested in readin the VN because of the time it takes, but you've convinced me. Either before ot after this new anime, I am going to take my time to enjoy and appreciate the full story of Higurashi. You've made me realize just how different and incomplete the anime is, as well as how far it strays from the source material. As a Higurashi fan I owe it to myself and the VN that dedicated so much love and care to go through all of it and learn of the story the way it should be. I can't wait to see for myself what you speak of so beautifully in your videos! (and thank you for being so amazing at Higurashi videos that you inspire the attention span of 50 hours into me 😅) Edit: Ok, so I wrote this before I watched to the end (I wrote this right before the sound disc example) and I didn't know you'd recommend the higurashi Manga. If I can not find the time to read the VN, I will do my best to read the manga. I want to get through both though if I'm being honest... They both seem like such an amazing immersive experience and I want to truly appreciate this story in the best ways now that I realize all I ever knew was the anime...I've truly missed out all this time on something much much grander.
I had already planned to read through the sound novel of Higurashi a while ago, and I was able to read the first arc and I enjoyed everything I missed out on from watching the anime, though I couldn’t finish it all because of things that came up and I didn’t bother going back. This video has inspired me to read the manga though. Thanks
I absolutely love your Higurashi videos. I love how passionate you are about everything, thats how I am with the series too. I started Higu in 2006, when I was 15/16, and along with Umineko they are my favorite pieces of consumable culture ever. I even have Beato's leg crest tattoo lol I completely forgot about the original drama CDs, so jelly you have then physically! I saw in my huge Higurashi files on my PC that I have the first 4 arcs. Never gave them a listen, but now its a must. Thank you for covering those! Keep up the amazing work!
Good job nabbing them before they disappeared off the internet! I only have Meakashi and Tsumihoroboshi unfortunately, Minagoroshi and Matsuribayashi are extortionately priced due to being out of print :/
@@_bess I've noticed the last 2 arcs are insane. I have a question, I have the first 4 but I dont have your two. I am totally willing to upload my CDs to Google Docs and send you the link if you wanna swap what we have! Meakashi hen is my favorite arc, aside from Minagoroshi :) Let me know! (Feel free to PM me too if you want to trade)
@@Bepbo I've actually just been meaning to put them online and share them generally! I'm not sure when I'll get around to it though, do you have a Twitter or somewhere I could send you the link whenever I do it? I don't think there's a way on YT
Just to put it out there: I'm currently reading Meakashi-hen and I will be waiting to watch this video, along with the rest of your videos on Higurashi after I finish Matsuribayashi-hen, but I felt like sharing my points on the adaptation, so far. (bit of context: I watched the entire series back in 2011, and I'm reading the Steam releases with 07th Mod now. Practically blind, except for some major spoilers I cannot forget no matter what) Looking at just Onikakushi-hen alone, the 2006 anime is almost a disservice by direct comparison. However, that's due to the format of storytelling being vastly different between the two works. For me, it all comes down to the anime's pacing. While Onikakushi-hen took me ~16 hours to read, The entire arc takes place over four episodes of the anime, coming out to a total of ~90 minutes, or just an hour and a half. There's a massive difference, obviously, in it's pacing. Condensing and removal of elements / scenes is inevitable, that's just the nature of TV and movies. However, while stuff like Harry Potter could get away with cutting out stuff like Hermione's "SPEW" side story, Higurashi decided to cut up / remove large chunks of the filler / slice of life sections. This not only got rid of some of the more fun scenes of the series, it also came at a cost of the character's and how the viewer perceives them. When it takes Rena about half of Onikakushi-hen (~8 hours) to go off and be a bit creepy and psychotic, the anime does that in just two episodes, with hardly any SoL to make you invested in her before the switch is flipped. The entire emotional flip of seeing these characters you love and want to be happy with just slowly becoming your worst nightmares and the psychological effects of that *actually* happening is dreadful to watch unfold in the visual novels. It's brilliant storytelling and it's what makes Onikakushi-hen one of my favorite pieces of horror I've ever experienced. Meanwhile, when the anime just kind of goes from zero to a hundred at the drop of a hat, it doesn't achieve the same effect and it doesn't have the same punch. And it's this sudden tonal shift that, I think, helped push the series' stereotype in the West into what it's always been seen as: "just some crazy anime with kids killing each other." This stereotype has made introducing the series to people so difficult for me, as well. Because I've read most of the VNs and I know it's far more than just so psycho killer series, I want people to experience what this piece of fiction really does and what it means for me and thousands of others. Yet, because of it's format as a visual novel, a lot of people are turned off from Higurashi entirely, because 100+ hours of reading is, admittedly, a hefty task for most people. "Why spend that much time reading when I could just watch the anime and be done in a fifth of the time?" Yes, the anime is more free-time-friendly and easier to digest than a 100+ hour VN, it still cuts just enough content as to where I can't wholeheartedly recommend it, even to people on time crunches. What sucks is that outside of the pacing and shallow characterization of the main cast, I still think the 2006 anime has its merits. The animation is very good (haha ladder scene pls clap), the VA work is great (haha ladder scene pls clap), and the killing / torture scenes were executed very well. The sound design and music were also amazing, too. All the pillars were there for a great adaptation.. Sadly, the foundation-- the storytelling and characters --was crumbling from the beginning, and it ultimately fell apart because of that. TL;DR The anime was *almost* good, but it's pacing sucked. If you want the best experience out of Higurashi, please have a lot of free time and read the VNs (or hope the new anime in 2020 is super amazing).
Great Points! As someone who is a super fan of this series. I enjoyed most of the VN, I own all the manga, and anime. Recently got my GF to watch all the anime with me because of Higurashi Gou. She really loves the series. Hopefully she will pick up the manga when we finish season 3
If only I started buying the manga when it first came out. Now it's out of print I'm desperately trying to find the volumes I'm missing without selling an organ ㅜㅜ
Another Brilliant video about Higurashi again I can't wait for the next one and whwre did you find the tsumihoboshi live action footage I've been looking for it for a while
I sadly made a big mistake when starting Higurashi, starting Gou around mid January, it really interested me with its gore. I finished Gou around the end of May. I decided to start the 2006 anime, waiting for Sotsu to get a better grasp on the series. I had an enjoyable time, though I knew some main parts about the series that got me spoiled, but it was enjoyable watching through it. About a month ago I finished the manga, even though I knew what was going to happen in the story it felt like a new experience. With new scenes and a little more time to develop the characters I held dear in my heart. Hopefully I'll get around to the SN, but for now, I will continue on something else.
I do think that anime is good for looking at something streamlined and for binging although for a gradual story experience, novels are probably better. The old animation is good for showing slice of life due to how animation is melodramatic in a way. The old Higurashi shows more slice of life while the new one is less so. The problem for some is it may seem slow or repetitive for buildup. So not only is it adaptation issues but it’s also audience differences. I do like the new animation in Gou though
The anime is one of my favorite anime series ever, but after buying all the arcs on steam and watching this video I really want to play through the whole series now.
You're right about people gravitating towards the anime due to its horror, and because of it, it's become a show of "kids killing one another in crazy ways" (or as my boyfriend puts it much to my annoyance: "It's Another but with more slice of life") and as I was watching Gou earlier this week, it has made me want to read the VN. However, the art style really gets me to put it off... I know the original anime isn't super stunning, but I tended to like the contrast of what the characters looked like and the dark, more detailed scenary they were in comparatively amongst other things. Higurashi Kai, out of all the anime so far, is my favorite. I liked the opening, the closing (the lyrics of the song has a deep meaning) and it's nice character development that you see within the loops (actually understanding the time loops in Rika's perspective and all of that, from the characters remembering events and changing is always so fascinating to me) while I understand the VN has more detail and has loads of hours, I'd like to assume the anime does good in the "how and why" for the mystery, which is really what drew me into it. Comparatively, watching Gou, I also saw a new way of story telling. This is also where I really want to read the VN because the new arcs and how they are placed. The twist at the very end of the anime shows a really interesting angle of story telling of almost playing the ending at the beginning and looking at the background instead of the forefront that we're used to in the anime. And I wonder if it's similar for the VN. I'm interested in the VN, but have also kinda not been around it due to how it looks (which, I know, is a terrible reason) but having said all of that, I think I'm going to try it out. Especially since it's on Steam. It was a nice video you have put out, and I'm interested to see just how much I was missing, whilst also trying to figure out everything from Gou. Lol
I'm guessing you're talking about not liking how the original sprites look but I actually recommend reading it with the patch by 07th Mod which has the graphics from the console games (along with full voice acting and the option of the original soundtrack and SFX, some of which has been removed from the Steam version, which are the reasons I rec it). Otherwise Steam also have their own sprites (though I don't like them myself)
@@_bess good to note. I'll try and find the Patch then and go from there. The voice acting is honestly amazing (and funny enough, I actually had a lot of happiness with Mika Kinai as Satako because I knew of her voice acting before watching the show and already knew her distinct voice had an edge I was appreciating when I had first watched the show) and I think the patch would probably help me go through the VN a little bit more now. Thanks for the recommendation :)
I had always liked the live action movies and way back in the day, closer to when they'd been released, I was always surprised at how much they were criticized. They weren't perfect but I thought they did a really good job, especially the actors. Each of the actors fully embody their characters (I particularly like Mion's actress, she is spot on in every line she says as Mion). I recently went back and watched the first movie and scrolled through some comments from 10 years ago, and found that most of them were negative about things like... "Mion's hair isn't green? Rena's actress is cute but why isn't she wearing the same clothes? The visual effects are bad, it looks like fake blood was just poured on them." It made me realize after so long that most of the criticisms towards these movies were based on very superficial things that had nothing to do with the actual story, which the movies handled really well.
Yeah it did often seem to be superficial criticisms which sucks as I think it morphed into this generally accepted statement that "the Higurashi live action movies are bad" without people knowing why or thus checking them out for themselves. I feel like it's almost become embarrassing for people to say they do like a live action adaptation because it's frankly trendy to hate them. It's especially funny as I think the movies stand apart /because/ they don't use the cosplay styling, which is an issue I have with the drama adaptation because I feel it breaks immersion.
@@_bess Fully agree. Even back when I was 15 watching these and not as critical, I still always hated cosplay styling so I absolutely loved these movies from the moment they started for not doing that, and for the subtle ways they hinted at the characters' animated looks, like giving Mion a green hair tie rather than a crappy green wig. It also helps with the immersion of this world imo; seeing Onikakushi play out with real, normal looking people can make it more relatable for some and almost makes it even more heartbreaking. I hope more people go back and watch these, hopefully you inspired some people to!
Great video! Since the first time I watched the Higurashi anime after finishing the sound novel I always thought how I would probably never be a fan of Higurashi as I am if I had watched the anime first, not even bothering to read the original after it. And although I'm not a fan of live actions I was planning to watch the live action movie a long time ago, now that I've seen you talk about it I truly got the motivation I needed to do it! But well, at least the anime got us some really nice songs from the openings haha
I've only seen the anime and only read one part of the visual novel, but they both have a soft spot for me. Despite its flaws I can still enjoy the anime enough that I bought the boxed set. It may be nostalgia because I started with it but it left an impact on me.
OG Higurashi VN's look is... somewhat rough, and had stock music for the question arks. But the only VN footage compared to the 2007 anime was the updated, prettied-up definitive version of the VN. The ps2 port came out a year after the anime, and the Higurashi VN wasn't even complete when season 1 of the anime aired. It doesn't change anything now, because anyone in modern day should obviously get the best version of the VN... ...but yeah, it still makes me feel a little sad for the anime's perception. They tried with what they had, and at the time that base material was not pretty and not finished yet. :(
I guess the biggest thing that weirds me out is why people don't want to read long things. Like everyone has 100 hours of free time. Maybe in a few weeks, maybe in a year. Why would you spend that time reading 10 merely good things, when you could do 1 masterful thing? idk I've never cared about the number of things I get through (vast majority of media is mediocre anyway). The things that are actually worth your time are surprisingly few and far between, especially in more niche mediums.
Not exactly what you were getting at, but I was bearing in mind people with dyslexia or any similar disability or circumstance that makes reading inaccessible for them!
I always wondered what other people thought about Keiichi's VA in the anime reading every line like he has a time limit to get it out, and more than that, the sharp intakes of breath at the end of *EVERY SINGLE LINE* I liked the anime until I noticed that, and then I couldn't UN-notice it. After that it drove me nuts and I couldn't finish it.
