Category: Finished Series: Horror

Cos was right. This episode was much better than the standard which Higurashi managed to set. We finally have an episode at which we have tension, but the animation doesn’t go over the top. I absolutely loved this. The creators finally realize that Higurashi’s brilliance lies in the subtle details, and not in the fake-emo-distorted images. Emo-distorted images do help, of course, in fact, they work really well, but not if they’re so fake as in Higurashi. Thank goodness the creators learned in this episode.

Satoko’s put into recovery after what happened at the previous episode. Mion, Chie and Keiichi are surprisingly the only ones who stayed with her until the evening. Then the episode already begins good when Keiichi gets one of the craziest ideas ever: kill the uncle himself. The entire episode’ll focus on this aspect, nothing more. This episode also confirmed some thoughts I’ve had for a while: Higurashi’s episode get more and more focused on one subject. The anime is way more episodic than it was at the beginning of the show, at which all kinds of events just went through each other. There are good sides, and bad sides to this. The bad side is the predictability. Though the good side is that they can really give the viewer the chance to live along with the plot. This especially worked well during this episode.

When he’s at home, he asks his mother some subtle questions about the perfect mystery. As she’s a lover of mystery novels, she gives him some nice inspiration for his plans. If nothing happens, nothing starts. Keiichi tries what most killers who don’t want to go to jail try as well: conceal the body as good as possible.

Keiichi then goes to school, and for some reason, he goes to Satoshi’s locker, as he assumed that a baseball bat would lie in there. It did, just like in the first arc. (Apparently, Keiichi likes to use baseball bats as a weapon). He then makes some preparations, and phones Mion to ask her to take Satoko to the Watanagashi. He lies to her, in a very similar way Satoshi did back then. It’s much like Keiichi’s phone-conversations with Shion in the second arc. Keiichi now also realized what I predicted during the previous episode: the drug addict who killed Satoko’s aunt was actually Satoshi himself. Of course, this could just be a wild idea of Keiichi.

Another interesting theory about Satoshi’s disappearance, which would explain Satoko’s behavior at the end of the previous episode is the following: Satoko was actually the one who killed Satoshi in some way, though she now sees that as a huge mistake. When Keiichi reminded her of Satoko, she remembered the fact that she killed him, and went berserk, and kept on apologizing.

In any case, Satoshi and Keiichi were very much alike, which would hint at the fact that he indeed did kill his aunt. Still, I believe there’s more than just that. After all, otherwise they wouldn’t just announce this this early in the series. The next day, the Watanagashi starts, and Keiichi grabs a shovel. He then heads to a place in the mountains, and begins digging a hole. While he digs the hole, he gets flashbacks of his own past. It’s the first time we see such a thing.

The flashback does explain why he managed to think of such a plan. Keiichi’s horrible with theories, though when it comes to practical knowlegde, he’s incredibly smart. That would explain all his theories in the first arc. It seems that he was really hated back then, and people started to bully him, putting dead rats in his desk, etc. That’s why he got transferred to Hinamizawa Village and met the others. It suddenly becomes clear why Keiichi’s mother and father are away for such a long time. They live in Hinamizawa because of Keiichi being bullied. Still, why does he move away again in the second arc? In any case, the fact that Keiichi was bullied does explain why he’s so eager to protect Satoko, with the disease only making this worse.

Then we get our first reference to the title of the anime: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, or when the cicadas cry. In other words: in the evening. Anyway, right before sundown, Keiichi grabs Satoshi’s bat, and gives Satoko’s uncle a call to lure him out. Satoko’s been in custody by the police, so he needs to come to the police office. The plan almost goes wrong when it appears that the guy doesn’t know where the police office is. ^^;

Keiichi, meanwhile waits for the guy, and hits him down with a metal bat. What follows is probably the best couple of scenes from Higurashi yet. Keiichi chases the guy, and beats him to death. He buries the body with the shovel (interesting note: Keiichi had prepared a hole for the guy, but he couldn’t find it anymore). Rain starts, and Keiichi’s incredibly happy that he did it. Though I think that everyone would be, after that much adrenaline poured through your body. (another interesting note: this was probably the first time in anime ever that the main character commited a murder, and had to cover up for it in such a way ^^). In any case, I just loved this. Especially when Keiichi beat the guy down with the club. Finally a paranoid scene which doesn’t look too fake. (It’s probably because he didn’t talk or laugh at that moment).

In any case, Keiichi’s mission is accomplished and he heads home. Still, he almost collapses. Then, Takano runs into him, in her car. Without Tomitake. This provides some very interesting theories when you compare it with the previous arcs. He tries to find an excuse for being in the middle of the rain with a shovel, though it doesn’t work. Luckily, Takano doesn’t mind, and she takes him with her. Keiichi’s bike gets left behind, and in the car, Keiichi sees something like a wheelchair lying on the backseat. Takano then asks Keiichi whether the corpse was properly burried. >:)

In any case, let’s take a look at Takano, shall we? She just went to the temple, along with Tomitake, there she saw something, the two of them left and headed for the riverbank. Then something happened which caused Tomitake to strangle himself with his own nails and now Takano has his dead body inside the trunk of her car, and she’s planning to dump the body somewhere. Interesting theory, no? Still, there are a lot of questions unanswered. Like, did Takano kill Tomitake, but make it look like he killed himself, or did the guy really kill himself? I would say the former, as Takano has a big grin on her face for the entire time. Still, what was her reason to kill him? And what’s with the wheelchair? And how did she end up burned to a crisp in the second arc? And what was Shino’s role in this? Did she go into the shrine as well, without Keiichi? (interesting note: it did NOT rain at the end of the Watanagashi during the first and second arc… what’s up with that, can Keiichi also influence the weather?).

The fact also remains that Keiichi did leave some traces. The hole he dug, for example, either still exists, or was found out about after he left. He didn’t conceal the second hole he dug properly, as the ground was not totally even. Furthermore, he left his bike near the scene of the crime and even though it’s 1982, detectives must have had at least some tricks to find out about the murderers.

I think the best part of Higurashi remains at the parts at which Keiichi lies towards his friends, and then immediately gets pwned back and brought into incertainty. It might be something personal, as I’ve got a problem with lying myself, though these scenes were just absolutely incredible to see.

Differences with previous arcs:
– Satoko’s uncle did not visit in the first and second arc, otherwise she must’ve been absent for a number of days as well, at which she wasn’t. This does mean that something happened which made her Uncle return to her.
– Keiichi does not attend the Watanagashi, and he never enters the shrine.
– We never see that Rika participates in the Watanagashi.
– Mion and Keiichi talk over the telephone this time, instead of Shion and Keiichi.

For probably the first time in Higurashi, an episode totally focuses on one character. And all of the events happening center around this character, perhaps meeting up with Tomitake and Takano is the only scene that didn’t involve her in some way. Keiichi also plays for narrator again, which is interesting, seeing the nature of the show. And yet again, each of the characters acts a little bit different. I’ll get to this at the end of the post, when I discuss the differences from the previous arcs. Tomitake is perhaps the only one who really stayed the same. In any case, you just can’t help to feel sorry for Satoko. I’m no exception to this, and I loved the episode.

