Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Difference between revisions

[[File:Higurashi_no_Naku_Koro_ni-05.jpg|frame|Welcome to Hinamizawa.]]

 

 

The year: 1983. When Keiichi Maebara and his family move to the sleepy [[Campbell Country|little rural village]] of Hinamizawa, everything seems peaceful and rustic at first. But Keiichi quickly learns that there is more to the four girls of the school's game club than meets the eye... and more to the town as well. Revelation follows revelation, and brutal murder follows brutal murder in this enigmatic tale told from a variety of viewpoints and scenarios. Just what links the scenarios together?

 

 

''Higurashi'' consists of several different story arcs with most arcs beginning similarly but [[Anyone Can Die|ending differently]]. If watched or read out of order, it can raise many questions about what [[All There in the Manual|is going on]]. See [[The Other Wiki|The Other Wiki's entry]] for ''Higurashi'' get the order the manga are supposed to be read in. The anime can be watched in order (episode one first), with ''Higurashi no {{color|red|Na}}ku Koro ni Kai'' being season two.

Part of the ''[[When They Cry]]'' series of visual novels by 07th Expansion, which also includes ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]''.

 

 

* [[I'm Taking Her Home with Me]]

* [[The Abridged Series]]: [[Higurashi Parody Fandub]], among others.

* [[Absence of Evidence]]: Rena noticed that the bottle of shoyu in Rika and Satoko's house was missing, and deduced the possibility that they had visited the Sonozaki estate that night with an empty shoyu bottle and been kidnapped.

* [[Actor Allusion]]: In the first episode of ''Rei'', this is combined with [[Expy]] and invoked in the form of Chie-sensei pulling out wooden T squares which look a lot like [[Tsukihime|Black Keys]].

* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The manga does a ''great'' job at capturing the mood.

* [[Adaptation Dye Job]]: Eye variation. Keiichi's eyes are blue in the manga, sound novels, and Daybreak but purple in the anime and Mah-Jong game.

* [[Adults Are Useless]]: Subverted as an [[Aesop]].

* [[An Aesop]]: A bunch, including: [[True Companions|Stick by your friends]] no matter what terrible things they do, and [[Screw Destiny|you can fight fate]] (but if you screw up [[Butterfly of Doom|even slightly]] everyone you care about will probably die a horrible death anyway).

*** Hanyuu thought to and told herself that the world was just a dream, nothing more. {{spoiler|however, Bernkastel still made a world like that, and possibly another with Akasaka bought off by Takano.}}

** Also the {{spoiler|Massacre Chapter of Higurashi Kira. Then they go beyond that making it a [[Dream Within a Dream]].}}

** Heck, during the same speech in the Visual Novel, he uses these exact words.

** He later gets an entire cult following simply based around the fact that he got them to admit that they were perverts.

** Pretty much all of the male characters are perverts, Satoshi and Akasaka aside.

*** And the only reason for that is that they never get any screen time.

** The Houjou kids are called ''Sato''shi and ''Sato''ko.

** Miyo Takano and Professor Hifumi Takano. Hifumi can be written as 一二三 (123), while Miyo is written as 三四 (34), which continues the sequence. Would be a stretch, except that it's pointed out in the anime when the two characters first meet. In the [[Visual Novel]], it practically [[Anvilicious|beats you over the head with that]]. Numerous times it says that Hifumi (1-2-3) started counting, and Miyo (3-4) will keep counting afterwards.

* [[Alternate Continuity]]: Onisarashi-hen.

* [[Ambiguously Gay]]: Arguably, [[Fan-Preferred Couple|or not]], Rika and Satoko.

** It's almost funny how much Shmion [[Ship Tease]] there is in Meakashi-hen. Also, in the Japanese DVD release, they included an OFFICIAL ARTWORK poster of [[Incest Subtext|Mion and Shion fully naked and cuddling on the floor with lips almost touching.]]

* [[Ancient Conspiracy]]: Or maybe that's just what they ''want'' you to think.

* [[Animated Actors]] / [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: "Wrap parties". To elaborate, at the end of most arcs, the character's sprites get together and discuss the events of the story. After [[The Reveal]] they make one wonder if Ryuukushi 07 had the whole thing planned from the beginning, [[Hilarious in Hindsight|considering some of the things they say.]]

