Anime: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira

Important: This review is based off of the Blu ray disks of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira. Therefore, all sound and animation issues will strictly conform to what I have seen in the Blu-ray. You really don't need to have watched the previous two seasons or OVA though it might help since I frequently reference them within this review. In any case, also note that all my reviews are done after watching the series at least two times.

Premise: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira is the Higurashi OVA that fans have been waiting for all this time except not at all. Kira is filled with fanservice, both good and bad, and a little of that Higurashi flare but is overall a lackluster experience that is a step down from the previous OVA installation, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei.

Background: Higurashi Kira is an OVA series of 4 episodes following the previous OVA series, Higurashi Rei. Like its predecessor it is predominantly filled with comedic episodes in great contrast to its parent anime. The fanservice in this OVA series is mostly ecchi and mostly brain dead making it something to be laughed at more than to be laughed with.

Animation: In my opinion, the art direction for Kira was a step back from Rei. It felt as though they were attempting to return to an updated version of the anime’s style but got caught in between it and Rei’s style which is somewhere in 2008 as opposed to 2011. But one good thing that they retained was the color choice. Just like in Rei, more vibrant colors are used since the majority of the OVA takes place during the day time and in a more relaxed setting. This was of course an appropriate choice since it fits the setting perfectly. Returning to my gripes with art direction though, I mentioned in my review of Rei that characters’ eyes were drawn differently and was better for it. The newly drawn eyes in Kira though changes the characters’ personalities, in my opinion, making them feel softer, if that makes any sense. One can make the argument that this is better suited for the more laid back setting that is found in Kira, but I disagree and maintain that they should have preserved the feel of Rei because this is not some moe blob, this is Higurashi even if it is only an OVA.
In terms of actual animation I have no real complaints. Kira still keeps character movements fluid and convincing. I still found occasional proportion problems with some of the characters at time, namely chibi Rika and the twins.
The animation for the opening was certainly an interesting change from the traditional Higurashi opening and not exactly in the best way. I will explain why it’s not good later in the review but for now I will admit that it was well animated. It is exciting, fitting for the tone of the OVA, introduces every character in a creative way and is overall well put together.
In contrast, the ending animation was very standard and nothing too ambitious. It mostly featured still shots of characters in various costumes with the camera panning around. Basically, it was not very impressive. At least we know they are capable of drawing still shots well. Well that’s a weight off my chest.

Sound: The opening song is a very drastic change from the traditional emo higurashi opening with everyone crying and killing each other. Now they have changed it into an upbeat jpop song. The song is nothing outstanding or above average but is fairly catchy. One upside to the opening is that it was sung by Tamura Yukari, Horie Yui, and Kanai Mika (Rika, Hanyuu, and Satoko respectively). So A for effort, C for everything else.
The ending is much more interesting, not in the musical sense, but in the fact that different cast members sing it for each episode. The song itself is not great, but the fact that you get to listen to the seiyuus sing in their character’s voice is great fanservice.
Voice acting was normal. The only real problem I had was in the last episode when Tamura Yukari had to do the voice of her younger self- it was not all that different from regular Rika’s voice.
BGMs were well placed and used and never felt repetitive, though that’s not saying much since the episodes were released almost a month apart from each other and there were only 4 episodes. But even watching them consecutively, the BGMs still stay fresh and supportive of the “action.”

Story: Moeblob. What? I need to explain further? Drat. Well then let’s start from positive comments (since there are so few). Each episode was entertaining and had a simple, easy to follow plot. The last episode especially had an entertaining and interesting plot. Chibi Rika from a parallel world in the past is playing hide and seek with Hanyuu and hides in a shrine. Little (pun) does she know that she will be transported to a future in a parallel world where the events from Kai have already ended and everyone is living in peace. The episode looks into Rika’s and Hanyuu’s relationship and how much Rika actually treasures Hinamizawa as well as Hanyuu. The fatal flaw of this though is the fact that we already knew how much Rika loved both of them from Kai meaning that the sole purpose of this episode, though not at all surprising, was less to introduce a new perspective and more to add scenes of an even smaller Rika which is surprisingly not as cute as one would imagine.
The other episodes have the same general problem of having a loose plot in order to just throw in some fanservice here and there. I’m not trying to say that OVAs should have a deep story but I feel as if they should contain some substance at least. Kira basically only touches the shallow end of the pool unlike its predecessor Rei which had a very interesting 3 episode arc that ended poorly, but was nevertheless an interesting and complementary arc.

Characters: It’s the same characters from Higurashi just much happier and not all psycho. Sadly enough, the characters suffer and lose their individuality for this. The characters begin to conform to stereotypes of generic animes with their original personality held by a thread. It was fun to see some characters that we did not see very often in the main series pop in and do some things with the main characters, but most of the time everything felt either out of character or forced.
In regards to actual character development though, not much happened since it was a fanservice based OVA. The only character development that occurred was with Rika in the last episode but that was more of a reflection on the past rather than actual growth.

Value: I would not suggest buying this unless you’re into any of the incentives that are offered for buying the Blu rays. It has little to no replay value and is only pleasing the first time you watch it. Kira seems to be trying to cater to a larger crowd now rather than just its hard core fans. This is apparent since its content is now much more comparable to great masterpieces such as Kampfer OVA and Fairy Tail OVA. Basically, Kira is brain dead fun.

Enjoyment: If enjoyment is gauged by face palms and laughs, then this should get a 10. When I say laughs though, usually it’s more at the OVA than at actual jokes. Kira is no doubt a pretty bad OVA and it was fun to laugh at it, seldom with it. Watching this a second time just reminded me how bad it is and how I was actually watching it a second time when I could be doing better things.

Closing: Kira was not an ambitious project nor was it even a mediocre project. You will get enjoyment out of laughing at Kira but not really with it. Even for fans Kira will not be as enjoyable as it should be. If you haven't seen Kira yet, consider yourself fortunate and steer clear.