Joemiroquai's Anime Review

Hello everyone! This is the first installment of a new series that I wanted to create in which I review anime. Now, before I get started, I know the cute name is called JOEnen jump, which is a blatant play on the popular manga magazine shonen jump. Even though its called joenen jump I'm covering all sorts of anime! The first anime we are going to cover is an anime that I've heard is good and was a nice show  to get back into anime. I haven't a good anime in a few years, so I decided to try this.

Joenen Jump #1: Higurashi: When They Cry

When I was a kid, I started anime like most other anime fans my age by watching shows that I didn't know were from Japan. Pokemon, Dragonball Z, Speed Racer, and G Force/Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman were shows that I loved! Well, when I got into high school and college I didn't watch anime nearly as much. Not only that, but I realized that it was hard to watch a new anime. I realized that I only enjoyed anime for the nostalgic value. However, I wanted to try something new, whether it was shogo or shonen! and what better way to start a show by seeing this?

See? Happy, cute, shogo artwork. Everything's happy! Everyone's getting along. Now, this is how the show starts multiple times (I'll explain later), but almost every time the show ends it looks something like this (not really a spoiler, but still pretty gruesome)... 

BWAH! what happened!? It looked so happy in the beginning! let me explain how this show goes, so when you watch it, you won't be lost like me.

 Higurashi: When They Cry started off as a video game series that is set up like a visual novel. Although these games aren't very popular in the U.S. (besides 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, which is amazing!) they are very popular in Japan. These kinds of games are extremely text-heavy and are built around the decisions that you make. The pitfall of taking a decision-heavy, multiple-ending-having game series and turning it into a linear anime is that the freedom of choice is taken away. Thankfully, this show accommodated for this by taking each path and putting it into separate chapters. I didn't know this at first, so I was very confused when the new chapters would start, which was my bad! The plots range from curses, desperation, abuse, and redemption. There is always a theme of the supernatural through each story arc but it pertains more to some arcs than others.

What I liked about this show

The pacing-- I will say that the pacing of this show is very good. There are many times in anime where they have recap episodes or random fan service episodes. This kept the recap and fan service down to a minimum! Another thing I enjoyed about the pacing is the rate of the pacing. I was never bored with the story arcs. More importantly, I didn't feel that the story was rushed. There are six chapters in the first season, and each story has their own way of having a strong pace.

The atmosphere-- The atmosphere is set very well. The biggest thing that impressed me was the seamless transition from a happy shogo anime to a twisted, disjunct tale of struggle. I really like how they introduce the transitions to each arc, as it generally starts with one character and the mood slowly seers into the other characters. 

What I didn't like about this show

The characters-- With each arc, there is generally three things: something evil, a designated "good guy" and a designated "bad guy". The evil is generally revolved this being called Oyashiro, who is the guardian of the city. There is a thing called "Oyashiro's Curse", in which someone either goes crazy and kills people, or kills his/herself. Because of the various arcs and choices characters switch roles fairly quickly. Because of this, it was hard for me to like a specific person, which is kinda frustrating for me because I'm a sucker for a good cast. Also, I felt like the characters didn't have a strong set of personality traits. Their emotions seem superficial and when things spiral out of control I didn't really care about the cast. 

Intentional plot holes-- With each arc, there are questions left unanswered. Now, I understand that this is a good way to use other arcs as a different vantage point to the previous story line. However, at the end of the series ( NOT a spoiler alert) there is a narrator that explains that there are many other questions left unanswered in the town, which I know is an easy to raise demand for another season. To be honest, I really don't like it when a series or a movie leaves out enough information that it won't make complete sense until another part is made. The cliffhanger also didn't come off as suspenseful or intriguing. So, anime, remember, learn from horrible movies and realize that if you want a sequel you must make each part strong as a stand alone movie (I'm looking at you, I Am Number Four!)!  

"but Michael Bay always makes a sequel!"

So, Now that I've ranted about the good and bad of this series, it's time to give my final words on it. Overall, the show was good. It had strong pacing, a decent story, and a pretty nice atmosphere. However, the characters are very flip-floppity and they always leave something out for the purpose of filling it in later. The real question is whether or not you are invested in it enough to watch until the plot holes are filled. The end of each arc is gruesome and climactic, which may make the beginning of the next arc feel out of place. Just remember that there are different arcs and it's a good show to watch if you want a nice blend of scariness, craziness, and cuteness

Thank you for reading!

Joey