We start out one morning, three days before the Watanagashi, and Satoko seems to have called in sick. Everyone is worried about her. Keiichi, Rika, Mion and even Rena (we never get any paranoid actions from her). Then the OP rolls. Keiichi helps a couple of kids get their football back, and then Oishi runs into him. This time, Oishi isn’t looking for Keiichi, but he’s looking for Satoko. Keiichi refuses to tell Oishi about Satoko’s condition, and then Oishi gets evil for the first time in the anime, trying to strangle Keiichi. He eventually manages to get his information from a couple of little girls.

It also becomes clear that Keiichi’s the heir of the Maebara-estate. Apparently, his father is a rather famous artist. Anyway, Irie, or the Director, manages to save Keiichi. Apparently, Oishi and Irie aren’t friendly with each other. Later, Irie tells Keiichi a few facts about Satoko’s past. Apparently, after their parents’ death, she and her brother were taken in by her aunt and uncle, though they were heavily abused. Apparently, the aunt was the victim of last year’s Watanagashi, being beaten by a drug addict. Her uncle then moved away. Though he still visits them (this becomes clear when Keiichi hears a rumour from a couple of boys).

That evening, Keiichi decides to pay a small visit to some kind of house. I seem to have missed something here, as it’s not the same house that was shown in the sixth episode. Or do Rika and Satoko live apart after all? Anyway, then he manages to run into Irie and Satoko. Apparently, Irie met up with Satoko while she was bringing some groceries homewards, and it was just too much for her to carry, so he offered her a lift.

Satoko then looks too sad. It’s not done in an over-the-top way, so it’s just perfect. You just can’t help to feel pity with her. Especially when you see her bruises, and you see her begging to Keiichi to not interfere and compares Keiichi with Satoko (apparently, the two had a lot in common). Still, at that moment, she is in disease/demon-mode. She just reacts totally different from Mion, Rena and Shion when she does.

Irie also has problems with this, but he manages to convince Keiichi to stop. The two of them talka bit later. Apparently, Satoko wants to survive on her own against her uncle, without anyone’s help. This is why the child welfare agency hasn’t interfered yet. Apparently, she really lives on remembering Satoko.

Keiichi then wakes up at the next morning, and then he runs into Tomitake. Apparently, he was planning to go with Takano to the shrine two days before the Watanagashi. This was the first time that Takano talks about the fact that she has seen him before. She also mentions that Keiichi’s the heir of the Maebara estate. As the two of them don’t have to fill in Keiichi about what happened at the Watanagashi, the three of them could speculate a bit. Takano suggests that someone could be using the Watanagashi-murders as a cover.

At school, Keiichi confronts the others with the fact that he knew that Satoko didn’t have a cold. And yes, everyone knew what was happening. They decided to cover it up with a lie, in order to not make other people worried. Still, they get sad when Keiichi mentions it. Then Keiichi asks Mion to listen to him for a bit. He then asks her to make the next Watanagashi-victim Satoko’s uncle. I’ve got some small problems with this. He just knows too little in this arc to be suspecting Mion to be the murderer. He also just assumes that Mion’s a murderer, and thinks about totally other things. Still, it was adorible to see him wanting to safe Satoko. The great thing about Keiichi is that he’s crazy enough do all kinds of things that people would normally consider incredibly risky.

In any case, Mion refused. And she told Keiichi that she’d never do anything as killing. This brings up an interesting issue. Remember episode eight? In there, Mion confessed that she was the center of all of the Watanagashi-murders. Sometimes, she was directly involved. At other times, she wasn’t. At one of these times, she was lying. At the moment, I’m guessing that she was lying when she told Keiichi that her family had nothing to do with the murders. After all, we know that she’s able to lie in order to hide truths that don’t need to be known.

The next day, Satoko seemed to have returned. Apparently, someone called the child protection agency. She and her uncle managed to convince them that there was a misunderstanding. Satoko did this willingly. This only makes her case even sadder and more awesome. It is then revealed that the uncle isn’t even blood related. Satoko’s mother seemed to have remarried another guy, whose brother was the uncle. Even her father used to abuse her.

Then, the fivesome has lunch, and the best scenes since the first arc are shown. Everyone who couldn’t feel pity with Satoko after that scene should be labeled as an emotionless bastard. Rena gets giddly first (awesome as well ^^), and then Keiichi pets Satoko a bit. This reminds her of Satoshi, and Satoko gets paranoid, pushing Keiichi away with enormous force. She also throws up a bit. The episode ends with Satoko repeating “gomen nasai” over and over. I absolutely loved this. 🙂

A thing I wonder is about Rena. She has been infected/her demon has awakened. Then why isn’t she chasing Keiichi with a large machete, or something? What causes her to react differently from the first arc? I guess it would be Keiichi pushing her. After last episode, Keiichi totally stopped suspecting her, which was something that he did during the first arc. In that case, her reaction is totally different from Mion, who just needed the slightest emotional disappointment in order to literally slaughter the entire neighbourhood.

I’m wondering what’s up with Irie. This arc shows that he really is a nice guy, without any malicious intentions. In that case, what were his intentions at the fourth episode? Why did he send so many men in order to save Keiichi? Cos’ disease theory would fit right in. Keiichi had the disease at that time, and couldn’t think clearly. At that time, Irie was trying to cure him, and he asked the help of Mion and Rena in order to inject some antidote, though he completely misunderstood them, and beat them to death with a club. But still, this does leave some open holes. Even for hallucinations, some of them were just too natural.

But then again, if Keiichi really was infected, this would also explain what drove Satoshi away. Satoshi just had the exact same disease Keiichi had in the first arc. There was nobody to support him, so his disease kept getting worse. Then, at the night of the Watanagashi, he killed his aunt, then he realized that he was going into the wrong direction, and ran away from Satoko. Probably trying to protect her. He also took his saved money, as he did prepare his trip. At the moment of the anime, he either died, or he’s still alive somewhere. Living his life, thinking of Satoko.

If you view it like that, then it appears that the first arc was actually a crucial introduction to the anime. It didn’t focus on Rena at all. It focused on the disease! It showed how someone, infected by the disease loses himself more and more. When you compare this to the following arcs, at which Keiichi doesn’t become paranoid AT ALL, you can deduct that the disease can actually be prevented, provided that there are other persons who actually treat you with care. In the first arc, Rena and Mion tried, but failed. Their last attempt, to use the syringe, failed miserably. In the second arc. Mion never got any support out of anyone, so ever since Keiichi gave the stuffed toy to Rena, she’s been fighting against her disease, and losing. That means that during this episode, Satoko already was awakened because of her uncle, but she managed to fight her disease, and she managed to not lose herself in the process. Now, with what happened at the end of this episode, this balance has been destroyed, as Keiichi reminds her too much of Satoshi. Keiichi will now have to do his utter best in order to be able to save Satoko from killing herself by means of the disease. I also fear for the uncle now.

There’s just one part about Higurashi I hate. You just KNOW that the next arc will focus around Rika. There is no other way. Even though I’d love to see that, it’s just too directed, which is not good for a show like Higurashi. We’ll probably get to know more about her mother who commited suicide, and what the mysterious illness was that struck her father. (any bells ringing at your end as well? *wink, wink*). The fifth arc will then focus on Rena. The more I see this, the more I begin to believe that she indeed did not enjoy sufficient background. This will probably be given in the fifth arc, so that the sixth arc will be the one to tie all strings together.

