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hello first i should say i suffer from schizophrenia and your words talking on the mental illness have resonated with me there is a big stigma around schizophrenia i have to hid that fact from many people and i was ashamed and was scared everyday of it because the most common delusion i suffer from is persecution i have nearly hurt the ones i love because i thought they were after my life anyway i fell into a deep depression until i watched higurashi and somehow i could relate to it i did not get it until i read the visual novel and i fell in love with it the characters taught me so much and now i am no longer afraid of my illness it vary much saved my life and i found your channel about five months ago and i fell in love with your explanations of the series you understand it vary well you have put my thoughts into words i could never express
Really, I love reading this kind of comments! I just graduated from psychology and I love how a lot of media can help a lot of people allowing them to resonate fiction with their lives and helping them to be seen. I'm so glad that Higurashi helped and thank you for sharing your comment. I really appreciate it!
@@BoyHedgehog I'm may be no psychologist but I understand the mental state to some degree and some illness. Like a friend now former friend of I would help herbal medicine in calming him down. Since he also had schizophrenia. The main doctors had trouble treating him so I was generally able to calm him down with some specialized medical tea for the mind.
This was a breathtaking effort, and it never ceases to floor me how something I am so intimately familiar with can be so thoroughly broken down and contextualized by your content. You really do make me appreciate Higurashi that much more with every word, and considering I owe it an impossible debt, I think that's something too special to ignore.
Shion (as we know her, actually firstborn 'Mion') is my absolute favorite character. The fact that she was compassionate enough to constantly switch with Mion (as we know her, secondborn as Shion) so she could experience being with her family and accidentally did so on the day 'Mion' was supposed to be branded with the tattoo and irrevocably tell them apart, then had to assume the identity, KILLS me. The abuse she endured that was meant for the true Shion, the rejection, the isolation and stripping of her rightful place in return for the kindness she showed her sister, then having to witness that sister have to play into it and enable that abuse. Having to come to terms with her hating being 'Shion' and even wanting to become Mion, herself, again. Just... ugh
This is just one of the reasons, why I love how in Higurashi serious problems, especially formed around families in a village, are depicted. And that Keiichi is pretty much the average japanese boy that makes it easier for the viewers to grasp how it feels like to live in a little village with traditions. Nothing in Higurashi is random and it is put so well together. Like it is actually the lives of a real life friendgroup. Sadly my friends always saw Higurashi as only a mindless splatter Anime. I know that Anime is a difficult medium to convey the believabilty and seriousness of the lives of the characters. But Higurashi is not over the top. I also love how the characters are otherwise cheerfull, like how you are cheerfull around your friends, but what happens when you go home? Especially when you live in a small village? And I wish I had more people to talk to about my favourite Anime Visual Novel. I just love how Ryukishiki07 created so well thought out and natural characterarcs. Nothing, just nothings seems random and the life of one character flows so naturally into the lives of the others.
With all this stuff going on in the world; the many cases of shootings every year going up in my state, the stories you hear of kids getting abused, people getting their lives taken from them, for the dumbest reasons, even the discrimination people face for being different from what is viewed as acceptable or normal, this video really hit me hard. It made me take a step back to reflect on all the times I turned my back to something I shouldn't have, or demoralized a situation. It's..insane how desensitized people have become to these types of things. It baffles me how willing people are to go to such extreme measures to achieve some sort of goal, just because of opposing ideals or values. I really do fear for humanity, and it's because of the way we ignore our problems most the time rather than face them, or refuse to think through with our actions. But, with works like these, and people such as yourself, who really help to pull ourselves out of our own ignorance or hubris, I have hope that we can someday pull through. I don't believe we'll ever all collectively agree on something or come to our senses to evolve from our barbaric or misinformed ways of thinking, but not everyone has to do that for this world to have hope or light we can look forward to. This world may always be flawed, but that doesn't mean we can't be aware of how to prevent a bad situation or learn sympathy for that which we don't understand. Higurashi really does throw you into an unforgiving world, and there is plenty of depravity for those who seek it, but in that chaos, beauty is also able to be found. Just like in our world. Thank you for this video and the deep thinking it allowed me to undergo. You are an amazing individual for being able to break down and dissect this kind of stuff. You have a skill that I personally seldom see or recognize in my life and so I'm so so grateful to be able to experience these topics in different lights, and experience such intense emotions. Especially over one of my all time favorite anime! I wish you well, Bess. Good luck in this crazy beautiful world! ^^
I gotta say, this historical context for Higurashi is one of the best video essays I’ve seen for the quality of analysis and synthesis of information. I never knew WW2 was so influential on Higurashi, but it totally makes sense. See, society needs people like you that can connect our histories with our art, and what that says about the author, the reader, and the types of people in real life both are imagining when they are engaging the work.
Higurashi was a part of my childhood. You have managed to completely bring me back to my past obsession, and with better understanding. Thank you so much for showing your love for this series.
I didn't realize I was missing a lot of the context and history behind this Visual Novel. This greatly widens and enhances the experience I had with Higurashi. Thank you for the effort you gave into this video.
I think the best part about your higurashi videos is that I always learn something new despite being pretty confident in my super fan knowledge of the series. What really threw me for a loop was learning people can grow horns in real life. Wild!!! Also kind of ashamed I never put together the connection between Rika's deaths and seppuku before, so that was a super interesting portion of the video. Frankly I think a brand new, almost hour long essay from you about Higurashi once more is the best christmas present I could have ever asked for, so thank you!!!!!
Possibly controversial opinion, but i think Higurashi's strength is that in many parts it's not so much scary as it is sad, at least once you understand what's happening. Keiichi's arc at the beginning sets the premise that your own mind may not be as reliable as you think, and seeing things through his eyes is great because we actually get to experience how terrifying his delusions are for HIM. This isn't some spooky killer we can't understand, it's our friend Keiichi, and he's legitimately terrified because everything he's experiencing is real for him. I think it encourages empathy. And then Rena's. Definitely her arc is more sad than scary. Again because she's not some shadowy figure. The horror is watching Rena who we know and love, become not herself and nobody can logic her out of it because that's how delusions work. It's devastating.
This is without a doubt the best analysis I've ever seen of Higurashi. I've seen all too many articles or videos focus on the story details and plot, but none have really bothered to take a look at the complex web of cultural and historical events that allowed this story to come to being to begin with. Thank you so much for making this fantastic video, I will be sharing this won with friends.
I am actually in love with the way you script and explain the phycological & horror genres and how it's story telling is effective in each of it's respective tales-- I could listen to you for hours straight just talking about nothing but Higurashi and never get bored. this video is amazing
The passion in this was so strong it motivated me to do, like, everything. I'm gonna go change the world now. Not really but the video is still SUPER amazing.
Bess, you and your videos have my heart. thank you for being so passionate about this series. one thing i love about Higurashi is that a lot of us discovered it in similar ways, and latched onto it in similar ways as well. this series has also been my favorite since i was 10, and continues to be my favorite at 23. the community that we have is so so beautiful and i think that creations like yours are what keep it alive. 🖤
Thank you thank you aND thank you again. The love and care and research put into every single one of these videos continues to impress and floor me. I'm just happy there's someone out here giving Higurashi the love and video essays it deserves. You're doing awesome work not just in your Higurashi videos but in all your video essays!
Higurashi can be interpreted in so many ways.There are so many layers to it. I mostly understood it as an examination of Japan's two-faced nature with an empathic, warm-hearted light side that i'm madly in love with and want to marry and a dark side that can be very bigoted, abusive and sometimes incredibly violent. And Rena embodies that most of all. I love her dearly, but sometimes i go "WOW, RENA!! o.O" Anyway, it's certainly a very freak-friendly and ultimately uplifting story. I was overjoyed that even Takano was allowed to be saved even after i had hated her guts for ruining my happy ending in the previous arc. A must for anyone who wants to get into visual novels indeed.
I second that opinion of Takano. I remember finishing Minagoroshi so frustrated that things fell apart so suddenly (while constantly reminding myself "This is the Massacre Arc, it can't possibly end good")...yet I was simultaneously excited to start Matsuribayashi to find out how things would ultimately conclude. Then it starts off with Takano's backstory and I became even more furious. After what she just pulled, the last thing I wanted was to feel sympathy for her. I was so mad, I forced myself to shut down and go to bed. Took me almost a full day to finally calm down enough to properly start the last arc. Thing is, like 20 minutes into Matsuribayashi, I started doing exactly what I told myself I wouldn't. And in the end, when even she was "saved", I was genuinely happy that she had a chance for redemption. That's the power that Higurashi holds. To take you on such an emotional ride that you even empathize with the ultimate villain. It's something I have yet to experience in any other work of fiction.
@@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama It happened to me, too. Matsuribayashi turned Takano from the regular villain we're used to into a tragic character we want to see forgiven. That's why I love Higurashi, because it's such a wholesome story. Nobody is left out. Everyone is deserving of compassion.
This essay gave me chills. You've perfectly contextualized my first experience with this show, and now I have a broader perspective to enjoy Higurashi. Well done.
The story hits different when i'm 17, almost 18. I remember watching it when I was 12. I didn't understand it so well at the time and didn't even realise it
After recently rewatching the 2006 anime I started reading the higurashi manga a few days ago. Once again I am completely hooked on this series. Higurashi is a masterpiece, period. Every day I count the days until the next Thursday where i can watch the newest gou episode. As someone suffering from mental illness, this series speaks to me on a very personal level. The characters are like friends to me.