The higurashi manga is the first and still so far only manga where I own every single volume. I started with the anime, got curious and read the (janky old translation of the mangagamer release of the vn that was released yeeeaaars ago) as well as receiving the manga for christmas for a few years instead of other games or movies on my christmas list (worth it). The current steam release and 07th patch for the vn luckily far surpasses the version released when I was in high school it, truuust me and re-reading it in my down time now has been a wonderful treat down memory lane as well as a rediscovery in itself. the current incarnation of the visual novels has NEVER been better
After discovering your channel, and having recently finished Higurashi (the VN), I'm happy to see so many good vids for me to watch! This will probably be my go-to video to share for anyone interested about VN vs anime stuff. I like that you focused on the anime and VN first, and also covered the other adaptations after. I thought the live action adaptations were considered to be bad, but after hearing you praise the 2016 TV drama and especially the live action movies, I'm curious in checking them out sometime. I can't keep fanboying enough about how the few scenes you highlighted were the same ones that felt the most standout to me! For example, I always cite Mion/Shion's voice acting in Watanagashi/Meakashii when Satoko or Kei were getting tortured when trying to show how amazing the VAs are in nailing every emotion. Mion goes through so many stages of grief in the VN, it just felt so real, and emotionally painful. It was very uncomfortable to sit through even though I know it's fiction. I also loved Satoko's speech when Shion tortures her in Meakashii, the voice acting and music Confession were so beautiful and powerful. Other than those standout scenes, Rena is my overall favorite VA as she just had such a mastery of so many different voices to portray each part of her personality or tone appropriate to the scene. I also loved that the example you chose to show how different the anime adaptation can be was the scene where Kei pleas Rena to reach her hand out with Death and Rebirth playing. That scene, with that track playing for the first time, was so moving. Also, it seems that many people rank Matsuribayashi as one of their least favorite arcs (in the VN at least), but it is actually possibly my favorite, and mainly because of the first half (Takano's backstory, and the Connecting Fragments after). The Connecting Fragments was such an incredible and thrilling experience for me. I had thought it was going to be something very mundane and a slog, but it surprised me how emotional and beautiful seeing "the whole story" come together was. And as someone who greatly missed the darker, more thrillery feel of the earlier chapters, it was a very pleasant surprise how many exciting and dark reveals were left, especially in regards to the truth behind each year's curse victims (Takano dissecting them, etc.). Irie's inner conflict about morals for example was very thrilling and dark in a way that none of the other arcs' horror made me feel. I also have to say that while I hated Takano and was felt fully confident there would be nothing Ryukishi could do to make me feel invested in her backstory, when I finally read Matsuribayashi, I was instantly engaged in the first few minutes and then completely hooked when it got to the orphanage part. The fragments also impressed me with Satoko's story, when I thought Ryukishi had already done enough. The length he went to further explore how tough it can be to help someone and how tragic it is when society fails someone, in combination with some great new tracks, made me feel not only sadder than ever but immense warmth and appreciation towards Ryukishi for writing such empathetic and powerful messages (many of which I'm sure were quite bold and controversial things to say, especially back in early-mid 2000s). The deeper exploration and development of characters like Irie, Tomitake, and Ooishi were also a very nice surprise, and I love how the post-Connecting Fragments part continued to tell the story of Takano, Irie, Tomitake, and Ooishi and give them all satisfying closure. I didn't finish the DEEN anime, but after skimming through a bit of the Connecting Fragments part, it seems like so many of them were just glossed over so briefly, and again portrayed with a completely different tone and often just missing the "point" of them. To me, the Connecting Fragments was in a way "the real story of Hinamizawa, told for the first time", and it was one of the best parts of the whole VN to me. I also didn't know that the manga got THAT much longer as the chapters went on. It would be nice if the first 3 chapters were a bit longer, but like you said it was still ~25% longer than the anime and that's a huge improvement as it's enough to tell the "complete" story. It's also nice that they gave Matsuribayashi so many chapters, even expanding on some of the fragments and Takano's past. Thanks for making this!!
You are hundred per cent right about how difficult it is to find the drama cds, especially Matsuribayashi hen. The price is currently so high that I can not buy them. It's a shame, because VA's performances are simply astounding.
Yeah, I dream of buying them one day but that day is a long way off. I'm at least glad I was able to get Meakashi and Tsumihoroboshi for a decent price!
@@_bess Are they really nowhere online for download? I really want to listen to them and googled if there was maybe some way to download them, but i really couldnt find anything other than some discs i cant afford... (Maybe im dumb tho) i was really hoping to find someone who could point me somewhere i can get access to them ^^; do you have any idea?
I don't know if you still read comments on your old videos. I discovered your video essays recently and have been loving them. I remember first discovering the Higurashi anime when I was in high school, which for me was quite a while ago. I've always loved horror and I had stumbled across some AMV on a message board of different horror scenes and psychotic laughter from the anime spliced and edited to the tune of Flandre Scarlet's theme (that was a popular trend back then). I was immediately drawn in and wanted to know what the show was. After watching a few episodes online I purchased the original Geneon DVD set, but of course the subsequent season and OVAs never got english translations under them, so I watched various fan translations on UA-cam to finish off Kai and Rei. And naturally, when the manga were being translated into English, I ate those up. Unfortunately, I graduated high school in the middle of Tsumihoroboshi-hen being translated, so that's where my time with the manga ended. After high school I drifted away from anime and manga and video games. I did also watch the films at some point, but my memory of them is hazy. Now, a decade later, I'm looking back on some of these things I enjoyed so dearly and as part of that I'm rewatching the anime, now that Kai and Rei are included in the Blueray set. Even though I've soured on a lot of anime I watched when I was younger, I'm loving Higurashi just as much as I remember. I definitely notice some of the things you mentioned here and in other videos as far as pacing is concerned and the condensed storytelling. Not having engaged with the original visual novels, I'm not aware just to what extent content was cut for the anime, though I have some notion from what I remember of the manga. I'm interested in playing the visual novels (it will be my first time playing a visual novel ever) and plan to do that soon. When I watched your retrospective on Gou and Sotsu, one of the points you raised is how the show repeatedly misses out on the heart of the story in favor of cheap horror thrills and a pornographic focus on blood and gore. It missed, in short, that the horror and gore was not an end in itself but always a means to an end, serving a broader narrative purpose. I appreciate this critique, though I haven't watched Gou and Sotsu myself, because while it was the overt horror and violence of Higurashi that first drew me in, it's not what made me fall in love with it. This is true even though to this day my only real exposure to the story is through the anime. As you say, the characters of Higurashi are the heart of this story, and it was these characters, their struggles and fears, their joys and triumphs, that left me in tears at the end of the anime. When I finished Rei I was distraught that my time with these characters, whom I had grown to love so much, was now over. The anime, I feel, does a very good job at connecting you with and communicating the nature of these characters, even if it does so imperfectly compared to the visual novels. Of course, the stellar voice acting, as you point out, is a big part of this. But I think the art and music is far better than you give it credit for being as well, and they play a large role here too. True, the character animations are not amazing, but I actually think that serves the charm of the show. They're rough, a bit like a sketch book, during the lighthearted times (particularly the start of question arcs), but become intense and well defined at critical moments. But beyond the animations, the overall art direction is phenomenal. The use of light and shadow, the beautiful scenery, it's very well done. Likewise with the audio, the sound effects never felt awkward or misplaced to me, and the OST is the only anime OST that I still think about regularly. Far from forgettable, the anime OST has some of the most moving and memorable music I've ever heard in anime or gaming. The show oozes atmosphere, and it's this masterful use of atmosphere that I think helps communicate the characters to the audience in a non-explicit way. The visual novels it sounds like (and the manga), particularly with their heavy use of internal monologues, communicate the characters to the audience in a more explicit way, so perhaps that's why you're more amiable towards them. But I don't think these things are are entirely or even significantly lacking in the anime. Certain particulars about the characters may be lost, but the heart of them is present, if in a subtler presentation. Of course, having not played the visual novels, maybe you think I couldn't possibly know that, so perhaps I have to write back once I've played them. But, at the very least, the heart of SOMETHING is on display in the anime, and that something is similar enough to what you experienced such that when I watched your Gou and Sotsu retrospective, your video on Shion not being a yandere, and your video on why you love Mion, I understood exactly where you were coming from and concurred with your descriptions of the characters, despite never having played the visual novels. Most striking to me in this video is that you place the films higher than the anime. Again, it's been quite some time since I watched the films (perhaps I must revisit those as well, then), but from what I do remember from the time I watched them, I was not at all thrilled with them. I thought they were as about as bad as every other live-action adaptation from back then. They were cheesy, poorly acted, and to me, entirely missed the atmosphere that I loved so dearly from the anime, which was so crucial to my understanding of the characters. The films felt so lifeless to me, and it wasn't because they were slow-paced or had lots of sitting dialogue, because I actually really love those types of films and shows. I'm not a big action guy, I like dialogue and even silence, letting the scene and the mood tell the story. I like getting to know characters and becoming caught up in their lives and personalities. I like stories that take the time to really explore the lives of characters in mundane ways. Maybe I'd feel differently rewatching them now, but I just didn't get any of that from the films at the time, but I did from the anime, back then and now as I'm rewatching it. The anime left a deep, lasting, emotional impact on me that stuck with me all these years in a way the films never did. I guess all of that is to say, maybe the anime isn't such a bad adaptation. I won't be able to properly compare until I've played the visual novels, of course. I will, however, defend the anime OST until the day I die! Those tracks still move me to tears, haha. ua-cam.com/video/DMxhmnvl3ZQ/v-deo.html 10:25 in particular I’ve been humming for years.
I completely agree, an adaptation isn't obligated to adapt everything, they're ultimately abridged versions of the same story after all. But yeah on a presentational level the first two seasons of the anime outclass everything else asides maybe the manga, asides from the animation. I sometimes jokingly call kenji kawai, kenji kami (play on words using a Japanese phrase meaning god, and the name of kawai's frequent collaborator kenji kamiyama) because the ost is that good. Genuis choice to get a renowned shoujo/josei anime director on board (chiaki kon) given the series' subject matter and demographic, just wish ryukishi was more involved in the adaptation process. Rare Bess l for the ost take.
@@icravedeath.1200 My one frivolous wish is that one day there will be a remaster of the original anime, in the animation style of Kai/Rei. And it would be twice as long, adding in a bunch more slice of life scenes and missing bits from the VN, overall slowing down the pacing so we spend even more times with the characters. I’d love a multi-episode extended epilogue showing how the characters are getting on after the events of the story. Maybe set 3 months out, and one episode per member of the main cast focusing on them, plus one or two episodes for all the minor characters. It would be the perfect adaptation. Alas, one can only dream.
@@marienritter1856 that'd be fucking sick tbh♥️ Either that or a Kara no kyoukai esque movie series with that series' level of production value with the same cast and crew (maybe with a better screenwriter though😆), but with the art style and designs derived from Rei/Kai. Either one could be good if done right (the Kara no kyoukai series is long as fuck and generally accepted as a good adaptation of the vn).
@@marienritter1856 yeah, maybe something in the vain of the Kara no kyoukai movies could work as well, although there'd definitely need to be at least 10 of them💀 Keep the same cast and crew but ditch the screenwriter😆
@@marienritter1856 I do agree though, a more ergo proxy/monogatari esque slower paced, far more character focused adaptation. Heck, Chiaki Kon can direct that shit pretty well, I think golden time and sailor moon crystal proves that pretty sufficiently, what the fuck went wrong with the adaptation, was it originally planned to be longer but cut down during production?
Though I love the anime and it’s very dear to my heart, I have never finished Kai because when I was first getting into it I was lucky enough to buy all of the Festival Accompanying Arc manga and found it a more beautiful way to wrap up the series. I love the manga so dearly, I use the manga English translations for arc names, I reread the volumes I own at least once a year. It’s an incredible shame that Yen Press has let over half of the manga fall into being out of print. I really hope it’ll get reprinted so more people can read it.
