Kurogane’s Anime Blog

My respect for Satsuki Yukino just went up considerably with this character CD. Self-duet for the win XD.

The Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Character CD’s are probably the most entertaining character CD set I’ve seen in a while. “USODAAAAA!!” Rena’s CD has Keiichi and Oishii duet rapping, which was the funniest thing ever since Kyon and Itsuki’s pathetic attempt at singing My First Goodbye in gangsta-rap style in the Haruhi Drama CD, and now Shmion’s CD has her self-dueting. And the songs are really not for the faint of heart who understand Japanese. Let’s just say disturbing things happen in the song in a very happy manner. And the drama track has poor Keiichi forced to crossplay as well, I think. I kinda stopped when that mental image formed so I can’t confirm.

I realize it’s a bit late for “Year in Review” posts, but some inexplicable urge just compelled me to write this out. Possibly attributed to my current holiday I guess. In anyways, I suck at ranking things, so this is not a “Top Ten” styled post, but more of a focus list of shows I thought best represented the year that was 2006 for me.

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Rena lays the smackdown on Keiichi.

Oh. My. God. Keiichi…. my god… I didn’t know…

Ok, now, seriously, I haven’t blogged Higurashi in a while, but man.. 24 and 25 were fucking awesome.

Tsumiboroshi-hen is the Rena version of Onikakushi-hen and tons of info were revealed to us concerning the curse.

First off…. it’s being explained that a unique form of parasites that only live in Hinamizawa were the cause of the curse, causing people to go berserk and attack people. Oyashiro-sama was supposedly the doctor that contained it inside the village, forbidding the inhabitants to leave and outsiders to enter. Then later on, Rena reveals that the parasites are aliens trying to invade Earth, and that the Sonozaki clan are the ones who’ll be trying to spread them all over the world.

Further on, the Sonozaki family discredits the theory by discrediting Takano-san as an occultist lover and made tons of theories concerning the curse. Plus, it seems that the “reset” at every arc happened in the same timelines,with Rika-chan as supposedly the only person who knows of all the events that have happened, with Keiichi realizing his sins as well. Heavy, heavy, awesome stuff. I really hope that Higurashi won’t jump the shark for the last episode.

Thank god for ayyo’s effort to translate Minagoroshi-hen. I’m dying to know of the truth now.

Pic not related

Felt like posting, but didn’t really know what to write so meh…

First off, Hachikuro II a.k.a Binbo Daigakusei Monogatari II, kicked off this week with a recap episode of the defining moments of it’s greatness last season. Throughout the episode, I was really reminded on how good the 1st season was. For no particular reason, my favourite part of Hachikuro is Mayama-senpai’s love triangle with Rika and Ayumi, most probably because Mayama-senpai’s voice turns me on I guess, I think I’m starting to become gar for manly voices. From the preview, episode 2 will be a Mayama episode as I’m seeing Ayumi in Rika’s house.

Finally, and pathetically the only other anime I’ve managed to catch this week (damn j00 Sid Meier), is Higurashi 13, which admitedly is losing it’s shine quickly as the Tatarigoroshi-hen just ended abruptly and anti-climatically. Judging from the impressions I’ve gotten from the fans of the original series, it seems like Studio DEEN is quickly joining the ranks of XEBEC in terms of ruining really good series’ anime adaptations.

I’m still eagerly waiting for Tsuyokiss’s 1st episode and see if it’s really worth up it’s hype. I’ve seen the anime’s OP sequence and the art style is already letting me down. Too bad Mighty Heart isn’t used as the OP, KOTOKO 4TW!

So it turns out that poor Satoko-chan is actually a victim of abuse by her so-called uncle. Oishii-san and Takano-san seem to be much more evil in this arc, while the Kantoku is being presented as the “good guy” for now. Quite a lot of emo facial distortions by Satoko this episode, and I’m very surprised, scared and a bit of respect on how her mentality is like, coping up with the torture by thinking that it’s all a trial she must pass. And either she’s pretty darn strong for a 10-yr old, or K1 is anorexic.

Keiichi gets spoiled on the rumoured origins of the curse this time earlier on and goes off to “borrow manga” from Mion, asking her to befall the curse on Satoko’s bastard of an uncle this year. Henceforth, “borrowing manga” = “I know you’re the mastermind of a serial killing racket and I want you to kill someone”.

Now, to wait for the body count to increase. Ending with a collage.

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Ahh~~~ she so cute, and Tamura Yukari is using her voice to her utmost potential.