* [[Asshole Victim]]: Several victims in certain arcs, such as Rina, who is shamelessly planning to swindle Rena's father for everything he's got.

* [[The Atoner]]: Keiichi in the appropriately-named Atonement chapter.

* [[Axes At School]]: The end of the first season.

* [[Backstory]]: Characters' backstories remain the same in all scenarios, with one exception: Saikoroshi-hen.

* [[Big Screwed-Up Family]]: The Sonozaki family seems this way initially, but later arcs show that they're not quite as bad as they looked at first.

* [[Bishonen]]: Arguably Satoshi and Keiichi. They are both tall, slender, have delicate features, and ''big'' eyes; as well as being quite handsome.

** The DS exclusive ''Kageboshi-hen''. {{spoiler|Unlike Someutsushi-hen, Natsumi manages to snap out of her Hinamizawa Syndrome thanks to her friend Chisato and marries Akira some time later, but Tomoe is dead, Natsumi`s family is still dead, and Natsumi is still recovering from the trauma.)}}

** How about the ending to ''Matsuribayashi-hen''? {{spoiler|The main characters survive, but Satoshi is still comatose and we don't know whether he'll ever recover, though Irie does believe there is some hope.}}

* [[Borrowed Catchphrase]]: Keiichi says "I want to take it home!" in Watangashi-hen part one (episode 5) to {{spoiler|Shion (really Mion at the time) when he sees her working as a [[Fan Service with a Smile|scantily clad waitress]] she responds by punching him}}.

** Both Takano and {{spoiler|Hanyuu}} say Nipah at one point.

* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: In ''Minagoroshi-hen,'' Mion and Keiichi break the fourth wall to explain some mahjongg stuff, and Rika says that Takano "lost them a lot of viewers" by not putting on a cat costume.

'''Keiichi''': Why are you looking at the camera, Rika-chan? }}

* [[Break the Cutie]]: They're really not picky about who they break, though

** Hell, they even break the [[Big Bad]] by showing us a damned flashback. Poor {{spoiler|Takano.}}

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Protagonist Mion constantly carries around a gun in a very visible holster, and, {{spoiler|in a subversion, never, ever uses it. The manga reveals that it's an airsoft gun.}}

** {{spoiler|She did use it in the manga once, though as a joke, in Onikakushi-hen.}}

** More so noticeable in the sound novels, where quite a number of her poses show it, and manga.

** Three very important ones are in the Cotton Drifting chapter. The whole "demon inside me" dialogue at face value is just complete BS'ing (she says it with face value intentions as well). However, if the viewer interprets it as a metaphor (not her intention), it's actually one of the biggest clues as to [[Hate Plague|what's really going on]]. A borderline [[Fridge Brilliance]] grade example. The second important "gun"? Ooishi's findings about the body in the barrel. The third "gun" is what Rika says about those who enter the ritual shrine. Its a big hint about {{spoiler|the true nature of [[God Is Good|Oyashiro]]}}.

** The syringe in the Eye Opening Chapter. Namely the contents as revealed in the Festival Music Chapter. Major hint to the [[Hate Plague]].

* [[Chivalrous Pervert]]: Mion to Keiichi in an extremely rare female on male example. Much more prevelant in the manga. [[The Gadfly|Being that this is Mion, she could also be screwing with Keiichi for amusement.]] Also threatens to ask what color {{spoiler|Hanyuu's}} underwear is.

* [[Cliff Hanger]]

* [[Compressed Adaptation]]

* [[Conspicuous CG]]: Don't tell me you ''didn't'' think that watermill stood out...

* {{spoiler|[[Corrupt Church]]}}: As a subversion of [[Religion of Evil]], this is what was really going on, and {{spoiler|Hanyuu aka Oyashiro is not happy about it}}.

* [[Covert Pervert]]: In ''Rei'' Rena seems to have a bit of an attachment towards Keiichi's "Furry Seal".

* [[Crucified Hero Shot]]: Satako in episode 21. Justified {{spoiler|since she was chained to a cross for easier torturing}}

* [[Cold-Blooded Torture]]: See [[Nightmare Fuel]].

