Note: 8/10 in my scale means "Excellent," not "Okay."
First off, I never played the game. I do however think that this is one of the best anime I have ever watched. The reason is because I never played the game. The first season did leave out many things the game had, but I will argue that Kai fixed many of it. What I mean to say is, the fake arc in Kai filled in many holes that season one didn't touch upon, and that made all the difference. It is as if the adaptation changes direction just a bit, but the result being the same. Therefore, I give my props to the script of season one because Yakusamashi-hen.
Kai proved to be quite disappointing for a couple of reasons. First, it is completely not Kai's fault. The reason I was not "into" Kai as much as the first season is because the pace completely switched around. I was so used to the pace of season one (4-6 episodes per arc) that the last Matsuribayashi-hen (which has 11 episodes) just seemed to be unnecessarily boring. However, this cannot be fixed in any way, because season one was paced so fast that it went through six arcs, leaving only two real arcs for Kai. The best scenario in my opinion would be to have 5 arcs for season one (including one answer arc) and three for Kai. For example, I would have liked Takano's past to be one episode shorter. At the end of Matsuribayashi-hen, there was no climax. I have already predicted what would happen in the last two episodes that no plot twist could have surprised me. In fact, I expected Hanyuu not to die also when she was about to get shot. In summary, the first season's pace was too fast to the point that it left little story left for Kai and caused a dramatic change in pace.
However, Kai received very good responses from game players. I believe that the pace of Kai is right for game players, since almost everything was revealed (with some exceptions because of major season one screwups that could not be fixed, such as giving the doll to Rena/Mion). With this topic I would like to say that I preferred season one's pace more. In fact, I found it to be okay because I didn't know how much was left out. Of course later on I knew how much was left out, thus that is why I now prefer Tsumihoroboshi-hen to be saved for Kai. So my point is the anime would have to go at a somewhat faster pace than the game to be fully enjoyable, so while game players might have enjoyed Kai very much, to the average anime viewer me (me), it was a bit too slow. I just think that not everything had to be answered because that could ruin the suspense for the anime (but not for the game, since both are enjoyed differently in my opinion). For example, I applaud Studio DEEN for not showing the Mion/Shion switch in the notebook and Shion getting the tattoo by accident, because that would just further confuse the viewer.
After saying all this, I must hate the series, right? Not really. I just like to nitpick at things I am annoyed about. Both seasons had episodes that received a good amount of 10's from me, and I greatly enjoyed them. In fact, I think that the script for the game (or rather, the plot of the series, not the script/execution) is very good, and I would probably rate it 9.5/10. I can't find anything good to say about this series because it can't be put into words. All I know is that I had lots of fun watching it, and I would recommend it to anyone. However, I won't say that Kai is better than the first season. Kai saved the first season and let it make more sense, so because that fact, both of them are regarded as equally good for me.
Final score: 8/10, "Excellent"
Spoiler for My Rating Scale:
10: Masterpiece
9: Outstanding, memorable, and usually has some kind of personal impact 8: Excellent, meaningful, and often addictive. Ratings of 8 or higher are considered exceptionally good.
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7: Very good. Most anime I enjoy goes here.
6: Good, enjoyable. Most anime I watch starts here.
5: Average, kept my interest somewhat, but nothing too memorable.
4: Below average, watching it feels like an obligation.
3: Very bad, but I only watched it due to obligation. (if finished)
2: Painful, why did I watch this at all? (if finished)
1: Nightmare beyond words. Thankfully I've never rated anything this low.
For more info on my anime ratings please refer to the link in my signature.
Season 2 was great, but I really missed the horror moments and also I was glad it was a happy ending but it felt rushed to me... oh and the ending was kind of confusing to me a little.
I started off with the manga and ended up watching the anime to get my fix.
The plot is one of the best I've read so far, with lots of twists and turns. Even in its condensed form I thought it paced itself well.
The worst part is the animation. Its just plain bad, especially the "psycho" parts, were just laughable rather than menacing. At those parts I had a hard time being scared, I would compare it to loony tunes quality of animation at its worst.
8/10 I want to give it a 10 but the animation was just too bad. I wish the manga would get scanlated but that seems dead atm.
just finished season dos about a week ago. it was excellent! when i was done watching season 1 i asked myself "what the heck did i just watch?" but when i saw season 2 it all added up. it did take a while for all the questions to be answered though, i nearly gave up on it... lucky i didnt. it was a great anime though through season one it was a bit of a snorsvill but i got really into it when season 2 hit.
so overall i give it a 9 out of 10
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I started off with the manga and ended up watching the anime to get my fix.
The plot is one of the best I've read so far, with lots of twists and turns. Even in its condensed form I thought it paced itself well.
The worst part is the animation. Its just plain bad, especially the "psycho" parts, were just laughable rather than menacing. At those parts I had a hard time being scared, I would compare it to loony tunes quality of animation at its worst.
8/10 I want to give it a 10 but the animation was just too bad. I wish the manga would get scanlated but that seems dead atm.
i dont know, i found the animation quite unque. i think they were trying to put in something different when they made the character's exspressions the way they did.
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i dont know, i found the animation quite unque. i think they were trying to put in something different when they made the character's exspressions the way they did.
I give the whole series 8.5/10 btw in the first season chapter 1 was rena and shion acting crazy or was that all in keiichi's mind and why were those plumber guys trying to capture him?
I give the whole series 8.5/10 btw in the first season chapter 1 was rena and shion acting crazy or was that all in keiichi's mind and why were those plumber guys trying to capture him?
