Help identify an anime and offer your opinion on it

[JohnnyDelRay]

Hi guys and girls. So, while discussing some anime/manga with a friend of mine, I vaguely remembered a series that I had seen a while back. I'd like to introduce it to him as something kinda unique, trouble is I can't remember the name. If you know it, you'll get it in a flash.

The premise is:
>young guy, middle school I think
>moves to a remote town
>his parents either not around, or barely part of the narrative
>goes to school, which is populated by mostly (only?) girls?
>most are younger. Tensions arise quickly.
>story gets very creepy as facts about the town come out
>main character discovers that these girls are a bit mental
(manipulative, homicidal, suicidal, sadistic, etc.)

Each arc lasts a few episodes, and things start fairly normal and end up all kinds of macabre. But every 'arc' restarts the whole premise, maintaining all of the characters and most of their traits. They all have a great pace, starting out very cute and innocent and devolving into rather dark over an episode or two.

I watched through 2 or 3 of the arcs, but haven't seen the rest. I'm wondering if it's worth re-acquiring them. Do they get better, or maintain their ghost-story like tempo? Anyone who has seen the latter of the series, opinions most welcome. Also, the name of the damn thing would help too.

Cheerio!

 

[Asita]

Sounds like Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, or "Higurashi When they Cry" in English. Can't give you much more than that, as I only know it by reputation and Wikipedia.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Asita is correct, that sounds like Higurashi.

As far as my opinion on it, the first season is alright, all the other seasons are fucking terrible.

The first season works best if you think of all the arcs are being completely unconnected, and just being messed up things happening to this group of characters.

The second season attempts to make all of the things that happened in the first season make sense through magic and parallel dimensions, and it's just so stupid and incredibly unsatisfying.

So basically if you're going to watch this do yourself a favor and just watch the first season and leave it at that.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Sounds like Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, or "Higurashi When they Cry" in English.

Asita is correct, that sounds like Higurashi.

As far as my opinion on it, the first season is alright, all the other seasons are fucking terrible.

Thanks guys, that is spot on. And for your opinion too! I think I'll watch the rest of the first season when I can then, just wanna get the best of it. I enjoyed the premise, and was wondering how well it would hold up over multiple seasons. If trying to tie them all together, I imagine can be hard to pull off and get irritating as hell, especially in a vague filler kinda way.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Thanks guys, that is spot on. And for your opinion too! I think I'll watch the rest of the first season when I can then, just wanna get the best of it. I enjoyed the premise, and was wondering how well it would hold up over multiple seasons. If trying to tie them all together, I imagine can be hard to pull off and get irritating as hell, especially in a vague filler kinda way.

Actually, I'm going to disagree with Dirty Hipsters. It may just be a taste thing, but I thought the second season was far superior to the first, as that's when we start getting some answers and everything really ties together (not that the first season was a slouch either). But everything wraps up in the second, and from season three on it's just silly extras made to please hardcore fans.

Stay away from the english dub though. I think everyone would agree with that.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

snip

Actually, I'm going to disagree with Dirty Hipsters. It may just be a taste thing, but I thought the second season was far superior to the first, as that's when we start getting some answers and everything really ties together (not that the first season was a slouch either). But everything wraps up in the second, and from season three on it's just silly extras made to please hardcore fans.

Stay away from the english dub though. I think everyone would agree with that.

Thanks, another opinion is always good. I'll give it a try for sure, opinions vary so much on anime when it comes to what directions the story should go. For example, I'm almost through watching Baccano!, where most people said it gets better once everything ties together after the second half, but I found the first half where it was all random and chaotic to be much more gripping at the time.

In any case, I avoid English dubs like the plague, they make me feel like some sort of idiot just trying to listen to them.

 

[Fox12]

Higurashi?

snip

Actually, I'm going to disagree with Dirty Hipsters. It may just be a taste thing, but I thought the second season was far superior to the first, as that's when we start getting some answers and everything really ties together (not that the first season was a slouch either). But everything wraps up in the second, and from season three on it's just silly extras made to please hardcore fans.

Stay away from the english dub though. I think everyone would agree with that.

Thanks, another opinion is always good. I'll give it a try for sure, opinions vary so much on anime when it comes to what directions the story should go. For example, I'm almost through watching Baccano!, where most people said it gets better once everything ties together after the second half, but I found the first half where it was all random and chaotic to be much more gripping at the time.

In any case, I avoid English dubs like the plague, they make me feel like some sort of idiot just trying to listen to them.

Yeah, that would be Higurashi.

I would recommend watching the second season. It makes rewatching the first season much more interesting. The series is kind of like a puzzle. I'm surprised they made it all work. Unlike shows like Lost, which were clearly throne together, Higurashi actually feels planned out. Looking back, the writers seemed very aware of where they were heading with this.

Go ahead and stop after that, though.

 

[Queen Michael]

It's definitely Higurashi. And my opinion is that it's okay. Not great, not horrible.

 

[Tanis]

Higurashi is pretty solid, I think.

Though I treat it like a 'Ground Hog Day For Nutters'.