I've watched the anime a few years ago and I'm in the process of rewatching it again. There are traces of the manga that I read that completely threw me off, like Shion's accidental fall being an actual suicide and the twins' identity swifting. I was planning on getting the game for the switch, but after watching this I decided to give the manga a try too. I hope the new anime does some justice on what was left out
Yes, I think changing Shion's death was a real misstep. It's one of the most impactful scenes in the series, especially her final line--which then corresponds later down the line to a part of Umineko--and there was no reason for them not to keep it that way besides the fact that they felt a few seconds-long suicide would've been too abrupt, which just goes to show how quickly a lot of other key plot points that were kept in were handled, too. Otherwise, I would heavily recommend the PC version of the game over the Switch version! I suppose it's not as big a deal if you've already seen/read the series, but various arcs that aren't part of the original 8 and supposedly aren't written by Ryukishi are threaded in and really mess up the narrative arc imo. I think the final arc Ryukishi wrote is replaced, a lot of the original music is and some of the console versions are heavily censored with regards to the themes, though I'm not sure if the Switch port was or not. All the arcs in that version are available separately now, so it's best to just read the original first then those later.
I like the higurashi anime only because it’s like a cute animated recap of the visual novel that I so much prefer. I could not imagine watching the anime by itself and just leaving it there, it would be so confusing and shallow. I love the manga because it adds the visuals of the anime with the brilliant writing of ryukishi07!
I started with the anime, loved it and still do. Later I started collecting the manga but stopped, don’t even know why. By now I read three visual novels and have to admit, they’re so much better than the anime! I love them but they’re taking so much time... I am really curious about the new anime though. Btw what do you say about Umineko?
Where are good places to buy the volumes I want to make sure the money will go to the team, creator and artists, as well as for the visual novel? I really wanna get invested on this series.
Steam is the place to buy the VNs, I started collecting the manga 10 years ago but I got it from a mixture of places: Amazon, bookshops, stalls at conventions and second-hand on Ebay! An online bookseller is the best place imo but it really depends on where you live and your budget
many people have already said it before, the issue with any anime adaptation, no matter how caring and good they are, will cut many things from the manga. Its physically impossible to get everything from a manga or light novel into an anime adaptation.
I don't think I would've even become interested in the sound novel if not for the anime. If anything, I still haven't bothered to check out the novels because of their much slower pacing. Adapting something to become something more effective and engaging is sometimes necessary.
When I was about 13-14, Higurashi lured me in on the basis of its gore. While I completely understand your perspective of the gore and the anime not covering the full brevity and beauty of the VN, I’m glad to say the anime was my first experience with Higurashi- the themes of friendship & found family in the face of such horror and brutal sadness still resonated deeply with me, and it was because I saw such violence I watched it in the first place. Higurashi is so niche and so time-consuming, that now as a 24 year old I can say I can have the time and mental capacity & appreciation to come back to one of my all-time favorite animes... But it was the anime from 2006 that struck that personal chord with me that brought me here anyway! I’m really excited that it can only go up from here as well!
I'm not at all against the anime adaptations actually showing the violence, so long as it also nails the other aspects. Sadly, DEEN wasn't really doing their best work during this time. Fate/Stay Night also suffered in that regard.
I decided to revist this series after the new anime came out. Went back to watch the original anime and tired to get into Gou but was really confused so I started playing the VN and you're so right. I felt exactly the same way about the opening of the VN comparing it to the anime opening and quickly realised why the hardcore fans say the 2006 adaptation is the worse version of the Higurashi series. I don't think the anime is terrible because it did get me interested in this series. But it doesn't do this series justice, it's annoying some people think this series is just torture porn.
I will read the Higurashi manga after finishing my read of Umineko But I usually take about 25-30 minutes per chapter, so am I incredibly slow or is 10 minutes inhumanly fast?
Ehhhh, I wouldn’t quite call the manga accessible, not in the form of physical copies anyway. I’m four books away from having a full set, but those last 4 I either can’t find anywhere or they cost hundreds of dollars I don’t have. Hopefully by 2022 I get lucky enough to snag the last 4 at a decent price.
Yeah this video was made a year ago and I hadn't realised the manga is out of print now, I believe that's a fairly recent development. You can get the manga legally in ebook form though, so still the most accessible option on this list by far
That’s fair. I think I’m just one of those people that isn’t satisfied with reading a book digitally. You can get the whole series for what I payed for the most recent physical book I found.Meakashi 3 and 4 are much harder to get and pricier than books 1 and 2 for some reason which is a shame because it’s one of my favorite arcs.
Karin Suzuragi was my favorite artist of the manga adaptation and the one I held as the definitive artist, while the Cotton Drifting arc's artist always felt stiff to me, especially the poses.
This was a really good and helpful video, I first watched Higurashi a long time ago when I was new to anime, recently I watched the Umineko VN and read the manga, I was wondering if the manga for Higurashi was as good as Umineko as an adaptation.
I agree on most things you said, about how the anime almost always loses subtlety over spectacle, which is a fatal flaw for such a character driven show, however, I don't think the soundtrack is to blame for this, I actually think, the first novels especially, with the infamous copyrighted music, are not particluarly interesting to listen to and the anime really improves on that. And granted, that scene you showed with Rena and the gang in the dumpster is perhaps the worst transition from novel to anime, but I don't think that's on the music, if anything, the music is even more emotional in the anime, however the way it is framed -and the butchery of the dialogue, seriously, Rena goes to a very dark place in the novels- really do make it seem underwehlming, which in effect subtracts a lot from the characters' decisions from that point onward.
I’m a huge fan of the anime. I don’t have money/resources to be able to play the games or read the manga. This vid was really informative. Do you recommend website to read it from?
You can find walkthrough of the games on youtube, just search for "higurashi vn". Ps: For the first four arc of the vn there's a sort of debriefing of the arc with the characters named "all cast review", you can find them on youtube and for the four arcs of kai there's a debriefing but with the author, you can find it too, it's called "staff room", even if you don't read the vn I would recommand reading them.
Ok, now I finally watched it (damn youtube app), anyways, I completely agree with you. The anime isn't that great, the only things I truly like from it are the first 2 openings and the first ending songs. I haven't watched the movies nor the tv drama (I was planning on it though), so I can't really discuss about it. And the manga, oh yeah, the manga is beautiful, I'm currently reading it, and it's awesome. It's a shame really, Umineko hasn't got this much attention,
The line readings can be quite different in cadence, making them take on new meaning, and I generally feel the acting is more raw and emotive (though that's not to say it isn't great across all the adaptations). There are also things like Yukari Tamura using a different voice for Rika to the one she uses now at first
So I loved the anime at 11, and you’re 100% right. It was more because of the pure shock value of what was going on. At that point I was just getting into anime for the first time, I assumed most of it would be like yugioh or soul eater. Which is why higurashi initially really drew me to it. Though in my case I couldn’t get into Kai because of a mixture of the natural kid thing to swap interests every two minutes, along with the fact that Hanyuu admittedly really annoyed me back then. Now until this video I mostly saw Kai as “the one that adds yet another loli”. I was even disappointed when she showed up for two seconds in the new anime. What are you thinking of the new adaptation so far btw? I might give the manga another shot (tried it and didn’t like it as a kid but you know how that is). So far I think the new show not only looks better than the original anime in its art style, but also in the few scary scenes. Mostly with things like the hyper attention to detail, especially in their mouths. Also I look back on the show now and remember it having loli fanservice, which creeped me out and stopped me from revisiting. Yet as I’m watching the new anime I’m not seeing anything of the sort. Did I just...imagine that? Or was I just so used to that kinda thing in anime that I just assumed that’s what was going on (even at 11...yeesh).
Is there a setting on steam that adds the voice acting in on the sound novel? I haven't been able to find it and really want to hear the VAs while I read
The original game was without voice acting which is the version on Steam but a group of fans have put together a patch of the console ver of the game to add it in: 07th-mod.com/home/
You've very much answered one of my biggest questions about the manga. I have no access to my PC so I can't read the original VN / SN. I've started reading the manga again after so long with the intention of finishing this time around. I hope the same is true about the Umineko manga being just as faithful as the Higurashi manga adaptation. I have a bit of a soft spot for the live action movies and I dislike the TV Drama for using cosplay making it hard for me to take it seriously and the fact Satako and Rika's actresses are basically the same age as the older cast.
I finished the manga in about 2 weeks and really enjoyed it, but I was reading scanlations and the translation quality varied widely from arc to arc. I also got the feeling there was a chapter or two that I missed, after rewatching this video there's a few panels you showed that I don't remember. The manga itself was great but I was frustrated by these issues. I enjoyed it so much that I want to be sure I got the whole story. Am I really going to play the whole long ass VN tho..... Still thinking about it. I read a lot faster than the voice actors speak, which sometimes makes for a frustrating experience.
Yeah the scanlations I've come across have had stuff missing. Still highly rec the VN even if you've read the manga! You can click through the text as quickly as you want without waiting for the VA or play without it (though I do rec it)
@@_bess oh, thanks for that info, I was wondering if that was the case. That helps bc I had started watching a playthrough on youtube where obviously you can't advance any faster than the video goes. I read too fast and then get distracted by my own thoughts while waiting for the voice acting to catch up and it breaks the immersion (╥﹏╥)
Do you mean the versions available in English lack voice acting? You can use the 07th Mod patch to add the Japanese voice acting if so: 07th-mod.com/home/
I just rewatched the anime past few days and while some points you made are agreeable like certain plot points being left out, I think the anime does a great job on building the world and its characters in a digestable way through brilliant voice performances and character animation while bringing life to the bits that would otherwise just be reading. Huge problem I have with the VN is not that its long, moreso that its bloated with every detail and feeling being explained in slogging detail. And while the moment to moment quality/cleanliness of the show would up to question for some, I think the expressiveness of the anime delivers so much more than the still character models in the VN/SN(On that note, see pheonix wright for brilliant use of visuals in visual novels). I havent read the manga, and it definitely looks stunning, so I'll have to give it a go.
I find it really funny that the things you hate about series 1 is all stuff I like. I think the direction is really great in spite of the poor animation quality and that the sound direction is amazing.
Well, if you think this was a bad adaptation as it only focused on the violence rather the emotions, then don't even watch Higurashi Gou, its just like Corpse party, it enjoys to just torture the cast.
I criticised that element of the 2006 anime because it diverged from the tone of Ryukishi's writing. Gou is written by Ryukishi. I'm not entirely convinced the level of violence is necessary or justifiable, but we should at least consider its purpose. Gou as a series is one that focuses on Rika's character (according to the director), so it makes sense to me to explore her trauma in this way. Whereas many scenes in the original Higurashi were centred on emotions, Gou very clearly intends to be viscerally horrifying. I think we should wait until we know more about what it seeks to achieve by evoking this horror before judging it too harshly.
@@_bess Thank you for responding. Yeah I'm personally more judgemental on how visceral and focused on the gore Gou is, with how the opening song sounds it makes just think that it is trying to be a "cool" show full of gore, there are other things feeling and thoughts I have about the show that will make this comment the length of the bible. Overall for now I'm just now focused onto getting the manga and original works, which just to ask, which is the original material by release date (I'm dumb and I get confused, please understand me) Thank you.
I would probably feel the same if I hadn't read the VN, but Ryukishi just isn't that kind of author. He understands suffering and that is why he portrays it in such excruciating detail--it's not a new thing for him. The 06 anime blunted Higurashi all around. When Ryukishi does portray violence, it is often more graphic than what made it into the DEEN anime. Gou isn't beyond criticism, but I can understand the use of violence for the purpose of making the audience understand what Rika has been through, including those who maybe enjoyed said violence in the past. I'll have more thoughts on whether it was used effectively and appropriately once the show is done, but I doubt it was a decision made lightly. There's more meaning to it than an impulse to shock for sure. The series starts with the first arc, Onikakushi, which you can get as a two volume manga or on Steam (for free I think). Otherwise you can buy the whole eight main arcs on Steam together as part of the Higurashi Hou bundle. They're all numbered so you'll know which order to read them in
@@_bess Thank you very very much, I was aware I could get it through steam I just was not sure if that was the right one. Still from the small snip its of what I have seen of the manga and other materials and comparing them to Gou does make me realise that it is written by the same person, I think it is just the media of animation that makes it feel more sadistic to me, and also that weird past state in which the horror genre was were it was all action gore and nothing else. Again thank you for telling me where to get higurashi, I'm waiting for my laptop to finish downloading the first free chapter, thank you.