I’m also wondering. When Satoko’s mother and step-father fell off the cliff, only the step-father’s body was found. What happened to the mother’s? There’s also no clue about what happened to Satoko’s real father. Has he died in the meantime? It would seem logical, after all, otherwise Satoko would’ve moved in with him already.

Differences with previous arcs:
– Keiichi actually values Satoko’s life above that of his own. He’s even more humane than he was at the previous episode.
– Rena is either paranoid, worried or giddly. She never has serious- or detective-mode on like in the second arc. Her disease actually fades. We don’t see any paranoid reactions from her, when you compare it to the first arc.
– Rika’s even cuter than before.
– Satoko is acting more and more angsty. Her disease gets active, in contrast to the previous arcs.
– Mion is actually concerned and serious, in a non-angry way.
– No Watanagashi during the second episode of the third arc.
– Rika does not mention the fact that she participates in the Watanagashi.
– Takano mentions that she’s seen Keiichi in the hospital (interesting note: there has yet to be a mention of the link between Irie and Takano).
– Keiichi meets up with Tomitake two days before the Watanagashi, instead of the day before in the second arc.
– Oishi does not want to talk to Keiichi this time. Oishi is also seen working on a case before the Watanagashi has taken place, and his personality is totally different. After all, the case involving Satoko is more personal, so he doesn’t have to be nice, and fill Keiichi in with information, like he did in the previous arcs. I’m wondering what will happen after the Watanagashi. After all, Keiichi will be an important witness again, having seen Tomitake and Takano whilst at the temple.
– I’m not too sure about this one, but does Takano carry a camera in the first two arcs? In any case, this is the first time she mentions it.
– The fact that Keiichi’s the heir of the Maebara family, and that that gives him some status, is mentioned for the first time.
– Chie-sensei is actually shown and mentioned. She played an incredibly small part thus far, I believe she was only mentioned in the first episode. And is it me, or does she looks a suspicious lot like Rena? Wasn’t she some kind of relative to Rena?

Overall, now I know for sure: there is a disease, not a demon. All of the events happening in Higurashi can be logically explained. Still, I do have a few questions. First of all, where did the disease originate? It appears that people already carry the disease, and that sad emotions are able to trigger it to become active, making the victim paranoid, causing visions and making them not afraid to kill others. Is this hypothesis true? And what are Tomitake’s and Takano’s part in this? And what about Mion’s tattoo? (Wild Theory: what if the Cicadas are actually the ones who spread the disease? It would at least explain the title of the series.)

This episode looked more like the first episode than the fifth episode. This is very good, as I really loved the first one. Rena’s paranoid actions really were just restrained enough to not be over the top, and Shion was magnificent. It looks like Keiichi will get some help from other main characters, which will be more in the direction of the second arc, though, in contradiction to the first arc, in which he stood alone.

In any case, we don’t get to see people beating each other, or themselves to death this time. No. This time, we get to see Rena’s dismantled corpse, including her guts torn out and her fingers enduring the stings of fifteen nails, and not to mention the fact that her body was put into a large plastic bag, and thrown into a river. So, what did you eat today?

After the OP, who still sounds amazing, by the way, we see that Keiichi’s mother’s about to leave. This happens earlier than every other arc we’ve seen. I also might be wrong, but this is the first time that we actually see our main character’s mother. The reason she gives is an interesting one: his teacher collapesed, which gave him a real couple of extra troubles. His mother then goes to help him, which means that she’ll be gone for a couple of days. Keiichi mentions this during their next day’s club meeting, and really wonders how he’ll be able to get some food (Keiichi was half asleep at the time his mother asked him if he needed any help on the cooking, so he wasn’t able to answer properly, leaving him without any hope for dinner).

Anyway, the club just met, an this time, no foul play at all, and they also don’t go to the toy store at all. I wonder what the reason for that might have been. Satoko suggests that he’d try and cook for his own. Well, let’s just say that the result burned a bit. Luckily, at Satoko and Rika were in the neighbourhood at the time, so they managed to prevent the disaster of Keiichi burning his own house down. Keiichi questions how the two of them managed to end up in his house, though they quickly change the subject. Still, the issue remains: what were the two of them doing at Keiichi’s house at that point? It’s a good thing that they were, but it isn’t such a thing you’d normally do.

Anyway, while the first arc focused on Rena, the second arc focused on Mion (or Shion, your choice), the third arc will probably be focused on Satoko. This means that Satoshi’ll be important again, just like in the first arc, and unlike the second arc. And indeed, Satoko offers to cook for him. It really seems that both Rika as Satoko are excellent cooks. Anyway, Rika mentions Satoko. (On a side-note: during this dinner, the two of them were just SO incredibly cute). In any case, Satoko begins to get embarrased at Keiichi’s compliments on the food, and the death of Satoko’s parents comes to the table. And then we get to hear something interesting. Both of Satoko’s parents died at the day of Watanagashi, instead of the usual one dies-one goes missing. Still, this happened in the past. Does this mean that the past of each arc can be different as well? Or was one of the parties lying when they told the tale about Satoko’s parents? And was Rika lying when she told it duringt the third arc, or were Oishi and Shion lying when they told about it in the first and second arc?

I find it typical. Truly typical. Technically, this is a harem series (probably the best harem-series ever, if you don’t include harems full of bishies), and it seems that every important female seems to fall in love with Keiichi, except for Rena, the main female cast. Anyway, after the dinner, the two parties say goodbye. The two of them can get home without any trouble, as they’ve got each other. Rika stays behind for a bit, in order to tell Keiichi to take good care of Satoko.

It seems that the problem with Keiichi’s father wasn’t that big at all, as the Keiichi’s mother arrives back at the next morning. This also has been the shortest time that Keiichi’s parents were both away. Then the telephone goes, and it’s for Keiichi. Keiichi, still half-asleep yet again, answers the phone and hears about some kind of battle at the school playgrounds. He gets to embarras himself when he comes rushing in with a golf club, while there’s actually a baseball-game going on. ^^;

It’s very typical to see that Keiichi’s horrible at baseball, while Satoko’s amazing. I’m really feeling pity for Keiichi. He’s being surrounded by a girl who’s not afraid to weild an axe, and actually use it, a girl who’s extremely strong, a girl who likes to perform Watanagashi on other people, and a great athlete around him. You do NOT want to end up at their bad side. Anyway, there’s a barbecue at the end of the game, and Keiichi then manages to meet “The Director”, although he doesn’t know it. The guy pretends to be the manager of the friendly baseball team, and he’s a weird guy. For one, he’s a paedophile. He openly expresses his love for Satoko. He also really wants to be called “The Director”, for some reason. We’ve still got no idea who he is, though I think he’ll play a large role in this episode. He also mentions Satoshi for a minute. He believes that the guy transferred to another school.

