When They Cry… Again…

So I just got done watching the second season of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Kai) and let me say, just as good as the first. I’ve decided to just write a little blog about it to explain it a tad and tell about it somewhat, but I really can’t get into a lot of it because it may/may not ruin your experience if you haven’t watched the first season/second season at all. So here goes.

 

Higurashi Children

This season takes off where the last one left off. Rika is greatly stressed as a character in this series and if you saw the short two episode arc in the first season, you’ll know why. This season is known more as the answer arcs to the first season, so this is where you’re gonna find a lot of what left you scratching your head/pondering, all wrapped up nicely with a bow for you.

A lot of the minor characters (Jirou Tomitake, the photographer, Miyo Takano, the burned alive every 20 seconds nurse, and Dr. Irie, the man obsessed with Satoko and Rika.) and this helps flesh out the story. We begin to see how the role of the secondary characters actually play bigger roles than the main group of children. It sets up for a well ended and intense plot that I thought was amazing. Watch the 22nd episode, blow you away.

The art direction and voice actors are all the same. Just as good and just as sick. (If you need a refresher on Higurashi, check out my other blog on it.) There’s less blood and intensity so far as psychosis goes, but it doesn’t impede the story to any degree. As you are along for the ride, you find that what you thought isn’t true, and what is true is not what you thought at all. It really is an episode by episode basis that you ride by these characters living or dying. It’s quite exhilarating.

My favorite, Rika "Nii-Paa!"

Other than that, it’s all up to you to watch. If you watch both series, you’re really gonna be quite happy with the ending. You appreciate how each series offsets the other and leads to quite the pulse-pounding ending. Have fun watch and remember, watch it with the lights off. It’ll make for an Abyss-worthy watch. 8.7 out of 10

Xam’d: Lost Memories, Nice Catch

Let me just say that, until otherwise, this is my #2 all time favorite anime. My #1 is of course Macross Frontier, and I plan to re-watch it for a review on The Abyss. This is what’s known as a “Mecha-Romance Fantasy,” and I would definitely agree. It has great characters, a massive plot that seems to span ages, and art direction that just blows me away.

It all takes place, at first, on Senten Island, A little place in South (Japan?) right after the devastation of war. The island is peaceful and those that are on it have barely begun to forget the war that invaded their lives. We follow Akiyuki Takehara, our soon to be hero, Haru Nishimura, and Furuichi Teraoka (my favorite character, hands down.). Three students who get on a bus, and whose lives are changed forever. In what appears to be a terrorist attack, Akiyuki is turned into a Xam’d, the human-form (hard to explain) creature who is meant to bring about the salvation of the world. From here on, the world is broken out into chaos as we focus around three plot lines that lead to a pulse-pounding ending.

As far as first impressions go, I’m going to have to hold off on commenting on the voice acting in this anime. I watched the first series dubbed and the second subbed, and I was thrown off quite a bit. The only two voices actors that stood out to me in this were Luci Christian and Monica Rial, but that’s not to say that there weren’t other good ones. Although I must say, if it will swing you, watch the dubbed version, if only for Tojiro Kagisu, the crazed military commander, voiced by Chris Hutchinson. I’d never really ever heard his voice before this, and he hasn’t done much, but this anime is worth hearing his voice for. Such a solid performance that I was quite surprised this guy doesn’t do movies.

But yes, what you HAVE to watch this anime for is THE ARTWORK. This shizz blew me away with how great it looked. Everything was so fluid, all of the battle scenes and motion in the anime looked like it came straight out of a video game. (Come to think of it, I hope this is a video game.) What always gets me is when Nakiami burst out of the belly of the postal ship on her Kayak and launches into the sky. So great. Along with that is the great little effect the pervades the show in which when ships take off, there is a circular rainbow that ejects from the exhaust that looks fantastic in this show. But yes, watch this anime for the fluidity and amazing look of the anime.

Great part of this show: the postal crew. Ishuu Benikawa is the quite sexy captain, the whole bad attitude with the heart of gold deal. (Quite a sight I’d like to see cosplayed.) Akushiba, my second favorite characters, plays the wise-ass worker who is actually quite secretly, yet subtlety perverted. Yunbo is the other woman of the crew who plays mother to all and balances out Ishuu’s hard-assedness (New word.) She is Hinokimaru’s mother and not a good one at that. Ahm is great as the solid rock and pilot of the ship, and Namiaki fills out the crew as the outcast who has found a home. This whole dynamic fuels the first season and carries on slightly into the second. You never get tired of seeing the crew though.

The military is great, the postal ship crew is great, and all of the main characters shine in this anime. If you love mecha, watch this. If you love insane art direction, watch this. If you just plain love good anime, please check this out. 9.5 out of 10. The Abyss highly approves.