* [[Darkest Hour]]: Yakusamashi-hen, where {{spoiler|Rika pretty much gives up all hope of changing her fate. [[It Gets Better]] right after, because the next arc is basically one big [[Hope Spot]].}}

* [[Deadly Doctor]]: Despite usually being {{spoiler|the first to go along with Tomitake, Takano Miyo}} is ''not'' harmless. {{spoiler|Well, it's not quite "despite".}}

* [[Decoy Protagonist]]: {{spoiler|Keiichi, Akasaka, Shion, Rena and Ooishi.}} In that order.

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: Keiichi is a [[Laughing Mad]] wreck in an insane asylum in the ending of {{spoiler|Tatarigoroshi-hen}}, and all of the abuse he went through in {{spoiler|Watanagashi-hen takes a toll on him until he hallucinates himself into a heart attack}} in a scene that's [[Nightmare Fuel]]. In addition, when {{spoiler|Mion}} is found at the end of Taraimawashi-hen, or Satoko in Yakusamashi-hen, she's practically in a vegetative state. {{spoiler|Akira}} is stated to have suffered a Taraimawashi-esque breakdown at the end of of Someutsushi-hen.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|Takano kills God.}} This is '''not a good thing.'''

* [[Disconnected by Death]]: Someone does die in a phone booth while trying to give the police information. Investigation showed it was suicide by clawing out one's own throat.

* [[The Dog Bites Back]]: {{spoiler|Sh}}ion to {{spoiler|Onryu}} in the Cotton Drifting and Eye Opening chapters.

* {{spoiler|[[The Dog Was the Mastermind]]: The [[Big Bad]] was in every single arc, and as far as the viewer was concerned, seemed to have no chance of being the villain. After all, it is extremely difficult to suspect a victim.}}

* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Happens a fews time in the series. Pre-series, {{spoiler|Rena}} tries to [[Interrupted Suicide|commit suicide]] by ''slashing her throat open'' (she slit her wrists in the anime though). Outside of the anime, instead of simply falling off of a roof, {{spoiler|Shion}} in Meakashi-Watangashi fell onto a roof but decided to fall off after rethinking what she had done. In the same arc, {{spoiler|Rika}} decides to drive a knife into her neck. In [[Alternate Universe|Yoigoshi-hen]] {{spoiler|Akira}} was driven to suicide by his overwhelming debt, but couldn't go through with it. The group he was with did.

** {{spoiler|Shion also commits suicide in the hospital she was admitted to}} in the manga version of Tatarigoroshi-hen {{spoiler|after the gas outbreak.}}

* [[Dysfunction Junction]]: Everyone has a tragic backstory and/or psychological issues, even [[Fan Nickname|Detective Delicious]]. Satoko and Rika lost their parents (or more). Rena and especially Satoko have psychological issues related to their families; Shion's are related to losing someone she loved in a very torturous experience. There's a reason Keiichi's family had to move. Detective Ooishi lost a close partner and vows revenge. And so forth. Most of these characters reach [[Break the Cutie]] proportions.

** And what about Irie? It goes into more detail in the manga, but in short {{spoiler|his father suffered a brain injury and started beating his wife, then got into a fight with a gang, which ultimately got him killed. This inspired Irie to become a brain surgeon, and started [[It Makes Sense in Context|dissecting people while they were still alive, to prove his father's innocence.]] Takano uses this to blackmail him into dissecting their first Hinamizawa Syndrome victim's brain, and later on Satoko, but this was averted with the help of Rika}}

* {{spoiler|[[Earn Your Happy Ending]]}}: Almost every individual arc has a bad ending{{spoiler|, but the characters do, in the end, manage to stop the chain of deaths}}.

* [[Eternal Recurrence]]

** [[Fan Nickname|Droopy-tan.]]

* [[The Faceless]]: The appearanced of Keiichi's parents aren't shown in the novels at all, and in the anime we just get their faces from the mouth down. The manga do show their entire faces, but they conflict with what little we see in the anime; for example, nothing is really notable about the bottom half of Mr. Maebara's face in the anime, but in the manga, he's got a beret and a Frenchy goatee. And is in much better shape.