Then Shion shows up. It appears to be that she is the manager of the enemy baseball team. She didn’t show up during the game for some reason. I have no idea whether this’ll be important for the rest of the anime, though let’s keep it in mind, shall we? In any case, that evening, Keiichi is cleaning some of the barbecue equipment, while Shion decides to talk to him for a bit. This time, she’s not in love with him at all. This means, of course, that we’re dealing with the real Shion here. After all, Shion’s never fallen in love with Keiichi. The two only became good friends in the previous episode. Anyway, she mentions Satoshi yet again. This time, however, she gets near-paranoid when Keiichi mentions the fact that he transferred away. Though she barely manages to control her demon or disease. She then begs him that if he doesn’t know what happened, he shouldn’t assume that he transferred.

Later that evening, Keiichi brings the issue of Satoshi up to Mion and Rena as they walk home. They first claim that he transferred, though Keiichi keeps asking, claiming that he knows that that Satoshi didn’t transfer away. Mion then explains that Satoshi just one day disappeared. Not only that, but he’s also been saving up money. At the day he disappeared, the money vanished. This brings up a totally different perspective on the victims of Oyashiro-Sama. What we previously thought of just a simple case of people getting missing, just turned into something much more. After all, if this was Oyashiro-Sama’s doing, then what the heck would Oyashiro be doing with those kinds of money? This really suggests that some kind of organization is behind this. Probably the director-guy has some large influence.

In any case, Rena gets into demon/disease-mode again. She then tells the same thing she told Keiichi in the first arc: Satoshi told her he was being watched. As she tells this, she begins to get more paranoid by the second. A very interesting scene was when she was really talking like crazy, with the small irises and furiously moving head, though the music, the background sounds and the voice did not give any clue to this. We just saw a very scary scenery, along with some lines who’s content also begain to get scarier by the minute. I loved this part. Mion then gets angry (note: she hasn’t been affected by the demon/disease AT ALL) and slaps Rena. Rena leaves, still gloomy. And then Mion explains a couple of things. It seems that Satoshi and Satoko’s parents were the ones who invited the constructors to go and build the dam. As they died, the paperwork probably got into trouble, and the plans were probably cancelled.

Then, Mion reveals that they made it some kind of unwritten rule to not talk about Satoshi and his disappearance. When they get asked about it, they lie and tell that he transferred. (Apparently, Shion has different views on this). She also asks Keiichi not to talk to Satoko AND Rena about this. She also reveals that Rena’s once been struck by Oyashiro’s curse, and we end with the first cliffhanger of Higurashi in which there was no scariness at all.

I don’t think I have Rena’s history all clear. If I remember it correctly, she first lived at Hinamizawa-village, at which she met the others, and saw Satoshi disappear. Then she moved away, and smashed all of the windows down at her new school, and doing other horrible things. I think that Mion referred to this when she claimed that Rena’s been struck with Oyashiro’s curse. Then, she moved back to Hinamizawa again, about a year before Higurashi takes place.

And Mion and Shion. The second arc featured Mion getting paranoid, though I think that she’ll be the one to support Keiichi this time. Still, why did she get paranoid last time, while she managed to stop Rena from getting paranoid at this episode? Though what about the fact that the two of them have changed places during this episode? That means that the one who yelled at Keiichi just after the barbecue was actually Mion, dressed up as Shion, while Shion, dressed up as Mion managed to stop Rena, and explain things to Keiichi. After all, Shion only showed signs of the disease/curse after being tortured by Mion.

Let’s view this issue under both theories, now, shall we? The demon-theory tells that each person or some persons have demons in them, though these demons have to be awakened somehow. The only thing that Keiichi has done to hurt both Shion and Rena was telling them that Satoshi transferred away. Apparently, they both react sensitive to the subject, and indeed. during the second arc, Satoshi was never mentioned, so Keiichi couldn’t have upset Rena and Shion with this, and during the first Arc, Rena really became too sad when she was trying to defend Satoshi. Still, there are a lot of things which are still to happen, as Rena will be ending up with the Watanagashi performed on her. I wonder if Mion was the only one who could perform it, or are there other people who are able to do it? The disease-theory tells of a disease which happens to go around. The disease must have some kind of source, and it has been going around for long, otherwise Rena couldn’t have gone berserk in her old school, or Mion couldn’t have killed those people. Keiichi has yet to be affected by the disease, as Rena’s ramblings really happened. Mion, after all, sees this and reacts to this.

Differences with previous arcs:
– Keiichi’s mother is at home, instead of his father. She also leaves much earlier than the father did in the previous two arcs. (Wild theory: the availability of Keiichi’s parents actually decides what is going to happen, and who’ll end up killing who. It does make sense, though. They affect what Keiichi’ll be doing, in a certain degree).
– The first arc focused around Rena and Mion. The second arc focused around Mion and Shion. The third arc will probably focus around Rena and Satoko.
– Satoko is much more caring than she was in the first episode.
– In fact, Keiichi and the others really were mean, in a friendly way, to each other during the club-meetings. This time, Keiichi’s just nice.
– Rika gets even cuter.
– Mion is NOT affected by the demon/disease. Something that she was at the previous two arcs.
– Rena gets affected by the demon/disease again, in contrast to the second arc.
– When Keiichi spends the night alone in the previous two arcs, there lies no focus at the cooking. The third arc does put focus at the cooking.
– The first arc put large emphasis on Satoshi, the second arc only named him once, but the third arc turned him into a central character.
– Mion treats Keiichi as a very good friend. Not somebody she loves.
– Rena’s much more distanced to Keiichi, but then again, the second episode had this as well. Still, when you compare their interaction with the first arc, you do see the difference.
– Keiichi’s mother only stays away for one day.
– There’s a baseball game, and the club has been invited to fill in for some missing players. This didn’t happen at the first two arcs.
– In the first arc, the director only gets mentioned for one second. In the second arc, he remains oblivious. In the third arc, he actually introduces himself, and he’ll probably play a huge role. (Interesting note: he’s also head of the local hospital. The same place Takano works at. Would the two have something in common?)
– No Tomitake, Takano or Oishi at all.
– In the second arc, Shion tells all about what happened during the Watanagashi-murders, though this time, she remains quiet.
– In fact, we’ve yet to see the link between all the Watanagashi-murders.
– Mion actually did something to stop Rena, instead of the two working together in the first arc.
– Rena turns paranoid way earlier than any previous arc.
– Mion actually tells about Rena being posessed.

The final episode of the Watanagashi-arc answered so many questions. But then again, for every question it answered, it somehow managed to introduce two new questions. So, we’re back where we started. Overall, this arc wasn’t as worthwile as the first one. The only part I really enjoyed was when Keiichi met Shion and Rena overall.

Ah well, it seems like my theories from last time were totally wrong. We start with Rena giving Keiichi a list of people missing, which includes Rika and Satoko, along with a certain Kimiyoshi Kiichiro, who must be the village-chief. Keiichi finally accepts that because he sneaked in the storage house, he’s the one at fault, and Rena slaps him for this, as she feels that he has yet to be punished for this. Rena heard from Mion what he’d done, and she was indeed very angry about this. The two are talking like they’re very close at this moment. It still feels strange after the first arc.

Then, Keiichi finds some notes about Rika’s talk on the phone, and she indeed spoke with Mion. Ah well, there goes my theory about Rika faking her own disappearance. It seems like everything indeed went as Rena thought it would. They plan to visit Mion, in order for Keiichi to apologize. They then get disturbed by Oishi once more. Rena proves her detective skills once more when she finds out that Oishi plans to use them as bait, in order to get permission to search Mion’s house. The two of them leave Oishi, while Rena gets really angry. Though not in a demon-way.

