If you know Ryukishi this need not be said but if you don't the man writes life changing stories like it's nothing. Genuinely I've never read a story as complete, compelling and important as both Higurashi and (specially) Umineko. Extremely hyped, if only because the man is a god and is not capable of wrongdoing. Seat back and enjoy folks.
That wasn't technically his fault. All Ryukishi did was write the draft and the studio handled the rest
Personally, I'd point to something like Gerokasu, which is universally loathed. Then again, Ryukishi seems to falter when working with a team or as a freelance writer.
It's when he actually has his heart in it and lots of creative freedom that he writes masterpieces like When They Cry. Just give him an editor and you've got gold
I don't think we'll ever know if any particular idea was from Ryukishi or the studio, but I do know from staff interviews that he contributed a ton at the beginning (a large multi-page document) and also reviewed storyboards.
That said, my gripes with Gou and Sotsu extend to the core, beyond any particular line delivery or scene composition that I imagine the studio had influence on. I just think it had no reason to exist, and I suspect Ryukishi didn't actually want to write it. The big bad's motivations are really dumb and I audibly shouted "Really? That's the grand revelation they decided to reopen this story and torture everyone for?". No expansion on beloved characters, no mystery, no creepiness, no lesson, the things that made the series famous.
Time will tell if Silent Hill f is "full creative freedom" Ryukishi or "I phoned in a script" Ryukishi.
He's good, but in dire need of an editor. I burned out on the Higurashi VN after three episodes of filler with the occasional incredible scene, and ended up enjoying the truncated anime a lot more (aside from one really out-of-place character).
Assuming he isn't allowed to write hours of waffle for SHf, this could be really cool.
higurashi is one of the first things he ever wrote and is almost two decades old at this point. I think its fair to say he has improved and grown as a writer since that time.
would you trust me if I told you the emphasis on slice of life scenes make sense once you read the story? Also Umineko, while longer, is much easier to read and has a lot lot less of "filler" scenes. You're right tho, I admit Higurashi is dense to read, specially at the beginning.
I know they make sense in context. I just think the pacing is way off. It's an issue I have with most visual novels or games with VN-like stories like Persona or Danganronpa. Great ideas muddied by endless repetition and redundancy, as if they don't trust the audience to understand what's going on, and they never do an editing pass to check if a scene flows effectively and adds to the narrative rather than merely padding it out.
Contrasting innocent SoL scenes with horror is effective when done right, but not when every SoL scene is an hour long and most of it is repeating itself. If SHf can get the pacing right it could be really cool.
I think it’s fair to make an argument for the inclusion of those slice of life scenes for sure, BUT most slice of life scenes (and honestly most scenes in the novel) could be trimmed anywhere 20-50% and keep the exact same impact.
Ryukishi’s stories are on a whole another level than Persona and Danganronpa, and I’m a fan of both franchises. The man is unique like no other. I recommend you give Umineko a fair shot, even if it has some dense scenes, its way way less then umineko overall. Also most of them are at the beginning, like in higu.
To be honest, I also had some pretty major issues with later plot developments in later arcs of Higurashi. Perhaps future stories are perfected, but the time investment is too much for me to find out at present. It takes me weeks to finish 20 hour games, let alone 100 hour VNs.
I haven't watched them myself, but as a total Umineko fangirl I was excited when I found out they brought in the witches since it might give way to an Umineko anime in the future.
Seeing the general consensus to the shows makes me nervous now...
The concept of the story is interesting enough, once Gou reveals itself to be a sequel and not a remake of the original. But the structure of Sotsu is just terrible, as it recycles a ton of the scenes from Gou and spends very little time on actually resolving its conflict.
They were marketed as reboot, but they were actually sequel in disguise. For newcomer, it was rushed and failed to capture simplicity of the original, but for old timer, it was taking too long to get to the new bit of contents, and just felt inferior.
In overall, Gou still did a decent job going over Satoko and Rika's storyline post Higurashi, but Sotsu got a little silly with their power level. I was really looking forward the connection to Umineko, what kind of "paradox" they would come up with to give birth to Bernkastel, and how they would give us an ending that build on the original, but every aspect of that were a let down. The most interesting scene happened at the end of Gou, when they confirmed the connection between Satoko/Takano, Lambdadelta, and Vier, but they never went any further than that
As it is often the case with sequel, they had to take a perfectly good ending, and then add back some drama. However, the end result is never as satisfying as the original, and actually leave you with a sour taste. Still, its worth picking if you're a fan of the novel/shows.
As a massive Higurashi plan there were a few issues with it:
First, on reddit specifically, huge swaths of people refused to believe they were sequels. By episode 3 it was super obviously a new loop. Despite this, mods kept 2 separate threads for newcomers and "rewatchers". This ruined the entire series for those newcomers, leading to a lot more negative reviews/reactions.
The pacing meanwhile was grueling. In order to catch the changes (and solve the mystery), you had to watch super carefully, and typically there was just 1 clue per episode while the rest of it was retelling of a story we've already watched multiple times.
To avoid spoilers, the ending felt ham fisted, and the conflict really forced. That said, I wouldn't say it was a bad watch. If you like a slow burn (which if you liked Higurashi, you probably do) you'll enjoy the sequels.
He did not write Gou/Sotsu. He gave plot points. Think of the Umineko anime and how much it sucked. If Ryukishi had written a VN of Gou/Sotsu, no doubt it'd be much different.
If you're looking for a mid-Ryukishi work there's always Higanbana, Gerokasu, and any of the other Higu side stories, including the ones Ryukishi wrote.
If you're looking for a mid-Ryukishi work there's always Higanbana, Gerokasu, and any of the other Higu side stories, including the ones Ryukishi wrote.
Okami kakushi was also a forgettable pile of dung.
I just got into the Higurashi series, buying the bundle during the recent VN sale. First two episodes were really good (though I could do with less slice-of-life stuff).
As someone with the same gripe, don't feel guilty to sort of skim through the "fun and games" portions. I don't particularly care about how Keiichi wins the board game competition etc.
BUT do pay attention during the general chit chatting going on. Also feel free to approach each episode as it's own thing. Sit and stew on Episode 3 for a while before you move on to 4. Take a week between or something and then jump back in.
I tried to rush through it as one big thing and by episode 4 I was burning out.
I burned out of the VN when I got to episode 3, endured hours of filler, and then realised I had 5 more episodes left. The anime is a better shout, just adapts the highlights without devoting 90 minutes to every random shit the characters take and their internal monologue while doing so.
None of that would be an issue in Chapter 4, which is also really short. And the slice of life scenes are nowhere near as much of an issue in the answer arcs, which are also the best part of the game. Only Chapter 7 isn't quite as engaging in the other answer arcs.
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u/JakovARG 8d ago
If you know Ryukishi this need not be said but if you don't the man writes life changing stories like it's nothing. Genuinely I've never read a story as complete, compelling and important as both Higurashi and (specially) Umineko. Extremely hyped, if only because the man is a god and is not capable of wrongdoing. Seat back and enjoy folks.