* [[Face Death with Dignity]]: {{spoiler|Rika, in a particularly disturbing scene, and later, Satoko}}.

** Not to mention {{spoiler|Rena}} in the end of Minagoroshi, though slightly less "dignity" and more "laughing in your murderer's face about how her plan is stupid and she's stupid". {{spoiler|She even uses the same [[Laughing Mad|crazy laugh]] from season one, for the only time in season two. The fact that Takano put a bullet in Rena rather quickly gives the implication that Rena struck a nerve}}.

** There's a small group of fans who refer to Tomitake as ''Tommy Tucker'' as the pronunciation sounds similar to the Little Tommy Tucker nursery rhyme.

* [[Fan Service with a Smile]]: Shion's work uniform at the Angel Mort Cafe. There's official art with all the other girls wearing it, too.

* [[Festival Episode]] (repeatedly)

* [[A Fete Worse Than Death]]: You know that cheerful summertime festival these townspeople have? Well, it wasn't always cotton that they tore up...

* {{spoiler|[[For Science!]]}}: The catalyst for many unpleasant things.

* [[For Want of a Nail]]: Arguably, the doll in the Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen arcs. {{spoiler|It shows up again, but this time, the choice was the right one.}} In fact, this trope was the point of the parallel arc system used.

* [[A Friend in Need]]: The origins of the game club were as {{spoiler|an attempt to help the Hojo siblings. Only partially successful, see [[My Greatest Failure]] below.}}

* [[The Gadfly]]: Played for laughs with Mion who gets plenty of amusement from yanking Keiichi's chain. Posssibly motivated by how bad she is at expressing her true feeilings for him. Also her punishment games.

* [[Gas Chamber]]: {{spoiler|The Hinamizawa gas disaster is revealed to be a cover-up for the government implementing this on the village}}.

* [[Gas Leak Coverup]]: See above.

* [[Ghibli Hills]]

* [[Glurge Addict]]

** Except it's not ''really'' a {{spoiler|[[Groundhog Day Loop]]}} it's {{spoiler|Alternate worlds.}}

* [[Guess Who I'm Marrying]]: Almost happens to {{spoiler|Rena's father and his girlfriend, who turns out to be a yakuza moll trying to take him for everything he has}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Hate Plague]]}}: The other major component of the show's premise.

* [[Hellish Pupils]]: The "cat eyes" in Onikakushi, as well as about ten other different types of iris contortions.

*** Amusingly, the girls also get the glowing eyes and ominous lighting when they're about to inflict some humiliating-but-funny "punishment game" on Keiichi.

** In Episode 15 of ''Kai'', {{spoiler|Hanyu gains these when confronting Takano, making them ''heavenly pupils''.}}

* [[Hidden Eyes]]: Common among the main cast.

* [[Hollywood Atheist]]: {{spoiler|Miyo}}.

** Which is ironic, since she is the only one of two characters to meet a god and actually recognize it.

** {{spoiler|Of course, with Minagoroshi-hen, it can be assumed that most fans weren't fooled. The title essentially MEANS "[[Kill'Em All]]." In English, it's literally "Massacre chapter"}}

* [[The Hyena]]

** Rika's mom too!

*** Hell yes.

* [[Hyper Awareness]]: Rena. She figures out exactly how Satoko and Rika got kidnapped because there was an empty bottle of soy sauce on their table, for crying out loud.

** In the game, the empty bottle is stashed away. She still figures it out based on that and their dinner for the day being in the fridge.

** In the anime at the end of second arc, he goes into a creepy dungeon filled with torture implements with a murderer AFTER she explains to him that she murdered a bunch of people, including two kids. Thats [[Darwin Awards]] material.

** Justified mostly: the characters are often aware of what they're doing, but choose to ignore the stupidity of it and proceed anyway, out of friendship, pride, revenge or so on.

* [[I Know You Know I Know]]: The club games, and Satoko's traps.

* [[I'm Taking Her Home with Me]]: [[Trope Namer]], uttered by Rena whenever she sees something cute.

* [[Improvised Weapon]]: Weapon options in ''Higurashi Day{{color|red|b}}reak''.

