Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni

[Ingemar]

I dunno if there is a thread on this.

Yesterday mechana 2015 and I were on the Disney tram having a conversation:

Me: (discusses his story in Writing where the main character dies in every post)
Mech: Oh! That reminds me of an anime my friend showed me where in the first half, the main character dies in every episode, and in the second half, it shows it from the other point of view.
Me: Well, right now I am watching an anime where the story resets itself every four episodes. It's a horror, and it's called "Higurashi no Na--"
Mech: Higurashi? Wait, that's it!

After his description of a character's grisly death, it confirmed that we are talking about the same thing.

This is the most "unique" type of storytelling I've yet to seen in any anime. When you see the first two episodes, you may mistake it for a romantic comedy when in truth, it is really a horror/mystery. A VERY visceral and disturbing horror. It is a visual novel conversion (don't know if it was originally H). Unlike other v-novel conversions, instead of picking one scenario and devoting the anime to that scenario, Higurashi attempts to do multiple scenarios. This is quite necessary because we as an audience have absolutely no clue what the heckaroonie is going on. Each new scenario shows different facets of each character and the town and situation they are in, but it covers the same time span-- [spoiler]since, by the end of any scenario, many main characters are dead!!!![/spoiler]

[Kumagoro]

I've heard this is one of the few horror anime that is actually very scary and not just violent. (*cough*Elfen Lied*cough*) It's on my "to watch" list, but it's not my top priority. I'll get around to watching it soon enough, though.

[mechana2015]

Yeah it has a lot of those suddenly gasp in fear moments in it.

[TriezGamer]

I just finished watching episode 13 last night. I really enjoy the show. I think the second story arc freaked me out the most though.

(Wonders if Ingemar started watching Higurashi because of comments I posted in the Utawarerumono thread...)

[Ingemar]

Perhaps, but I was interested when it was described as a horror/mystery disguised as a harem comedy.

[Myoti]

I like interesting story-telling styles, but I'm not so sure about the "grisly deaths." o_o

[Ingemar]

Ha, now the "Answer" arcs are beginning.

[spoiler]Shion is really evil~[/spoiler]

[Ingemar]

This series confirms my suspicions about the possible success of a horror series:

Scary stuff is like chicken pox--it makes you sick when you first get it but then it becomes ineffective a second time. The shock value of Higurashi was high for the first eight or so episodes but as gruesome acts of carnage became more and more commonplace, it made fans shrug.

Same goes for the "emo facial contortions." At first the reaction is "Yikes!" Then, "Oh, my!" And then, "That actually looks kinda hilarious."

[RedMage]

Main character dies every episode?

Aeon Flux.

[Ingemar]

Not necessarily every episode, but certainly some important people die at every story arc.

[Splitter 2.0]

This is the best series I've seen so far this year. While it's also the most violent and disturbing as well, the various mysteries are very well-detailed and often have quite interesting twists. The seiyuu work especially grips me, especially as each of the girls has a dark side to them that, when brought out, is just WOW.

Rena's Answer arc starts this week! Wai wai!

[Doubleshadow]

(Does quick Google search)

No way! Something with art THAT cute is a horror series??? You're kidding me! That doesn't seem right somehow, but I suppose it would elevate the creepiness factor.