It also really bothers me how people think of higurashi, I'm glad u mentioned it too. People calling the characters insane and crazy, calling rena a yandere, calling rika and satoko a Loli... It's all so uncomfortable. I can't convince my friends to watch this anime bc they all think this anime is just funny gore splatter nonsense. :c
If you have been anime-only until you recently started the manga, you are in for a treat. While I think the anime adaptation is okay, the manga is far better (though I like the visual novel the best). What the anime sorely lacks is the proper narrative from each character's perspective that really gets you into their heads. So many of their actions in the anime are almost...without context, compared to the written versions of the story. While some people argue that the written versions are too wordy, I was actually pleased by that fact, as you really, truly feel like a part of the group. Even when they're at their darkest and most broken, you feel all of that with them...It's heartbreaking, it's disturbing, but the beauty behind it all is beyond compare.
I really enjoyed this video. Thank you. I connect with the character Rena very much so because her suffering and her circumstances were very similar to my own, even down to the same hair color. Even though I am 30 years old and feel my mental illness (Asperger's Syndrome) has isolated me from the world half of my life and has brought me so much internal pain and grief, I still hold on to my dream of one day being able to help others overcome their mental illnesses as well as better valuing themselves and the life they do have. There are many beautiful things in life despite the horrors of the reality of the world. The smallest of good you can do for yourself or others means everything.
@TK GX As someone who also has aspergers, Rena is also my favorite character. I think the constant self-doubt and huge amount of effort she puts into trying to be the happy lovable easy going girl all the time, despite being depressed and desperate underneath it is really well done. And its something a lot of aspies can relate to. It mirrors my social life pretty well. And the saddest thing about it is, even if you succeed in masking your pain and making lots of friends, it will never feel like any of them know the real you. Because at the end of the day, they only get to see the parts of you that you let them see. Keiichi is amazing in the sense that his devotion to his friends outweighs everything. Its precisely the impossible amount of trust he puts in them that is able to stop the tragedy in Rena's arc from taking place.
Being mentally ill in Japan is such a profoundly isolating experience. I lived there from 2013-2017 and the advice I got the most, over and over, was to never let anyone know. Never let them know I take medication, never let them know I talk to a therapist, never give them any more reason to distrust me, being a gaijin is reason enough. I'm glad that things are improving, but there is still a very, impossibly long way to go. As much as I love Japan, I don't know if I would have survived living there long term. Germany isn;t perfect, but it's a lot better in that way at least.
I just finished Higurashi, and this was the perfect video to put words to all the myriad emotions and impressions the story evoked in me. It's a truly glorious depiction of humanism. It hit me hard, because it made me re-learn the value of love and friendship and forgiveness after having gradually and unknowingly lost sight of much of that value in the rigours of daily life, and the unrelenting darkness that pervades much of modern media. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this video.
A little note about horror that worked great in your video. At 42:30 theres a few seconds of absolute silence. And it creeped me out beyond belief, expecting a jumpscare, only for the video to continue. Your video's reinforce why I love this series and I thought this little experience was a great reminder of Higurashi's best strength...substance and buildup, not shock and awe.
i'm absolutely floored by the quality of this essay and your analysis. i'm also 23 and watched higurashi for the first time when i was around 10. i absolutely adore it, and have rewatched/reread it SO many times by now, yet this video recontextualised it in a way i've never really thought about before - the whole video was completely fascinating! i can't wait to see more content from you
Alright, that was amazing. You mentioned a lot of things that were very interesting. Recently I noticed that I'm very drawn towards dark stories. I usually form a stronger connection with the characters in such stories. I think I feel them more realistic and closer to home, as you said, "Life is scary, awful things happen to people". I Also notice that I never feel like I just did something entertaining after watching/reading one of these. More often than not, I feel 'spent'. Tired. But with an odd sensation of accomplishment.
I don't want to sound desperate but you just HAVE to create a video about Satoshi. He was the center of the mysteries of my personal favorite arcs, and his character in itself is so sympathetic, so rewarding to unravel. I want to hear it from you most.
Yeah, I can't understand how "unimportant" Satoshi became when he was literally the reason why the second arc unfolded. He is what let to Satoko's living condition. He was the one to influence Keiichi the most, cause Keiichi thought his destiny will be the same as Satoshi's in the first arc. The iconic bat, that shouldn't only be Keiichis trademark, but also Satoshi's. He and Keiichi are basically soulmates. Like not even kidding. And for us viewers, he was the first visible evidence, that there was indeed something like a disease making people crazy. Satoshi is a big mystery and everytime they talked about his mysterious life, it was such an important ingedient to make the story as mysterious as it is now.
@@MaryArts I KNOW RIGHT. I'm still a bit pissed over this. I'm not asking for extensive screen-time or an arc dedicated to him, but at least give him SOMETHING because he is the catalyst of many events in the show... SUCH a missed opportunity,
Thank you so much for making this video! The way Higurashi has been misunderstood makes me deeply sad. I used to find it difficult to express what made me connect to it as a teenager (I stumbled across the anime at 16 or so and can't imagine seeing it at 10! :O) but it was just as you so eloquently stated here. I had a frightening undiagnosed mental illness (OCD I later found out) and was pulled in by Higurashi's compassion towards the characters who acted out some of my greatest fears. Higurashi is a powerful story with empathy at its core and I am so glad you put this out there to dispel the myth of it as the Children Killing Children Anime. The cultural/historical context explanation was also very helpful. I think it's something that people don't have much awareness of in western fandom spaces. Anyway, excellent work!
I admire the effort and time you put into making this video and your take on the subjects. Once again, you show how topics like mental illness and suicide are mistreated and how people dealing with those kinds of problems are discriminated. You show how cruel the world can be, but turn it around and end it in a positive note. As a content creator myself, I can only look up on the amount of dedication and time you've spent on creating something to open our eyes to the world around us. The way you communicate the information is so well written to the point that it is inspiring. Flawless work indeed. I hope to learn a thing or two from you, as I certainly have learned from your videos
Wow. Once again, thank you so much for your hard work. Touching on mental illness and suicide really hit home, as someone who's been affected by both. When I first came across Higurashi way back when I'd just fled a situation not unlike Satoko's, I couldn't not reflect on my own life as I watched and read. The gory elements never quite struck the same notes as did the more subtle reflections of the everyday horrors that can be right underneath someone's nose. My friends and child services were powerless to do anything despite everyone knowing what was going on. It took me running to end it. I was also able to relate to Mion, Shion and Rika. A friend I'd made in a shelter for runaways introduced me to the series otherwise I would've never found it. However, I was able to find my own happy ending. That friend and I have been married for about two years now, and we have lived in our own home for much longer.
the author worked as a civil servant and i think thats why things like how hard it was to deal with the goverment to help her felt so cold but realistic
I frequently return to your essays and have listened to them all numerous times. You have such beautiful insight and clear passion, and your work has been absolutely fundamental in my appreciation for Higurashi, but other series as well such as your Madoka essay. This one in particular might be my favorite for how thoroughly you contextualize experiences that I personally have no concept of, and delve so deeply into the many layers that built up anxiety and then release it in Higurashi. I'm so excited to hear your Gou/Sotsu essay when it comes out, keep up the amazing inspiring work!!
Good job actually stating that Shion is also a victim of abuse, just in a different way. Usually when it comes to abuse, people only pay attention to physical and sexual abuse, but there's more to abuse than just that, Shion being the perfect example. Even I kinda glossed over what Shion went through and didn't really see it as abuse even though it is. I, and I'm sure other people, only saw Satoko as the abuse victim in this series.
Finally had the chance to watch this and gotta say you have easily the best Higurashi content on here! So much depth, nuance and emotional understanding for each of the characters and how they represent real life. Absolutely amazing work! :D
Man, I teared up at the end of this video. This is such a fantastic analysis! I've never seen the anime (aside from selected clips) but read the manga in full, and am about halfway through the visual novels. The gore, violence, and supernatural horror deeply unsettled me, but you're right - I keep coming back to it because of the deeply human stories it explores, and all the horror and violence are there to contextualise that humanity at its worst, so that when there is good, it shines through all the darkness with which we've been presented. It is ultimately a story of hope, friendship, compassion, and the undefeatable human spirit triumphing over the inhumanity of man. Sad to think that so many people think it's just a horror/gore anime that's quirky and edgy. It's so, so much more than that.
thanks for this video, thanks a lot i can finally understand my obsession with higurashi and also kinda weird how rena is the most popular character in japan but i have seen 0 character analysis of her
now that i think about it, when i was suffering from ICU delirium i was fearing for my life even within the hospital, seeing and feeking insects and all that
I'm at episode 21 of Kai and almost at the end. I can FINALLY watch your spoiler videos tomorrow - you're one of the reasons why I decided to watch this, thank you.
i love your higurashi content so much!!! i wish i could share more of it with my wife but shes only just getting into ryukishis stuff and is starting with umineko and its reeaally slow going, here's hoping i'll get to share these videos with her some day!
Your analysis videos are some of my absolute favorites on this platform; They're all so thorough and truly informative and passionate about all of the topics that are beautifully handled in these videos. I love watching them as a writer and fellow Higurashi fan. I'm very glad I found this channel! Keep up the good work!!
