The weaker one of the Higurashi questions arc, but it makes up for it with the new addition of the characters, Mion and Shion. I really like their character, as usual, because Higurashi has the best way of writing characters I've seen by giving them "arcs." I really like Mion and Shion with their twin sister dynamic, making it up for some interesting interactions with the other characters. It still scared me throughout this story, especially towards the end. I'll say it again: I love this one, but it's still the weakest.

NOTE: this is " part two " of an eight-part series as i plan on going through the entirety of the series while reviewing each part as its own separate entity before summarizing my thoughts as a whole on the last part.

i want to preface this review with a bit of an explantion on why this score seems really low yet is still " recommended " and for that, i'll say that watanagashi simply put, is an upwards hill in quality. there's a lot of good things i can say about it but not without ignoring a few nitpicks that ultimately hurt it in the long run which makes for an experience that just ends up being okay. truthfully, chances are if you're read episode one you'll probably still find merit in reading this one and find it as enjoyable as i find it or maybe even more ? i like to think i'm a pretty objective person but the more and more i find myself enamored with this series and its wonderfully developed main cast it gets a bit harder to remain objective in spite of all its appeal. as a result, this review will be written with the context of having already read episode one while also still trying to be spoiler-free for those of you out there who are a little too curious for their own good, and yet again, i HIGHLY recommend not searching up anything related to higurashi online. visual novels, in general, get spoiled pretty easily and i definitely think knowing some of the surprises in this visual novel beforehand will definitely not make for a memorable experience as episode two has a lot of moments that would've lost their impact given previous knowledge of specific events that occur in the later ending segments.

with that out of the way let's get into the meat of this episode ! first off, despite watanagashi focusing solely on my favorite characters, i have a lot of issues with it that largely stem from the fact it is a follow-up to episode two. much like watanagashi's uphill quality, i'll structure this review with my nitpicks first before moving onto what makes this arc pretty captivating and some highlights of this chapter that really stuck with me. given how onikakushi ended, watanagashi sure goes through great lengths to recontextualize the village of hinamizawa again while subtly adding on a bit more to its world piece by piece. unfortunately, this recontextualization also means a lot of backtracking and retreading of info for someone who had previously read episode one which leads to some pretty serious burnout within its opening chapters. i don't really blame ryukishi here though given the context behind watanagashi's actual release. whereas onikakushi was released in august of 2002, watanagashi's release date lies pretty close to the end of the year releasing on december 29th of that same year. watanagashi's retreading makes sense contextually given the overall narrative and also the time of its release as it serves as a sort of refresher for those who had waited for a follow-up to it since finishing onikakushi in august. does this hurt the pacing ? absolutely but i imagine the refresher course to be at least a light bit helpful for those who needed it at the time of release. this backtracking also helps to contextualize those open plot threads from onikakushi as well. given keiichi's fate at the end of episode one, you might be wondering why it seems he's fine in this one. slowly but surely, as the retreading of events ends you'll notice here that there are quite a few clues in between all the subtle differences in the events that occur within the beginning of this arc. while this does make for a pretty neat contextualization on what exactly is occuring, the realization that the events of watanagashi are happening in a separate continuity are something that's established pretty early on in any attentive reader that'll glean that from its opening chapters. this brings up a large nitpick i have with this arc's opening as a whole. at times watanagashi's opening plot revelations and story beats sometimes feel like they're catching up to YOU as opposed to onikakushi's tantalizing narrative structure that lulled you into a false sense of security before throwing you into a psychological horror fueled ending segment that strung the reader along before its climactic tension-fueled ending served a grand finale for what ended up as being a pretty well contained and strong introductory arc. consequently, the pacing for watanagashi feels slow by default because of the narrative having to play catch up with the reader while also still making sure the worldbuilding and context for the events have to remain consistent enough. the reader will have questions like " i wonder why mion's acting so different ? " and " why is the watanagashi festival being brought up again ? " for sure but most of the time i found myself wondering " when is everything going to go downhill again ? ", " when will keiichi hurry up and realize what mistake he's made ? ", and a multitude of questions that are all brought up by the remaining plot threads that were left in the wake of onikakushi's despair driven finale. most importantly, however, the question of " WHEN WILL THESE CLUB ACTIVITIES END ? " permeated my thoughts pretty frequently. i've mentioned it before in my previous review but OH MY GOD it is a bad thing when a KEY fan is complaining about slice of life in a visual novel. these segments drag on forever and hurt the pacing and while these slice of life segments do feature some pretty charming dialogue it is not nearly captivating enough to distract the reader from their knowledge that these peaceful days will not last and it makes the anticipation for ryukishi's ending segments almost soul-crushing. the kids are funny and cute at times ryukishi WE KNOW THIS. anyways, complaining about pacing in a 07th expansion work is like complaining about water being wet. ryukishi does have a reason for these slice of life moments in his distinct style of worldbuilding but it seems like because of the way he contextualizes his worlds, pacing will ALWAYS be an issue for as long as he continues to structure his narrative like this and even more so given the knowledge that the events of higurashi occur in a separate continuity and focus solely on this time loop. maybe all this narrative backtracking is intentional and made to emulate the feeling that the reader themselves are trapped in a time loop as well sure makes for an interesting theory but that honestly feels like such a cope for how poor the pacing is. it's a pretty bad feeling to realize that the arc is ending soon when it just starts to become interesting and unfortunately that's largely how i felt reading through watanagashi prior to its finale. while onikakushi took time to carefully set up its world, watanagashi's narrative backtracking and snail-like pacing at times hurt it greatly making this recontextualization a record low for the series so far.