Given that each arc has a different average of pages per chapter, wouldn't be better (and more time consuming) to assume a reading speed of pages per minute (ppm) and base the calculations around that? For example, if we estimate a ppm of 3.5 (a surprisingly fast one), arc 1 takes ~2 hours to complete in manga form, and makes it take a bit more than two times the anime's length (~31 hours 17 min) to read the 8 core arcs. A more sane 3ppm (a 180 pages volume in an hour) means it takes ~2 hours 20 min to read the first arc, and ~36 hours 30 min for the core arcs. The speed you suggested (indirectly) is 4.76 ppm. And yes, I did count the pages (although I rounded the numbers to be always even, for easier calculations) and dumped it into a spreadsheet (in LibreOffice) to make the calculations.
Great news! Bepbo (on both YT and Twitter) and I have managed to compile a folder comprising the long out-of-print drama CDs for arcs 1-7! No Matsuribayashi unfortunately, but I'm really delighted to be able to share what we do have. Enjoy! drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XxNy6PDYZxHvHrgJ23_XPn3kTN6pEkYN?usp=sharing
Holy.....
What would you recommend is the best way to follow along with them as we listen to them? They seem super compelling
@@taco4676 It might be tricky if you don't know any Japanese but you should more or less be able to just follow along with the VNs, they stick close enough
@@_bess
Where can I download Hirugashi VN ?
Thank you so much! I really wanted the Tsumihoroboshi-hen Drama CD for so long! Thank you for providing the Drama CDs! 😊🥰
I was always confused why he had new artists for each arc but the interpretation that it's supposed to represent each new world is really interesting.
I think the biggest problem an adaptation of Higurashi must necessarily run into is that it *will* condense the story into something more time-efficient - and while a lot of scenes can be either streamlined or taken out altogether without taking away much in terms of characterization or story relevant information, I almost feel like the simple fact that the original Higurashi takes so much time to get from one emotional beat to the next and deeply indulges in trivialities is what gives the reader enough time to fully immerse themselves in the "atmosphere of the present", so to speak, to forget about the impending doom and engage with the characters on their own terms.
Giving the story that much "breathing room" is what makes the transition from slice of life to mystery/horror so effective: As a reader, you are given time to slowly, gradually lose your grasp on what this fun slice of life story is really about and be torn between coldly questioning character motivations, trying to figure out what the hidden allegiances might be at play and reduce the gameboard to a puzzle, and engaging with the characters, allowing yourself to stay emotionally invested in them. I think Ryukishi succeeded here where he failed in Umineko: We really don't want to believe that Keiichi's friends are deceiving him, we *want* to trust these characters, even though we know that finding out the truth is just as important. Even knowing that "the peaceful atmosphere of this first act isn't going to last", acknowledging that there's probably some dark secret (be it a mass murderer, a cult or an ancient evil deity) lurking at the heart of Hinamizawa, we still can't help but be invested in Mion's character in Watanagashi and Satoko's character in Tatarigoroshi.
And when you cut down on the length of the journey, that internal tension is diminished. The audience is no longer forced to endure being torn between peace/love and truth and reflect on what that means - it's like walking through a desert for a day instead of a week (or 100 years). It's not just a quantitative difference, there's a real sense in which two experiences are incomparable.
Well said. There's also the aspect where we come to love the characters and the happy times they spend together. And so when they're having fun it's like we're having fun alongside them, and don't want that to ever end. Making it even more tragic when the horror and tragedy inevitably arrives. Generating those feelings in the audience takes time, lots of time. Much like a real friendship or relationship takes time to deepen in feeling. So, condensing the series inevitably takes away some of the Pathos and joy. I actually think the scenes of the gang just hanging out and messing with each other might be my favorite part of the entire series.
The "redundant" writing of the visual novel is also a key part of why it's such a masterpiece. There are certain storytelling effects that can only be achieved through the use of rhythm and repetition. The famous 1500 seconds scene is a great example of this. It goes on for a while, and says the same things over and over, but the repetition deepens its power over time. One could also say that human thought itself is highly repetitious, and so his writing actually captures this element, making the characters feel more alive.
Also, why would you want the series to be faster anyway? The entire time during the visual novel, I was hoping the scenes wouldn't end because I was enjoying them so much. Heck, I wish a lot of the visual novel was even longer than it was. You can only truly get lost in something massive, messy, and sprawling. I was always sad when an arc would end.
i dont think he failed thsi aspect with umineko bcs i feel it wasnt needed in the first place imo
I agree with everything except him failing in Umineko. Umineko has a different tone and is aiming for something wildly different than Higurashi is, so Umineko was never supposed to be built upon those themes. They in fact almost completely disappear from the story once Battler understands the game, to the point that none of the games in the Answer Arcs fully conclude like they do in Question Arcs, but equal weight is placed elsewhere the more you understand of what's really going on. Whether you prefer one or another is another thing, but he definitely succeeded at what he was trying there.
Agreed, except regarding Umineko. It doesn't "fail" at this because it's going for the opposite approach: whereas Higurashi is a story about trusting that your friends didn't commit murder, Umineko is a story about how your family _did_ commit murder and that you need to find out why.
I gotta agree, the horror elements hit incredibly hard after reading through long and detailed slice of life of the characters. The time when "Rena was standing behind the door" in Onikakushi was the moment i got hooked real hard on Higurashi. These and other scenes wouldn't hit quite as hard if not for the long and hard thinking of Keiichi and other characters. That's what made it difficult for me to watch anime, the question arcs which i was reading at least 2 months whizzed by in the span of merely 26 episodes, which also leave out a bunch of points, whereas i was expecting smart foreshadowing and utilizing much more visual media if not for more great story-telling but at least for setting a greater mood of the series. Didn't get either, which is a shame.
I did almost drop the VN at Tatarigoroshi, because at times it was really drawn out, but i don't regret a second of reading through entire Higrashi AND Umineko (which is arguably even more drawn out, still a banger show).
And i know i ended up just praising VN, but the OST and Seiyu voicing the entirety of 100+ hour novel in GREAT quality is just *chef's kiss* super awesome.
The manga did the Tatarigoroshi arc way better than the anime. My experience was that I first read Tatarigoroshi as a VN, then read the manga then watch the anime for all perspectives of what happened due to how confusing the ending was reading it for the first time.
The first notable difference is how they portrayed the events leading up to the infamous 1500 seconds scene.
The VN first gives you a tip listing statistics against children for that year with satoko's glazed over look in the background and it plays ominous music when it lists the final most heinous crime you can do to children. Then after Satoko goes back to school, when Keiichi tries to rub her head, she aggressively swats his hand away before breaking down in tear while profusely apologizing. Rena goes up to Satoko and askes her what her uncle did to her, and Rena ends up so upset, she starts knocking stuff down. I had the brilliant idea to finish Chapter 3 after Dinner on a full stomach, and after that scene following Satoko's actions could see the soup I drank for dinner all over the floor.
The anime felt so censored, because it merely showed Satoko seeing a vision of Satoshi and then by Keiichi's mere light touch on the forehead, causes her to break down. Never before in my life had I felt so emotionally cheated.
That scene in the school... oh boy, it broke me. I was 12 or something when I first read it, so the subtlety was lost on me -like Keiichi- but rereading it... well shit. I can't begin to explain how bad it makes me feel.
Coming from watching the new adaptation, Gou, and it actually did the scene justice, but still suffers a problem of being condensed. It's not a problem exclusive to Higurashi though. Having read Game of Thrones and watched it, despite the behemoth of show length (at least 10 hours per season, and 8 seasons), many many plotlines from the source material were still cut. I still think all the anime adaptations are well done in the story telling department, and most of Ryukishi's original vision is present, just unfortunately lacks some of the key character development beyond superficial slice of life tropes to get (ironically something akin to Rena's "cute" mode) a vibe of security.
I will always be grateful to the higurashi anime to actually introducing me to this masterpiece.
hearing satoko's cries in the drama CD totally broke me, holy shit
Same along with Mion's pleas, really hard to listen to.
My face during those moments:
._.
Not only Higurashi, but Umineko also has a great manga adaptation as well.
I am very interested in seeing your thoughts on the new Higurashi anime coming out this year at some point! This video was such a good watch and its great finding someone making videos for the series with the amount of love you have for it.
I watched Higurashi when I was a pretty young kid, maybe around 12-13, and when the new Higurashi anime started airing, I was excited, thinking we'd be getting a remake. Once it became apparent that they fooled us and it was actually a sequel, the new title being Higurashi Gou... I panicked, because I didn't remember much of the story at all. I scoured the internet, hoping for a quick way I could get back into Higurashi in time for the new anime's next weekly episode, and decided that the manga would be the quickest way for me to do it. However, I found that the manga is enthralling in a way that I think is absolutely unparalleled. It roped me into the series in a way that I'd never felt before, and I was so excited to feel like I finally understand this franchise. Now, I'm even going back and watching the old Higurashi anime just to compare and contrast between the manga, and even though there's lots of differences, I'm still having a lot of fun just comparing the adaptations. I may never have the time to read the game/novel as a college student working full time, but the manga really revitalized my love for this series, and I really hope more people pick it up sometime.
I really enjoyed your video! I might have to scour the internet to hear some of those drama CDs some time, even if I can't entirely understand it. Your insight was very eye-opening. Thank you for the time and care you put into this video! I'll definitely be watching more :)
I've now put a folder of 7 out of the 8 drama CDs in the top comment!
As someone who has only read the manga I can say that higurashi is one of my favorite series ever :D
Who has only read the manga first?
And only the manga?!
How does that happend?
@@TheGaboefects prior to higurashi anime memes I had 0 contact with 7th expansion until I got recommended the Umineko manga which I read and then when I learned that a lot of it was referencing Higurashi I then read its manga
@@TheGaboefects I also only read the manga. This video was my intro to the series so I went with the manga first.
You should still read the VN! Maybe a little later down the line when Higu is less fresh in your mind?
I personally adore the anime (as you can tell from my pfp), but this brought up a lot of good points! I just started the sn, and I have to say I love it so far. I completely fell in love with the anime, (I plan on purchasing the box set of the entire series) and I can say that it’s personally one of my favorite anime of all time, especially because of the 2nd season. I loved season 1, but I felt season 2 wrapped everything up very nicely. Based on what I’ve seen, I’m going to have a similar (if not better) experience with the SN! I will say, I completely adore Kenji Kawai’s soundtrack for the anime, and I’ll certainly miss it, but I’m excited to see the original story!
The anime was my favourite bar none for ten years! It was only when I read the original that I realised, while good on its own, how much it was lacking in comparison. The soundtrack is rough for the question arcs as it's all royalty free stuff but the music in the answer arcs is brilliant. Enjoy!
Like Hinamizawa calling me again, this series has taken up space in my mind ever since I first watched the anime in middle school. There was something about the anime that stuck with me for years to come. So to finally start reading the sound novel, I engage my curiosity to understand why I fell in love with this series in the first place. Thanks for the video.
