Higurashi, When They Cry – Vol. 1

I’m really not a huge fan of the horror genre. When it comes to scary films, I’m the person who chickens out and doesn’t even bother. I’m fine with that – they’re really just not my thing.

However, I am a sucker for a really good psychological thriller. It’s more the mystery that attracts me than blood, gore, and violence. I want to see what makes the murderer do the things he does, rather than just watch the murderer run around slaughtering everything. And if it ends up being one of those tales where the “who dun it?” is the least suspected person, and yet, the most logical? Well, now you’ve found exactly what I’m looking for in a good story.

What strikes me as the most intriguing about Higurashi, When They Cry is that it really lures you into a false sense of security. You start out reading about a group of young kids that just want to hang out and have fun. Keiichi Maebara is the new guy in town, and it doesn’t take him long to be accepted amongst the group of girls in school that play games together and simply want to enjoy themselves. However, his world takes a turn for the strange and unsettling when he finds out there’s some kind of “curse” on the town. Every year on the night of the Cotton Festival, someone dies a mysterious and often horrible death. No one knows who is responsible, but he’s beginning to suspect it’s the very friends he’s made, and he’s worried that his being an outsider will make him the next victim.

The subtlety is what strikes me as so excellent with this series – it’s the little things that make your hair stand on end, that make you doubt everything you just read. You’re right along there with Keiichi, feeling uncomfortable, worried, and a bit scared. It’s very immersive, and it’s no wonder that the books are an adaptation of a highly successful visual novel.

That is, of course, something to keep in mind with the series. I mention this only because that means the series is not published in a necessarily traditional manner. While I have only read the first novel, after doing a little bit of research, it seems that the different sections of the visual novel were split into different arcs, and every two books of manga are a separate arc. This also means that each arc is illustrated by a different manga-ka, so I feel commenting on the art is unfair, as I haven’t made a fair observation on what the series as a whole looks like. I will go as far as saying I like what I see so far – just keep in mind this is only book one!

If you’re looking for something appropriately creepy and very immersive, Higurashi, When They Cry is right up your alley. It’s filled with false senses of security and red herrings, and I love it for it. The changes in artist from arc to arc could be either a blessing or a hindrance, but in this case, I’ll take it as a refreshing change of pace. I’m definitely intrigued about the rest of the series, and even if you can’t afford to get every arc, the singular arcs appear to stand well enough on their own. But don’t come crying to me when you can’t get enough!