This was a genuinely fascinating essay. Higurashi was what originally got me interested in the series as a whole... at some point I may need to get around to reading it. Also I see you citing sources, and that makes me very happy.
Your channel is so well done, Im so surprised you have so little subscribers. I really hope that you enjoy making these as much as ive enjoyed going through and watching them!
You know, I had no clue what Higurashi was about. I saw a few of the infamous scenes from the old anime on youtube a long while ago, and after the new anime was announced I decided to give it a shot. After being bamboozled on the second episode revealing itself to not be a remake I immediately stopped and decided to watch the OG stuff. For once the youtube algorithm worked and I found your channel... And after watching some vids I went for the manga instead... THANK YOU! For some reason there's really too much emphasis on violence in the anime, and even spilling less blood and being still images the manga conveys feelings much better, and leaves you way more terrified. After blazing through the first three arcs I just couldn't sleep for three days, constantly sleeping/waking up in 5 min intervals. All the way to the end a true rollercoaster. I don't think I've ever cried this much with manga, it's weird how by the end of it you just love everyone. Your videos are really really good, such a serene voice, even being such serious topics in most cases they are always somehow relaxing. Now Gou is keeping me awake crafting weird theories, like why the clinic was closed in onidamashi... but we'll see... Overall just thank you for an amazing introduction to the series, I really needed something like this in these weird times. I'm now saving a bit to buy both Higurashi Hou and Umineko Saku on the Switch. Happy Holidays!
Just a warning, Hou and Saku on the Switch are Japanese only, so if you can't read Japanese it might be better to buy them on Steam and use 07th Mod to add the voice acting and sprites.
@@fawful9992 Oh yes I know, I've been studying for some years. I'm also reading the Gou manga on web ace to try and fish for clues. I want it on the Switch mostly because its the absolute complete package so I don't need to buy something else for the one or other arc that might not be included.
Your videos are able to tell whats so difficult to put into words about why i love this series so much. Thank you for vocalizing the power this story holds, its so much more than its adapation to anime and needs to be seen for its incredibly human storytelling.
Predestination is one of the many terrifying themes Higurashi deals with. The notion that a series of events will always have an identical ending regardless of one's endeavors to alter fate.
Love your content. I would love to support you on Patreon but it is quite difficult for the 14 years old me to do something like that. Your Higurashi analysis always make me wanna read the novels again. I am probably taking a deeper look into some of the topics you mentioned. The video caught my interest. When They Cry is my favorite franchise, as well. Once I finish the console arcs and the live actions, I am probably taking a look into the manga. Thank you for the wonderful analysis
Don't worry, buddy, at this moment it is unfortunately also difficult for thirty year old me. I will when things will go better financially though, she absolutely deserves it.
I'm late to this but heres my opinion on how higurashi scares me. It is not exactly the actions or jumpscares that scare me, its the meaning behind it. A good example of this is probably the infamous eclipse from Berserk, that event was very visceral to me because of the fact that it given me a sense of hopelessness, the feeling of not having control over something. If I were to be in the band of the hawk in the eclipse, there is nothing I can do, I would already be branded and so there is no hiding or running, I'm dead, no matter how you look at it. The eclipse not only had visceral meaning but also thematic meaning to the main characters. The most impact is not the jumpscares, the gore,etc that makes me remember it, it's the thematic meaning and how visceral the event is that scares me.
Higurashi has been one of the most memorable experiences of story-telling and it is always in the back of my mind ever since I watched it when I was a teenager. I'm so grateful that you made this beyond amazing video-analysis. You provided me with a lot of information and made me realize things that I would've never thought of. Since I'm more mature then I was before I can appreciate the social aspects of Higurashi aswell. Thank you again and have a nice day! :)
Thank you for another great essay about Higurashi. Very comfortable to listen, usually I struggled to understand more complex english narrations like this but your constant way of speaking makes it pleasant. I'm looking forward to go for the novel only thanks to your contributions. I hope I ll be able to support you someday once I'm out of my hole and liquid again. This is way I can only give you my best regards for now. Its amazing to discover other people got their early age fascination to the When They Cry-Universes around the same as me and still somehow deal with it more or less in such creative and life-guarding way .
Seriously your Higurashi videos are criminally underrated, they show how you have a deep understanding of this series then most critics and reviewers. You really do a great job with them and I usually end up feeling emotional by the end. Really great work.
Great video. I love the exploration of the cultural, psychological, and situational aspects of Hinamizawa syndrome. Even the way its portrayed in the anime doesn't fit perfectly with the hypothesis we're given and the aspects you discussed make a lot of sense. ETA: It's also crazy to see how cheapo the live action looks.
I love this anime but the most im afraid of the opening scence because everytime i sleep i kept hearing the higurashi theme song in my FREAKING BRAIN!!
I love what you said towards the end. It's the same reason why I read horror stories when I don't particularly like horror itself, or things like jumpscares. I love your videos and I'm glad your channel keeps growing 🤗
I absolutely adore your videos on psychological horror in anime, and particularly your analysis of this series. I haven't had a chance to watch the anime, read the manga, or play any of the game, but I'm very inspired to check it out after seeing your content! I'm very interested in looking into horror as a catalyst for healing, particularly in those with very stigmatized experiences and disorders (mainly due to my own experiences with such), and I really appreciate what you have to say on the topic!
This channel by far has become one of my favorites, not only have you created amazing content that I can re-watch and still find enjoyment in, but you've given me a new appreciation for the Higurashi series through your video essays which have managed to give me a bigger picture on the world and characters in way that I couldn't have on my own. Lastly, without the videos you made I would have never thought to go back and read the manga let alone try out the VN. I can't wait to see how this channel will grow and change in the future! (Hoping to see sub count hit 10k!)
your videos are MASTERPIECES! i can't stop watching. horror is my favorite genre for all of what you've mentioned here, and ive been so excited to get back into higurashi because of you!
Your ability to do great in-depth video analysis of Higurashi and other anime is really breath-taking. I wished I could do the same, because, after having recovered a little from my own Higurashi experience (I finished Matsuribabyashi-hen a month and a half ago), I can only thoroughly agree with you. This was such a roller coaster of emotions, with shifts from uncontrollable tears (e.g., Shion's suicide and final message in Meakashi-hen) to uncontrollable and deeply felt laughter (several of Keiichi Maebara's verborrhagic comments on culture and people and everything -- his "word magic" -- which are impossible to read in real time not just because of the laughter but because the text just won't stop...)... I'll only add to your great commentary here that one important, perhaps crucial, component to HIgurashi's way of dealing with horror is also in its treatment of guilt. The worst possible thing that can happen to someone who feels guilty is never to be forgiven. Characters often apologize repeatedly (the first time we see Hanyū -- though we only realize it was Hanyū much, much later in the series -- was when she kept repeating "I'm sorry" in Keiichi's dream on the train back to Hinamizawa at the beginning of Onikakushi-hen...), and the idea of purification which you described for the Watanagashi festival is treated by Ryūkishi07 as representing a way of achieving forgiveness, of shedding one's sins. It is no coincidence that the very first words that great us in Onikakushi-hen -- after we see "Welcome to Hinamizawa" for the first time -- are Bernkastel's poem about forgiveness ("Perhaps the world won't forgive you, but I will"); and at the end of Matsuribayashi-hen, we see almost the same words in Tomitake's final words to Takano. The whole story of Watanagashi and Hinamizawa can be seen as an allegory for how to deal with the feeling of guilt that comes from sin (i.e., from doing things that caused harm to yourself and others, things you wish you hadn't done or could fix); and in this sense, Higurashi shows just how deep the horror of never being forgiven really is.
Higurashi was one of the first visual novels/mangas I've ever read (aka when I was way too young). And it stood (and still stands) as one of my favorite series for how harrowing it is at every step. I never did finish it, though, and it's been years since I've touched the series last. When I saw your Shion video a few weeks back, not only did it reignite my interest in the series, but it also recontextualized it: not only did it tell the stories of the horrors that the characters commit to one another, but the horrors they subject themselves to. And this one builds that insight even further, in ways I probably wouldn't even be able to consider on my own (like a country's/generational trauma), as well as reminding me of some of the moments that still stick with me to this day (seriously, the Tatari arc messed me up good). So, thanks. For reigniting one of my long forgotten loves/trauma of Higurashi, and making multiple banging essays. It's a nice(??) way to end the year.
God it freaks me out every time their eyes change from normal to cat like looking pupils . Higerashi seems to rely on psychological horror then just jump scares like other anime or shows. Jump scares are in the moment scares the shit out of you then it’s over waiting till the next jump scares. Higerashi horrors linger in our minds. It doesn’t just scare you like a quick jumpscare. It says with you and that makes it the the more horrifying.
Listen, I don't want to detract from how admireable the research that went into this video is, I lvoe how you establish the hsitorical context, just as one owuld in a literary review, but what I really like is your voice. It's so monotone and calming. This isn't the kind of ideo I would usualy watch for entertainment but damn is it oculd for chilling out. I would pay you to put me to sleep reading stories.
