I'll do one more this week then i'll review one every week and a half or so.
I cut down pretty much all of the character descriptions to prevent major spoilers.
Title: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (The Moment the Cicadas Cry)
Genre(s): Horror, Mystery
General info: After moving into the quiet town of Hinamizawa, Maebara Keiichi spends his days blissfully in school often playing games with his local friends. However, appearances can be deceiving. One fateful day, Keiichi stumbles upon news of a murder that had occurred in Hinamizawa. From this point on, horrific events unfold in front of Keiichi, as he soon learns his close friends may not be all that they seem. Based on the amateur mystery game by 7th Expansion, the story is told in a series of different scenarios.
Number of Episodes: 26
Original Run: Apr 5, 2006 to Sep 27, 2006
Sequel: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (The Moment the Cicadas Cry 2)
Number of Episodes: 24
Original Run: Jul 5, 2007 to Dec 15, 2007
Characters:
Keiichi Maebara: Maebara Keiichi is the main protagonist of the first 3 Higurashi Arcs, Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen, and Tatarigoroshi-hen. He is the son of a famous and extremely wealthy artist, and recently moved to Hinamizawa after an array of unfortunate and awful events in his hometown. As a charismatic, lively attitude, and his talented tongue allow him to quickly fit in the town and make new friends, and also win some club activities.
Rena Ryuuguu: Rena is a girl who returned from Ibaraki to Hinamizawa one year ago, and is in same grade-level as Keiichi. She has an obsession with things she perceives as cute—generally, these things are not considered cute by others. Every now and then, she goes treasure hunting in the town's trash heap, searching for 'cute' things to collect, and upon finding something "cute", it's difficult to stop her. She has a habit of repeating words at the ends of sentences, most famously kana? kana? (かな? かな?, kana? kana?? lit. "I wonder? I wonder?") and when finding something cute, she says Haū! Omochikaerī! (はぅ〜! お持ち帰りぃ〜!, Haū! Omochikaerī!? lit. "Haū! I want to take it home!"). When in "Take it Home" mode, she comically becomes stronger and faster. Despite this disarming trait, Rena is shown to be amazingly observant and perceptive about the things around her
Rika Furude: Rika is the main character in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. She is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school, and is in the same grade level as Satoko. Naturally, she is great friends with her, as they live together in the same house. She is revered by the villagers as the heir of the local shrine, and plays the role of a miko in the annual Watanagashi Festival. She has been the head of the Furude house since her parents died, but rarely attends town meetings due to her young age. While she does not speak a lot, she likes to say nonsense words such as "mi~" and "nipa~" and often ends her sentences with "-nano desu", which inflame Rena's passion for cute things. She also likes to describe events using sound effects, such as "The cat was going 'nya nya' and 'scritch scritch'" or saying "Clap! Clap! Clap!" when clapping her hands. Despite her young appearance, she seems to be quite fond of wine, as well as kimchi.
Satoko Houjou: Satoko is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school. She has a distinctive style of speech, ending all of her sentences with ~wa which, at times, is grammatically incorrect. In spite of her young age, she is quite clever in setting up traps, and likes to practice on Keiichi.
Mion Sonozaki: Mion is the oldest classmate in Keiichi's class. As the elder, she is the class president and everyone looks up to her as the leader. Her social skills are on par with Keiichi, whom she highly respects as a friend and rival (though it is later shown that she has somewhat of a crush on him). She acts like a tomboy, and calls herself ojisan (meaning old man), but has a hidden girlish side. She is next in line to be the head of the Sonozaki household, one of the Three Families which hold tremendous influence in Hinamizawa.
Shion Sonozaki: Shion is Mion's identical twin sister, who currently resides in Okinomiya. In spite of their different personalities, she and Mion often switch places, and it can be difficult to distinguish between them.She was sent by the Sonozaki family to a private boarding school, but escaped and returned to live near her hometown, where she lives with Kasai. In spite of all this, she and Mion maintain a close relationship.She works as a waitress at the Angel-Mort restaurant and is the manager's assistant for the Hinamizawa Fighters little league team.
Opening:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hHKmiRwyBU[/youtube]
My Review: Higurashi is told over the course of several arcs which all take place roughly around the same time. All these arcs are seprate but connected on a deeper level. This anime is a wonderful mystery that will leave you wondering, why are these things happening? These questions are not fully answered until the second season, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai.
My Rating: 5/5
Ni-pah: 187/5