Great video! My favorite adaptation is the manga, especially the minagoroshi-arc manga was brilliant in art and imagery direction, when I first read the arc in the manga it really stuck with me emotionally
I've seen people saying things like "don't watch Higurashi's second season, it's lame and not scary because it doesn't have enough blood and violence" 💀 It frustrates me so much because Higurashi, and horror genre in general, isn't just about that. Yeah, I gotta admit I watched Higurashi because of gore because I was an edgy kid, but I found out later it's actually a beautiful story, and the horror in it isn't just blood and killing, but rather building an uneasy atmosphere and causing the feeling of despair. Two years later after watching the anime I decided to pick Higurashi visual novel. I'm currently on chapter 6 (Tsumihoroboshi or something like that) and it's fantastic, really deep, well written, meaningful (not just about killing) and for me much more memorable than the anime. Idk, when I was watching the anime I was mainly just focusing on violence and fear and I didn't really remember much from it. I liked it, but too many things were cut out and I understood almost nothing, even after Kai. Besides, like I said before, I watched it for gore and didn't pay much attention to the meaningful topics it contained, that's why I forgot most things and only remembered some random scenes, but with no context behind them. So reading the visual novel is like a totally new experience for me, since I don't remember like 90% of the story, I just know it's a loop and who's the "culprit". And the vn is a lot more detailed and slower, so I can remember more from the story. Although I loved the anime, it didn't really have a big impact on me, but I can't say the same about the vn; it's very memorable, much easier to understand and it made me more emotional than the anime. I can say for sure I won't forget it the same way I did with the anime. Sorry for writing such a long comment, but in short: Higurashi is great at building the horror atmosphere, but it's also a wonderful and impactful story about important topics. I gotta say, it wouldn't catch my attention if not the gory anime adaptation, and even though I still enjoy the gore scenes, in the end I found out that there's so much more to Higurashi than just that. I'm so glad I discovered this masterpiece. I still have 3 chapters to finish, but for now I can say that Rena may be my favorite fictional character ever. She's so much like me that it shocks me such a character even exists. And this is the end of this suprisingly long and chaotic comment, idk, I just needed to write all of this somewhere 💀
Edit: Okay, a little correction: I can't say the anime didn't have an impact on me, it's very nostalgic and has amazing, mysterious, irreplacable climate; for me, the poor art just makes is all better and fits the atmosphere. The openings are also wonderful, especially Naraku no Hana; it always makes me wanna cry, it's beautiful and captures Rika's feelings perfectly. So the Higurashi anime is really important for me. But there was just too much going on in such a short time, and because of that, I didn't really understand nor remember the story and the meaning behind many scenes, I was just like "omg they're finally killing someone". That's why the vn has a bigger impact for me, because it has more details and makes the story more memorable and easy to understand. I like both the anime and the vn; the anime will always be important and nostalgic to me, but the original (vn) will always be a better experience. That's all
I've never seen anything of Higurashi outside of cultural osmosis but your videos really have me considering picking it up! The comparison between the music was really incredible, I got chills just from reading, and even just from that small clip I can see where the anime falls short for some things. Great, concise example :D
Higurashi was one of my first anime. I’ve been debating reading the VN and the manga. I think this vid just convinced me to try everything!
6:05 "no one watches it now cause it looks bad " still watches it in 2020 anyway cause i like to watch it (i have all 4 seasons) and still re watch them every couple of years or so. :)
i'm slowly getting the sound novels and from that i have seen they are better yes as they are more cohesive and expanded but i still think the anime is a masterwork of horror and pacing for what it is
I went and binge watched the entire old series after Higurashi Gou got to episode 4. I found it very enjoyable though I was immensely unsatisfied with the last 2 episodes of Kai as they literally Home Alone their way to victory and it felt very contrived and forced to get to the outcome of nobody killing or dying. I would have far preferred a climactic battle somewhat akin to some scenes of Higurashi Outbreak as realistically there should be no way to achieve victory without sacrifice from that demonic trap of fate Takano's will has forced upon them. The only exception to that I could conceive otherwise would be to turn Takano against the plan (No doubt a monumental undertaking) and would probably only work if she was convinced that her superiors were just going to kill her after she wiped out the village as she would be seen as an unstable lunatic who had outlived her usefulness.
@@cnlbenmc yeah very true
The anime removes hours and hours of content from the last few episodes and actually changes the final showdown between Takano and Hanyuu. Can't say whether you'd be more satisfied with the VN version but the events certainly have a lot more thematic weight.
@@_bess oof I see...
I watched Higurashi when I was young. Was kind of in a dark edgy phase so the horror aspect was what I liked. However, while I still enjoy horror, I like happy endings a lot more. I've since read the manga and my favorite scene, by far, is the one where Keiichi and Rena give their curtain call. It is awesome.
Same fave scene 🤝
I've only watched the anime 10 years ago, and as you might know, wanted to get into the visual novel for years now, and watching your videos and seeing how much you adore the higurashi series only makes me want to take it up even more. The way you talk abt it I can really see that it means so much to you, and I like how this video is done like... respectfully? You compare the anime to other adaptations and only now I can see how incomplete that is, and yet you have also good things to say about it. I didn't even know that higurashi had so many adaptations, and that like, movie and tv drama are different things, so this video is very eye-opening to me.
The manga is now published in my country (not english speaking) and I was wondering wether to take it up (but it also costs money since the volumes are big) or if the translation will potentially skew the emotional moments even more badly, but then again since this story is so emotional and complex perhaps it's better to experience it in my native language, so I'll see how I do it. Anyway your videos made me seriously consider the manga as an real option (for some reason I was convinced it's just the anime but in manga form??) so who knows. Perhaps I will get seriously into higu this year (I wanted to rewatch the anime but also, if it's just the refreshment of the story perhaps it's better to watch another adaptation especially since every other got more heart in in compared to the anime)
So, overall great work bess! I really like your video essays, and I can really see how higu means so much to you by them (just the fact that you have the videos longer and it takes time and effort to find all these things in the bg to make it all coherent). I hope your school goes well and am looking forward to more things in the future from you :D
i dabbled into the anime back in middle school, but i just recently bought the sound novel on steam. i can already say without a shadow of a doubt, reading through the original is much better than watching the anime, though i still love some of the visuals.
The Higurashi anime, when I look back on it is pretty bad, but I'm very grateful for it anyway because my edgy childhood self got into it, which eventually led to me falling down the 07th Expansion rabbit hole.
Also Yu Inaba was Keiichi? Wow, Kamen Rider Keiichi. :o
I've been binging your channel. I love your content and the amount of effort and love you put into it. I really hope that your channel grows much more!
now youre making me want to check out the manga
Do it!
I'm italian and i had to watch the two live-action movies with english subs 'cause i could not find them with italian subs, and here i am in 2020 to see actual italian subs in an english-speaking youtube video :D
ma tipo pure io
It’s cool to see some of the things that the original and Kai were missing be partially rectified and expanded upon through the sequels of Gou and Sotsu. Still not quite as in depth as the manga or SN, but genuinely great to see and makes the anime even better. Makes it even easier to recommend this great series to others too, cause whether they’re a manga type or prefer the anime they’ll have a great story to dive into!
I'm only a quarter of the way in to the vid, but I wanted to say that despite all of it's flaws the anime did manage to draw me in enough to not only come back for a rewatch(more for the theme of friendship in the end and the mystery at the beginning; I hated the gore), but to also get the manga and seek out the novel before they had even been released on steam. As condensed as it was, the strengths of key elements of the story still drew me in and I wish it was an anime I could show others with pride, being that asking them to read the VN is a lot.
7:11 this might be because I have a softer spot for the anime because it was my introduction, but coming from the anime to the sound novel of the first arc, I really miss the anime soundtrack and it was my favorite thing about hte anime.
there's also fighting spin-off games, spin-off card games, random references in japanese magazines, a radio broadcast with the voice actors, the hundreds of songs and albums, crossovers with other games, the new gacha game and a japanese google-maps-like app. it's basically google maps but you have mion, rena or rika giving you directions.
Being a non-native English speaker, the manga was the only thing beside the anime that’s accessible to me for a long time. And it’s what made me fell in love with the series in the first place... Though now that I have a better grasp of English and a means to actually enjoy the sound novel, I just don’t have enough time to sit down and finish it orz. Shoutout to the Onikakushi arc that’s been sitting in my steam library untouched for months now lmao.
For me, I also started out with the anime but I also know that the Sn is the best version. For me, I simply love more the detail so both the anime and sn did it good. I've only seen those two versions because how me and my father live but he knows how much I love this little 'cartoon' as he puts it. Once I start working for the first few weeks I'm gonna try and buy all of Higurashi's content at once but that's a few months to years away. But I just wish in my life time a translated version of the light novels even though I do have the text from the sn I hope a translated one comes. To put it simply for me, what Higurashi puts best is its ability to make me think and motivate me to one day do something as great as what Ryukishi did to me. I just wanna change someone and make them keep on going.
this is why i am so disappointed that Gou was a sequel rather than a remake. Higurashi really deserved an anime reboot and now i'm afraid it never will get that
Oh wow.. I can't believe I missed this video! Jeez Bess I admit I wasn't all that interested in readin the VN because of the time it takes, but you've convinced me. Either before ot after this new anime, I am going to take my time to enjoy and appreciate the full story of Higurashi. You've made me realize just how different and incomplete the anime is, as well as how far it strays from the source material. As a Higurashi fan I owe it to myself and the VN that dedicated so much love and care to go through all of it and learn of the story the way it should be. I can't wait to see for myself what you speak of so beautifully in your videos! (and thank you for being so amazing at Higurashi videos that you inspire the attention span of 50 hours into me 😅)
Edit:
Ok, so I wrote this before I watched to the end (I wrote this right before the sound disc example) and I didn't know you'd recommend the higurashi Manga. If I can not find the time to read the VN, I will do my best to read the manga. I want to get through both though if I'm being honest... They both seem like such an amazing immersive experience and I want to truly appreciate this story in the best ways now that I realize all I ever knew was the anime...I've truly missed out all this time on something much much grander.
I had already planned to read through the sound novel of Higurashi a while ago, and I was able to read the first arc and I enjoyed everything I missed out on from watching the anime, though I couldn’t finish it all because of things that came up and I didn’t bother going back. This video has inspired me to read the manga though. Thanks
I absolutely love your Higurashi videos. I love how passionate you are about everything, thats how I am with the series too. I started Higu in 2006, when I was 15/16, and along with Umineko they are my favorite pieces of consumable culture ever. I even have Beato's leg crest tattoo lol
I completely forgot about the original drama CDs, so jelly you have then physically! I saw in my huge Higurashi files on my PC that I have the first 4 arcs. Never gave them a listen, but now its a must. Thank you for covering those!
Keep up the amazing work!
Good job nabbing them before they disappeared off the internet! I only have Meakashi and Tsumihoroboshi unfortunately, Minagoroshi and Matsuribayashi are extortionately priced due to being out of print :/
@@_bess I've noticed the last 2 arcs are insane. I have a question, I have the first 4 but I dont have your two. I am totally willing to upload my CDs to Google Docs and send you the link if you wanna swap what we have! Meakashi hen is my favorite arc, aside from Minagoroshi :) Let me know! (Feel free to PM me too if you want to trade)
@@Bepbo I've actually just been meaning to put them online and share them generally! I'm not sure when I'll get around to it though, do you have a Twitter or somewhere I could send you the link whenever I do it? I don't think there's a way on YT
Yeah, dude! I see yours is linked, I'll send ya a PM
Just to put it out there: I'm currently reading Meakashi-hen and I will be waiting to watch this video, along with the rest of your videos on Higurashi after I finish Matsuribayashi-hen, but I felt like sharing my points on the adaptation, so far. (bit of context: I watched the entire series back in 2011, and I'm reading the Steam releases with 07th Mod now. Practically blind, except for some major spoilers I cannot forget no matter what)
Looking at just Onikakushi-hen alone, the 2006 anime is almost a disservice by direct comparison. However, that's due to the format of storytelling being vastly different between the two works.
For me, it all comes down to the anime's pacing. While Onikakushi-hen took me ~16 hours to read, The entire arc takes place over four episodes of the anime, coming out to a total of ~90 minutes, or just an hour and a half. There's a massive difference, obviously, in it's pacing.
Condensing and removal of elements / scenes is inevitable, that's just the nature of TV and movies. However, while stuff like Harry Potter could get away with cutting out stuff like Hermione's "SPEW" side story, Higurashi decided to cut up / remove large chunks of the filler / slice of life sections. This not only got rid of some of the more fun scenes of the series, it also came at a cost of the character's and how the viewer perceives them.
When it takes Rena about half of Onikakushi-hen (~8 hours) to go off and be a bit creepy and psychotic, the anime does that in just two episodes, with hardly any SoL to make you invested in her before the switch is flipped. The entire emotional flip of seeing these characters you love and want to be happy with just slowly becoming your worst nightmares and the psychological effects of that *actually* happening is dreadful to watch unfold in the visual novels. It's brilliant storytelling and it's what makes Onikakushi-hen one of my favorite pieces of horror I've ever experienced.
Meanwhile, when the anime just kind of goes from zero to a hundred at the drop of a hat, it doesn't achieve the same effect and it doesn't have the same punch. And it's this sudden tonal shift that, I think, helped push the series' stereotype in the West into what it's always been seen as: "just some crazy anime with kids killing each other."
This stereotype has made introducing the series to people so difficult for me, as well. Because I've read most of the VNs and I know it's far more than just so psycho killer series, I want people to experience what this piece of fiction really does and what it means for me and thousands of others. Yet, because of it's format as a visual novel, a lot of people are turned off from Higurashi entirely, because 100+ hours of reading is, admittedly, a hefty task for most people. "Why spend that much time reading when I could just watch the anime and be done in a fifth of the time?"
