Higurashi No Naku Koro NiFollow

Sorry Poldaran, I totally forgot about your PM! Thank you for it :D

And I agree with the (subbed!) anime being better... IF it is well done. Unfortunately, most of the anime I have seen is not; either it is given too much filler, or misses way too much from the manga. Both Love Hina and Ichigo 100% are inferior for the manga, IMO. Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni is so far MUCH better as anime (although the stories are pretty much identical from what I've seen).

Edit: BTW, episode 19 is refreshingly different than the others so far. Go Shion! Who, unfortunately, is also probably ******* crazy. Sigh.

Edited, Oct 6th 2009 7:56am by LockeColeMA

Eh... I haven't seen any dubbed anime I would consider good. Then again, I've seen far less anime than I've read manga, and far less dubbed anime than subbed. I actually think Trigun was pretty well dubbed.

I'm trying to figure out where episodes 16-20(?) relate to the other stories. I think they're a counterpoint to the second arc. Gives a very interesting view of what was actually going on.

Edit: My analysis really is only interesting for me, so I'm taking it out :-P Anyone know how many arcs there are here? I can't tell if there's three or four (or more yet to be found). So far I think of them as "the pure story" (1-4), Shion (5-8, maybe 16-20), Satoko's uncle (9-13), and the cop's view (14-15). However, the cop's view might just be the same as Satoko's uncle, just during a different time frame. Some things line up (SpoilerRika's death is the same, and the entire village is destroyed by poisonous gas), and nothing contradicts (Spoileralthough Keiichi surviving is not mentioned.)

Edited, Oct 6th 2009 8:57am by LockeColeMA

Edit: Yup, looks like the anime goes in order. The manga does for sure, at least. Meakashi, which is the Shion solution arc, is what I'm on right now. I think that'll wind up soon. Next should be Tsumihoroboshi arc, which answers the "pure story." According to wikipedia, it is drastically different than the first story arc, however.

Edited, Oct 6th 2009 9:19am by LockeColeMA

That's what I figure. I'm trying to piece together as much as I can before then. Unlike a game, I know I'll be told the answer eventually; but I want to figure it out for myself.

The entire thing makes a lot more sense if you look at it as a scientific experiment or one of those "choose your own adventure" games. Well, the game part makes sense, as it was originally a game. Each arc is just another chance to see what a change will do to the story, so you get the chance to pinpoint where everything goes wrong. For example, if you do nothing, X seems to kill Y and Z. If you add in S, Y is left alive, but Z looks like she kills S, X, and S and T for the hell of it. But if you follow the same story from a different point of view, it turns out Z isn't the murderer, but rather S is.

Sorry for the letters, but I think you get the idea. There isn't just one variable changing each time, though the ones I mentioned before are the most obvious ones. Personalities change as well. In the first arc, Keiichi loses trust in his friends. In the second, he apologizes and tries to sacrifice himself for them. In the third, he goes overboard trying to help them (Spoilerand ironically is the only survivor). Other characters change somewhat as well. Rena and Keiichi seem like a couple in the first arc, but in the second it's Keiichi and Mion, and in the third, Keiichi and Satoko (more like brother and sister than a couple).

I almost feel like more arcs need to be added, changing one thing at a time. How do I know if someone goes crazy because a new character was added, or because they were hanging out with someone else? I guess in the game this is easier to do; in anime, it would become tedious to the extreme.

Apparently episodes 16-the end of the first season are the "answer" arcs. If it was a game, these would be the "bad" endings (but not as bad as the first four arc endings), which you get for playing through the game without a bleeding clue of what you're doing. So then you try again, which is the second half of season 1, learning from your mistakes the first time, or coming at it from a different approach. You take your time to figure out more about Shion instead of Keiichi (episodes 16-20). And while the ending is still horrific (I just believe episode 20 will be bloody as heck), you learn a little more. So you take Shion out of the equation again, and see what you get (these should be the final episodes of season 1). I expect the ending is still freaking horrific, but you learn more and more.

The answer arcs give a lot more information, but (so far) still don't have the information to make things "good." Season 2 sounds like you get a lot of the answers, and figure out the good ending. Not sure what the answers will be, or what season 3 would hold, but I'm guessing that's how it's going.

Edit: I just totally remembered what avatar Poldaran was saying Allegory had before; the maniacal laughing Shion/Mion face, right? Yeah, that creeped me out for a while. Now that I know the anime, it makes a lot more sense.

Edited, Oct 6th 2009 11:18am by LockeColeMA

Edit2: So the Shion arc actually goes through episode 21. Which, by the way, was gruesome. The BIG unresolved question is SpoilerMion gets killed by Shion. Shion accidentally kills herself. Who the **** kills Keiichi in the hospital!? Actually, the big unresolved question is "Who killed Satoshi, or is he still alive?"

