The second series of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni finally begins! It’s been over 9 months since I finished watching the first series so my memories of some of the details are a bit foggy, but I remember the main events and gist of the story well enough. What started off as a seemingly average anime with stereotypical characters quickly turned into one of the most complex, intricate, and suspenseful horror/mystery series’ I’ve ever seen. The original Higurashi series won me over after the first few episodes, and although Higurashi Kai is starting off a little slow, I’m sure more suspense and mystery aren’t far behind…
After the first Higurashi series ended and news of a second series leaked out, I had no idea what to expect from the second series. I didn’t know if it would be more of the same kind of story arcs as the first series, or something different. Judging from these first two episodes, so far it seems like it’s going to be similar to the first season though I can’t tell if it’s going to retell all the Hinamizawa tragedies through a bunch of story arcs like in the first series or portray the story in a different way. I’m pretty confident in saying that Rika is going to be a lot more important in this series – her dialogue with Satoko in episode 2 as well as her frequent appearance in the opening song make it seem that way. All the old cast is back and it doesn’t seem like there are any new characters except for the “hanyuu” girl in the opening and ending song. She seems connected to Rika somehow so I’m interested in finding out the mystery behind those two. As someone who knows nothing more of the Higurashi story besides what’s been shown in the anime (I’ve never played the game or read the manga), there’s always new mysteries to unravel =)
Anyway, as far as these first two episodes go, it’s hard to tell what kind of a path this new series will take. The first episode was quite obviously a reintroduction episode, refreshing our memories of all the mysteries and information that was revealed when the first series ended. Nothing really new happened, although it was kinda cool to see Rena all grown up (and a much older Ooishi too). And after the seriousness of the first episode, episode 2 makes a total transition to the short-lived comedy that Higurashi can offer. We get some hints at the mystery surrounding Rika but other than that, episode 2 almost makes the series seem like a slice-of-life school comedy than the horror/suspense series it truly is. The first series was deceitful like that too but it didn’t take more than a few episodes for all the horror and mystery to break through. I’m not really a big fan of the hyperbolic comedy that Higurashi gets from time to time and episode 2 was loaded with it. But I put up with it because I know the good stuff will come soon enough. The only thing really striking about episode 2 was towards the end, in the short dialogue between Rika and Satoko. The impression I got from this is that Rika remembers the events of the first series (she’s the only one it seems) because she remains unchanged for some reason while all the tragedies and murders of Hinamizawa keep reoccurring over and over again around her. There’s hints that all the characters that die get reborn to keep repeating the Hinamizawa tragedies in different ways, but Rika seems to retain her memories of her previous life. Well, I guess the only way to find out if my first impressions hold any validity is to keep watching the new season of Higurashi. It’s really difficult to say what the new series will be like just from these two episodes but I’m sure all the horrific mystery and suspense of the first series will make a comeback and hopefully more of the mystery, especially concerning Rika, will be resolved, though I’m sure more mystery will be invoked as well. Either way, I’m excited about experiencing the complex but engrossing Higurashi no Naku Koro ni story for a second time! XD
Leave a Comment