First off, <3 to WinD for releasing ep.9. This marks the start of the Tatarigoroshi-hen, where Satoko is poised to be main focus this time. This arc is also quite famous for single-handedly establishing the Suki Suki Satoko faction and I would love to see how.

The short prelude that follows the start of every arc is much less gorier this time, but still as shocking as the rest. This time round, we jump to the time where K1’s parents leave him home alone and he’s forced to make his own dinner, but almost burns the house down if not for the timely appearence of Satoko-chan. I’m starting to feel the force of the SSS here.

Other stuff happens as well, as the disappearence of Satoshi is clearly told here, as well as the death of Satoko’s parents. Kantoku, who was mentioned briefly in the first arc is revealed to be a pedo as well, and he turns out to be the doctor and the manager of the baseball team.

This arc also seems to contain less on the funnies, although there is still that Keiichi with a golf club part, and seems to be much more serious and tragic in tone from the previous ones. Rena is back with her emo facial distortions here, which we have surely all grown to have love (and fear) for.

Random and funny screencaps from the episode to follow :

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Taking a little break after marathoning the 1st and 2nd seasons of CCS, I watched Higurashi episode eight. Recently, it seems like I’m not in the mood to watch raws or the latest shows, so that’s why I was late in catching this episode.

Anyhow… the brutality factor just got upped with this episode with the torture devices and Mion was seriously even more scarier that Rena was in the Onikakushi-hen. As pointed out by some, Rena hasn’t even killed anyone(yet!) but Mion has racked up quite the death toll in this arc, admitting to not only the murders of Rika-chan, Satoko-chan, Photographer-san but also the rest of the earlier murders.

Rena, meanwhile, surprises me by being the most level-headed one this arc, with her detective skills and the slap she gave to Keiichi. It also seems though that she had known that Mion was the murderer all along, yet still trusted her enough to leave her alone with Keiichi. Too bad she shot down the chance to see Mion’s “demon” :P.

But, seriously, girls can be quite scary as proven by Mion’s demon’s trigger of Keiichi giving the doll to Rena earlier instead of her. The supernatural also seems to be very involved this arc, with the closure scenes of Rena. Up to the end, I had really thought that Mion was single-handedly responsible for the murders, but the closure totally turned that upside-down. I’m very very impressed now, with the way the story is going.

The next arc would be the Tatarigoroshi-hen, and it seems that Satoko is the main focus for this arc. Judging on the ASuki forums, Tatarigoroshi seems to be a very pivotal arc and also the main source of Satoko fandom. How is it, I would really love to see… ahhh… subbers quicken the pace please :).

After the shocking conclusion of the Onikakushi-hen, culminating in a death toll consisting of Rena, Mion and Keiichi, we move on to the Watanagashi-hen, focusing on Mion and her twin sister, Shion. Based on the foreshadow clip at the start, it seems that Rika is also a part of this arc as well. The clip, I have to say, is even more gory and horrifying than the first one.

Time is back to the beginning of the story, before the start of the Watanagashi Festival, and the mood is back to the earlier, lighter mood, with tons of SD and funny parts. On a fine Sunday, Keiichi and the gang head to the town to a shop, holding a special competition, and the Mion starts off with the announcement that the club activity is to win the competition. Initially, Keiichi holds back as the rest of the crowd consists of children, but after being provoked by Mion, he ropes in some help and starts to pwn the rest. At the final moment, he and Mion are equal, but Mion gives up on seeing the time, citing that she needs to rush to her *arubaito*.

Keiichi heads to a nearby restaurant to eat alone, as the others are busy with their own stuff, and meets a waitress that looks like Mion. Thinking that it’s her, Keiichi teases her, until the waitress punches him and says that she’s not Mion, but Mion’s twin sister, Shion. Keiichi is suprised but thinks that it’s just a story Mion made up to cover herself, and leaves thinking so, playing along with the story.

The next day, as they’re walking home, Mion excuses herself to leave for her *arubaito* and Keiichi casually remarks about her waitress job. Mion says that it’s her sister, surprising Rena who has never met her, to which Mion replies that she lives in a different place. She also states that she’s the kind one and Shion’s the evil one. As Keiichi tries to prod further more, Mion escapes, leaving Keiichi and Rena alone to walk home. Reaching home, Keiichi is visited by Shion who brings him a *bento* as Keiichi’s parents are away for the day.

