That was pretty awful.
I’m not going to have a whole lot to say about this episode of Higurashi Gou. I pretty much hated it and life’s too precious to waste much of it writing about an anime episode I hated. Last week’s episode raised the bar on gross violence, but this one really took it off the charts. It sounds obvious, but just because you can do something like this doesn’t mean you should. Who does that kind of graphic detail help, really? It’s torture porn plain and simple, and if that’s the audience Ryukishi07 is going for in this remake, I’m happy not be a part of it. This is not progress.
No, I’m not dropping Gou – now. But if this trend continues I certainly will. Higurashi isn’t a snuff film, at least not the Higurashi I rather liked in its anime heyday (and the first cour). This series was never profound or deep but it wasn’t what this version has turned into in the last couple of episodes, that’s for sure. And in addition to the utterly gratuitous gore, the whole premise of the episode – that Rika was wrong for wanting to leave Hinamizawa – left me completely cold. I mean, really – that’s what you come up with? Fuck Oyashiro-sama, fuck Hinamizawa, and fuck Ryukishi if he thinks I’m buying that line of goods. After what Rika’s been through she has every right to want to be on the first train out of that nightmare of a village.
Even that was more than I planned to write, so I’ll leave it there. Hopefully this is a blip and we can get back to Higurashi’s normal blend of suspense and brutality very soon. If not, well- it’s been nice knowing you.
Anchen
January 23, 2021 at 1:06 amThis was a tough episode for sure. I am also not particularly into like just how long the scene went that basically took up the first half and what message it seemed to give. While there was certainly despair and sadness before, they were never like these last 2 episodes. There was always build up and payoff and some suspense. What main hope I have is that there is far too many episodes left in the show for that to be the real final message. Right? Yeah I don’t know if that will be true, but it’s what I have to hold onto for now. It doesn’t jive with the old series theme of fighting fate and I just guess I hope there is some better light at the end of the show.
Kim
January 23, 2021 at 9:46 amI haven’t watched the episode yet but I’ve been feeling less positive about this adaption and it’s reason for existing for some time. The direction is very much over the top compared to the original too. I am hoping it all comes together in the end and I will understand the point of this sequel but right now I just don’t. The original had a great ending and if you are going to mess with that there needs to be a good reason for it. Not just let’s make Rika suffer
I will say because of this sequel I rewatched the original and I am thankful it got me to do that. But you can really see a stark difference between the two series.
Kim
January 24, 2021 at 7:50 amAfter watching the episode while the first part was too much I actually don’t think the final lesson will be Rika shouldn’t have left Hinamizawa. This may be what Rika thinks now but as the series isn’t over yet that can’t be the final answer . She is wrong about that just like she is probably wrong that Hanyu was telling her to kill herself if things got too bad
Guardian Enzo
January 24, 2021 at 10:02 amI hope you’re right, because the alternative is pretty nauseating.
Patchy
January 24, 2021 at 4:18 pmNot excusing the snuff, but I have a theory (erase something if it is too spoilery)
With Rika having “won” the game in Higurashi Kai, I’m suspecting this may be the series of terrible worlds that break the Rika that was kind off left behind and plays into Umineko story. I hope I’m wrong or the series will turn into overdrive misery porn.
I’m hoping Kim is right and there’s something more for rika to learn at the end of this series, being that defeatism has been her main flaw (not without reason) and jumping into thinking “Hanyuu wants me to commit suicide” as soon as the blade is presented is totally in character. Here’s hoping K1 shows her the light again.
C.B.
January 25, 2021 at 11:36 amI’m just hoping this series isn’t Ryukishi07 lashing out at toxic fans ala Hideaki Anno and his Evangelion movies. Trolls make up the vocal minority of most popular fandoms and should be ignored, not fed.
Guardian Enzo
January 25, 2021 at 11:49 amI was thinking this might be more like him attempting to service them (assuming he thinks Episode 16 is what they want) but that’s an interesting take.
Abs
January 25, 2021 at 6:30 pmThis technically might be an episode where both the studio and the voice actor were at stake. The results are very good when compared to the previous episode, the animation is still lacking & the detail of each scene changes as if it was rushed to finish but everything paid off in this episode even though there were still a few misses.
In the end anyone must love Hinamizawa, no matter how bad the situation is, live Hinamizawa, let’s stand up for justice and law there.
Wednesday
February 6, 2021 at 7:20 amI feel like one of the keynotes of this Higurashi is that “the curse of Oyashiro-sama” is much more literal than it’s ever been before. I feel like Rika’s actually been cursed: wasn’t an inability to leave Hinamizawa one of the symptoms of the curse in the previous version? One of the things that’s really disturbing about Gou is that it’s clearly dedicated to punishing Rika. In the original Higurashi, everything that happened was tragic, but it didn’t feel so… personal.
Guardian Enzo
February 6, 2021 at 9:05 amCould be that’s because whatever is looping Satoko is literally trying to torture Rika with extreme prejudice.