but i digress, with watanagashi serving as a roller coaster of sorts in quality, with the low lows out of the way, let's talk about the HIGHEST OF HIGHS that comes with this visual novel. i i know i mentioned earlier that the slice of life segments do hurt the pacing in the opening chapters quite a bit given the knowledge the reader has of the events from onikakushi, however, these segments tie together pretty well with the ending and overall feel pretty clever. as for whether or not this pays off for you is largely dependent on your personal mileage with these aforementioned slice of life moments. given the nature of watanagashi's narrative, the main character it focuses on also happens to be my favorite ! mion absolutely steals the show in this episode as well as her twin sister shion ( whose introduction in the vn signals the beginning of the arc's uphill climb in quality ) . the dichotomy of the two twins make for a pretty interesting narrative and subplot that branches into the overall main narrative of watanagashi pretty well. through shion, we see that softer side of mion as well as all her insecurities. keiichi grows a lot through his interactions with shion all while unknowingly pushing mion further and further away. in a way, watanagashi makes for an interesting character study of mion and what she means to keiichi. if anything, this arc only helps to strengthen the appeal of its ensemble cast and mion's motivations behind her friendship for keiichi are refreshingly clear cut and make for some pretty neat revelations for an already great character. it goes without saying that shion, rena, rika, satoko, and of course ooishi also shine in this chapter as well as the arc explores their different sides as well despite those intricacies not being a focus within the narrative at all but add up for some pretty interesting characterization. after the vn moves past the watanagashi festival with its minor differences, the seemingly peaceful façade of the arc slowly crumbles and you start to see ryukishi settle into his groove with the pacing taking a sharp turn in balance and nuance with the reader slowly playing into the palm of his hand. i'd like to yet again reaffirm that if ryukishi's ending segments weren't so darn captivating i don't think i'd give higurashi a lot of my praise otherwise. ryukishi absolutely nails the tension and atmosphere of these penultimate moments and the rising action within the narrative is greatly enhanced with the superb sound design driving that tension and terror home without the use of cheap techniques like jumpscares. i'd also like to take this time to mention something i neglected in my previous review. if you are reading higurashi i'd greatly recommend taking some time to install the 07th mod as the voice acting performances are definitely worth the extra storage space. mion, rena, ooishi, and keiichi's voice actors are absolutely fantastic in this arc and deliver some incredible performances. it'd be an absolute crime to not hear these voices and these performances absolutely enhance the narrative given the nuance that comes with voice acting. as for the grand finale, watanagashi is pretty reserved in comparison to the despair-driven finale that was onikakushi, but i wouldn't have it any other way. watanagashi as a whole feels pretty reserved and its finale in spite of all the moments of terror is pretty solemn and almost poignant at times. depite the ending being pretty tension-filled there's a lot of sadness in its final moments and that finality is amplified with keiichi himself making peace with his fate at the end. while this doesn't nearly add up to as crazy of an ending as onikakushi it sure still makes for a hell of an experience. despite finishing it a few hours earlier at the time of writing this review, watanagashi's final moments stuck with me the more and more i thought about it. another thing to note about this last act, is that while onikakushi suggested that the threat of oyashiro-sama's curse was largely human, watanagashi seems to suggest otherwise that this demonic possesion is very much real. as for what it means thematically, ryukishi's characterization in this arc very well seems to suggest that oyashiro's curse is not spirtual but latent within everyone as humans will inevitably give into despair and that there is a darkeness within everyone. while it might be a stretch to assume this based on just my own thoughts, i like to think that this idea makes for a pretty interesting perspective on watanagashi in retrospect. it's a nearly perfect resolution of all the episodes events while still leaving enticing plot threads that remain to be resolved in higurashi's next installment.