They walk to Mion’s residence. Apparently, they’ve got a huge back-yard. Once inside the house, Keiichi confesses, and sincerely apologizes for his actions. Mion acts like she doesn’t care, and Rena scolds her for this. Keiichi and Rena then tell Mion that they know that Rika and Satoko have been at her place, and she freaks out once she realizes that the two know that Satoko wasn’t supposed to come along. She begins laughing in a demon-like way, and then turns serious again. She then puts up the Shion-voice and explains that the Hinamizawa Village’s original name was Onigafuchi village, or Demon’s Abyss. Like explained two episodes ago, the people of Onigafuchi carried the bloodline of demons. As people began to oppose them, they worked together in order to defeat them, as demonstrated in episode five. Still, if Mion knows about the demons, then she must have been there at that time, which means that she was the one working at that restaurant at that time.

She also explains that, as the heir of the Sonozaki family, there’s been a demon carved into and onto her. She wants to show Keiichi and Rena the scars the demon left on her body, though Rena tells her that that’s not needed. We can get the general idea when we look at the OP, though. She also reveals that she was indeed involved in some of the Watanagashi-murders. In some of them, she was directly involved. In some of them, indirectly. She was also the center of every one of them. Then she indeed reveals that she did kill Rika and Satoko. This brings up an interesting issue: the sequence shown in the first scene of an arc doesn’t have to be its climax. While speculating about what were to happen next, I always kept in my mind that Rika was to die at the end of the arc, not during the middle of it, and so I came up with the theory of her faking her own disappearance. But instead, she wanted to protect Keiichi from Mion, so she went to confront Mion, and somehow ended up stabbing herself. At least, that’s what I like to believe. The fact remains that Rika knew that Mion was after her. Then why would Mion have to lure her to her house, and why did Rika want to involve Satoko in it as well? In fact, if Satoko wasn’t supposed to come, what did Mion make to kill her as well? Suspicions?

Rena then mentions one person which Mion didn’t want to kill, and managed to save by her own will. Mion then turns this one person into a “them”. This could be Oishi and some police-officers. But then again, why would Mion want to save them, over persons like Rika and Satoko? Mion then asks Rena to leave her and Keiichi alone for a while.

When they walk outside a bit, Mion confesses that she liked him, just as Shion liked him. She also reveals that Shion’s still alive. Keiichi then proves that he has a strong heart. A very strong heard, as he promises to believe in Mion, and that she remains his best friend no matter what happens. An interesting thing to promise to a mass murderer, but let’s put that aside, shall we? Because Mion then makes a very interesting statement. She can understand why Mion liked Keiichi. This means that Mion isn’t the one speaking at that time, which gives options for two possibilities. 1. Shion’s been the one talking to Keiichi for all this time. 2. The demon has completely taken over Mion. I was first inclined for the first option, though the scenes that followed changed my mind.

They’re in a secret basement at the moment, full of torture devices like the one in the storehouse. Mion firstly reveals that the torture devices were meant to inforce the Onigafuchi laws. Anyone who was to break them, was to be slowly tortured by these in public. The Sonozaki family built these torture devices in order to continue the tradition of the Watanagashi. She then reveals that the basement was the place at which she performed Watanagashi on everyone. When Keiichi asks about Shion, she takes him to the prison. What follows a really great scene. Shion lies there, broken down, only triggered by Keiichi’s voice. She gets incredibly happy when she sees him, though she really freaks out when she sees Mion. Mion then breaks the fun by grabbing a large boulder and dropping it on Keiichi’s head.

When he wakes up, he’s put into some torture device. Shion still screams in the background, while Mion explains what she’s going to do to him. She has fifteen nails, which she’s going to run through his hand. Before she does it, she gives another fact. The demon in her has dwelled inside her for a long time, though it was Keiichi who awakened it, because he didn’t give Mion the doll he won in the first episode.

And suddenly, everything makes sense! Okay, not everything, but still, the basic concept of Higurashi suddenly is clear. Why was Rena so humane in the second arc, while she was horribly scary in the first one? Of course, because she has a demon inside of her as well. In the first arc, Keiichi awakened her by stopping to help her get that doll from under the garbage. As this didn’t happen at all, Keiichi also didn’t make Rena sad in any possible way, so that’s why she acted so friendly towards him. Mion’s demon was also awakened in the first arc as well, though I can’t remember why that happened, unfortunately.

Anyway, this development gives for two possibilities. 1: Every citizen of Hinamizawa Village has a demon inside of him/her. 2: There are only a few people with a demon inside of him/her. The people beating the punks in the fifth episode point to the first option, though the OP, which shows Mion with a scar, and Shion without one points to the second one. Still, I think that Rika’s demon, while she was about to be murdered by Mion, awakened at that time, and stabbed its host in its confusion. I’m also guessing that demons go to sleep in their hosts when there’s no action for a while. It’s never explained in the anime, but it’s the only explanation I can find for the other Watanagashi-murders.

Anyway, Mion tries to put the first nail in, but the Mion manages to stop the demon from doing so. Keiichi asks the demon to let Mion and Shion go. Mion wonders why he can’t even think about himself at a time like this, so as a third wish, he asks her not to kill him. Mion can’t give into the first two requests. Shion will be killed by the demon no matter what, and the demon also won’t be able to give Mion’s body back. She doesn’t give any reasons at all for this, strangely enough. However, she does listen to his third wish, in order to let him live. She’s forced to do this, as she hears some policemen trying to open the doors of the basement. Rena must’ve warned them. She also warns Keiichi to stay away from her, as from that moment on, she’ll be posessing Mion’s dead body. But then, if demons can posess dead bodies as well, why didn’t Rena and Mion come back to life in the first arc after Keiichi killed them?

Mion uses an electrifying-thingy in order to bring Keiichi unconcious, while she gets away and the police barges in. Rena looks worried about him, and Shion’s saved as well. The bodies of the other victims, however, have yet to be found. And this is where the amount of questions multiplies faster than a herd of hyperactive guinea-pigs. Keiichi’s moving away from the village again, for some reason. Rena’s sad, because she’ll be the only one in the village left. That evening, Mion drops by. The two talk normal for a bit, but then Mion starts resisting, and the demon takes over again, stabbing Keiichi. She then freaks out even more when she starts yelling that she killed everyone with her own hands. But what about Rena, Shion and Oishi? And what does she define by “everyone”? Rena seems to have been disappeared into oblivion for the rest of the episode. Whether she’s killed or not remains a mystery. Shion is found after having jumped from her hospital room, from about eight stories high, though I think that Mion paid her a visit before that happened. Oishi doesn’t have anything to do with Mion this time, and Keiichi managed to survive.

While Keiichi talks to Oishi from his hospital bed, the number of plot twists and questions introduced really gets up high. It appears that Mion HAS been found, along with all of the other bodies she disposed off. Keiichi told the police about some kind of well, which would contain all of the victim’s bodies. Where did he get that information from? Anyway, the well indeed contained the bodies, along with Mion’s. To make things even better, it seems that Mion dies on the day that the police barged in. So, if it indeed was the demon posessing Mion’s dead body, then how come Mion still was acting like Mion at first, before the demon took over again? And if it all was the demon playing an act, why did it leave Mion’s body in the first place, and why did it go through the trouble of walking all the way to the well, only to leave Mion’s dead body behind?