* [[Inane Blabbering]]

* [[Infant Immortality]]: Brutally averted, over and over again, in the most horrible manner possible.

** There's a lot of Shmion pictures that involve this.

* [[In the Blood]]: Remember how {{spoiler|Shion had to peel her fingernails off for Satoshi, after which Mion did likewise?}} Well, the TIPS reveal that {{spoiler|a similar situation happened earlier, except with their mother and Oryou. Expect this one ended well.}}

*** A later tip shows near the end of Matsuribayashi {{spoiler|that this is 100% true, assuming Hanyuu's horns weren't proof enough.}}

* [[It Makes Sense in Context]]: Episode 1 of Rei

** The anime had a habit of opening each new Arc with a random scene from later in the arc (or from a different one entirely). Such as the Cotton Drifting Arc, which starts with {{spoiler|Rika stabbing herself in the neck while Shion watches}}. Then the theme song plays, then they cut to the [[Mood Whiplash|funny few minutes before the murders start]].

* [[It's for a Book]]: Keichi while planning the perfect murder. Later Rika uses this to find out who's {{spoiler|behind her death}}.

* [[The Jailbait Wait]]: Doctor Irie and Satoko.

* [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]]: Almost every arc starts with something minor or forgivable that gets worse and worse until...

* [[Karma Houdini]]: {{spoiler|Nomura and the opposing faction from Tokyo}}, who were behind supposed [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|Takano Miyo}} and were driving them on when they wavered, apparently get away without anything more than the failure of their power play, presumably by making {{spoiler|Takano}} their scapegoat for everything. This despite almost EVERYTHING being their fault and them having NO [[Freudian Excuse]].

** The last episode of Kai hints that the scapegoat plan might fail {{spoiler|because Okonogi lets Takano live, and Tomitake intervenes by arranging her to receive treatment instead of being transported to Tokyo. It is still likely that the faction escapes, leaving Nomura as the new scapegoat. It is also likely that Takano was successfully made the scapegoat in other cycles where the sterilization operation failed.}}

* [[Kill'Em All]]: The Tatarigoroshi chapter truly does Kill 'Em All - {{spoiler|starting with the gory death of Rina, Satoko's uncle Teppei, Tomitake, Takano, Irie, Ooishi, and finally Rika are seemingly murdered one by one, until the chapter finally ends with an eruption of poisonous volcanic gasses that kills off [[Sole Survivor|the entire population of Hinamizawa except for Keiichi]]}}.

* [[Killed Mid-Sentence]]: {{spoiler|Miyo does this to Keiichi while Kei is delivering a [[Kirk Summation]], and does it in a way that is simultaneously [[Crowning Moment of Funny|hilarious]] and [[Nightmare Fuel|hand-over-mouth horrifying]].}}

* [[Kill the Cutie]]: There's a reason it's part of the horror genre.

* [[Lecherous Licking]]: Occurs in Kira when Shion is licking cream off of Mion who is doing a [[Body Sushi]] as a punishment game.

* [[Let's Get Dangerous]]: {{spoiler|When the [[True Companions|best friends]] finally gets it together, what was a squabbling squad of broken children who were easily preyed upon becomes a tightly-knit unit that resists the [[Hate Plague]] and completely owns a crack unit of corrupt members of government (with adult help, but even they appeared [[Adults Are Useless|useless]] at first).}}

*** Just compare [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRtsIJXrhqc the first opening] with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLO4tnvNko Kira's] (warning: extreme [[Mood Whiplash]])

* [[Live Action Adaptation]]: The films ''Shrill Cries of Summer'' (''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni'') and ''Shrill Cries: Reshuffle'' (''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chikai'').

** The [[Love Triangle]] between Keiichi, Mion, and Rena is hinted as early as Watanagashi-hen in the "doll incident." Ironically, {{spoiler|it is Shion who goes crazy because of it even though it's Mion who is jealous.}}

** In the Meakashi-hen manga {{spoiler|it was revealed that Mion was also in love with Satoshi, just like Shion, though she certainly didn't make her feelings for him nearly as clear and didn't seem to feel as strongly in the first place. Of course, Mion's over him now, since she found Keiichi.}}

** Similarly, Hanyuu's [[Image Song]], Nanodesu. Fantastically upbeat, cheerful, and fun song, with lyrics that boil down to "I'm powerless, I can't do anything".