Now my take on the topic to why and how Higurashi manage to scare us: Higurashi is set in a familliar, intimate, daily-life setting. In a brightful, full of verdure village, to the school and longs moments of laughter or sometime of conflict, disputes with friends, the moments we had with them. There is a reason why that's isn't hasardous that's Higurashi vns arcs take so long in the tip of the sea of mundane every day life, before taking a breath, and swimming deeply into it. What we did take for granted in everyday life, suddenly turn sour, and take new shapes, secrets, outlines. What we thought was clear, bright, lined up perfectly, suddenly turn out to be dark, shapes unsure, and suddenly unfamilliar. The fear of darkness. The fear of unknow. Elements of everyday life suddenly turn out to be suspicious and holding mysteries of an outer world (Onikakushi, Tsumihoroboshi, Tatarigoroshi, etc) that's is in fact the whole world beyond our limited perception, bubble of it. Same for people. To me, Hinamizawa syndrome is, nothing but a metaphore, a plot device to express the dark side of humans nature, the two sides of a personne, like the famous expression "The two sides of a coin." Every eight (8) arcs explore differents themes, that's when juxtaposed are in fact, a bridge, to the bigger world, until the next yet again BIGGER BIGGER world (umineko). Every arcs we advance, every arcs we are taken beyond our limiteds perceptions of the world, slowly but surely. We jump from friendship and religious beliefs (Onikakushi) to sisters rivalry and cruel dull apathic ritualistic, traditionalist murder under obscure religious rules beliefs ("Do not enter the saiguden!" but why is it that's bad?) ancred in the village of Hinamizawa. Juxtaposed with another obscure motif of conflict (the doll)(Watanagashi) to the bigger, breaking bubble of our limited little world who start tackling this theme in every sense of the term seriously, by Tatarigoroshi. Hard confrontation with the adults world, mental illness (Satoko dislussions), lack of communication (Rena Mion and Rika, creating Keiichi alibi without telling him) leading Keiichi to believe that's he jumped in another Hinamizawa. Litteraly for him. Well, in a certain way, he did so. A hinamizawa that's is not HIS hinamizawa. A hinamizawa, a daily life, his little world, with suddenly apparents strangers, doppelganger, who tell him that's a doppelganger have now taken his place in his daily life, when he worked so hard to regain it for himself, his friends and Satoko, the same Satoko telling him that's apparently Teppei is still alive wandering around still able to move his corpse and doing his misdeeds to society and Satoko. Oh and also people he (Keiichi) curse are dead the next morning of his curse without fail. Which end up in Irie killing himself, Rika being suddenly dead, and boom the end of the world (Hinamizawa disaster) And keiichi ending up in a hospital mental illness facility for the rest of his life believing himself to not be in his originated world planete anymore, with apparent deadly powers to kill the peoples or a whole city taking a breath the wrong way to him, and so having the awful burden having of erasing his "Home", abandoned by his very parents... A home place with apparently deadly much higher forces at work in the darkness of everyday shadow life...Brrrr! And the same go for Himatsubushi, Meakashi, Tsumihoroboshi(!! !!) it's where it starting to take it to a almost, religious, psychological, metaphysical level like no one of others arcs have done before . No wonder it's one of the most praised one in Kai. Minagoroshi, Matsuribayashi, continue to this. Bridge in another outer world in the multiverse...Starting with, breaking all you'r bubble around your own world that's surround you that's you think you know, but the world know you better more than yourself and so do the world know itself better than humans ever will. Higurashi taught me that's pretense of knowing it all, having all widsom, is, but a vain illusion that's you may think is good at first, but could lead you to deadly roads. Every characters of Higurashi subjucated to madness, yes even Rika, Hanyuu and Takano, have made this deadly mistake of shaping the world through limited glasses eyes-view, not daring or too scared, englufed in their own religions that's was their reasoning intellectual thinking to not seeing the world at the bigger picture, only painting it as their personnal hell and so made the mistake of living too much in this way of thinking at their own demise. It's not only Rena who divide the world between good and bad, I think every Ryukishi07 characters do it too, be it Higurashi characters or not, Hinamizawa syndrome or not at differents degrees. Lastly, for staying in the Higurashi franchise, it have this genuine and super mondane setting, to coarse things with religion, psychological and identity searching issue in the world, the characters dealing with those, not knowing a hidden face of the world is there but totally unknow to them, but what's more fun, is that's, their world(s) might be a mere chessboard to not only to the ones hidden in the darkness of every day life. Geez, it's so meta, that's I could get existencial diziness! And so that's what ladies and gentleman is the true horror of Higurashi!
This was an amazing video. I love horror for the same reasons you laid out why it’s important as a genre - Higurashi was so important to me through my high school years and really helped me with its themes and messaging that touched me in a ways I didn’t even realize until now. Horror in general really touches on trauma and hurt that we experience and I think me and many other fans of the genre are drawn to it in that we can process and work through these things through the medium of film, writing and even music. I find it’s also weirdly cathartic experiencing these dark themes, even if they directly reflect my own biggest fears and anxieties. Anywho, really good video - I might have to reread all of higurashi cos I haven’t in a while
A very good video essay, incredible research put into it. I haven't seen Higurashi, but its infamy has made it a series I'm well-aware of. I appreciate you digging down past the gore and spectacle into the heart of the story and the message it attempts to convey. My only advice would be to bump the gain up just a touch. Playing this through my speakes, I had it almost cranked to the max and still had to lean close to hear well. I'm sure it's much easier to hear in headphones, but I left mine in the office so... Your voice is very soft and soothing to listen to. I'd rather the gain be adjusted than ask you to yell--that wouldn't be half as pleasant. :)
There is so much effort and heart put into this video. It is absolutely captivating. It put words to many of the feelings I have about Higurashi and the deep appreciation i have for it.
Thank you so much for your effort in making these videos. I cannot wait for a video on Higurashi GOU, if you decide to cover it now that the first season of it ended:)
This is such a rare gem of a TH-cam video. It's truly inspiring and beautifully done. I have to watch it again. As soon as I get a bank account, I will donate to you.
How weird it is to find the person, who also watched Higurashi when they were 10 and developed a deep connection with it. The theme which fascinated me was friendship and how deep our characters' bonds were, so deep that they were willing to kill or hide the body or forgive. I wonder what's your take on Higurashi 2020? For me personally, it was deeply upsetting... it felt grotesque, without intimacy. It felt like my favorite show was ripped apart in shreds by the author I assumed adored characters as we did.
I'm largely waiting for Sotsu to pass judgement on Gou, I do have a mostly positive opinion of it right now but I go more in-depth at 40:09 in this video: th-cam.com/video/LNk9mnNcgvw/w-d-xo.html
@@MaskedFox-ln4vc The video has spoilers for so maybe don't watch it if you haven't finished Gou! I will say that if you struggled with the early episodes, it does get a lot darker and more violent. I have a lot of ideas around what the show is trying to do and I think it really requires the audience to think about that rather than taking it at face value. It's been a really interesting experience and while I wasn't sure how to feel about Higurashi getting a sequel, Gou has done so many things so well, it largely managed to win me over. That's all I can really say for now!
What an incredibly well made video, thanks for discussing this visual novel in such detail and with the perspective of Japan's history kept in mind. I never looked this deep into the work of Higurashi in relation to the history of Japan and its socio-cultural significance, thanks for making this. You express yourself well.
this is a really great analysis im glad i took my time with!! i do have one suggestion regarding the presentation of just text on top of panels bc i still have a hard time reading some of it... maybe a thicker font alongside a higher opacity for the drop shadow would help? thank you for making this video though!!
I wasn’t able to monetise this video so if you enjoyed it, consider throwing in as little as £1 a month over on my Patreon for some fun perks, including voting on what my next video will be :-) patreon.com/BessYT
How come? Copyright violation?
do you also offer one time payment options like kofi or with paypal?
This video is a masterpiece!
@@vivvy_0 I'd be interested in that as well! I'd love to give a Kofi donation
@@vivvy_0 I do, my Ko-fi is here: ko-fi.com/butterflyswimmer !
hello first i should say i suffer from schizophrenia and your words talking on the mental illness have resonated with me there is a big stigma around schizophrenia i have to hid that fact from many people and i was ashamed and was scared everyday of it because the most common delusion i suffer from is persecution i have nearly hurt the ones i love because i thought they were after my life anyway i fell into a deep depression until i watched higurashi and somehow i could relate to it i did not get it until i read the visual novel and i fell in love with it the characters taught me so much and now i am no longer afraid of my illness it vary much saved my life and i found your channel about five months ago and i fell in love with your explanations of the series you understand it vary well you have put my thoughts into words i could never express
Really, I love reading this kind of comments! I just graduated from psychology and I love how a lot of media can help a lot of people allowing them to resonate fiction with their lives and helping them to be seen. I'm so glad that Higurashi helped and thank you for sharing your comment. I really appreciate it!
@@BoyHedgehog I'm may be no psychologist but I understand the mental state to some degree and some illness. Like a friend now former friend of I would help herbal medicine in calming him down. Since he also had schizophrenia. The main doctors had trouble treating him so I was generally able to calm him down with some specialized medical tea for the mind.
Rena??
This was a breathtaking effort, and it never ceases to floor me how something I am so intimately familiar with can be so thoroughly broken down and contextualized by your content. You really do make me appreciate Higurashi that much more with every word, and considering I owe it an impossible debt, I think that's something too special to ignore.
Thank you Marcie
NezumiVA!? Nice to see you here, Marcie!
