My collection of short anime reviews

There will be two reviews today, and the first one is the promised Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, the sequel to the anime I reviewed this month last year. This title bring the series to a closure, but unfortunately this sequel suffered from the usual “original >>>> sequel” syndrome, usually seen in Hollywood and also in Japan’s anime industry. Read on to see why.

Story:-
The series continued from the ending of the first season. We get to see more murders, before the ‘happy’ ending sets in. That’s about it. Watching the first season is a mandatory requirement here, and you can see my review of the 8 out of 10 first season here.

The last 2 stories in the Answer Arc and another original storyline make up the series here. The story’s presentation and development is still the same as the prequel, but frankly speaking, I do not think the arcs in this sequel are as good as of the first one. For example, the first story in the Answer Arc of the first season where Shion went mad and basically killed everyone else are orders of magnitude better than any stories in this sequel. And it has the legendary Rika’s neck-stab scene too, which is one of my unforgettable anime scenes of all time. Basically, this sequel did not have the tensions, the thrills, the suspense and most importantly, the grotesque violence its prequel has. In the review of the first season I wrote that I have high hopes for the sequel, but it is safe to say that it (the sequel) disappoints me greatly.

Character development is also carried forward from the prequel, and was very well done. Here, main protagonist is changed from the main male protagonist Maebara Keiichi that is dominating the first season to Rika the shrine maiden, but I do not think she performed as well as Keiichi does in the first season. The ending is decent, but you should be able how it will form from miles away anyway.

I heard that there will be a sequel to this and I wonder what will be in it. Should I get my hope up? Whatever it is, I will definitely watch it.

Meanwhile, our displaced ex-main protagonist is asking a question that played in the minds of all hot-blooded men.

Character Design:-
No changes from the first season, unlike the second season of Lodoss War. The design that is common in dating simulation is still there, and basically my comment in the review of the first season still stands.

Voice Acting:-
The sequel failed to repeat the great gigs you can see (or more accurately, hear) in the first season. The same voice actors/actresses are blander than their performance in the prequel. I blame the context of the story for this.

Music:-
The OP theme is good, but the OST and the ED theme failed. Exactly the same comment I have in the prequel too.

Animation/Direction:-
The animation in this anime is good, even in fast-paced scenes. There are less action scenes and violence here, but their choreography is still decent. The directing is just average, now he/she is not aided by good storylines anymore.

Conclusion:-
7 out of 10. This sequel is just a little inferior to the prequel. I forgot to inform you that this anime is a contender for Nodame Cantabile’s throne, but from the scoring you should be able to see the result. 7 is less than a 10 anyway. The second review will come later today.

One of the WTF moments in this series: a fully-functional phone booth in the middle of nowhere.