** Higurashi character songs seem to be full of this. Rika has two [[Image Song|image songs]] one for her childish, cheery voice and other for {{spoiler|her hundreds-year-old cynical voice}}. Ironically, the former's lyrics are depressing, while the latter's are more hopeful.

* [[Mad Doctor]]: A TIPS in the games notes that {{spoiler|Dr. Irie}} performed psychosurgery on unwilling subjects in the past, and a flashback in the final season of the anime {{spoiler|has him dissecting the brain of a living patient (albeit with persuasion from the [[Big Bad]])}}. {{spoiler|Takano}} is a little bit more literally one.

*** {{spoiler|Takano}} ''eagerly'' planned and prepared the {{spoiler|vivisection}} days before it would happen in the [[Visual Novel]].

* [[Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter]]: Inverted. {{spoiler|Dr. Takano was nice, but Miyo is insane}}.

* [[Mafia Princess]]: Mion, although technically she's a yakuza princess.

* [[The Men in Black]]: Beware the Janitors, for they are Anonymous, and they are Legion!

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Probably accidental, but "Rena" could be short for the Spanish word "renacimiento", meaning "rebirth". {{spoiler|Rena's old name was actually "Reina", which is a Japanese name but is also Spanish for "queen"; she changed it to "Rena" to create a new identity for herself, effectively being "reborn".}}

* [[Media Watchdogs]]: PEGI was obviously sleeping when it gave the French translation 7+ rating. {{spoiler|Explanation: They only rated the minigames. It even got an ISBN number, so apparently rest of it is treated as a book.}}

* [[Milkman Conspiracy]]: The mastermind behind everything is {{spoiler|some stoned-looking nurse}}?

* [[Mind Screw]]: In general the whole air of mystery and paranoia (both of which are cleared up in the second season). A specific example - {{spoiler|in the second arc Keiichi finds out that Mion killed a bunch of people. In the fifth arc, we're shown that it was actually ''Shion'' pretending to be Mion.}}

** Miyo theorizes this applies to the name of Watanagashi festival; Wata means cotton and {{spoiler|guts.}}

*** {{spoiler|And that theory is correct.}}

* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Numerous instances. Keiichi gets one after {{spoiler|beating Rena and Mion to death in Onikakushi-hen, and another one later on when he recalls this during Tsumihoroboshi-hen}}, Rena at the end of Tsumihoroboshi-hen, and Shion gets one for all of ten seconds when {{spoiler|she remembers Satoshi asking her to look after Satoko after she murders her}}, and then [[Goes Mad From the Revelation|goes on to merrily add two more bodies to her pile]].

** She gets another 5 seconds {{spoiler|after she's killed everyone and has slipped off the balcony. "I'm sorry, everyone. Next time, I'll do better." * splat* }}

* [[My Greatest Failure]]: The manga adaptation of the Festival Music chapter reveals Mion's reason for not wanting to talk about Satoshi's disappearance. {{spoiler|It was her inability to save/help him before his disappearance.}}

* [[True Companions|BestFriends]]: ''"{{spoiler|Anyone could have realized this. All we had to do was something this simple! If something awful happens, or if we start doubting each other, or if something painful happens...}} Your [[True Companions|best friends]]! You have to talk to your[[True Companions|best friends]]"''

* [[Nightmare Fetishist]]: Takano Miyo. Loves the horrifying legends about Hinamizawa and is fascinated by the actual ancient torture equipment.

* [[Noblewoman's Laugh]]: Satoko does this a lot, and always does after pulling off a prank.

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Satoko's parents are dead, and her sometimes-appearing uncle is an abusive alcoholic. Rika doesn't have ''any'' surviving family; the two live together by themselves. Rena's mother ran off with another guy. Shmion's mother is on bad terms with their [[Yakuza]] family and seldom shows up, while their father makes one appearance in the second season.

* [[Playing with Syringes]]: {{spoiler|Hinamizawa Syndrome is being tested on the villagers to see if it can create a biological weapon.}} The major irony with this trope being that {{spoiler|just about all literal instances of syringes in the series are either illusory or actually meant to help the protagonists.}}

* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: The events of {{spoiler|Onikakushi-hen}} as a whole and the last third of {{spoiler|Tatarigoroshi-hen}} are a result of this.