I CANt believe sHES bLESSIng US WITH TOP TIER HIGURASHI VIdeo eSSAYS IN 2020 AS usuaL SONOZAKI STANS ARE the GOATS
Shion (as we know her, actually firstborn 'Mion') is my absolute favorite character. The fact that she was compassionate enough to constantly switch with Mion (as we know her, secondborn as Shion) so she could experience being with her family and accidentally did so on the day 'Mion' was supposed to be branded with the tattoo and irrevocably tell them apart, then had to assume the identity, KILLS me. The abuse she endured that was meant for the true Shion, the rejection, the isolation and stripping of her rightful place in return for the kindness she showed her sister, then having to witness that sister have to play into it and enable that abuse. Having to come to terms with her hating being 'Shion' and even wanting to become Mion, herself, again. Just... ugh
This is just one of the reasons, why I love how in Higurashi serious problems, especially formed around families in a village, are depicted. And that Keiichi is pretty much the average japanese boy that makes it easier for the viewers to grasp how it feels like to live in a little village with traditions.
Nothing in Higurashi is random and it is put so well together. Like it is actually the lives of a real life friendgroup.
Sadly my friends always saw Higurashi as only a mindless splatter Anime. I know that Anime is a difficult medium to convey the believabilty and seriousness of the lives of the characters. But Higurashi is not over the top. I also love how the characters are otherwise cheerfull, like how you are cheerfull around your friends, but what happens when you go home? Especially when you live in a small village?
And I wish I had more people to talk to about my favourite Anime Visual Novel. I just love how Ryukishiki07 created so well thought out and natural characterarcs. Nothing, just nothings seems random and the life of one character flows so naturally into the lives of the others.
oh man, an hour of bess higurashi content, i can't wait to watch this
With all this stuff going on in the world; the many cases of shootings every year going up in my state, the stories you hear of kids getting abused, people getting their lives taken from them, for the dumbest reasons, even the discrimination people face for being different from what is viewed as acceptable or normal, this video really hit me hard. It made me take a step back to reflect on all the times I turned my back to something I shouldn't have, or demoralized a situation. It's..insane how desensitized people have become to these types of things. It baffles me how willing people are to go to such extreme measures to achieve some sort of goal, just because of opposing ideals or values.
I really do fear for humanity, and it's because of the way we ignore our problems most the time rather than face them, or refuse to think through with our actions. But, with works like these, and people such as yourself, who really help to pull ourselves out of our own ignorance or hubris, I have hope that we can someday pull through. I don't believe we'll ever all collectively agree on something or come to our senses to evolve from our barbaric or misinformed ways of thinking, but not everyone has to do that for this world to have hope or light we can look forward to.
This world may always be flawed, but that doesn't mean we can't be aware of how to prevent a bad situation or learn sympathy for that which we don't understand.
Higurashi really does throw you into an unforgiving world, and there is plenty of depravity for those who seek it, but in that chaos, beauty is also able to be found. Just like in our world.
Thank you for this video and the deep thinking it allowed me to undergo. You are an amazing individual for being able to break down and dissect this kind of stuff. You have a skill that I personally seldom see or recognize in my life and so I'm so so grateful to be able to experience these topics in different lights, and experience such intense emotions. Especially over one of my all time favorite anime! I wish you well, Bess. Good luck in this crazy beautiful world! ^^
I gotta say, this historical context for Higurashi is one of the best video essays I’ve seen for the quality of analysis and synthesis of information. I never knew WW2 was so influential on Higurashi, but it totally makes sense. See, society needs people like you that can connect our histories with our art, and what that says about the author, the reader, and the types of people in real life both are imagining when they are engaging the work.
Higurashi was a part of my childhood. You have managed to completely bring me back to my past obsession, and with better understanding. Thank you so much for showing your love for this series.
I didn't realize I was missing a lot of the context and history behind this Visual Novel.
This greatly widens and enhances the experience I had with Higurashi.
Thank you for the effort you gave into this video.
I think the best part about your higurashi videos is that I always learn something new despite being pretty confident in my super fan knowledge of the series. What really threw me for a loop was learning people can grow horns in real life. Wild!!! Also kind of ashamed I never put together the connection between Rika's deaths and seppuku before, so that was a super interesting portion of the video.
Frankly I think a brand new, almost hour long essay from you about Higurashi once more is the best christmas present I could have ever asked for, so thank you!!!!!
Possibly controversial opinion, but i think Higurashi's strength is that in many parts it's not so much scary as it is sad, at least once you understand what's happening. Keiichi's arc at the beginning sets the premise that your own mind may not be as reliable as you think, and seeing things through his eyes is great because we actually get to experience how terrifying his delusions are for HIM. This isn't some spooky killer we can't understand, it's our friend Keiichi, and he's legitimately terrified because everything he's experiencing is real for him. I think it encourages empathy. And then Rena's. Definitely her arc is more sad than scary. Again because she's not some shadowy figure. The horror is watching Rena who we know and love, become not herself and nobody can logic her out of it because that's how delusions work. It's devastating.
This is without a doubt the best analysis I've ever seen of Higurashi. I've seen all too many articles or videos focus on the story details and plot, but none have really bothered to take a look at the complex web of cultural and historical events that allowed this story to come to being to begin with. Thank you so much for making this fantastic video, I will be sharing this won with friends.
I am actually in love with the way you script and explain the phycological & horror genres and how it's story telling is effective in each of it's respective tales-- I could listen to you for hours straight just talking about nothing but Higurashi and never get bored. this video is amazing
The passion in this was so strong it motivated me to do, like, everything. I'm gonna go change the world now. Not really but the video is still SUPER amazing.
Bess, you and your videos have my heart. thank you for being so passionate about this series. one thing i love about Higurashi is that a lot of us discovered it in similar ways, and latched onto it in similar ways as well. this series has also been my favorite since i was 10, and continues to be my favorite at 23. the community that we have is so so beautiful and i think that creations like yours are what keep it alive. 🖤
Thank you thank you aND thank you again. The love and care and research put into every single one of these videos continues to impress and floor me. I'm just happy there's someone out here giving Higurashi the love and video essays it deserves. You're doing awesome work not just in your Higurashi videos but in all your video essays!
Higurashi can be interpreted in so many ways.There are so many layers to it. I mostly understood it as an examination of Japan's two-faced nature with an empathic, warm-hearted light side that i'm madly in love with and want to marry and a dark side that can be very bigoted, abusive and sometimes incredibly violent. And Rena embodies that most of all. I love her dearly, but sometimes i go "WOW, RENA!! o.O"
Anyway, it's certainly a very freak-friendly and ultimately uplifting story. I was overjoyed that even Takano was allowed to be saved even after i had hated her guts for ruining my happy ending in the previous arc.
A must for anyone who wants to get into visual novels indeed.
I second that opinion of Takano. I remember finishing Minagoroshi so frustrated that things fell apart so suddenly (while constantly reminding myself "This is the Massacre Arc, it can't possibly end good")...yet I was simultaneously excited to start Matsuribayashi to find out how things would ultimately conclude. Then it starts off with Takano's backstory and I became even more furious. After what she just pulled, the last thing I wanted was to feel sympathy for her. I was so mad, I forced myself to shut down and go to bed. Took me almost a full day to finally calm down enough to properly start the last arc. Thing is, like 20 minutes into Matsuribayashi, I started doing exactly what I told myself I wouldn't. And in the end, when even she was "saved", I was genuinely happy that she had a chance for redemption. That's the power that Higurashi holds. To take you on such an emotional ride that you even empathize with the ultimate villain. It's something I have yet to experience in any other work of fiction.
@@Shuukuriimudaisuki-sama It happened to me, too. Matsuribayashi turned Takano from the regular villain we're used to into a tragic character we want to see forgiven. That's why I love Higurashi, because it's such a wholesome story. Nobody is left out. Everyone is deserving of compassion.
This essay gave me chills. You've perfectly contextualized my first experience with this show, and now I have a broader perspective to enjoy Higurashi. Well done.
The story hits different when i'm 17, almost 18. I remember watching it when I was 12. I didn't understand it so well at the time and didn't even realise it
bro shut up lmao
After recently rewatching the 2006 anime I started reading the higurashi manga a few days ago. Once again I am completely hooked on this series. Higurashi is a masterpiece, period. Every day I count the days until the next Thursday where i can watch the newest gou episode. As someone suffering from mental illness, this series speaks to me on a very personal level. The characters are like friends to me.
It also really bothers me how people think of higurashi, I'm glad u mentioned it too. People calling the characters insane and crazy, calling rena a yandere, calling rika and satoko a Loli... It's all so uncomfortable. I can't convince my friends to watch this anime bc they all think this anime is just funny gore splatter nonsense. :c
Thank you for this masterpiece of a video, Bess! Lots of love
@@ramy701 Friends we (might) never had..
@@vivvy_0 too real.. :( recently higurashi has really been helping me combat my loneliness. It sounds a bit cringey but it's true
If you have been anime-only until you recently started the manga, you are in for a treat. While I think the anime adaptation is okay, the manga is far better (though I like the visual novel the best). What the anime sorely lacks is the proper narrative from each character's perspective that really gets you into their heads. So many of their actions in the anime are almost...without context, compared to the written versions of the story. While some people argue that the written versions are too wordy, I was actually pleased by that fact, as you really, truly feel like a part of the group. Even when they're at their darkest and most broken, you feel all of that with them...It's heartbreaking, it's disturbing, but the beauty behind it all is beyond compare.
I really enjoyed this video. Thank you.
I connect with the character Rena very much so because her suffering and her circumstances were very similar to my own, even down to the same hair color.