I'm assuming most people on this thread have watched the series, but just in case, you might want to put that in spoiler tags xD
Spoiler for Higurashi Episode 4:
Rena and Mion, not Shion. But no, they were perfectly normal. It was Keiichi who got paranoid thanks to the syndrome and started seeing things. And they were probably trying to catch him because Irie was alerted that he wasnt acting right. (Remember, the Yamainu WAS working for Irie before)
I'm assuming most people on this thread have watched the series, but just in case, you might want to put that in spoiler tags xD
Spoiler for Higurashi Episode 4:
Rena and Mion, not Shion. But no, they were perfectly normal. It was Keiichi who got paranoid thanks to the syndrome and started seeing things. And they were probably trying to catch him because Irie was alerted that he wasnt acting right. (Remember, the Yamainu WAS working for Irie before)
Oh, yeah I never thought of that before, lol. Thanks for the help
9/10 for Kai. Introduced a terrific main villain, and answered all the questions from the first season and then some. The new character Hanyuu is adorable, and the ending is deeply satisfying. The grand scheme of the plot is amazing and incredibly creative.
Average = 10/10
"The first season was my favorite season. Somehow I think Kai became a little too peaceful for me. And I also think that Kai captured the emotional involvement as well as the games did. That was a dissapointment. Anyways, back to first season. I really liked the actors, their voices were so perfect *-* But the animation wasn't that good though But I liked the animation in the first season better than the second. And I cried alot at Meakashi-hen and Tsumihoroboshi-hen. They really capured the emotional feelings there.
Average = 6/10
"The second season was a dissapointment. To be honest. When it was released I followed the first 3 or 4 episodes or so, then I stopped watching. About half a year later I finished the series. It was kind of boring. They didn't make it so understandable and a little bit "same scenes all the time". But I reaaallly liked the end of Minagoroshi-hen. I cried so much when Kei-chan died :'( But I didn't feel so much emotional feeling otherwise. That was also a dissapointment."
I was disspointed of how long Minagoroshi-hen went, Unlike the other arcs this one just had too much going on, It also lacked in emotion which the first season had plenty on.
Thinking about it it just seems like they never really tried to make the story as intrestng as it was in Minagoroshi hen.
Now Matsuriboyoshi-hen wasnt so bad, Hanyuu transfering wasnt that bad ether but the thing that really dispointed me was when they tried to make it filled action at the end , They just failed on that part pretty much
The thing is when people hear Higurashi Kai they think it's going to be exactly like Higurashi there is a reason the Kai (solutions) is there instead of just Higurashi 2. The mistake deen made IMO was adding Meakashi-hen and Tsumihoroboshi-hen to the first season as they are not a part of Higurashi but of Higurashi Kai.
Though I also think that when Umineko gets an anime people will think "OMFG more Higurashi type shit" when they are completly different in mood and tone
You are so right about right I still get really iritated when I see people say This wont be as good as higurashi becouse it is not funny with adults going crazy and killing each other. And thats not the plot of umineko. And everyone keeps commenting on the umineko trailer vids about the lack of moe girls =_= it is the same with kai. I loved kai becouse it is the realationship between the characters I love so much
I was very happy with how they wrapped up season two and brought everything together extremely well, but there was just so many damn sequences and episodes that wasted time. At the half way point the tension drops so dramatically I could have skipped a few episodes and still have totally understood what was going on.
I preferred Kai over Ni on about all fronts. When each story of Ni came up It seemed that each story was who's going craze this time. When it came to Kai I feel like we got alot character devolepment and backstory. For me thats alot better then the blood and violence that seems to get alot of people about the first season.
I also have to give high reviews for the last arc. We finally got to see what made Takano and Satoshi tick.
It was also really nice to have Shion for the entire season
I liked the show, but I've complained about it before and.... I just don't like the message in Kai. Not that I disagree with the message but the theme change took away a lot of the fun from the last season and I really despise ham-fisted and overwrought messages from the author told by the characters before the final battle.
Honestly, like most people here, I enjoyed the first season more, in a big way thanks to Meakashi-hen. It was my favorite chapter by far (not really because all the killing, but also because of the emotional involvement). If they would have added Meakashi-hen along with the other chapter to Kai, that would have been awesome. I don't really have any complaints about the first season, except one that still haunts my mind, the Mion ladder scene. Other than that it was awesome. Of course the series wouldn't be complete without Kai answering all of the "wtf's" left from the first season. Even though the Massacre chapter in Kai was amazing, the final chapter was a little weaker than the rest. If the creators would have put Meakashi-hen and the other chapter in Kai, as some of you said it should have been, then both of them would have gotten a 10 from me.
It's the best anime I've seen so far, and I don't think it will go off my #1 spot for some time.
Also the poems, I love those damn poems <3.
As for the score:
The first season gets a clear 10 from me, despite some of the animation problems. It made me laugh a bit, but it didn't disappoint me in any way.
As for the second season, it gets a 9 because of the lack of action and emotional involvement (don't get me wrong here, there was some, but not as much as the other chapters) in the final chapter.
As for Umineko, yeah of course it will not be Higurashi 3 like some people think, since it's another game, another story, but I have high hopes for it to be at least as entertaining as Higurashi was It was made by the same people after all, it can't be bad =P.
Well I guess that's it.
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Last edited by Yami Sonozaki; 2009-07-06 at 15:26.
Graphic Designer
But I liked the animation in the first season better than the second. And I cried alot at Meakashi-hen and Tsumihoroboshi-hen. They really capured the emotional feelings there.