Oishi only makes things better when it seems that Takano died before the night of the Watanagashi. This means that she also had a demon inside of her, which was controlling her dead body at that time. This explains why she knew a lot about the rituals of the Watanagashi, and that she might’ve been the one who killed Tomitake (after all, he and Takano weren’t found in the well, so someone aside from Mion might’ve killed them). But then again, she was BURNED, which throws this theory in the trash can as well, as she looked perfectly fine at the night of the Watanagashi. No burning marks at all. And how about the first arc. Was she burned at that time as well, though she was never found? Then, a blood-covered Mion shows up, pinning the nail through Keiichi’s finger after all. The only explanation I can find for this is that when a demon takes control over a dead body, then it leaves the physical dead body behind, only to create a new body, identical to the one it posessed. Or something in that direction, as that theory is flawed as well, as it still doesn’t explain the little part of Mion which got shown right before she stabbed him.

It was an interesting arc. Each of the characters will indeed end up reacting very differently during each different arc. The paranoid Keiichi stayed mostly calm, with a small number of breakdowns on the second arc. The crazy, demon-posessed Rena turned caring, sharp and serious. The demon managed to control Mion much more than during the first arc (there’s got to be a reason for that. Either the thing that Keiichi did to her in order to awaken the demon, or Rena’s prescense. It seems that Mion really listens to Rena). Satoko turned from sadystical to casual. Rika turned from silent to cute and caring. Oishi turned from friendly to more business-like (another interesting detail I managed to notice: whenever he’s about to deliver harsh news, he starts smoking cigarettes). Tomitake’s become much more obedient. Takano’s the only one who didn’t recieve any change in personality.

More changes with the previous arc:
– No syringe in the second arc.
– The strange men who arrived at the end of the first arc also don’t appear in the second arc.
– Keiichi doesn’t get paranoid in the second arc, so he doesn’t write the note about the things he knows.
– The first arc ended with the deaths of Mion, Rena, Keiichi and Tomitake, while Takano disappeared. The second arc ended with the deaths of Rika, Satoko, Shion, Tomitake, Takano and Mion, with Keiichi and Rena unknown.
– Keiichi moves again at the end of the second arc. Something that hasn’t been mentioned in the first arc.
– Mion and Oishi have no relationship in the second arc. At least, she doesn’t mention him at all. In the first arc, she immediately suspected him.
– Keiichi was never attempted to be tortured in the first arc.

Before I’ll quit (damn… my entries for Higurashi are getting longer and longer… this one managed to get to 2500 words), I have to say that Rena’s an awesome character. I liked her more when she was in scary-mode, though. The fact that this arc ended with so many questions also took its toll a bit. It just feels a bit incomplete. A bit too incomplete. I believe that the problem with Higurashi is that it has a great concept, but at certain points, it certainly could have been better. Keiichi’s reactions also have been extremely unnatural. I know he was calm at that time, but his behavior during this episode was just a bit too calm. After all, he knows that Mion’s about to kill him. Why doesn’t he freak out like in the first arc? Ah well, let’s hope that the next arc will be full of paranoia again.

Woohoo, the show is getting awesome again. This episode was just full of unexpected and great plot-twists. Characters got a bit more fleshed out, and I still have trouble seeing Keiichi and Rena being so close to each other.

We start with the introduction of another character: the village chief. Okay, he never gets show on the screen, but it seems that he disappeared the day after the Watanagashi. Our fivesome discusses this event, Rena gets all giddly, and Shion (Mion?) looks away when he mentions Oyashiro-sama.

Keiichi still thinks about what happened during the Watanagashi, but then he runs into Rika. This is the first time she really got some scenes which centered around her. The two of them hold a very cryptic conversation. Rika knows what Keiichi did. Then Keiichi realizes that Rika knows what he did. Rika then sees that he realizes that she knows what he did. Keiichi then knows that she knows that he realizes that she knows what he did, and I can continue like this for a while longer. Rika, being the shrine maiden and all, decides to forgive and protect Keiichi. During this conversation, Rika rapidly switches from being scary to serious to cheerful. Overall, very nicely done. She also warns Keiichi in scary-mode about an elder sister, who is angry at her younger sister for committing an evil act. She probably means Mion and Shion with this. Mion appears to be very angry with Shion. (And we’ve seen her getting angry before ;))

Rika also mentiones a very interesting fact: there’ll be no more club meetings for a little while, as she wants to avoid the elder sister for a while. This really gives a different perspective to the arc, but I’ll get back to this later, as there’s an event which plays later in the episode which is connected to this statement of hers.

That evening, Shion calls Keiichi again. He apologizes, and she forgives him. She then begins to break down, as she tells him that it’s her fault that the village chief disappeared. She told him about what happened, and he disappeared afterwards. Keiichi then realizes that he did tell Rika about it. Nice plot twist, very nice plot twist indeed. He calls Rika’s house, but she doesn’t answer. He then contacts Rena, and the two of them run into Mion on their way to Rika’s house. Rena was being dead serious, for the first time ever not literally. I can’t say what’s scarier, when she takes the dead serious litterally, or when she doesn’t. Though, the fact remains that she was awesome at that time.

They arrive at Rika’s house. Apparently, she lives along with Satoko. Both of their parents died, so they have been taking care of themselves ever since. The doors are locked, Mion finds a ladder, Keiichi climbs it while looking for an open window and Rena goes to look somewhere for keys. When Rena’s gone, Mion enters Oyashiro-mode, and tells him that Satoko’s parents fell off the cliff because of Oyashiro, and her brother, the infamous Satoshi also disappeared. She shakes the ladder very brutally, though her mood completely disappears when Rena gets back with a couple of other villagers. I do have problems with this again. At that time, Mion was so badly animated, the scary part was almost gone, even though her face was in emo-mode again.

Still, it does bring up an interesting issue. Why does Oyashiro-Mion want to hide her mood in front of Rena? In the previous arc, the two of them got in emo-mode often at the same time. This probably means that Rena indeed has not been infected with Oyashiro’s curse. This also means that something must’ve happened for her to be infected in the previous arc. What would that have been? Does Keiichi play an unconcious role in this? And how did Mion get infected? And what did the “no blood” mean, which Mion kept repeating?

Another interesting fact I only realized after watching the episode once more: that night (exactly two nights after Watanagashi), there’s a full moon. It simply CAN NOT be a coincidence that there’s a full moon, right at that particular day. It absolutely can’t. It has to have some kind of meaning. Also, why wasn’t there a full moon on the most logical option: the night Watanagashi itself?

Anyway, inside Rika’s and Satoko’s house, Keiichi, Mion and Rena find some wrapped-up dishes and some finished cookings which haven’t been touched. Rena comes with her theories afterwards. But first, she actually COMFORTS Keiichi, who keeps blaming Rika’s disappearance to himself. I was a bit startled to see her so humane, but I absolutely loved that scene.