Edited, Oct 6th 2009 1:40pm by LockeColeMA

Just finished episode 25. Holy crap, this really IS Resident Evil 4. SpoilerBeware Las Plagas!

It has been decided. That's what we're gonna do. We're gonna have what will likely go down in history as an extremely geeky Halloween party and watch the entire 1st season in a night while enjoying many of our favorite Halloween party treats. With the lights off, because we're crazy like that*.

So, Locke, don't ruin it for me(okay, I'm kidding, I've read a fair bit ahead).





*The next night, when I'll be home alone, I will not be surprised if I have to keep all the lights on all night. And keep my knife with me all night. Mostly because I have an overactive imagination and the terror threshold of a 6 year old.

I'm just teasing.

Edit: BTW, since you're here, I wanted to ask...did you ever get around to watching Strawberry Panic?

Edited, Oct 7th 2009 6:33am by Poldaran

There's a bit of fanservice, but not too much. There's also a bit of nudity, but it's mostly covered(I think you see some side-boob and a butt or two).

If you end up liking that one, you should then check out Maria-sama ga Miteru. But that's really a discussion for a different thread at a different time.

I noticed that in the first arc. SpoilerIt's an airsoft gun, according to TVTropes.




Now that you've stated it on the boards, you have to post pics. You know the rules.

Edited, Oct 7th 2009 11:56pm by Poldaran

I don't know if I like season 2. I mean, I do... but there's NO mystery compared to season 1. It's weird. I enjoy that the characters now seem to have a fighting chance, but part of me misses the horror when everyone goes insane for seemingly no reason. I'm 15 episodes through season 2 right now, and the most recent episodes talk about SpoilerTakano's past. I still feel like there's some missing information year, but everything seems to be winding down. There's a lot more talk than action.

Ok, finished the series (except for the "Rei" season, which I believe is just light-hearted fun asides).

Spoilers ahoy!

SpoilerTanako is the "main" bad guy. I use "main" because she is actually funded by a division of "Tokyo," and we never learn which of them are the ones behind it. The entire thing is wrapped up well in the last 8 or so episodes. All the major lose ends are closed. Satoshi was NOT killed, but was affected by the terminal symptoms, which in turn affected his brain. They don't explain why he wasn't dissected, but I'm guessing Irie stopped it. Tomitake FINALLY lives. No one dies in the last episode, not even Tanako, who is taken in to be treated. At the end of the final episode some lady who looks like a grown-up Rika warns the child Tanako about the accident her parents will be in. Tanako chooses to die, but I guess by her being there, both her parents and her survive it or something. That part wasn't really wrapped up well.

Thoughts overall: I enjoyed the first season more. I REALLY liked the ending of season 1, even if it isn't the best ending (SpoilerTomitake dies, and it is implied Rika does as well, and thus everyone dies). Season 1 has a lot more action and a bunch more freaky stuff going on. In fact, since in the ending Spoilerno one dies, I actually felt the ending coasted to a stop, as opposed to having an epic conclusion. I kinda felt like the ending was watching an anime version of Home Alone. Somehow the kids survive against people who should have killed them several times over.

The series is a great murder mystery, and completely f*cked up in some of the first season's episodes. I feel like it would make an awesome game to play. While season 2 wraps it all up, it took away from the mystery and was a bit of a let down.

A couple of things not explained:
1. SpoilerHow/why do Mion and Rena have the level 5 virus to infect Keiichi at the end of episode 4, season 1? And why do they stop going psycho once they inject him? The closest answer I can find is that Keiichi is already showing Level 5 symptoms due to his stress level and imagines everything that happens with Rena and Mion, including them injecting him with the virus.
2. SpoilerWhy does Rika have the virus at the end of the Shion-is-evil arc? She tries to inject Shion, but it never explains, in my mind, where she got the syringe. It's POSSIBLE that it isn't the virus in the syringe, but it seems implied that it is.
3. SpoilerWas everything just REALLY lucky at the end? I mean, it seems like a lot of the choices made aren't made by the main characters, but happen on a whim of the side characters.
4. SpoilerNot a big question, but what happens to Keiichi at the end of the Satoko arc? He's the sole survivor. Later both Satoko's end and Rena's future are explained. Actually, in that same idea, why do Rena/Satoko/Keiichi, in separate worlds, survive the effects of Rika's death?

That's really about it. Nothing big is left over.

Nanodesu~

Edited, Oct 13th 2009 2:32pm by Kirby

Yes.