So nice to go back to the world of Higurashi again, especially seeing my favourite character Rena Really good first episode, love that they are using music from the original series, as well the original VAs returning. The new art style is quite good, though I think it will take me a few more episodes to get used to it myself. My favourite moment of the episode, has to be the last few minutes <3
There is so much to say about this first episode. My main gripe with Studio Deen's adaptation has always been the "animation", so the same story, same VAs and same/similar music, but with better visuals is all I really need.
The new character designs aren't really my cup of tea, but I can see me getting used to them. I do think that they are better and definitely fit the SoL scenes quite well. Curious how they will hold up in the horror scenes. They were off-model quite often, especially the faces. Seeing that in the first episode doesn't really bode well. Background art on the other hand were a massive improvement, quite a few locations felt a lot more real.
The pacing felt a bit faster for some reason, perhaps a tad too fast. But it seems to cover mostly the same ground as the previous adaptation did, so not sure why that was. At the start it did show the entire cast and with the inclusion of one of Satoko's traps, it manages to establish the main cast a lot better.
One thing I'm conflicted about are the short dismissive answers from Rena and Mion. It might just be nostalgia/what I'm used to, but I always saw them as building intrigue and mystery, but now they seemed more for shock value.
Hearing the old OP song was awesome, can't wait to see what they've done for the OP in terms of animation. The post credit scene however...
IMO it kind of ruins quite a big part of the mystery. Rika should remain in the background for the most part in the question arcs. While I can't see it through the eyes of first time watchers, I do believe this will put unnecessary focus on Rika. Having her eyes glow, also eludes to a supernatural aspect, which I also believe should only come into the picture in later arcs.
Somewhat related, the first scene now also features Keiichi scratching his neck. While probably easily missed and disregarded if you don't know the story yet, I also fail to see what it adds.
Throughout the episode I did get the vibe that this re-adaptation is more for people that have already seen it (or experienced in other media). If that is the case, I can see how the mystery elements might be handled differently. In any case, I would feel more at ease knowing that that is what they are going for than them just handling it incompetently, but time will tell.
Regardless, I'm really happy to see Higurashi again. There are many scenes I'm looking forward to.
As an avid anime fan and watcher who’s never actually seen any of the original Higurashi anime series, I’m still completely blown away by this new remake/reboot of it so much all the same ^^
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Really good first episode, love that they are using music from the original series, as well the original VAs returning. The new art style is quite good, though I think it will take me a few more episodes to get used to it myself. My favourite moment of the episode, has to be the last few minutes <3