Yes, the anime is more free-time-friendly and easier to digest than a 100+ hour VN, it still cuts just enough content as to where I can't wholeheartedly recommend it, even to people on time crunches.
What sucks is that outside of the pacing and shallow characterization of the main cast, I still think the 2006 anime has its merits. The animation is very good (haha ladder scene pls clap), the VA work is great (haha ladder scene pls clap), and the killing / torture scenes were executed very well. The sound design and music were also amazing, too. All the pillars were there for a great adaptation.. Sadly, the foundation-- the storytelling and characters --was crumbling from the beginning, and it ultimately fell apart because of that.
TL;DR
The anime was *almost* good, but it's pacing sucked. If you want the best experience out of Higurashi, please have a lot of free time and read the VNs (or hope the new anime in 2020 is super amazing).
Great Points! As someone who is a super fan of this series. I enjoyed most of the VN, I own all the manga, and anime. Recently got my GF to watch all the anime with me because of Higurashi Gou. She really loves the series. Hopefully she will pick up the manga when we finish season 3
If only I started buying the manga when it first came out. Now it's out of print I'm desperately trying to find the volumes I'm missing without selling an organ ㅜㅜ
Yeah I had no idea how hard it had become to find ):
@@_bess Hopefully one day they decide to reprint it >_
Another Brilliant video about Higurashi again
I can't wait for the next one and whwre did you find the tsumihoboshi live action footage I've been looking for it for a while
Thanks! It's the DN Team Fansub version.
Bess Sonozaki thanks
Your video is super insightful and very clever, you surely know what you're talking about! Thank you for sharing it with the world.
Thank you! I got my copy second hand, maybe you can too? :-)
Sadly I do not live in an english-speaking country, but I'll be on the look-out in librairies if I ever go to one! :D
I sadly made a big mistake when starting Higurashi, starting Gou around mid January, it really interested me with its gore. I finished Gou around the end of May. I decided to start the 2006 anime, waiting for Sotsu to get a better grasp on the series. I had an enjoyable time, though I knew some main parts about the series that got me spoiled, but it was enjoyable watching through it.
About a month ago I finished the manga, even though I knew what was going to happen in the story it felt like a new experience. With new scenes and a little more time to develop the characters I held dear in my heart.
Hopefully I'll get around to the SN, but for now, I will continue on something else.
I do think that anime is good for looking at something streamlined and for binging although for a gradual story experience, novels are probably better. The old animation is good for showing slice of life due to how animation is melodramatic in a way. The old Higurashi shows more slice of life while the new one is less so. The problem for some is it may seem slow or repetitive for buildup. So not only is it adaptation issues but it’s also audience differences. I do like the new animation in Gou though
Considering the first sound novel is free on steam right now, and with the new higurashi gou, this is the best time to get into higurashi
The anime is one of my favorite anime series ever, but after buying all the arcs on steam and watching this video I really want to play through the whole series now.
You're right about people gravitating towards the anime due to its horror, and because of it, it's become a show of "kids killing one another in crazy ways" (or as my boyfriend puts it much to my annoyance: "It's Another but with more slice of life") and as I was watching Gou earlier this week, it has made me want to read the VN. However, the art style really gets me to put it off... I know the original anime isn't super stunning, but I tended to like the contrast of what the characters looked like and the dark, more detailed scenary they were in comparatively amongst other things. Higurashi Kai, out of all the anime so far, is my favorite. I liked the opening, the closing (the lyrics of the song has a deep meaning) and it's nice character development that you see within the loops (actually understanding the time loops in Rika's perspective and all of that, from the characters remembering events and changing is always so fascinating to me) while I understand the VN has more detail and has loads of hours, I'd like to assume the anime does good in the "how and why" for the mystery, which is really what drew me into it.
Comparatively, watching Gou, I also saw a new way of story telling. This is also where I really want to read the VN because the new arcs and how they are placed. The twist at the very end of the anime shows a really interesting angle of story telling of almost playing the ending at the beginning and looking at the background instead of the forefront that we're used to in the anime. And I wonder if it's similar for the VN.
I'm interested in the VN, but have also kinda not been around it due to how it looks (which, I know, is a terrible reason) but having said all of that, I think I'm going to try it out. Especially since it's on Steam. It was a nice video you have put out, and I'm interested to see just how much I was missing, whilst also trying to figure out everything from Gou. Lol
I'm guessing you're talking about not liking how the original sprites look but I actually recommend reading it with the patch by 07th Mod which has the graphics from the console games (along with full voice acting and the option of the original soundtrack and SFX, some of which has been removed from the Steam version, which are the reasons I rec it). Otherwise Steam also have their own sprites (though I don't like them myself)
@@_bess good to note. I'll try and find the Patch then and go from there. The voice acting is honestly amazing (and funny enough, I actually had a lot of happiness with Mika Kinai as Satako because I knew of her voice acting before watching the show and already knew her distinct voice had an edge I was appreciating when I had first watched the show) and I think the patch would probably help me go through the VN a little bit more now. Thanks for the recommendation :)
I had always liked the live action movies and way back in the day, closer to when they'd been released, I was always surprised at how much they were criticized. They weren't perfect but I thought they did a really good job, especially the actors. Each of the actors fully embody their characters (I particularly like Mion's actress, she is spot on in every line she says as Mion). I recently went back and watched the first movie and scrolled through some comments from 10 years ago, and found that most of them were negative about things like... "Mion's hair isn't green? Rena's actress is cute but why isn't she wearing the same clothes? The visual effects are bad, it looks like fake blood was just poured on them." It made me realize after so long that most of the criticisms towards these movies were based on very superficial things that had nothing to do with the actual story, which the movies handled really well.
Yeah it did often seem to be superficial criticisms which sucks as I think it morphed into this generally accepted statement that "the Higurashi live action movies are bad" without people knowing why or thus checking them out for themselves. I feel like it's almost become embarrassing for people to say they do like a live action adaptation because it's frankly trendy to hate them. It's especially funny as I think the movies stand apart /because/ they don't use the cosplay styling, which is an issue I have with the drama adaptation because I feel it breaks immersion.
@@_bess Fully agree. Even back when I was 15 watching these and not as critical, I still always hated cosplay styling so I absolutely loved these movies from the moment they started for not doing that, and for the subtle ways they hinted at the characters' animated looks, like giving Mion a green hair tie rather than a crappy green wig. It also helps with the immersion of this world imo; seeing Onikakushi play out with real, normal looking people can make it more relatable for some and almost makes it even more heartbreaking. I hope more people go back and watch these, hopefully you inspired some people to!
Great video! Since the first time I watched the Higurashi anime after finishing the sound novel I always thought how I would probably never be a fan of Higurashi as I am if I had watched the anime first, not even bothering to read the original after it.
And although I'm not a fan of live actions I was planning to watch the live action movie a long time ago, now that I've seen you talk about it I truly got the motivation I needed to do it!
But well, at least the anime got us some really nice songs from the openings haha
I've only seen the anime and only read one part of the visual novel, but they both have a soft spot for me. Despite its flaws I can still enjoy the anime enough that I bought the boxed set. It may be nostalgia because I started with it but it left an impact on me.
OG Higurashi VN's look is... somewhat rough, and had stock music for the question arks.
But the only VN footage compared to the 2007 anime was the updated, prettied-up definitive version of the VN.
The ps2 port came out a year after the anime, and the Higurashi VN wasn't even complete when season 1 of the anime aired.
It doesn't change anything now, because anyone in modern day should obviously get the best version of the VN...
...but yeah, it still makes me feel a little sad for the anime's perception. They tried with what they had, and at the time that base material was not pretty and not finished yet. :(
I guess the biggest thing that weirds me out is why people don't want to read long things. Like everyone has 100 hours of free time. Maybe in a few weeks, maybe in a year. Why would you spend that time reading 10 merely good things, when you could do 1 masterful thing? idk I've never cared about the number of things I get through (vast majority of media is mediocre anyway). The things that are actually worth your time are surprisingly few and far between, especially in more niche mediums.
Not exactly what you were getting at, but I was bearing in mind people with dyslexia or any similar disability or circumstance that makes reading inaccessible for them!
Holy shit I didn't think that scene could be done better than in the console VN
I always wondered what other people thought about Keiichi's VA in the anime reading every line like he has a time limit to get it out, and more than that, the sharp intakes of breath at the end of *EVERY SINGLE LINE*
I liked the anime until I noticed that, and then I couldn't UN-notice it. After that it drove me nuts and I couldn't finish it.
The higurashi manga is the first and still so far only manga where I own every single volume. I started with the anime, got curious and read the (janky old translation of the mangagamer release of the vn that was released yeeeaaars ago) as well as receiving the manga for christmas for a few years instead of other games or movies on my christmas list (worth it). The current steam release and 07th patch for the vn luckily far surpasses the version released when I was in high school it, truuust me and re-reading it in my down time now has been a wonderful treat down memory lane as well as a rediscovery in itself. the current incarnation of the visual novels has NEVER been better
After discovering your channel, and having recently finished Higurashi (the VN), I'm happy to see so many good vids for me to watch! This will probably be my go-to video to share for anyone interested about VN vs anime stuff. I like that you focused on the anime and VN first, and also covered the other adaptations after.
I thought the live action adaptations were considered to be bad, but after hearing you praise the 2016 TV drama and especially the live action movies, I'm curious in checking them out sometime.
I can't keep fanboying enough about how the few scenes you highlighted were the same ones that felt the most standout to me! For example, I always cite Mion/Shion's voice acting in Watanagashi/Meakashii when Satoko or Kei were getting tortured when trying to show how amazing the VAs are in nailing every emotion. Mion goes through so many stages of grief in the VN, it just felt so real, and emotionally painful. It was very uncomfortable to sit through even though I know it's fiction. I also loved Satoko's speech when Shion tortures her in Meakashii, the voice acting and music Confession were so beautiful and powerful. Other than those standout scenes, Rena is my overall favorite VA as she just had such a mastery of so many different voices to portray each part of her personality or tone appropriate to the scene.
I also loved that the example you chose to show how different the anime adaptation can be was the scene where Kei pleas Rena to reach her hand out with Death and Rebirth playing. That scene, with that track playing for the first time, was so moving.
Also, it seems that many people rank Matsuribayashi as one of their least favorite arcs (in the VN at least), but it is actually possibly my favorite, and mainly because of the first half (Takano's backstory, and the Connecting Fragments after). The Connecting Fragments was such an incredible and thrilling experience for me. I had thought it was going to be something very mundane and a slog, but it surprised me how emotional and beautiful seeing "the whole story" come together was. And as someone who greatly missed the darker, more thrillery feel of the earlier chapters, it was a very pleasant surprise how many exciting and dark reveals were left, especially in regards to the truth behind each year's curse victims (Takano dissecting them, etc.). Irie's inner conflict about morals for example was very thrilling and dark in a way that none of the other arcs' horror made me feel. I also have to say that while I hated Takano and was felt fully confident there would be nothing Ryukishi could do to make me feel invested in her backstory, when I finally read Matsuribayashi, I was instantly engaged in the first few minutes and then completely hooked when it got to the orphanage part.
The fragments also impressed me with Satoko's story, when I thought Ryukishi had already done enough. The length he went to further explore how tough it can be to help someone and how tragic it is when society fails someone, in combination with some great new tracks, made me feel not only sadder than ever but immense warmth and appreciation towards Ryukishi for writing such empathetic and powerful messages (many of which I'm sure were quite bold and controversial things to say, especially back in early-mid 2000s). The deeper exploration and development of characters like Irie, Tomitake, and Ooishi were also a very nice surprise, and I love how the post-Connecting Fragments part continued to tell the story of Takano, Irie, Tomitake, and Ooishi and give them all satisfying closure.
I didn't finish the DEEN anime, but after skimming through a bit of the Connecting Fragments part, it seems like so many of them were just glossed over so briefly, and again portrayed with a completely different tone and often just missing the "point" of them. To me, the Connecting Fragments was in a way "the real story of Hinamizawa, told for the first time", and it was one of the best parts of the whole VN to me. I also didn't know that the manga got THAT much longer as the chapters went on. It would be nice if the first 3 chapters were a bit longer, but like you said it was still ~25% longer than the anime and that's a huge improvement as it's enough to tell the "complete" story. It's also nice that they gave Matsuribayashi so many chapters, even expanding on some of the fragments and Takano's past.