** Subverted in {{spoiler|Tsumihoroboshi-hen}}: A long series of misunderstandings ''almost'' kills, but is averted at the last minute. In the [[Visual Novel]], there are even more misunderstandings before it is averted.

* [[Power of Friendship]]: If there was ever a show to which the saying "Friends help you move, best friends help you move bodies" applied, it's this one.

* [[Present Day Past]]: The series is set in the earlier 1980s yet there are a couple things that really shouldn't be back there. The Sound novel seems to like invoking this trope for the lulz. In the Watanagashi Arc, the gang is playing the game Sympathy. (In which someone says a word and each player must write down what first come to mind. A player receives points by having the same answer as another player.) When the word is sakura (cherry blossom) Keiichi tries thinking like a girl in order to gain the lead. His answer? [[Cardcaptor Sakura]].

** Not to mention that by looking at the counter on the game shop in the Watanagashi Arc, ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' and ''[[Duel Masters]]'' packs can be clearly seen.

** In Meakashi Arc, Keiichi talks about end of [[Cold War]]- In a lecture about [[It Makes Sense in Context|porn.]]

** In Tsumihoroboshi Arc, someone offers a Higurashi beta for exchange of Angel Mort event ticket - 20 years early.

*** A Higurashi beta? In the world Higurashi takes place in? [[Mind Screw|Huh?]] I guess it's like {{spoiler|when Akasaka made a book similar to the series based off the events of an arc}}

** In Minagoroshi, Keiichi mentions numerous videogames that have not existed yet when he tries to convince Komura (The baseball player) to help rescue Satoko. Some of the games he mentions are Resident Evil (1996), Metal Gear (1987), A new "Dead or Alive" coming out (The first one came out in 1996, the second one was 2000)

** The thin-rimmed glasses worn by Dr. Irie are of a design that didn't get common before the mid-nineties. Early-eighties glasses were quite much uglier by today's standards (The circular frames he wears in the manga are a little closer to accurate than what appears in the anime).

* [[Red Herring]]: Two of them actually, and very well done. Both of them however, are major contributing factors to the [[Hate Plague]] when pursured

** 1. {{spoiler|The Sonozaki family's "connections". Pretty much innocent in regards to the chain of murders associated with Oyrashiro's Curse. The Yamainu were the ones who kidnapped the grandson.}}

* [[Refusal of the Call]]: In the Playstation 2 game, if you don't have Keiichi enter any other arcs through their triggers, you end up in Taraimawashi-hen, which basically flogs you for doing this. {{spoiler|And yes, you still die}}.

* [[Religious Horror]]: The origins of the Cotton-Drifting Festival.

* [[Self-Made Orphan]]: {{spoiler|Satoko}}

** In ''Rei'', it's mentioned in passing that {{spoiler|he was right in the "real" world, but it never happened in ''that'' universe}}.

* [[Serial Escalation]]: "Thank you very much for playing 'Higurashi When They Cry --Meakashi--'. Thanks to your support, I could bring the fifth episode to you. 'Higurashi' [[It Got Worse|will increase its intensity]] toward the ending."

* [[Serious Business]]: The club's assorted games usually end up involving [[Hot-Blooded|Hot Bloodedness]], blackmail, and/or shameless cheating.

** In the mahjong game for PSP and Arcade, winning or losing a game of mahjong is a matter of life and death in Oyashiro-mode.

* [[Shut Up, Kirk]]: {{spoiler|Takano}} shoots {{spoiler|Keiichi}} point blank during his [[Kirk Summation]] to shut him up.

* [[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: Mion and Shion contrast each other, and Irie mentions that before Satoshi "transferred," he and Satoko also had those tendencies.

** The same situation is inverted later in the same arc, when {{spoiler|Hanyuu asks Takano to shoot her and spare the others... and a few seconds later, Takano's last and only bullet goes whizzing past her ear to the tune of a delicious karmic echo.}} A shame so many people mistook it for a [[Deus Ex Machina]].