The club activity the following day is cancelled as Rika-chan has to practice for her role in the Watanagashi festival, so Keiichi decides to visit the restaurant again to return the *bento* box to Mion. He accidentally stumbles and crashes some bikes belonging to a bunch of thugs and almost gets hit by them, when he gets saved in time by Mion, in a creepy manner, with her call attracting a crowd that surrounds the thugs. Keiichi then walks around town with Mion/Shion thanking her for the *bento*, to which she replies that she didn’t before stopping herself halfway. Keiichi calls her to drop off the twin sister story, when they stop in front of a shop only to see the real Mion appearing in front of them, thereby confirming that Shion does exist, giving Keiichi a big shock.

Next day at school, Mion constantly avoids Keiichi, and while Mion is away, the rest discuss about what has been happening, while Mion overhears the conversation with a sad look on her face…

So it seems that every new arc would focus on a new girl becoming the killer. Rena’s arc is already freaking scary… I really don’t want to imagine how they would make Rika’s or Satoko’s arcs. So far, Higurashi is still one of the best thriller/horror anime I have watched in recent times. I still go “OH SHI…”, even when rewatching the Onikakushi-hen(which I am now doing with subs :P). Rena’s facial contortions are unmatched, totally unmatched.

I’m also glad that it seems that Higurashi’s popularity is increasing, with a number of people picking it up, making me glad that my effort in promoting this series come to fruit(cue: shameless self-praise and noting that there is one episode blog post missing). Make no mistake, if Higurashi continues to keep this quality on for it’s entire run, it will be one of the best horror/thriller animes ever. What a fine season this has been…… :).

The Diary of Keiichi Maehara

Yesterday night, I was shocked with the revelation that Rena was eavesdropping on my conversation with Oishi-san, so today I decided to take the day off, citing flu as a reason. At the doctor’s place, I’m hearing some strange things being said about the *onikakushi*.

On the way back, I met up with Oishi-san again and went to a nearby restaurant. He revealed to me that Rena, Satoko and the rest seem to have a connection with the murder cases. Angered, I shouted at him, but he warned me that I’m the person in the most danger……

Later, Satoko and Rena visited me at home, bringing me some snacks. Everything went normal at first, but then, they suddenly turned catshit insane and questioned me about my meeting with Oishi-san earlier. That freaked me out and I was glad when the left, though they did warn me about not going to school tomorrow.

After they left, under what influence I didn’t know, I tried to eat the snacks they bought along. However, the meaning of Oishi-san’s words reared it’s ugly head at that time as on my first bite, I felt great pain in my mouth and I spat the whole thing out, to discover that a needle was inside it. For the first time in my life, I discovered true fear. Immediately, I decided to write a letter about the things that have happened and hid in behind my wall clock.

The next day, went to school early, but I was almost killed by a van. I decided to take matters in hand and I poked around the lockers in the classroom, finding a baseball bat, which should prove useful to defend myself. After school ended, despite Satoko and the rest trying to make me stay, I left them behind, carrying the baseball bat as a matter to assure and protect myself.

Later that night, I received an urgent call from my mom, saying that she and *otou-san* would be away in Tokyo for a few days thanks to work, so leaving me alone in the house, with a murderous chicks trying to kill me living close by.. ah… *Kami-sama*, please help me……..

As an anime blogger, I feel that it’s my honourable duty to spread the awesomeness that is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. No other anime has made me feel this kind of fear, not even Jigoku Shoujo. Surely, the top three “Made of Pure Win” shows this season would undoubtably be **Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu**, **Ouran High School Host Club** and none other than **Higurashi no Naku Koro ni**.

Undoubtably, the best types of horror would be in situations that are supposed to be peaceful and normal, somthing like a child’s toy or cries, or in the case of anime, the setting of a normal harem-esque story revolving on one guy (preferbly wimpy) that somehow attracts the best specimens of the female kind around him. Now, take this setting and have all the girls being murderers, while the guy is about to discover their dirty little secret and has to fight for his survival. Both surreal and horrifying at the same time.

So, continuing on from last week, what we thought would degenerate in to a slash-fest, fizzles out and the whole cast instead go for a festival, where Kira… oops, I meant Keiichi (am I the only one who thinks of Kira whenever he speaks?) discovers about a serial murder case in the town he’s living in, apparently conneted to a dam construction project that was stopped long time ago, in which every year, on a particular day, someone would be murdered, from the cameraman that appeared last week.

After receiving the unsettling news, the next day, he’s sought out by an inspector, who reveals that Mr. Camera Guy was the latest victim. Hearing about that and adding up all the hints he’s had, he has a conversation with Mr. Inspector over the phone, which unfortunately got overheard by one of the girls.

Admiteddly, my sucky and lame summary doesn’t do it justice. Really, watch this show. The OP by **Eiko Shimamiya** from **I’ve Sound** is already worth the download.