I’m not going to suggest that Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – SOTSU wasn’t pretty bad. It was. But there have been better anime with worse sequels – Higurashi isn’t something to take all that seriously in the first place, and this definitely hit the “so bad it’s good” note a few times. Where I think Sotsu really stands out, however, is pointlessness. I’m hard-pressed to think of a series that has less real reason to exist at all – at least in its final form. This entire show could have been dusted in 3 or 4 episodes with ease, and the fact that it was bloated to 15 is no less than a fraud committed against fans of the franchise.
That is what it is, and anyway I’m still here, so how much of a sucker am I for that? As for the finale it was in the main exactly as it was telegraphed. Satoko got off beyond easy, as you knew she would. She deserved a hell of a lot more than a few punches in the kisser from a little girl, but the most offensive thing about this was that Rika – after all the suffering Satoko put her through over and over – was perfectly willing to declare her love for Satoko and leave it at that. And all of this could have been avoided if they’d just had one honest conversation about it in the first place.
Let’s set aside all that wink-wink stuff teasing the other facets in Ryukishi’s golden goose of a franchise – I don’t have any experience with any of them but Higurashi, I don’t really get the references, and I don’t care. Basically this was just Rika and Satoko in an analog cat fight, Hanyuu and Eua in a digital one, and the aforementioned BS reconciliation. Along with that a happy ending for pretty much everybody as far as I can tell, even Nii-Nii and Uncle Teppei. That’s all fine and good I suppose, but it reinforces that nagging question – just what the hell was the point of all this?
The answer, of course, is to make money. Which I’m sure Gou and Sotsu are doing, what with their attached manga spinoffs and VN modules and BD/DVD sales and merchandising. I liked certain elements of Gou a lot, even if the guro stuff soiled the bed pretty badly. Heck, I even though the way the St. Lucia stuff was handled in Gou was kind of interesting. As for Sotsu, though, the only remotely notable thing about it – and it was fairly notable, to be fair – was the Teppei redemption thread. That was unexpected and executed pretty well, actually. Which is, I guess, better than nothing.
In the end I did enjoy having Higurashi back in the TV landscape for a while. I watched a lot of Higurashi during the period when I was transitioning from a casual anime fan to a real fanatic, and those are good memories. Given how popular the franchise remains to this day I can’t imagine we won’t see yet another incarnation of the anime sometime down the road. It won’t be a masterpiece – none of them are – but I just hope it expands the mythology in a more meaningful way than Sotsu and Gou have. The real fans of the franchise deserve that much.
Grumpy
October 2, 2021 at 9:37 amI watched Gou. But the first Ep of Sotsu didn’t get me hooked and your First Impressions was my clincher to drop the show. What episodes should i watch If I just what to know how did Rika figured everything was because of Satoko and how things got resolved?
Guardian Enzo
October 2, 2021 at 9:46 amYou could pretty much watch the first, and the last two. The Teppei episodes in the middle are kind of interesting as a standalone, though – like #7-9 maybe?
gedata
October 3, 2021 at 1:54 amRemember the scene in Gou where Satoko somehow knew that Rika’s gift was supposed to be a trap and ducked before it was opened? That was what tipped Rika off. Most of Gou is just showing the stuff that lead up to that moment even though it doesn’t matter at all.
Grumpy
October 6, 2021 at 9:33 pmI finally watched the last 2 eps and i cringed the entire time. The fight scene of Rika and Satoko turned DBZ real quick and they reminded us that the main reason for all the suffering we had to go thru Gou and probably Sotsu is Satoko’s hate on studying and the resolution was something they should have done at the start which was to compromise with each other.
I’m staying away from anything related to Higurashi from now on. LOL.
Derrick
October 2, 2021 at 3:20 pmmassive waste of time for animator and watchers.
Zichiro
October 3, 2021 at 4:33 amIn my opinion, you are too quick to jump to conclusions, because the point in holding Gou and Sotsu is to answer and explain the questions in the previous sequels, especially Kai.
Kim
October 4, 2021 at 12:03 amI am just amused that somehow this series ended up with the the happiest ending. It doesn’t feel earned at all though.
Kim
October 4, 2021 at 12:13 amOn another note I actually liked the conclusion that Rika and Satoko came to that they don’t have to do everything or be together always to stay friends. I said that should have been the resolution from the start
The issue for everything that Satoko did we are reminded it’s such a mundane issue that what Satoko does never makes sense. It’s even ridiculous and not believable for Higurashi standards
Hana
October 22, 2021 at 2:55 pmThis anime ending doesn’t feel right for me. I love how the “old” higurashi ends. If they can’t make it happy ending (I don’t play the VN, and i don’t know if this ending is the one possible ending from VN), for me it’s fine to have epic bad ending.
I have a question, in the last episode, did you guys remember when rika and satoko talks their poetic farewell conversation that,
Rika: “Itsuka aeru wa” or “We’ll see each other someday”
Satoko: “Sugu ni aeru wa” or “Sooner than we think”
and then they both says “Mata, nanika ga naku koro ni” or “When they cry-Whoever they are”
Does it mean they can appear on the other “no naku koro ni” such as umineko or it’s a clue that there are possibilities for this series to have another sequel considering the evil satoko didn’t disappear?
And for the author, I wonder what anime with worse sequel that you mentioned above?
*Sorry for my bad English
Guardian Enzo
October 22, 2021 at 3:10 pmAs to bad sequels a few come to mind. FLCL, Inuyasha, Last Exile, Blood-+. But part of that may be because I’m only a casual Higurashi fan, so I’m not as invested in a sequel changing the mythology as a hard-core fan would be.
tyciol
December 22, 2021 at 2:53 pm>Does it mean they can appear on the other “no naku koro ni” such as umineko
it would explain Lambdadelta
although she resembles Miyo too so I think there’s some Miyo/Satoko interplay we’ve yet to see in another Higurashi sequel that finally leads to the birth of Lambdadelta
LD is the one who is finally able to challenge Featherine (reduced “Eua” aka True Oyashiro) and seems to be a merger of the witch versions of Miyo and Satoko.
Meanwhile it seems like while Eua/Oyashiro initially empowered Hanyu, Hanyu managed to surpass Eua by injuring her in battle, chipping her horn, just as Hanyu’s horn was chipped prior to her leveling up and managing to repair it.
I also think it being Miyoko’s bullet which injured Hanyu’s horn is significant. I don’t think that’s something I’d expect a mundane weapon to do. I think it might relate to the witch potential Miyo had, and also in averting the Hinamizawa Syndrome fates which were put in place by Eua/Oyashiro
then of course we know there are beings who outrank Eua and/or Featherine so maybe they are the true Oyashiro? dunno