watanagashi is by no means a perfect follow-up to onikakushi but maybe that's okay. it's reserved and almost muted in comparison but the latter half almost more than makes up for the sum of its faults. watangashi is poignant, solemn, and a perfect encapsulation of the series' greatest strengths and also its faults. it's deeply flawed yet captivating, making for an enticing character study that moves the narrative along of its own volition to both its benefit and detriment. there's a certain dichotomy presented between the sonozaki twins that i think perfectly sums up how i feel about this episode as a whole. things are not always as they seem and there is always a good and bad side to people. simply put, there's a lot to love about watanagashi and an equal amount to be utterly disappointed by. some of the highest highs are here as well as the lowest lows i've read so far. while your mileage might vary, at the end of the day i still enjoyed what i read. mion is one of my favorite characters in higurashi and maybe that's why i felt more strongly about watanagashi as a follow-up. i had expectations and not all of them were met but that's fine. watanagashi is still captivating despite its faults but i can't in good conscience let blind favoritism towards my favorite character overshadow my largely objective faults i have with this episode. if you enjoyed onikakushi should you read it ? absolutely. i have no doubt that anyone who finished episode one would stop there and i don't think anyone who reads watanagashi will stop here either. i'm looking forward to seeing more of what ryukishi has in store for us and if anything watanagashi has taught me to temper my expectations for the grand finale that has yet to come.

PS: in case you've missed it, i've also linked my review of episode one: onikakushi here below !
EPISODE ONE: ONIKAKUSHI REVIEW: https://www.backloggd.com/u/mits/review/82290/

again jack shit happened till like chapter 6... think its gonna become a routine in each episode.... eh well see ig. im also not entirely sure how these connect to each other. is it a timeloop? is it a different timeline? ig itll be answered in time in another episode

anyway besides that there was some good lore in here about the town and shion was the first character in this series i felt i could entirely trust besides ooishi. i think even though the ending was epic, i still enjoyed episode 1's scenario more. i assume episode 3's gonna be a direct continuation of this episode.

with all of these things in consideration im gonna give this a 7/10.

episode 3 here i come.

I'm technically only on sub-chapter 9, but the scene where Mion is crying on the phone to Rena made me bawl my eyes out so hard I had to run here and give it 5 stars. I don't care how this chapter ends or what the twist is -- being able to relate to a character who struggles with their own gender identity (or at least how others perceive them in accordance with established gender roles), but puts on a brave-face in order to maintain group cohesion despite harboring immense pain and sadness... Yeah, that shit gutted me.