Even though I am 30 years old and feel my mental illness (Asperger's Syndrome) has isolated me from the world half of my life and has brought me so much internal pain and grief, I still hold on to my dream of one day being able to help others overcome their mental illnesses as well as better valuing themselves and the life they do have.
There are many beautiful things in life despite the horrors of the reality of the world. The smallest of good you can do for yourself or others means everything.
@TK GX As someone who also has aspergers, Rena is also my favorite character. I think the constant self-doubt and huge amount of effort she puts into trying to be the happy lovable easy going girl all the time, despite being depressed and desperate underneath it is really well done. And its something a lot of aspies can relate to.
It mirrors my social life pretty well. And the saddest thing about it is, even if you succeed in masking your pain and making lots of friends, it will never feel like any of them know the real you. Because at the end of the day, they only get to see the parts of you that you let them see. Keiichi is amazing in the sense that his devotion to his friends outweighs everything. Its precisely the impossible amount of trust he puts in them that is able to stop the tragedy in Rena's arc from taking place.
I kin rena! I'm autistic too!
She literally tried to kill Keichi, though. She is sweet, I’ll give her that.
Being mentally ill in Japan is such a profoundly isolating experience. I lived there from 2013-2017 and the advice I got the most, over and over, was to never let anyone know. Never let them know I take medication, never let them know I talk to a therapist, never give them any more reason to distrust me, being a gaijin is reason enough.
I'm glad that things are improving, but there is still a very, impossibly long way to go. As much as I love Japan, I don't know if I would have survived living there long term. Germany isn;t perfect, but it's a lot better in that way at least.
I just finished Higurashi, and this was the perfect video to put words to all the myriad emotions and impressions the story evoked in me. It's a truly glorious depiction of humanism. It hit me hard, because it made me re-learn the value of love and friendship and forgiveness after having gradually and unknowingly lost sight of much of that value in the rigours of daily life, and the unrelenting darkness that pervades much of modern media. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making this video.
A little note about horror that worked great in your video.
At 42:30 theres a few seconds of absolute silence. And it creeped me out beyond belief, expecting a jumpscare, only for the video to continue.
Your video's reinforce why I love this series and I thought this little experience was a great reminder of Higurashi's best strength...substance and buildup, not shock and awe.
i'm absolutely floored by the quality of this essay and your analysis. i'm also 23 and watched higurashi for the first time when i was around 10. i absolutely adore it, and have rewatched/reread it SO many times by now, yet this video recontextualised it in a way i've never really thought about before - the whole video was completely fascinating! i can't wait to see more content from you
Alright, that was amazing. You mentioned a lot of things that were very interesting.
Recently I noticed that I'm very drawn towards dark stories. I usually form a stronger connection with the characters in such stories. I think I feel them more realistic and closer to home, as you said, "Life is scary, awful things happen to people".
I Also notice that I never feel like I just did something entertaining after watching/reading one of these. More often than not, I feel 'spent'. Tired. But with an odd sensation of accomplishment.
I don't want to sound desperate but you just HAVE to create a video about Satoshi. He was the center of the mysteries of my personal favorite arcs, and his character in itself is so sympathetic, so rewarding to unravel. I want to hear it from you most.
Yeah, I can't understand how "unimportant" Satoshi became when he was literally the reason why the second arc unfolded. He is what let to Satoko's living condition. He was the one to influence Keiichi the most, cause Keiichi thought his destiny will be the same as Satoshi's in the first arc. The iconic bat, that shouldn't only be Keiichis trademark, but also Satoshi's. He and Keiichi are basically soulmates. Like not even kidding.
And for us viewers, he was the first visible evidence, that there was indeed something like a disease making people crazy.
Satoshi is a big mystery and everytime they talked about his mysterious life, it was such an important ingedient to make the story as mysterious as it is now.
@@MaryArts I KNOW RIGHT. I'm still a bit pissed over this. I'm not asking for extensive screen-time or an arc dedicated to him, but at least give him SOMETHING because he is the catalyst of many events in the show... SUCH a missed opportunity,
Thank you so much for making this video!
The way Higurashi has been misunderstood makes me deeply sad. I used to find it difficult to express what made me connect to it as a teenager (I stumbled across the anime at 16 or so and can't imagine seeing it at 10! :O) but it was just as you so eloquently stated here. I had a frightening undiagnosed mental illness (OCD I later found out) and was pulled in by Higurashi's compassion towards the characters who acted out some of my greatest fears. Higurashi is a powerful story with empathy at its core and I am so glad you put this out there to dispel the myth of it as the Children Killing Children Anime.
The cultural/historical context explanation was also very helpful. I think it's something that people don't have much awareness of in western fandom spaces.
Anyway, excellent work!
Thank you so much for making good Higurashi content. I've finally began reading the visual novel, and it was your content that pushed me to do so.
I admire the effort and time you put into making this video and your take on the subjects. Once again, you show how topics like mental illness and suicide are mistreated and how people dealing with those kinds of problems are discriminated. You show how cruel the world can be, but turn it around and end it in a positive note. As a content creator myself, I can only look up on the amount of dedication and time you've spent on creating something to open our eyes to the world around us. The way you communicate the information is so well written to the point that it is inspiring. Flawless work indeed. I hope to learn a thing or two from you, as I certainly have learned from your videos
ANOTHER UPLOAD WOOOOOOOOOO!!! It's a long one too, this is gonna be great to watch!
Wow. Once again, thank you so much for your hard work. Touching on mental illness and suicide really hit home, as someone who's been affected by both. When I first came across Higurashi way back when I'd just fled a situation not unlike Satoko's, I couldn't not reflect on my own life as I watched and read. The gory elements never quite struck the same notes as did the more subtle reflections of the everyday horrors that can be right underneath someone's nose. My friends and child services were powerless to do anything despite everyone knowing what was going on. It took me running to end it. I was also able to relate to Mion, Shion and Rika. A friend I'd made in a shelter for runaways introduced me to the series otherwise I would've never found it. However, I was able to find my own happy ending. That friend and I have been married for about two years now, and we have lived in our own home for much longer.
the author worked as a civil servant and i think thats why things like how hard it was to deal with the goverment to help her felt so cold but realistic
I frequently return to your essays and have listened to them all numerous times. You have such beautiful insight and clear passion, and your work has been absolutely fundamental in my appreciation for Higurashi, but other series as well such as your Madoka essay. This one in particular might be my favorite for how thoroughly you contextualize experiences that I personally have no concept of, and delve so deeply into the many layers that built up anxiety and then release it in Higurashi. I'm so excited to hear your Gou/Sotsu essay when it comes out, keep up the amazing inspiring work!!
Thank you so so much!!
Good job actually stating that Shion is also a victim of abuse, just in a different way. Usually when it comes to abuse, people only pay attention to physical and sexual abuse, but there's more to abuse than just that, Shion being the perfect example. Even I kinda glossed over what Shion went through and didn't really see it as abuse even though it is. I, and I'm sure other people, only saw Satoko as the abuse victim in this series.
Finally had the chance to watch this and gotta say you have easily the best Higurashi content on here! So much depth, nuance and emotional understanding for each of the characters and how they represent real life. Absolutely amazing work! :D
Thank you so much Kevin!!
it resonates deeply in me because i have a schizophrenic mother so, this anime and the subjects revolving around it always manage to make me tear up.
Man, I teared up at the end of this video. This is such a fantastic analysis! I've never seen the anime (aside from selected clips) but read the manga in full, and am about halfway through the visual novels. The gore, violence, and supernatural horror deeply unsettled me, but you're right - I keep coming back to it because of the deeply human stories it explores, and all the horror and violence are there to contextualise that humanity at its worst, so that when there is good, it shines through all the darkness with which we've been presented. It is ultimately a story of hope, friendship, compassion, and the undefeatable human spirit triumphing over the inhumanity of man.
Sad to think that so many people think it's just a horror/gore anime that's quirky and edgy. It's so, so much more than that.
"Sometimes darkness can show you the light."
-Disturbed, "The Light"
i appreciate you and the amount of work and love you put into your content so so so so much you don't understand
thanks for this video, thanks a lot
i can finally understand my obsession with higurashi
and also kinda weird how rena is the most popular character in japan but i have seen 0 character analysis of her
now that i think about it, when i was suffering from ICU delirium i was fearing for my life even within the hospital, seeing and feeking insects and all that
I'm at episode 21 of Kai and almost at the end. I can FINALLY watch your spoiler videos tomorrow - you're one of the reasons why I decided to watch this, thank you.
i love your higurashi content so much!!! i wish i could share more of it with my wife but shes only just getting into ryukishis stuff and is starting with umineko and its reeaally slow going, here's hoping i'll get to share these videos with her some day!
Your analysis videos are some of my absolute favorites on this platform; They're all so thorough and truly informative and passionate about all of the topics that are beautifully handled in these videos. I love watching them as a writer and fellow Higurashi fan. I'm very glad I found this channel! Keep up the good work!!
This was a genuinely fascinating essay. Higurashi was what originally got me interested in the series as a whole... at some point I may need to get around to reading it. Also I see you citing sources, and that makes me very happy.
Your channel is so well done, Im so surprised you have so little subscribers. I really hope that you enjoy making these as much as ive enjoyed going through and watching them!