Anyway, Rena’s theory: Satoko bought some tofu at an old ladies’ that night. Tofu is used as the last ingredient of miso-soup, which was to be found on a large pot on the stove when Rena searched the room. This means that Rika was there, cooking, until right before dinner-time (apparently, dinner-time in Japan is at 19:00, instead of the usual 18:00), Satoko was getting the final tofu, because it appeared that they ran out. Because of the dishes which were wrapped up in the fridge, it becomes clear that something came up, which caused them to skip their dinner. This probably was right before dinner-time as well, otherwise, they wouldn’t have cooked. Rika probably noticed that they were out of soy sauce as well, so she went to some house, in order to borrow some. She then stayed there, for some reason, and when Satoko came home, she contacted her, ordering to come as well. The people at that house probably offered Rika and Satoko some dinner instead, making the dishes that Rika cooked obsolete. Satoko wrapped some of the dishes and went to Rika. Since then, they disappeared. This is quite impressive, though nothing mysterious comes from Rena. She all did this with the help of logic and common sense. I liked her even more after this.

They then run into Oishi, Rena leaves, and we see one of the most awesome scenes in the series. First of all: Oishi knows what Keiichi did on the night of the Watanagashi. Rumour have been spreading the morning afterwards. (who started these rumours, exactly?) Then the good part comes. Remember Shion? She’s been left outside of the spotlights this episode, in contrast to the previous one. It appears that she disappeared as well. Another scene that the creators managed to bring extremely well. It indeed seems like Keiichi didn’t see something that the other three did see. What could it be?

Another interesting fact which gets revealed is that Shion could’t have talked to the village chief, in order to confess her actions. Shion heard about the murders the morning after Watanagashi. At that time, the village chief was visiting a hospital in a far away place, to see a proctologist. On the way back, he was delayed because of a train accident, so he barely arrived in time for the shrine meeting, after which he disappered. Shion couldn’t have talked to him, unless it was after the meeting, which brings up very interesting discussions.

To close things, none other than Shion decides to give Keiichi a call. This is most obviously Mion, trying to imitate Shion, as she only confirms what Keiichi tells her, well acted. She also ends with the emo-laugh, and the episode closes. Well then, at which exact points did Shion pretend to be Mion, and Mion pretend to be Shion? The one with the ladder could’ve been the same Oyashiro-Mion from last arc, though it also could’ve been Shion who was infected with his curse (remember the first episode?). The first Shion, was that Mion again? Or really was that Shion. In any case, it would’ve been a different person than the one from the end of the second episode. You don’t forgive someone for yelling at you with such insults that fast.

This does mean that both Mion and Shion know what happened at the night of the Watanagashi, regardless of which one it was who entered the temple along with Keiichi. And at that time, when Shion disappeared and Mion appeared. Cos already mentioned that that could’ve been the same person. What was the other one doing at that time? And do Mion and Shion know about the switches of the others? And are they working together if they do?

Anyway, back to Rika. When you combine her story with Rena’s theory, it seems that Rika knew that she was going to disappear. Then why would she do it during dinner-time, unless if it was to set her own disappearance in scene? And what does Satoko have to do with this? In any case, Rika hasn’t disappeared entirely, as she still has to stab herself in front of the big sister. This makes us believe that the one in the emo-moods really was Mion after all, unless big sister means something different than age. And what exactly did make her stab herself anyway? She knew that it was going to happen, so she tried to run away. Though, unfortunately, the big sister will eventually find her at the end of the next episode.

Changes with the previous arc:
– Rika actually plays a big role.
– Rena’s not infected with Oyashiro-sama, and actually acts caring towards Keiichi.
– Oishi is much more suspicious.
– Mion (or Shion) is the one who tells Keiichi about Satoshi. Satosho also has no meaning at all in this arc.
– Rika and Satoko disappear/fake their own disappearance.
– Keiichi doesn’t get as paranoid as he did in the previous arc.
– Important: Keiichi actually cares about his friends. Something he didn’t show in the previous arc.
– Rika seems friendlier to Keiichi.
– Rena’s past is NEVER mentioned.
– The link between the main characters and the deaths/disappearances never gets mentioned.
– Keiichi’s parent are at home after the Watanagashi. At least his father is.
– Keiichi does not go to the hospital.
– No bento.

Similarities:
– Phones are widely used once more.
– Mion (if she actually is Mion) gets posessed by Oyashiro-sama.

Another thing, before I’ll stop, is the following: Keiichi’s behavior. As I mentioned before: he actually cares about his friends this time. These feelings were nowhere to be found at the first arc, as he was just struggling to keep alive, and suspecting everyone and everything. Could it be that Keiichi reacts differently during each and every one of different arcs of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni?

I’m beginning to love the concept of the show more and more. If only because the fact that the murderous Rena now acts as a side-character, and suddenly acts totally friendly with Keiichi again. This arc has yet to bring the craziness of the first arc, though. Especially this episode was more explaining than frightening. Still, it had some very good parts in it.

We start with the afternoon before the Watanagashi, with Keiichi helping to build it up. Shion brings him a cup of tea, after which Mion discovers them. Apparently, she also wanted to bring Keiichi some tea. Then it really becomes clear that Shion manages to keep control of her twin sister, and not vice-versa.

Then Tomitake and Takano run into the group, and then we get a quick explanation in one minute about the Watanagashi and Oyashiro’s curse, as wel as an introduction of Oishi-san. An interesting new fact that we get to know: Takano works at a hospital. This time, Shion’s, Takano and Tomitake fill Keiichi in about the murders. Shion apparently wants Keiichi to know for some reason, so that’s why this explanation comes sooner than in the previous arc.

Another interesting fact is that because Oishi isn’t the one who explains the link between each murder and disappearance, we get another perspective on that issue as well. In the previous episode, the perspective was “one person gets killed and one person goes missing”, though this episode featured the perspective of “one person gets killed, so one person gets missing”.

Anyway, that evening, Rika performs. Shion, however, takes Keiichi to a sacred temple in the woods. Only certain families can enter, and there they see Takano and Tomitake trying to open its doors. The two groups discover each other, and Takano, Shion and Keiichi enter the temple while Tomitake stands guard. Then we get to know a few more interesting fact. The residents of the village are half-demons. This would explain their behavior from the last arc. There’s also a large number of body-dissecting material present inside the temple, and the plough that Rika uses in her ritual, is meant to cut open stomachs.

The two parties say goodbye, Takano and Tomitake go to the rivershore, Shion leaves as well, and after a couple of seconds, the others manage to find him. Keiichi lied about what he was doing before, and he immediately gets cornered by Mion again (and a bit by Rika). How the heck to they always know what happened? Anyway, she doesn’t go as far as Rena went in the previous arc, though she does remind him again, and gives some very obvious hints that she knows he’s lying.

That evening, Shion invites Keiichi, though she uses it as an excuse for him to meet Oishi. She leaves once the two see each other. Oishi questions him again about the night before, but he doesn’t give any answers, like he did in the previous arc. He does reveal, though, that Mion and Shion’s family is sortof like the mafia. Mion’s supposed to inherit the entire family.

That night, Shion calls Keiichi, and she gets to be the one who informs him about the deaths of akano and Tomitake. Though something’s different: this time, two persons got killed. That must mean that two persons will go missing. Guess who that’ll be? Keiichi finally gets paranoid, and begins to yell to Shion, putting all the blame on her. She hangs up.

