Higurashi

[Avaitor]

Damn fine series. Well, the original and Kai at least. Rei was hugely average and disappointing. And the less said about Umineko the better.

Good thing we're done with all of that in the anime world.

*checks AR's Twutter*

Foggle, surely you're not serious?

[Foggle]

There's more coming, yes. There actually is a possibility of it being good if they base it off some of the exclusive arcs from the PS2 VN.

But knowing DEEN, it'll probably just end up being poorly animated fanservice "comedy."

[Spark Of Spirit]

I teared up at this news.

Not in the good way.

[Foggle]

It's confirmed to be "fanservice" "comedy." I should have known.

As much as I love the first two seasons, I really wish this franchise as a whole had died after Kai. They're whoring this shit out so much that my fandom is seriously on the verge of disintegrating.

[Avaitor]

Ugh.

[Foggle]

If they're going to attempt humor, they need to hire a better writer, seriously. The non-serious dialogue has always been one of Higurashi's weak links (dating all the way back to the VN, in fact), and would have greatly benefited from being penned by someone actually capable of being witty.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I really have to wonder at the people who enjoy crap like Umineko over material with good writing and characterization from the original Higurashi. I mean, it's not even funny. It contains none of the elements that made it popular in the first place, it's badly written, and it's fucking stupid as shit.

I still remember that first episode of Rei with all the comedy and all I couldn't help but keep pointing out was that none of it made any sense and was completely out of character and tone with the rest of the series, even the previous humorous moments. Sure that series wasn't as good as the other two, but that was the first sign to me that they were losing the plot.

Is it really asking too much to have well written mystery/suspense anymore? Or is there really more interest in the garbage Umineko shits out effortlessly that demeans both the entire medium and the mystery genre?

[Foggle]

I really have to wonder at the people who enjoy crap like Umineko over material with good writing and characterization from the original Higurashi. I mean, it's not even funny. It contains none of the elements that made it popular in the first place, it's badly written, and it's fucking stupid as shit.

I'm pretty sure Higurashi being so good was an accident. If you compare Onikakushi-hen (the first arc) in the visual novel to the content of any other VN, you'll see that it's a damn clever subversion of the medium and is filled with satire despite being fairly serious. This concept was expanded upon in Watanagashi and Tatarigoroshi, both of which attempted the same thing (and largely succeeded) while adding more plot elements. The first three arcs are, effectively, a horror/mystery version of the average eroge VN in concept, development, and execution.

There was a real shift in focus with the following 5 arcs, where the story became more fleshed out and acceptable as its own beast rather than as a subversion of something else. The last 4, entitled "Kai," used retcons to explain most of the stuff from previous chapters, and they made perfect sense in both Meakashi and Tsumihoroboshi. They were reaching a bit with the ones in Minagoroshi, but that arc was so good that it was easy to overlook the lack of plausibility. Matsuribayashi didn't really retcon anything, and is great up until the end, when it becomes apparent that Ryukishi07 has no fucking clue how to properly end a story - which is why Miotsukushi-hen, a story arc exclusive to the PS2 visual novel (and one that was not written by Ryukishi) is generally considered the true ending by Japanese fans.

Umineko, on the other hand, is an attempt (and utter failure) to pull off Higurashi in a different setting, using an ensemble cast instead of a developed one and a magic/murder mystery argument instead of true peril for the protagonists. Instead of using each arc to develop the concept, plot, and characters further, it uses them as an excuse to go off on separate tangents that may or may not have anything to do with the rest of the series.

Now, I have not read the ending of Umineko (I outright refuse to continue after Episode 6), but from what I've heard, the ending was far worse than what anyone could have imagined. Umineko as a whole is essentially a fanfiction Battler wrote about his family with some famous writer who decided to include witches and magic in the story to make it more interesting and profitable.

Really. That's how it ends. It's as if even Ryukishi07 knew his story was terrible and that there was no way for him to end it properly.

I still remember that first episode of Rei with all the comedy and all I couldn't help but keep pointing out was that none of it made any sense and was completely out of character and tone with the rest of the series, even the previous humorous moments. Sure that series wasn't as good as the other two, but that was the first sign to me that they were losing the plot.

The entirety of Rei was nonsensical and completely out of character. The comedy episodes had nothing to do with anything and everything about Saikoroshi-hen was just stupid. I mean, seriously, let's just look at how it all started: after 100s of years, Rika has finally managed to escape from her fated death. So, of course, it makes perfect sense that she'd decide to ride her bike at 50 mph down a hill on the wrong side of the road without a helmet and then try to knock Satoko over when she tries to stop her.

Honestly, what the fuck?

[Spark Of Spirit]

I guess it wouldn't bother me so much if audiences would stop telling them that this is the quality of writing they find acceptable. I'm up for randomness and twists too and whatever, but not when its just thrown together in the stupidest way possible. Why the fans seem to love that style of writing I'll never know, but it really doesn't work at all.

And yet I'm almost certain had this come out in the 90s, Umineko would have been ridiculed into obscurity faster than Genocyber. Not to say standards were better then, but quality, especially in the anime industry, used to be rewarded. It's not really worth making quality anymore because everyone just ignores it for 'lolrandom' and poorly written and made junk for throwaway entertainment.

[Angus]

Adding fanservice could have been like transitioning Evil Dead into Army of Darkness. There must be some way of doing it right, like just keeping them as omakes a la Black Lagoon.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, it could've been really cool, but there's no real attempt at satire, it's just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. It's just bad storytelling.

[Foggle]

"A member of Funimation's acquisitions team, posted on Funimation's forums on Thursday that poor sales of When They Cry - Higurashi (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) ... led to the company's decision to not renew the [license] or acquire the sequel projects.

The post noted that Funimation never acquired the rights to the When They Cry sequel series, such as Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai or the related Umineko no Naku Koro ni nor would it seek out series "that bears even a minor resemblance.""

Fuck Funimation.

More importantly, fuck anime fans for not buying the shit they watch/like.

[Dr. Insomniac]

"A member of Funimation's acquisitions team, posted on Funimation's forums on Thursday that poor sales of When They Cry - Higurashi (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) ... led to the company's decision to not renew the [license] or acquire the sequel projects.

The post noted that Funimation never acquired the rights to the When They Cry sequel series, such as Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai or the related Umineko no Naku Koro ni nor would it seek out series "that bears even a minor resemblance.""

Fuck Funimation.

More importantly, fuck anime fans for not buying the shit they watch/like.

Eh, can't blame Funi for not wanting to license a show that didn't sell well. Probably sold pretty poorly though to not want a show that bears even a minor resemblance to Higurashi.

But on the plus side, that means Ookami Kakushi is never coming here.

[Foggle]

Eh, can't blame Funi for not wanting to license a show that didn't sell well.

Yeah, I don't. It's the "fans" who would never even think of paying for something they enjoy I'm mad about.

But on the plus side, that means Ookami Kakushi is never coming here.

Umineko, too. So the good far outweighs the bad in this case, especially when you consider that Kai was fansubbed back in the days when you could get all your anime Xvid encoded in .avi format, making it incredibly easy to burn your own DVDs.

[Avaitor]

I tried to hard to buy the set when I could, but never had enough spare money to purchase it. Now it's too late, and I feel bad about it.