Thanks for making this!!
Matsuribayashi is my second favourite arc largely due to the Connecting Fragments segment! Definitely one of the best parts of the whole series.
Sickkk :D My fav is either Matsuribayashi or Tatarigoroshi, followed closely by Meakashii and then Onikakushi!
You are hundred per cent right about how difficult it is to find the drama cds, especially Matsuribayashi hen. The price is currently so high that I can not buy them.
It's a shame, because VA's performances are simply astounding.
Yeah, I dream of buying them one day but that day is a long way off. I'm at least glad I was able to get Meakashi and Tsumihoroboshi for a decent price!
@@_bess Are they really nowhere online for download? I really want to listen to them and googled if there was maybe some way to download them, but i really couldnt find anything other than some discs i cant afford... (Maybe im dumb tho) i was really hoping to find someone who could point me somewhere i can get access to them ^^; do you have any idea?
I don't know if you still read comments on your old videos. I discovered your video essays recently and have been loving them. I remember first discovering the Higurashi anime when I was in high school, which for me was quite a while ago. I've always loved horror and I had stumbled across some AMV on a message board of different horror scenes and psychotic laughter from the anime spliced and edited to the tune of Flandre Scarlet's theme (that was a popular trend back then). I was immediately drawn in and wanted to know what the show was. After watching a few episodes online I purchased the original Geneon DVD set, but of course the subsequent season and OVAs never got english translations under them, so I watched various fan translations on UA-cam to finish off Kai and Rei. And naturally, when the manga were being translated into English, I ate those up. Unfortunately, I graduated high school in the middle of Tsumihoroboshi-hen being translated, so that's where my time with the manga ended. After high school I drifted away from anime and manga and video games. I did also watch the films at some point, but my memory of them is hazy.
Now, a decade later, I'm looking back on some of these things I enjoyed so dearly and as part of that I'm rewatching the anime, now that Kai and Rei are included in the Blueray set. Even though I've soured on a lot of anime I watched when I was younger, I'm loving Higurashi just as much as I remember. I definitely notice some of the things you mentioned here and in other videos as far as pacing is concerned and the condensed storytelling. Not having engaged with the original visual novels, I'm not aware just to what extent content was cut for the anime, though I have some notion from what I remember of the manga. I'm interested in playing the visual novels (it will be my first time playing a visual novel ever) and plan to do that soon.
When I watched your retrospective on Gou and Sotsu, one of the points you raised is how the show repeatedly misses out on the heart of the story in favor of cheap horror thrills and a pornographic focus on blood and gore. It missed, in short, that the horror and gore was not an end in itself but always a means to an end, serving a broader narrative purpose. I appreciate this critique, though I haven't watched Gou and Sotsu myself, because while it was the overt horror and violence of Higurashi that first drew me in, it's not what made me fall in love with it. This is true even though to this day my only real exposure to the story is through the anime. As you say, the characters of Higurashi are the heart of this story, and it was these characters, their struggles and fears, their joys and triumphs, that left me in tears at the end of the anime. When I finished Rei I was distraught that my time with these characters, whom I had grown to love so much, was now over.
The anime, I feel, does a very good job at connecting you with and communicating the nature of these characters, even if it does so imperfectly compared to the visual novels. Of course, the stellar voice acting, as you point out, is a big part of this. But I think the art and music is far better than you give it credit for being as well, and they play a large role here too. True, the character animations are not amazing, but I actually think that serves the charm of the show. They're rough, a bit like a sketch book, during the lighthearted times (particularly the start of question arcs), but become intense and well defined at critical moments. But beyond the animations, the overall art direction is phenomenal. The use of light and shadow, the beautiful scenery, it's very well done. Likewise with the audio, the sound effects never felt awkward or misplaced to me, and the OST is the only anime OST that I still think about regularly. Far from forgettable, the anime OST has some of the most moving and memorable music I've ever heard in anime or gaming. The show oozes atmosphere, and it's this masterful use of atmosphere that I think helps communicate the characters to the audience in a non-explicit way. The visual novels it sounds like (and the manga), particularly with their heavy use of internal monologues, communicate the characters to the audience in a more explicit way, so perhaps that's why you're more amiable towards them. But I don't think these things are are entirely or even significantly lacking in the anime. Certain particulars about the characters may be lost, but the heart of them is present, if in a subtler presentation. Of course, having not played the visual novels, maybe you think I couldn't possibly know that, so perhaps I have to write back once I've played them. But, at the very least, the heart of SOMETHING is on display in the anime, and that something is similar enough to what you experienced such that when I watched your Gou and Sotsu retrospective, your video on Shion not being a yandere, and your video on why you love Mion, I understood exactly where you were coming from and concurred with your descriptions of the characters, despite never having played the visual novels.
Most striking to me in this video is that you place the films higher than the anime. Again, it's been quite some time since I watched the films (perhaps I must revisit those as well, then), but from what I do remember from the time I watched them, I was not at all thrilled with them. I thought they were as about as bad as every other live-action adaptation from back then. They were cheesy, poorly acted, and to me, entirely missed the atmosphere that I loved so dearly from the anime, which was so crucial to my understanding of the characters. The films felt so lifeless to me, and it wasn't because they were slow-paced or had lots of sitting dialogue, because I actually really love those types of films and shows. I'm not a big action guy, I like dialogue and even silence, letting the scene and the mood tell the story. I like getting to know characters and becoming caught up in their lives and personalities. I like stories that take the time to really explore the lives of characters in mundane ways. Maybe I'd feel differently rewatching them now, but I just didn't get any of that from the films at the time, but I did from the anime, back then and now as I'm rewatching it. The anime left a deep, lasting, emotional impact on me that stuck with me all these years in a way the films never did.
I guess all of that is to say, maybe the anime isn't such a bad adaptation. I won't be able to properly compare until I've played the visual novels, of course. I will, however, defend the anime OST until the day I die! Those tracks still move me to tears, haha.
ua-cam.com/video/DMxhmnvl3ZQ/v-deo.html
10:25 in particular I’ve been humming for years.
I completely agree, an adaptation isn't obligated to adapt everything, they're ultimately abridged versions of the same story after all.
But yeah on a presentational level the first two seasons of the anime outclass everything else asides maybe the manga, asides from the animation.
I sometimes jokingly call kenji kawai, kenji kami (play on words using a Japanese phrase meaning god, and the name of kawai's frequent collaborator kenji kamiyama) because the ost is that good.
Genuis choice to get a renowned shoujo/josei anime director on board (chiaki kon) given the series' subject matter and demographic, just wish ryukishi was more involved in the adaptation process.
Rare Bess l for the ost take.
@@icravedeath.1200 My one frivolous wish is that one day there will be a remaster of the original anime, in the animation style of Kai/Rei. And it would be twice as long, adding in a bunch more slice of life scenes and missing bits from the VN, overall slowing down the pacing so we spend even more times with the characters. I’d love a multi-episode extended epilogue showing how the characters are getting on after the events of the story. Maybe set 3 months out, and one episode per member of the main cast focusing on them, plus one or two episodes for all the minor characters.
It would be the perfect adaptation. Alas, one can only dream.
@@marienritter1856 that'd be fucking sick tbh♥️
Either that or a Kara no kyoukai esque movie series with that series' level of production value with the same cast and crew (maybe with a better screenwriter though😆), but with the art style and designs derived from Rei/Kai.
Either one could be good if done right (the Kara no kyoukai series is long as fuck and generally accepted as a good adaptation of the vn).
@@marienritter1856 yeah, maybe something in the vain of the Kara no kyoukai movies could work as well, although there'd definitely need to be at least 10 of them💀
Keep the same cast and crew but ditch the screenwriter😆
@@marienritter1856 I do agree though, a more ergo proxy/monogatari esque slower paced, far more character focused adaptation.
Heck, Chiaki Kon can direct that shit pretty well, I think golden time and sailor moon crystal proves that pretty sufficiently, what the fuck went wrong with the adaptation, was it originally planned to be longer but cut down during production?
Though I love the anime and it’s very dear to my heart, I have never finished Kai because when I was first getting into it I was lucky enough to buy all of the Festival Accompanying Arc manga and found it a more beautiful way to wrap up the series. I love the manga so dearly, I use the manga English translations for arc names, I reread the volumes I own at least once a year. It’s an incredible shame that Yen Press has let over half of the manga fall into being out of print. I really hope it’ll get reprinted so more people can read it.
Agreed though I think I neglected to mention in this video that it's still readily and legally available in ebook form at least!
@@_bess Yup! And that's definitely better than not being able to read it!
(Sorry for the late reply)
I've watched the anime a few years ago and I'm in the process of rewatching it again. There are traces of the manga that I read that completely threw me off, like Shion's accidental fall being an actual suicide and the twins' identity swifting. I was planning on getting the game for the switch, but after watching this I decided to give the manga a try too. I hope the new anime does some justice on what was left out
Yes, I think changing Shion's death was a real misstep. It's one of the most impactful scenes in the series, especially her final line--which then corresponds later down the line to a part of Umineko--and there was no reason for them not to keep it that way besides the fact that they felt a few seconds-long suicide would've been too abrupt, which just goes to show how quickly a lot of other key plot points that were kept in were handled, too.
Otherwise, I would heavily recommend the PC version of the game over the Switch version! I suppose it's not as big a deal if you've already seen/read the series, but various arcs that aren't part of the original 8 and supposedly aren't written by Ryukishi are threaded in and really mess up the narrative arc imo. I think the final arc Ryukishi wrote is replaced, a lot of the original music is and some of the console versions are heavily censored with regards to the themes, though I'm not sure if the Switch port was or not. All the arcs in that version are available separately now, so it's best to just read the original first then those later.
Alright, I'll take your advice. You know best!
If my memory's not mistaken, the VN also treats it as a fall (like the anime), so I'm not sure why the manga changed it into suicide.
@@loren5432 It is a suicide in the original--she falls onto another rooftop and then chooses to roll off there to the ground.
@@_bess So, sound/manga is suicide, and VN/anime treats it like a fall? Kind of an odd choice.
Honestly I feel that each arc should have been their own season in the anime.
that´s impossible
I like the higurashi anime only because it’s like a cute animated recap of the visual novel that I so much prefer. I could not imagine watching the anime by itself and just leaving it there, it would be so confusing and shallow. I love the manga because it adds the visuals of the anime with the brilliant writing of ryukishi07!
Hey, I don't know if you know already but an anime remake of Higurashi is confirmed!
I started with the anime, loved it and still do. Later I started collecting the manga but stopped, don’t even know why. By now I read three visual novels and have to admit, they’re so much better than the anime! I love them but they’re taking so much time... I am really curious about the new anime though.
Btw what do you say about Umineko?
The Umineko anime? I haven't seen it since it aired but I didn't like it.
@@_bess no I meant Umineko in general
The Umineko anime is trash lol but it’s opening is nice
@@sophiesonozaki5886 I'm a huge fan of Umineko too, I talk about it in my WTC guide video!
Where are good places to buy the volumes I want to make sure the money will go to the team, creator and artists, as well as for the visual novel? I really wanna get invested on this series.
Steam is the place to buy the VNs, I started collecting the manga 10 years ago but I got it from a mixture of places: Amazon, bookshops, stalls at conventions and second-hand on Ebay! An online bookseller is the best place imo but it really depends on where you live and your budget
many people have already said it before, the issue with any anime adaptation, no matter how caring and good they are, will cut many things from the manga. Its physically impossible to get everything from a manga or light novel into an anime adaptation.
A fucking person who thinks
I don't think I would've even become interested in the sound novel if not for the anime. If anything, I still haven't bothered to check out the novels because of their much slower pacing. Adapting something to become something more effective and engaging is sometimes necessary.
When I was about 13-14, Higurashi lured me in on the basis of its gore. While I completely understand your perspective of the gore and the anime not covering the full brevity and beauty of the VN, I’m glad to say the anime was my first experience with Higurashi- the themes of friendship & found family in the face of such horror and brutal sadness still resonated deeply with me, and it was because I saw such violence I watched it in the first place. Higurashi is so niche and so time-consuming, that now as a 24 year old I can say I can have the time and mental capacity & appreciation to come back to one of my all-time favorite animes... But it was the anime from 2006 that struck that personal chord with me that brought me here anyway! I’m really excited that it can only go up from here as well!