Shion is definately planning something, though what? And why did she go along to the temple while she knew what was coming? The same goes for Takano and Tomitake: why did they enter the temple in the first place? And the person who disappears? Shouldn’t this person be disappearing at the same night as the murder takes place? Why is it delayed this time? And why does entering the temple mean being killed?

Anyway, while the previous arc focused on Keiichi vs Rena with a bit of Mion, this arc focuses on Keiichi vs Shion with a bit of Mion. It’s a pity that Shion’s the only member of the cast I dislike. She just seems so boring, in contrast with the incredible Mion. She’s way too calm for this show, even when she’s serious. Actually, we still have yet to see any paranoid face, other than Keiichi’s, and last arc also had a surprise-element at this time of the episode (my favourite still remains Rena entering Keiichi’s house). This time, this wasn’t as evident.

Well now, let’s try to name as much changes with the previous arc as possible. It might help for future references:
– Keiichi didn’t help in the first arc.
– Shion was entirely oblivious in the first arc. People say that she might’ve been Shion in disguise, but the fact remains that their seijuu are different. If I recall correctly, Mion had the same voice all over the first arc.
– Mion didn’t show any signs that she fancied Keiichi in the first arc.
– Tomitake was introduced earlier in the first arc. This also means that the murder-story was only introduced in the second episode of the second arc, while the first arc already had the first episode talking about it.
– Keiichi meets Takano at the day before the festival in the second arc, while he only met her the evening of the festival in the first arc. She also speaks for a longer while, goes into more detail and both Mion and Shion are also there when he meets them. In the first arc, he met them on his own.
– Rika made a mistake in the second arc.
– Keiichi went to the storehouse/temple in the second arc, while he just watched Rika in the first arc. There’s been put a lot more emphasis on the night of Watanagashi in the second arc if you compare it to the first arc. In there, it was just a minor event, though this time, it seems central.
– Tomitake is never seen without Takano.
– Tomitake and Takano are last seen at the riverbank in the first arc. They’re last seen while going to the riverbank at the second arc.
– Rena never gets paranoid, or any reason to be suspicious in the second arc. I know I’ve said this lots of times before, but damn, it keeps bugging me.
– Actually, almost each of the characters has a small change in personality: Mion’s got more introvert and shy, Rika’s gotten a bit more friendly towards Keiichi, the yellow-haired girl calmed down a bit, Tomitake’s gotten less outspoken and Oishi’s gotten less serious.
– Tomitake, Shion and Takano fill Keiichi in about the past events concerning Oyashiro-sama in the second arc, while Tomitake, Takano and Oishi did this in the first arc.
– Mion started to get suspicious in the third episode of the first arc, while she started getting suspicios in the second episode of the second arc. She also gets to be the one to corner Keiichi for the first time in the second arc, while Rena did this in the first arc.
– Oishi first saw Keiichi a couple of days after the Watanagashi, during class in the first arc. He saw him right the day after the Watanagashi in the second arc. Oishi also didn’t see Keiichi as the critical link in the murder in the second arc, so he was fine with being interrupted by another police-officer.
– Takano got killed as well, instead of just missing.
– There is no word about one of the killers of the first murder still running free.

Some of the similarities were:
– Rena’s enthusiasm at the beginning of the Watanagashi.
– The scenes at which our group has fun during the festival, although played at a greater speed. (this has a nice effect, by the way).
– Rika cutting her plough in the Futon.
– Takano’s personality. It’s exactly the same as last time, even though she gets more airtime.
– The ease of Keiichi to get freaked out and yelling people he suspects.
– Tomitake cuts his throat with his nails. Seems to be a pretty popular way of suicide.

Now that I found out about the premisse of the show, a lot of questions are suddenly answered. What we have here, is a story, that keeps repeating over the same timeline, though each time, the characters take different actions, which lead to different results, and in the end, different people getting killed.

While the last arc was focused on Keiichi and Rena, it seems that this arc will be focused on Keiichi and Mion. It also seems that Rika, the blue-haired girl, will play some kind of role, as we see her killing herself in the preview of this arc. I’m not too happy about the creators showing this. It spoils a bit too much, in my opinion, and it takes away a bit of the power of the scene.

I’m wondering if there’ll also be arcs at which Keiichi won’t be the one to play the role of main-character. It’d give some interesting perspective, but then again, I think that each of the other characters has her own mystery, so that idea also has some backfires.

Anyway, this episode, we are introduced to another character: Shion, Mion’s younger twin sister. This also explains the two mions next to each other in the still amazing OP. Both of them have total different personalities, and it seems that in this arc, both of them have fallen in love with Keiichi. I had a good time watching Keiichi, who originally believed that Mion and Shion were the same person, suddenly became aware that there were two of them.

I also had to get used to the fact that Rena’ll probably play a small role in this arc, so there’ll be no paranoia attacks from her for a while, in huge contrast to the previous arcs. We also get our first small part of information about Rika: she may look cute, but in fact, she’s really strong. Keiichi may not like this in future episodes.

This episode was, with ease, the quietest one of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni yet, though I think that each beginning of an arc will be like this. I wonder what the Watanagashi will bring us this time. (Interesting note the only total similarity with the previous arc so far was Rika abandoning the club-meeting to practice for her role at that time).

Ah, we’re dealing with a second Ayakashi here. I kept wondering how a show like this would be able to keep going for 26 episodes. Well, this explains why. This episode was better than the third one, though it won’t be able to beat the sheer awesomeness of the first two episodes.

I just loved the Rena at the start of the episode. Keiichi lies to her again, and she quickly kills of this comment by her remarks. It was totally scary. Her apologizing only made this feeling better. The day after that, with Mion’s conversation with Keiichi was also beautifully scary. For a minute, I really felt sorry for her.

Then, however, at the second part of the episode, the awesomeness turned down a bit. I guess I shouldn’t have watched this after seeing Bake Neko, as I’m really starting to notice a few flaws in Higurashi. Where Bake Neko succeeded, Higurashi kindof fails, especially when creating over-the-top chaotic scenes, and characters freaking out. Especially Rena with her axe seems too much directed, her scary laugh just didn’t do the trick, I’m much more fan of the subtle changes in her personality, like in the first two episodes. That made her a great character. Keiichi, however, made up for it a bit, as it felt that he genuinely was scared.

Keiichi then gets assaulted by a few mysterious men, who still remain a mystery after the episode, he gets hit on the head, and recovers right next to Rena. The both of them plan to inject him with some strange liquid, after which we see the first scene of the first episode. Another part well-executed. Afterwards, Keiichi goes berserk, and kills himself in a phone booth. Another part badly executed.

I’m wondering whether this will go Ayakashi, or Jigoku Shoujo. At one side, there are just a lot of unexplained questions, like who was this director? What happened to the other two girls? What happened during those murders? What happened to the piece of the note which went missing? What is Oyashiro-Sama? On the other hand, the creators could decide to keep these things a complete mystery, and just continue with a total different story, as this material doesn’t seem too sufficient for 26 whole episodes. But still, each of these options has its own potential. I’ll be looking forward to either one of them.