Review of Higurashi: When They Cry – Kai

I have complained about the lack of resolution in the prior season of Higurashi. Boy, i should have shut my mouth back then. Higurashi Kai is the 'answer arc' to the original Higurashi, the direct continuation which actually delivered great and fulfilling answers to what was merely speculated in the prior arcs. Those who have watched Higurashi are blasted with the fact that time apparently resets while a grand evil scheme is happening within those looping days. To why, how, we were not given a damn thing but lots and lots of cookie crumbs has been flaunted at our faces and we just had to patchem up for the prime cookie and what a damn fine cookie it is.

With the prior season's' twists and turns already bent my expectations to a screw, I was so not prepared to learn that we had a decoy protagonist all this time. It was fricking marvelous to learn that i've been bamboozled creatively. Kai gave us backgrounds to the characters and made it so that we get to the minds of each character in play in the Hinamizawa phenomenon and we get to see in the eyes of both the protagonist and the antagonists. The pacing was great and made me want to go from episode to episode just to watch what happens next. Writing was already good before but Kai cranked that up further with its engaging plot and how the mystery is being shed light bit by bit all the while culminating in one of the best final arcs of any anime.

Art remains the same, does it job but not really remarkable. The action scenes remain janky but its shock factor bits remain well-executed nonetheless. With how the story progressed, gore is actually toned down and i cannot tell you it was for the worse. For what its worth, Kai actually got better in its storytelling in exchange for gore and i would not have it otherwise.

Sound remains good. Its OP remains evocative, though not as memorable of the first. ED is kinda forgettable but it might be because i skip it immediately so that i get to the next episode faster. Japanese voice acting was fine, prominently Rika, Rena, and Hanyu though i find Satoko's voice somewhat odd.

While i sing the highest praises of Higurashi, i did feel that that there's something amiss that prevented it from getting a perfect score in my eyes. I do feel that it was because of its final seconds where a completely headscratching scene played out and left me with a WTF look. Likewise, i did feel some plot armor was deployed for some reason. Nonetheless, Higurashi Kai is probably one of the best follow-up seasons in anime ever and completed the series in a high note. It has a satisfying conclusion, a brilliant use of a call-back, and a story that is a total rollercoaster of blood, sweat and tears...literally. It was a sin to keep myself from watching Higurashi in years past.

A decade old but with a timeless tale of friendship, trust, and psychopathic shenanigans. This is a classic and shall remain a classic in my eyes.