*** {{spoiler|The Deus was standing right there--Hanyuu can ''stop time''.}}

* [[They Killed Kenny]]: Everyone. Especially Tomitake, Takano, and {{spoiler|Rika}}.

** Subverted because {{spoiler|Takano is really faking her death. And is possibly the only one of these who don't die}}.

* [[They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason]]: Just about all of {{spoiler|Onikakushi-hen}}.

* [[The Thing That Goes Doink]]: Mion's family home has one.

* [[Through the Eyes of Madness]]

* [[Time Stands Still]]: {{spoiler|Hanyu's power. In ''Higurashi Rei'', she uses it to reposition Keiichi so that he falls into the pool, [[Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him|instead of just pulling his Speedo off, which was the goal]]}}.

* [[Twin Banter]]

* [[Twin Threesome Fantasy]]: Oishi suggests something to this effect after he sees Keiichi with Shion (knowing that Keiichi also hung out with Mion often).

* [[Uncanny Village]]

* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: {{spoiler|Keiichi in Onikakushi-hen, thanks to the [[Hate Plague]]}}

* [[The Ending Changes Everything]]: The final scene of the anime, which introduced a character who either had never been seen before in the show before or {{spoiler|was a grown-up, time-traveling Rika}} just to make sure your recently unscrewed mind gets [[Mind Screw|screwed all over again]]. It makes slightly more sense in the original sound novels.

** {{spoiler|She is actually [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni|Bernkastel]], who is all of the past Rikas together. She's a witch.}}

* [[Utsuge]]: Replace "make players cry" with "scare the crap out of them".

** This is not to say that you won't cry at some point. Unless you left your soul somewhere, you will.

** In Tsumihoroboshi, You. Will. Cry.

** [[All There in the Manual|The TIPS]] note that April is the cut-off month for grade levels and that Mion (and by extension, Shion and Satoshi) is only a few months older than Keiichi.

*** In the visual novel, the ages of the characters are censored/blacked out/whatever. Rika and Satoko's ages are listed as "X", while, for example, Keiichi's age is listed as "1X". So 9 would be the logical assumption for Rika and Satoko.

* [[Verbal Tic]]: Rika, if not for [[Yukari Tamura]]'s voice, would sound just like a certain ''[[Rozen Maiden]]''.

** Rena has a tic of repeating words twice.

* [[Video Game Remake]]: The original PC sound novels were remade as "Matsuri", which was in then made into an [[Updated Rerelease]]. Matsuri has been ported onto the DS into multiple games but they're also [[Updated Rerelease|Updated Rereleases]] of Matsuri.

** Also Daybreak to the [[Updated Rerelease]] "Daybreak Kai". Then remade onto the PSP which was in then made into an [[Updated Rerelease]].

* [[Villain Protagonist]]: [[Subverted]]. Most of the time, neither the character nor the audience knows this until [[The Reveal]].

* [[The Voice]]: Hanyuu: first arc, second season. As a bonus, a faint outline can be seen behind Keiichi and Rena in the third episode.

* [[Vocal Evolution]]: Compare the first episodes of the english dub to the latter.

* [[Wager Slave]]

* [[Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World]]: In Saikoroshi-hen, when the murders never happen and neither do the tragic backstories, {{spoiler|Rika realizes that it's more painful for her to lose her newly-formed [[True Companions|group of friends]] than to be locked in a battle for the townspeople's survival with them on her side.}}

* [[Yandere]]: Shion in arcs where she snaps.

* [[Years Too Early]]: This line is mentioned during the credits of the last episode of Season 1 of the anime, and Satoko says something related to it in the sound novel's Tsumihoroboshi-hen when she pulls a trap on Rena.

* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: Evidently part of Miyo Takano's nurse outfit.

** Also Rena Ryuuguu when in her [http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/DrummondType2/MinitokyoHigurashinoNakuKoroniScans.jpg casual wear]

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Visual Novel]]

[[Category:Horror Anime and Manga]]

[[Category:Kinetic Novel]]

[[Category:Horror Visual Novels]]

[[Category:Seinen]]

[[Category:The Eighties]]

[[Category:Anime]]

[[Category:Manga]]

[[Category:Light Novels]]