You know, I had no clue what Higurashi was about. I saw a few of the infamous scenes from the old anime on youtube a long while ago, and after the new anime was announced I decided to give it a shot.
After being bamboozled on the second episode revealing itself to not be a remake I immediately stopped and decided to watch the OG stuff. For once the youtube algorithm worked and I found your channel... And after watching some vids I went for the manga instead... THANK YOU!
For some reason there's really too much emphasis on violence in the anime, and even spilling less blood and being still images the manga conveys feelings much better, and leaves you way more terrified. After blazing through the first three arcs I just couldn't sleep for three days, constantly sleeping/waking up in 5 min intervals.
All the way to the end a true rollercoaster. I don't think I've ever cried this much with manga, it's weird how by the end of it you just love everyone.
Your videos are really really good, such a serene voice, even being such serious topics in most cases they are always somehow relaxing.
Now Gou is keeping me awake crafting weird theories, like why the clinic was closed in onidamashi... but we'll see...
Overall just thank you for an amazing introduction to the series, I really needed something like this in these weird times.
I'm now saving a bit to buy both Higurashi Hou and Umineko Saku on the Switch.
Happy Holidays!
Just a warning, Hou and Saku on the Switch are Japanese only, so if you can't read Japanese it might be better to buy them on Steam and use 07th Mod to add the voice acting and sprites.
Yeah, OP--I don't actually recommend the Switch ver for first time readers due to all the alterations from the original PC release.
@@fawful9992 Oh yes I know, I've been studying for some years. I'm also reading the Gou manga on web ace to try and fish for clues. I want it on the Switch mostly because its the absolute complete package so I don't need to buy something else for the one or other arc that might not be included.
Will never turn down Higurashi content.
Your videos are able to tell whats so difficult to put into words about why i love this series so much. Thank you for vocalizing the power this story holds, its so much more than its adapation to anime and needs to be seen for its incredibly human storytelling.
Love your Higurashi videos
Predestination is one of the many terrifying themes Higurashi deals with. The notion that a series of events will always have an identical ending regardless of one's endeavors to alter fate.
Love your content. I would love to support you on Patreon but it is quite difficult for the 14 years old me to do something like that. Your Higurashi analysis always make me wanna read the novels again. I am probably taking a deeper look into some of the topics you mentioned. The video caught my interest. When They Cry is my favorite franchise, as well. Once I finish the console arcs and the live actions, I am probably taking a look into the manga. Thank you for the wonderful analysis
Don't worry, buddy, at this moment it is unfortunately also difficult for thirty year old me. I will when things will go better financially though, she absolutely deserves it.
I'm late to this but heres my opinion on how higurashi scares me. It is not exactly the actions or jumpscares that scare me, its the meaning behind it. A good example of this is probably the infamous eclipse from Berserk, that event was very visceral to me because of the fact that it given me a sense of hopelessness, the feeling of not having control over something. If I were to be in the band of the hawk in the eclipse, there is nothing I can do, I would already be branded and so there is no hiding or running, I'm dead, no matter how you look at it. The eclipse not only had visceral meaning but also thematic meaning to the main characters. The most impact is not the jumpscares, the gore,etc that makes me remember it, it's the thematic meaning and how visceral the event is that scares me.
Higurashi has been one of the most memorable experiences of story-telling and it is always in the back of my mind ever since I watched it when I was a teenager. I'm so grateful that you made this beyond amazing video-analysis. You provided me with a lot of information and made me realize things that I would've never thought of. Since I'm more mature then I was before I can appreciate the social aspects of Higurashi aswell. Thank you again and have a nice day! :)
Thank you for another great essay about Higurashi.
Very comfortable to listen, usually I struggled to understand more complex english narrations like this but your constant way of speaking makes it pleasant.
I'm looking forward to go for the novel only thanks to your contributions. I hope I ll be able to support you someday once I'm out of my hole and liquid again. This is way I can only give you my best regards for now.
Its amazing to discover other people got their early age fascination to the When They Cry-Universes around the same as me and still somehow deal with it more or less in such creative and life-guarding way .
Seriously your Higurashi videos are criminally underrated, they show how you have a deep understanding of this series then most critics and reviewers. You really do a great job with them and I usually end up feeling emotional by the end. Really great work.
This was a beautiful discussion on a very sensitive topic. Well spoken and the closing actually made me tear up a bit. Thank you for this.
Great video. I love the exploration of the cultural, psychological, and situational aspects of Hinamizawa syndrome. Even the way its portrayed in the anime doesn't fit perfectly with the hypothesis we're given and the aspects you discussed make a lot of sense. ETA: It's also crazy to see how cheapo the live action looks.
I love this anime but the most im afraid of the opening scence because everytime i sleep i kept hearing the higurashi theme song in my FREAKING BRAIN!!
I love what you said towards the end. It's the same reason why I read horror stories when I don't particularly like horror itself, or things like jumpscares. I love your videos and I'm glad your channel keeps growing 🤗
Finally finished reading Higurashi, meaning I could at last watch your Higurashi essays. Loved every single one of them. Thank you for making them.
Really, really good analysis of Higurashi. It made me cry.
Higurashi When it Makes You Cry.
I just found your channel this morning, I am so excited to watch this vid! I love your channel already
Oooo bless you. 54 minutes of talking about higurashi with such a calming voice??? SUBSCRIBED!!!!:]
I absolutely adore your videos on psychological horror in anime, and particularly your analysis of this series. I haven't had a chance to watch the anime, read the manga, or play any of the game, but I'm very inspired to check it out after seeing your content!
I'm very interested in looking into horror as a catalyst for healing, particularly in those with very stigmatized experiences and disorders (mainly due to my own experiences with such), and I really appreciate what you have to say on the topic!
This channel by far has become one of my favorites, not only have you created amazing content that I can re-watch and still find enjoyment in, but you've given me a new appreciation for the Higurashi series through your video essays which have managed to give me a bigger picture on the world and characters in way that I couldn't have on my own. Lastly, without the videos you made I would have never thought to go back and read the manga let alone try out the VN. I can't wait to see how this channel will grow and change in the future! (Hoping to see sub count hit 10k!)
your videos are MASTERPIECES! i can't stop watching. horror is my favorite genre for all of what you've mentioned here, and ive been so excited to get back into higurashi because of you!
I love your video essays on higurashi! Keep up this amazing stuff, your amazing at this!
BRAVO!!!! the perfect companion to my recent rewatch of the OG anime and Kai
I love ur videos Bess. Higurashi is my favorite series and the content you make on it makes me happy. Thank you
Your ability to do great in-depth video analysis of Higurashi and other anime is really breath-taking. I wished I could do the same, because, after having recovered a little from my own Higurashi experience (I finished Matsuribabyashi-hen a month and a half ago), I can only thoroughly agree with you. This was such a roller coaster of emotions, with shifts from uncontrollable tears (e.g., Shion's suicide and final message in Meakashi-hen) to uncontrollable and deeply felt laughter (several of Keiichi Maebara's verborrhagic comments on culture and people and everything -- his "word magic" -- which are impossible to read in real time not just because of the laughter but because the text just won't stop...)...
I'll only add to your great commentary here that one important, perhaps crucial, component to HIgurashi's way of dealing with horror is also in its treatment of guilt. The worst possible thing that can happen to someone who feels guilty is never to be forgiven. Characters often apologize repeatedly (the first time we see Hanyū -- though we only realize it was Hanyū much, much later in the series -- was when she kept repeating "I'm sorry" in Keiichi's dream on the train back to Hinamizawa at the beginning of Onikakushi-hen...), and the idea of purification which you described for the Watanagashi festival is treated by Ryūkishi07 as representing a way of achieving forgiveness, of shedding one's sins. It is no coincidence that the very first words that great us in Onikakushi-hen -- after we see "Welcome to Hinamizawa" for the first time -- are Bernkastel's poem about forgiveness ("Perhaps the world won't forgive you, but I will"); and at the end of Matsuribayashi-hen, we see almost the same words in Tomitake's final words to Takano. The whole story of Watanagashi and Hinamizawa can be seen as an allegory for how to deal with the feeling of guilt that comes from sin (i.e., from doing things that caused harm to yourself and others, things you wish you hadn't done or could fix); and in this sense, Higurashi shows just how deep the horror of never being forgiven really is.
Bless your soul, this video was absolutely amazing and can't wait to see more.
Higurashi was one of the first visual novels/mangas I've ever read (aka when I was way too young). And it stood (and still stands) as one of my favorite series for how harrowing it is at every step. I never did finish it, though, and it's been years since I've touched the series last.
When I saw your Shion video a few weeks back, not only did it reignite my interest in the series, but it also recontextualized it: not only did it tell the stories of the horrors that the characters commit to one another, but the horrors they subject themselves to. And this one builds that insight even further, in ways I probably wouldn't even be able to consider on my own (like a country's/generational trauma), as well as reminding me of some of the moments that still stick with me to this day (seriously, the Tatari arc messed me up good).
So, thanks. For reigniting one of my long forgotten loves/trauma of Higurashi, and making multiple banging essays. It's a nice(??) way to end the year.
God it freaks me out every time their eyes change from normal to cat like looking pupils . Higerashi seems to rely on psychological horror then just jump scares like other anime or shows. Jump scares are in the moment scares the shit out of you then it’s over waiting till the next jump scares. Higerashi horrors linger in our minds. It doesn’t just scare you like a quick jumpscare. It says with you and that makes it the the more horrifying.
omg i havent even finished yet and im just rly excited for another essay by you!!!!!
