Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku

A New Higurashi Coming Up!

This May 2013, an animated Higurashi movie called ‘Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku’ or ‘When Cicadas Cry: Outbreak’ is going to be released in Japan. It is adapted from the short story personally written by the original creator of the Higurashi series, the brilliant Ryukishi07 with the same title, which was released with the PSP fighting-slash-cracky Higurashi Daybreak’s soundtrack. Never being really close in contact with the PSP game, I will surely stay far from it to ensure that I won’t be exposed to the plotline of this upcoming movie.

Yes, I am a die-hard fan of this series. 

With Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei’s director, Toshifumi Kawase as the one in charge of the movie, I’ll say that this movie will certainly be worthwhile to both sides between the fanbase, one faithful to the horrors in Higurashi to the extent of pretending Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira exists - Let’s just say, the cast had some very fanservice and fetish fuels wrapped around under their fingers. Twincestual body sushi, anyone?-, and the other one happy at the instant of hearing there’s a new Higurashi, whatever form it may take. By the way, I am part of the latter than the former for a very good reason. You see, whenever I join a fandom, it’s usually around the time the series have ended or when the hype’s all gone within the fandom itself, so a continuation that sparks the lost glint of light back to its fans in temporary slumbers REALLY excites me. ( Case in point: Axis Powers Hetalia. The fanbase just droned on with writing more slash fanfictions, art, roleplays... Until season 5 announced. Hetalians basically took over Tumblr for a week. ). The fact that it retains what a traditional Higurashi has, which is cute, moe-ish art that horrifyingly contrasts the depth, terror, and nausea fuel this series is infamous for with the painfully moe Higurashi Kira’s art style recycled for this production adds bonus points. More bonus cookies with Rena brandishing her bloodied blade and just going all action by mowing down armed –but not-uniformed, curiously- strangers in the trailer as well, burying it good on their craniums and all that. Finally, all those seemingly out of place fan art with Rena looking like an action game protagonist with her signature hatchet (or hatchets, in some amped-up fan art )now has a real base in canon.

 

A festival, but unlike Teppei's death, the fireworks are everywhere.

( This part is quite spoilerrific. Just avoid it altogether if you’re interested in the series and want to attempt not puking over it as it plays on your screen. )

Judging from the secondary sub-title and the released trailer, maybe (spoiler) a certain parasitic epidemy which existence has been proven in season 2 (spoiler ends)  is going to start, and then our main cast of hormone-addled prepubescent kids will literally fight and battle this for their survival, unlike (spoiler again), because we see no traces of the Yamainu massacring the whole village so easily to ‘prevent’ the Hinamizawa Syndrome reigning over the village in Kai. There is a military group killing apparently villagers but I personally doubt it’s the Yamainu. (spoiler ends). I think I heard ‘Africa’ mentioned as well, which reminds me of the video game Resident Evil 5, where all the bioterrorism and action was in the game. Bioterrorism? Speeding up the Hinamizawa Syndrome? The main villain getting tired of not being able to execute his or her main plan as quick as possible and takes it all ti her hands? But this theory is likely to be disproved.

I wonder where our token mini moes Rika, Satoko and a certain non-human deity are as well, since their appearance in the trailer is definitely non-existent. Because of all the chaos prevalent in the trailer, has Rika been killed in this world, triggering all the mass paranoia and the killings commited by Rena in the trailer? Was it all an act of self-defense, or is there a possibility that the main cast are the big bads this time? Was it all a dream again, just like in Rei?

Maybe they just hogged too much screen time in Kira. And songs. It's a shame, Satoko's my favorite character, you see.

Find out in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku, coming on May 2013.

  

 “Killing people means you are also prepared to be killed, right!? Don’t act like a baby!!”

Trailer can be found here :Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku's Trailer

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni – When Cicadas Cry- was originally a horror visual novel created by 07thExpansion, which dwelves into the story to the young city man Keiichi Maebara in his new home and life in a small,  seemingly peaceful village. Little did he know that tragedies will occur, curses will be spread around, and chains of trust between him and his newfound friends will be re-assembled. In the most unexpectedly brutal ways.