1:48 hold up, it was Mion in the VN? I was convinced it was Shion....
Yep, Shion's first appearance is when she invites Keiichi to the Dessert Festa
@@_bess woooow i didnt realize that. but, right afterwards Keiichi went to angel mort. was it mion there as well?
The convo they have after Mion saves him from the thugs? That's her too
Great video!
I'm not at all against the anime adaptations actually showing the violence, so long as it also nails the other aspects. Sadly, DEEN wasn't really doing their best work during this time. Fate/Stay Night also suffered in that regard.
What about Umineko, which adaptation is the best?
Manga.
I decided to revist this series after the new anime came out. Went back to watch the original anime and tired to get into Gou but was really confused so I started playing the VN and you're so right.
I felt exactly the same way about the opening of the VN comparing it to the anime opening and quickly realised why the hardcore fans say the 2006 adaptation is the worse version of the Higurashi series.
I don't think the anime is terrible because it did get me interested in this series. But it doesn't do this series justice, it's annoying some people think this series is just torture porn.
I will read the Higurashi manga after finishing my read of Umineko
But I usually take about 25-30 minutes per chapter, so am I incredibly slow or is 10 minutes inhumanly fast?
I think the Umineko manga chapters might be longer based on the arc I've read, I should've used a better measure though lol
Ehhhh, I wouldn’t quite call the manga accessible, not in the form of physical copies anyway. I’m four books away from having a full set, but those last 4 I either can’t find anywhere or they cost hundreds of dollars I don’t have. Hopefully by 2022 I get lucky enough to snag the last 4 at a decent price.
Yeah this video was made a year ago and I hadn't realised the manga is out of print now, I believe that's a fairly recent development. You can get the manga legally in ebook form though, so still the most accessible option on this list by far
That’s fair. I think I’m just one of those people that isn’t satisfied with reading a book digitally. You can get the whole series for what I payed for the most recent physical book I found.Meakashi 3 and 4 are much harder to get and pricier than books 1 and 2 for some reason which is a shame because it’s one of my favorite arcs.
Karin Suzuragi was my favorite artist of the manga adaptation and the one I held as the definitive artist, while the Cotton Drifting arc's artist always felt stiff to me, especially the poses.
This was a really good and helpful video, I first watched Higurashi a long time ago when I was new to anime, recently I watched the Umineko VN and read the manga, I was wondering if the manga for Higurashi was as good as Umineko as an adaptation.
I agree on most things you said, about how the anime almost always loses subtlety over spectacle, which is a fatal flaw for such a character driven show, however, I don't think the soundtrack is to blame for this, I actually think, the first novels especially, with the infamous copyrighted music, are not particluarly interesting to listen to and the anime really improves on that. And granted, that scene you showed with Rena and the gang in the dumpster is perhaps the worst transition from novel to anime, but I don't think that's on the music, if anything, the music is even more emotional in the anime, however the way it is framed -and the butchery of the dialogue, seriously, Rena goes to a very dark place in the novels- really do make it seem underwehlming, which in effect subtracts a lot from the characters' decisions from that point onward.
I love the anime. Its in my top 3. But this makes me really want to drop all my money on every one of the sound novels.
The first chapter is free on Steam!
@@_bess I have it! I'm really enjoying what I've read so far.
I can’t believe Kamen Rider Mach is Keiichi
What are your thoughts on the upcoming reebot?
Please see this post I made: twitter.com/mionswife/status/1244624485317214209?s=19
Where's the background sound music from? At 00:29
Chikai by Eiko Shimamiya, the theme for the Higurashi Chikai movie.
@@_bess No wonder I didn't know. I haven't seen the movies :v. Thanks
I’m a huge fan of the anime. I don’t have money/resources to be able to play the games or read the manga. This vid was really informative. Do you recommend website to read it from?
You can find walkthrough of the games on youtube, just search for "higurashi vn".
Ps: For the first four arc of the vn there's a sort of debriefing of the arc with the characters named "all cast review", you can find them on youtube and for the four arcs of kai there's a debriefing but with the author, you can find it too, it's called "staff room", even if you don't read the vn I would recommand reading them.
I do like the anime, but i still hope a great studio will remake the show someday. Studio Deen fucked it up animationwise.
Ok, now I finally watched it (damn youtube app), anyways, I completely agree with you. The anime isn't that great, the only things I truly like from it are the first 2 openings and the first ending songs. I haven't watched the movies nor the tv drama (I was planning on it though), so I can't really discuss about it. And the manga, oh yeah, the manga is beautiful, I'm currently reading it, and it's awesome. It's a shame really, Umineko hasn't got this much attention,
14:14 Wait are they wearing BtSSB
21:59 You mean like the real Watanagashi?
Where can I read the manga?
Mangaowl
Oh boy I cant wait to hear your opinion on umineko, that series was even more of a trainwreck than higurashi
What’s the difference between the voice acting of the VN and the drama CDs?
The line readings can be quite different in cadence, making them take on new meaning, and I generally feel the acting is more raw and emotive (though that's not to say it isn't great across all the adaptations). There are also things like Yukari Tamura using a different voice for Rika to the one she uses now at first
So I loved the anime at 11, and you’re 100% right. It was more because of the pure shock value of what was going on. At that point I was just getting into anime for the first time, I assumed most of it would be like yugioh or soul eater. Which is why higurashi initially really drew me to it. Though in my case I couldn’t get into Kai because of a mixture of the natural kid thing to swap interests every two minutes, along with the fact that Hanyuu admittedly really annoyed me back then. Now until this video I mostly saw Kai as “the one that adds yet another loli”. I was even disappointed when she showed up for two seconds in the new anime. What are you thinking of the new adaptation so far btw? I might give the manga another shot (tried it and didn’t like it as a kid but you know how that is). So far I think the new show not only looks better than the original anime in its art style, but also in the few scary scenes. Mostly with things like the hyper attention to detail, especially in their mouths.
Also I look back on the show now and remember it having loli fanservice, which creeped me out and stopped me from revisiting. Yet as I’m watching the new anime I’m not seeing anything of the sort. Did I just...imagine that? Or was I just so used to that kinda thing in anime that I just assumed that’s what was going on (even at 11...yeesh).
Is there a setting on steam that adds the voice acting in on the sound novel? I haven't been able to find it and really want to hear the VAs while I read
The original game was without voice acting which is the version on Steam but a group of fans have put together a patch of the console ver of the game to add it in: 07th-mod.com/home/
@@_bess Thank you so much!!!
You've very much answered one of my biggest questions about the manga. I have no access to my PC so I can't read the original VN / SN. I've started reading the manga again after so long with the intention of finishing this time around. I hope the same is true about the Umineko manga being just as faithful as the Higurashi manga adaptation. I have a bit of a soft spot for the live action movies and I dislike the TV Drama for using cosplay making it hard for me to take it seriously and the fact Satako and Rika's actresses are basically the same age as the older cast.
I finished the manga in about 2 weeks and really enjoyed it, but I was reading scanlations and the translation quality varied widely from arc to arc. I also got the feeling there was a chapter or two that I missed, after rewatching this video there's a few panels you showed that I don't remember. The manga itself was great but I was frustrated by these issues. I enjoyed it so much that I want to be sure I got the whole story. Am I really going to play the whole long ass VN tho..... Still thinking about it. I read a lot faster than the voice actors speak, which sometimes makes for a frustrating experience.
Yeah the scanlations I've come across have had stuff missing. Still highly rec the VN even if you've read the manga! You can click through the text as quickly as you want without waiting for the VA or play without it (though I do rec it)
@@_bess oh, thanks for that info, I was wondering if that was the case. That helps bc I had started watching a playthrough on youtube where obviously you can't advance any faster than the video goes. I read too fast and then get distracted by my own thoughts while waiting for the voice acting to catch up and it breaks the immersion (╥﹏╥)
I always had issues with the VN because none of the versions available in English - the steam version is lacking voice acting and such.
Do you mean the versions available in English lack voice acting? You can use the 07th Mod patch to add the Japanese voice acting if so: 07th-mod.com/home/
I just rewatched the anime past few days and while some points you made are agreeable like certain plot points being left out, I think the anime does a great job on building the world and its characters in a digestable way through brilliant voice performances and character animation while bringing life to the bits that would otherwise just be reading. Huge problem I have with the VN is not that its long, moreso that its bloated with every detail and feeling being explained in slogging detail. And while the moment to moment quality/cleanliness of the show would up to question for some, I think the expressiveness of the anime delivers so much more than the still character models in the VN/SN(On that note, see pheonix wright for brilliant use of visuals in visual novels). I havent read the manga, and it definitely looks stunning, so I'll have to give it a go.
we all know that the best keichi is sonic the hedge hog from the original amines English dub
I find it really funny that the things you hate about series 1 is all stuff I like. I think the direction is really great in spite of the poor animation quality and that the sound direction is amazing.
have you watched higurashi gou ???
Yes, I talk about it in this video ua-cam.com/video/LNk9mnNcgvw/v-deo.html
NIPAAAAAH
the sound novel is so absurdly disturbing
Well, if you think this was a bad adaptation as it only focused on the violence rather the emotions, then don't even watch Higurashi Gou, its just like Corpse party, it enjoys to just torture the cast.
I criticised that element of the 2006 anime because it diverged from the tone of Ryukishi's writing. Gou is written by Ryukishi. I'm not entirely convinced the level of violence is necessary or justifiable, but we should at least consider its purpose. Gou as a series is one that focuses on Rika's character (according to the director), so it makes sense to me to explore her trauma in this way. Whereas many scenes in the original Higurashi were centred on emotions, Gou very clearly intends to be viscerally horrifying. I think we should wait until we know more about what it seeks to achieve by evoking this horror before judging it too harshly.
@@_bess Thank you for responding.
Yeah I'm personally more judgemental on how visceral and focused on the gore Gou is, with how the opening song sounds it makes just think that it is trying to be a "cool" show full of gore, there are other things feeling and thoughts I have about the show that will make this comment the length of the bible. Overall for now I'm just now focused onto getting the manga and original works, which just to ask, which is the original material by release date (I'm dumb and I get confused, please understand me) Thank you.
I would probably feel the same if I hadn't read the VN, but Ryukishi just isn't that kind of author. He understands suffering and that is why he portrays it in such excruciating detail--it's not a new thing for him. The 06 anime blunted Higurashi all around. When Ryukishi does portray violence, it is often more graphic than what made it into the DEEN anime. Gou isn't beyond criticism, but I can understand the use of violence for the purpose of making the audience understand what Rika has been through, including those who maybe enjoyed said violence in the past. I'll have more thoughts on whether it was used effectively and appropriately once the show is done, but I doubt it was a decision made lightly. There's more meaning to it than an impulse to shock for sure.
The series starts with the first arc, Onikakushi, which you can get as a two volume manga or on Steam (for free I think). Otherwise you can buy the whole eight main arcs on Steam together as part of the Higurashi Hou bundle. They're all numbered so you'll know which order to read them in
@@_bess Thank you very very much, I was aware I could get it through steam I just was not sure if that was the right one.
Still from the small snip its of what I have seen of the manga and other materials and comparing them to Gou does make me realise that it is written by the same person, I think it is just the media of animation that makes it feel more sadistic to me, and also that weird past state in which the horror genre was were it was all action gore and nothing else.
Again thank you for telling me where to get higurashi, I'm waiting for my laptop to finish downloading the first free chapter, thank you.
Given that each arc has a different average of pages per chapter, wouldn't be better (and more time consuming) to assume a reading speed of pages per minute (ppm) and base the calculations around that? For example, if we estimate a ppm of 3.5 (a surprisingly fast one), arc 1 takes ~2 hours to complete in manga form, and makes it take a bit more than two times the anime's length (~31 hours 17 min) to read the 8 core arcs. A more sane 3ppm (a 180 pages volume in an hour) means it takes ~2 hours 20 min to read the first arc, and ~36 hours 30 min for the core arcs. The speed you suggested (indirectly) is 4.76 ppm.
And yes, I did count the pages (although I rounded the numbers to be always even, for easier calculations) and dumped it into a spreadsheet (in LibreOffice) to make the calculations.