Listen, I don't want to detract from how admireable the research that went into this video is, I lvoe how you establish the hsitorical context, just as one owuld in a literary review, but what I really like is your voice. It's so monotone and calming. This isn't the kind of ideo I would usualy watch for entertainment but damn is it oculd for chilling out. I would pay you to put me to sleep reading stories.
wow this is the best higurashi's analysis video i watched, is deeply beautiful
Now my take on the topic to why and how Higurashi manage to scare us:
Higurashi is set in a familliar, intimate, daily-life setting. In a brightful, full of verdure village, to the school and longs moments of laughter or sometime of conflict, disputes with friends, the moments we had with them. There is a reason why that's isn't hasardous that's Higurashi vns arcs take so long in the tip of the sea of mundane every day life, before taking a breath, and swimming deeply into it. What we did take for granted in everyday life, suddenly turn sour, and take new shapes, secrets, outlines.
What we thought was clear, bright, lined up perfectly, suddenly turn out to be dark, shapes unsure, and suddenly unfamilliar. The fear of darkness. The fear of unknow. Elements of everyday life suddenly turn out to be suspicious and holding mysteries of an outer world (Onikakushi, Tsumihoroboshi, Tatarigoroshi, etc) that's is in fact the whole world beyond our limited perception, bubble of it. Same for people.
To me, Hinamizawa syndrome is, nothing but a metaphore, a plot device to express the dark side of humans nature, the two sides of a personne, like the famous expression "The two sides of a coin." Every eight (8) arcs explore differents themes, that's when juxtaposed are in fact, a bridge, to the bigger world, until the next yet again BIGGER BIGGER world (umineko).
Every arcs we advance, every arcs we are taken beyond our limiteds perceptions of the world, slowly but surely.
We jump from friendship and religious beliefs (Onikakushi)
to sisters rivalry and cruel dull apathic ritualistic, traditionalist murder under obscure religious rules beliefs ("Do not enter the saiguden!" but why is it that's bad?) ancred in the village of Hinamizawa. Juxtaposed with another obscure motif of conflict (the doll)(Watanagashi)
to the bigger, breaking bubble of our limited little world who start tackling this theme in every sense of the term seriously, by Tatarigoroshi. Hard confrontation with the adults world, mental illness (Satoko dislussions), lack of communication (Rena Mion and Rika, creating Keiichi alibi without telling him) leading Keiichi to believe that's he jumped in another Hinamizawa. Litteraly for him. Well, in a certain way, he did so. A hinamizawa that's is not HIS hinamizawa. A hinamizawa, a daily life, his little world, with suddenly apparents strangers, doppelganger, who tell him that's a doppelganger have now taken his place in his daily life, when he worked so hard to regain it for himself, his friends and Satoko, the same Satoko telling him that's apparently Teppei is still alive wandering around still able to move his corpse and doing his misdeeds to society and Satoko. Oh and also people he (Keiichi) curse are dead the next morning of his curse without fail. Which end up in Irie killing himself, Rika being suddenly dead, and boom the end of the world (Hinamizawa disaster)
And keiichi ending up in a hospital mental illness facility for the rest of his life believing himself to not be in his originated world planete anymore, with apparent deadly powers to kill the peoples or a whole city taking a breath the wrong way to him, and so having the awful burden having of erasing his "Home", abandoned by his very parents... A home place with apparently deadly much higher forces at work in the darkness of everyday shadow life...Brrrr!
And the same go for Himatsubushi, Meakashi, Tsumihoroboshi(!! !!) it's where it starting to take it to a almost, religious, psychological, metaphysical level like no one of others arcs have done before . No wonder it's one of the most praised one in Kai. Minagoroshi, Matsuribayashi, continue to this.
Bridge in another outer world in the multiverse...Starting with, breaking all you'r bubble around your own world that's surround you that's you think you know, but the world know you better more than yourself and so do the world know itself better than humans ever will.
Higurashi taught me that's pretense of knowing it all, having all widsom, is, but a vain illusion that's you may think is good at first, but could lead you to deadly roads. Every characters of Higurashi subjucated to madness, yes even Rika, Hanyuu and Takano, have made this deadly mistake of shaping the world through limited glasses eyes-view, not daring or too scared, englufed in their own religions that's was their reasoning intellectual thinking to not seeing the world at the bigger picture, only painting it as their personnal hell and so made the mistake of living too much in this way of thinking at their own demise.
It's not only Rena who divide the world between good and bad, I think every Ryukishi07 characters do it too, be it Higurashi characters or not, Hinamizawa syndrome or not at differents degrees.
Lastly, for staying in the Higurashi franchise, it have this genuine and super mondane setting, to coarse things with religion, psychological and identity searching issue in the world, the characters dealing with those, not knowing a hidden face of the world is there but totally unknow to them, but what's more fun, is that's, their world(s) might be a mere chessboard to not only to the ones hidden in the darkness of every day life.
Geez, it's so meta, that's I could get existencial diziness!
And so that's what ladies and gentleman is the true horror of Higurashi!
Have I expected myself to end up crying over a Higuarhi analysis video? Nope, not in the slightest, and yet, here I am...
Thank you so much for this.
This was amazing, I watched this anime when I was young and I understood some of the deeper meanings, bit this goes farther than I ever imagined.
This was an amazing video. I love horror for the same reasons you laid out why it’s important as a genre - Higurashi was so important to me through my high school years and really helped me with its themes and messaging that touched me in a ways I didn’t even realize until now. Horror in general really touches on trauma and hurt that we experience and I think me and many other fans of the genre are drawn to it in that we can process and work through these things through the medium of film, writing and even music. I find it’s also weirdly cathartic experiencing these dark themes, even if they directly reflect my own biggest fears and anxieties. Anywho, really good video - I might have to reread all of higurashi cos I haven’t in a while
I always come away from your videos with a greater appreciation for Higurashi, and this one was no exception. Beautiful stuff.
I watched your Shion video! I am happy to see you're still uploading!
I AM SO READY TO WATCH THIS, THE WAY YOU TALK ABOUT HIGURASHI IS STUNNING AJHSJSJAJ
I love your channel so much bro, keep it up. I´m a Latin American user, so hearing you speak English help me with my own way to talk in this language.
A very good video essay, incredible research put into it. I haven't seen Higurashi, but its infamy has made it a series I'm well-aware of. I appreciate you digging down past the gore and spectacle into the heart of the story and the message it attempts to convey.
My only advice would be to bump the gain up just a touch. Playing this through my speakes, I had it almost cranked to the max and still had to lean close to hear well. I'm sure it's much easier to hear in headphones, but I left mine in the office so... Your voice is very soft and soothing to listen to. I'd rather the gain be adjusted than ask you to yell--that wouldn't be half as pleasant. :)
Amazing video essay but also s/o to the thumbnail for being the exact Higurashi scene that traumatized me when I was way too young to be reading it
There is so much effort and heart put into this video. It is absolutely captivating. It put words to many of the feelings I have about Higurashi and the deep appreciation i have for it.
Thank you so much for your effort in making these videos. I cannot wait for a video on Higurashi GOU, if you decide to cover it now that the first season of it ended:)
as a person who only saw the anime, I would like to thank you for putting the series in a new light for those like me. Thank you very much!
AH, YES! ANOTHER HIGURASHI VIDEO THANK YOU! Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS BESS~
The best Higurashi video I've ever seen so far.
I love hearing you talk about this show...
you can tell how much passion you have for this 😀
Underrated channel
This is such a rare gem of a TH-cam video. It's truly inspiring and beautifully done. I have to watch it again. As soon as I get a bank account, I will donate to you.
How weird it is to find the person, who also watched Higurashi when they were 10 and developed a deep connection with it. The theme which fascinated me was friendship and how deep our characters' bonds were, so deep that they were willing to kill or hide the body or forgive. I wonder what's your take on Higurashi 2020? For me personally, it was deeply upsetting... it felt grotesque, without intimacy. It felt like my favorite show was ripped apart in shreds by the author I assumed adored characters as we did.
I'm largely waiting for Sotsu to pass judgement on Gou, I do have a mostly positive opinion of it right now but I go more in-depth at 40:09 in this video: th-cam.com/video/LNk9mnNcgvw/w-d-xo.html
@@_bess Thank you, will check that video out ♥ Perhaps I should complete Higurashi Gou too [when it was ongoing dropped at episode 7]
@@MaskedFox-ln4vc The video has spoilers for so maybe don't watch it if you haven't finished Gou! I will say that if you struggled with the early episodes, it does get a lot darker and more violent. I have a lot of ideas around what the show is trying to do and I think it really requires the audience to think about that rather than taking it at face value. It's been a really interesting experience and while I wasn't sure how to feel about Higurashi getting a sequel, Gou has done so many things so well, it largely managed to win me over. That's all I can really say for now!
What an incredibly well made video, thanks for discussing this visual novel in such detail and with the perspective of Japan's history kept in mind. I never looked this deep into the work of Higurashi in relation to the history of Japan and its socio-cultural significance, thanks for making this. You express yourself well.
this is a really great analysis im glad i took my time with!! i do have one suggestion regarding the presentation of just text on top of panels bc i still have a hard time reading some of it... maybe a thicker font alongside a higher opacity for the drop shadow would help? thank you for making this video though!!