Maybe it's something you may have interpreted differently, or maybe you just didn't care, but that personally struck a chord with me. You don't see many games talk about what it's like to be happily perceived as a tomboy while simultaneously ridiculed and chastised for not behaving femininely. You feel this pressure to conform to how your friends see you, and that can take its toll. Where do the lines of femininity and masculinity stop and where does the line of myself even begin? I feel like this chapter captured Mion's frustration and pain extremely well, and her sobbing while realizing that even resolving the minor offenses made against her won't absolve her of the pain she feels. It's just all too real...

I'm only more or less 2 chapters in of what is an 8 chapter series, and I can already tell that this is a game about love and identity. Not necessarily romantic love, but most definitely the platonic love we feel for our friends, the people we see at school, work, and the strangers we pass by. Love for the people with names we know and names we don't. And identity? Doesn't have to be solely with regards to gender, but moreso regarding a sense of belonging. Higurashi, to me so far, is about finding a place you can call home -- a place where you can truly be yourself. Maybe this game takes a bit of a morbid take on it, but you call tell that Keiichi thinks nothing but the best of his friends no matter what.

Anyways 5/5 chapter. Mion best character (they're all great, though).

Do NOT listen to the Watanagashi deniers,chapter 2 is great,man.
Now is it as good as Onikakushi? Personally,I don't think so. I think this is in part due to the fact that the first half of the story seems much slower in comparison. The comedy and the club games are all still there in full force,but what it offers outside of those moments isn't as exciting as what came beforehand. The mystery of Mion/Shion is very compelling,and a great pyschological trip into what it means to be a woman,a sibling, and a friend,but it probably won't catch the full interest of every player (at least not immediately),given how lovey-dovey and straightforward it may be for some.
In the same vein,learning the ins and outs of the Inamizawa folklore is cool,especially given Ryukishi's absolutely unhinged attention to detail in regards to it,but it can feel like a crawl at points,compared to the short version of it that we got from Ooishi and others in chapter 1.
But once the Watanagashi festival arrives,man, the story takes off its limiter...and it's distressing. On the one hand,as the description at the start suggested,Chapter 2 is much more in your face with its "incidents",but that serves only to heighten the suspense and emotional charge of its plot. The phone part in its back half still stands in the hall of fame for upsetting and freightening scenes for me.
A lot of the revelations in general here are incredibly well placed,to the point that they'll make you shit bricks once they're spelled out for you.
This is also where the very human core of Higurashi first shows itself,as Keiichi faces with the guilt of what he's done and brought upon the village,and the truth he has to face by the end.
Some will find fault with how he's written to act in that last portion,but I disagree. That climax isn't only the best part of the chapter,but a perfect incapsulation of the story's themes,and an emotional rollercoaster that will keep you guessing until it finally slows down.
And then it ramps up again. And then even more revlations are dropped on you out of nowhere that will make you question all that you've learned.
So yeah,the payoff of Watanagashi still makes it a decent 8 for me!

Après la fin du 1er chapitre, le début du 2ème était TRèS perturbant. Mais peu importe, je continue pour voir jusqu'où ça me mènera... Je vous avoue que j'ai eu beaucoup de mal a avancé car 70% du SN était du Slice of Life à moitié OSEF..
Après 10h de lecture, ça commence enfin.
Plus (+) de tension, + de retournement de situation, + de stress. Higurashi est un SoundNovel où les moments d'angoisses sont très bien amenés et où l'écriture est très immersive.
J'ai oublié de dire que j'ai joué à avec un mod où les sprites sont très récents et certaines images sont ajoutés, j'ai les voix et un visuel plus agréable à lire.

Mis à part ça, une fin encore plus surprenante que précédemment et très agréable à découvrir :)
Je ne peux que conseiller de continuer cette petite merveille. Maintenant j'attends le mois prochain pour me prendre le Ch.3 ! Voilà. Merci