7/10

so, the penultimate chapter. theres a lot to get into here. firstly, I WAS FUCKING RIGHT!!! I CALLED THAT BOTH THE FURUDES AND TAKANO HAD SOMETHING TO HIDE! I KNEW TAKANO WAS TELLING THE TRUTH IN TSUMIHOROBOSHI! Now, im still curious how rika got those syringes in a few chapters, but damn the consistency of foreshadowing all the way back in onikakushi with the mountain dogs rivals trail's consistency. great fucking writing. and everything just seems to fall into place with all the reveals. but. i have not mentioned the "main" scenario of this arc, ive only mentioned my reactions to the "epilogue/prologue"(to episode 8), and with good reason. i mean... it was more interesting than the water gun fight or other sol segments that bloat higurashi, but overall it was extremely dragged out(i just kinda skimmed the night before watanagashi scene, looking up every now and then, and 45 minutes coulda been summed up in 5.), and teppei was more comically evil than in any other higu episode. at least in tsumihoro, he had like a whole badger game thing going on, but here it's just super "im evil hahahahaahaahaahaah" kinda deal. which sure, in tatari, he was kinda like that but it was fresh, and we got the murder plot to make up for it. here it just recycles and adds nothing new to it. and, ill say that the """"""funny"""""""""" """""""gags"""""" with satoko are extremely uncomfortable and not funny in the slightest, their just creepy and weird. that 15 minute scene in angel mort was just gross to sit through, and i ended up skipping it.(like most of the sol segments, get trolled) but bottom line, i enjoyed the start, and the end to this arc. so, 2/3rds. ill say that the saving satoko part was the most interesting not necessary addition yet, but it was still pretty boring. since im taking that into account, i think im gonna have to give it a 7/10. it wasnt as consistent as tsumihoroboshi or meakashi, but the setup to the final episode was pretty fucking great, if a bit dragged out after the credits sequence. but if ep.8 entirely focuses on this part of the story, i can see it knocking meakashi off the throne of favorite arc. with all that taken into account, along with the unnecessary gross stuff about satoko, thats why im giving it a 7/10.

to the final episode, after which i will finally be free from 07th expansion prison, at least until i start umineko(oh no!).
1-meakashi
2-tsumihoroboshi
3-tatarigoroshi
4-onikakush
5-minagoroshi
6-watanagashi
7-himatsubushi

I remember being a bit disappointed as I initially mulled over the details and implications of Meakashi in my head after I finished it. It was a good part, don't get me wrong; the transition from paranormal horror to devastation and melodrama was very well done - but I didn't like how it reflected upon Watanagashi. Previously my favourite arc due to how it portrays the weight on the shoulders of Mion Sonozaki (my favourite character in the series), Meakashi replaced this motivation with the all well and good - but less compelling and thematically consistent with the rest of the series - struggle with Shion's relationship with Satoshi after his death. I was scared that this could be a running theme along the answer arcs - the denigration of previous plot threads in the name of some different service - but luckily I was proven wrong.

Other parts of Higurashi have had cold opens before, but they all usually entail some out-of-context horrific act occuring before us. Tsumihoroboshi is a wild detour from this - the cold open takes us to the dumpster which Rena loves so much. The sky is an unnatural pink - and the mood in the air is uncertain. There is a feeling of bittersweet camaraderie in the air in this short prologue, like the feeling you'd get seeing a friend as a kid for the last time before they move away. You know it, they know it - but there is nothing to do at that point but look behind you at all the good times.

From what little I've engaged with the wider Higurashi community, the slice-of-life segments seem to be a malign figure when talking about the series - and are often presented as necessary evils for the "slow burn" horror that a lot of the episodes go for in the more charitable analyses. Though their mileage can definitely vary by episode (the slice-of-life segments in Onikakushi feel particularly weak and miscellaneous compared to any other part) I feel like they are always vital; they are often enjoyable and knowing how these characters tick does a lot more for the series' gravitas than just making it scarier when their eyes go weird. I bring this up primarily because the slice-of-life segments in Tsumihoroboshi are just amazing. Especially riding off the back of Meakashi - which on account of how the timeline is split up doesn't really have a lot of time to let us steep in character interactions - the game beginning with this strangely lovely interaction in the dumpster followed by a water gun fight almost transcendentally fun for its participants was very refreshing and set up how the plot's unravelling would contrast with Meakashi (and Onikakushi to a lesser extent).

Another thing you immediately notice right away are the improvements in the engine (or perhaps, just an increased attention to detail within it) - there are zooms, flashes, quicker transitions and different shots using the character sprites - it's a visual novel so there isn't a lot they can do with this but it helps pull you into the feelings of the characters with a bit more ease. Rena's perspective text in particular was effective; the gradient from a pale pink to a sheer crimson throughout the story marks her descent very effectively and is subtle enough that as it began to happen I wasn't even sure if it was really there or just me - surely an intentionally feature.

Story-wise it feels, at least to me, a lot more like a question arc than an answer arc in execution. Probably just because the very open-and-shut Meakashi is the only other one I've read, but the way it sprinkles resolutions with further seeds of questions felt like the perfect balance to me - very reminiscent of how I felt first discovering about Oyashiro-sama's curse in the very first arc as Keiichi descended into paranoia.

On the topic of Keiichi's paranoia in Onikakushi I felt like they treated it with a lot more respect than Meakashi did Watanagashi. The resolution provided in Tsumihoroboshi is relevant to both Onikakushi and Tsumihoroboshi's overall themes - the characters who descend into madness are usually the ones unwilling to hear anyone out, and people are at their best when they work together and understand one another. The ending almost felt corny and absurd in its delivery of this but I think it ended up feeling really sweet by the end of the mainline story.

And yet, despite this, so much is brought up in Tsumihoroboshi that I'm so excited to see wrap up in the last two arcs. In particular, Miyo and Rika seem to have a lot more to do in the last two arcs - Miyo seems to be a harbinger of doom in all the arcs but her present is especially strongly felt in these last 2 answer arcs as her notes on Hinamizawa always seem to work as some sort of catalyst. Rika and Keiichi noticing other timelines seems to be a strange concept with a lot of potential too; I always just kinda accepted it as a "petri dish" kind of situation where each arc was just the same background scenario with ever-so-slightly different starting conditions but even that seems like it could collapse as we approach the end.

As I see it, Tsumihoroboshi combines everything there is to love about the previous 5 arcs into an equally heartwarming, heartbreaking and horrifying look into some very hurt people in a very hurt town. Pretty much tied with Watanagashi for my favourite arc to go through at the moment.

i also feel some strong feels about this chapter, i'll say the beginning (up to when the club members all have their heads together) and the end (rika and keiichi talking about past chapters to the schizophrenics fighting on the roof scene) are exceptional. especially the ending, it just felt so fantastical and cheesy but it left such a warm feeling in my heart. a fight scene i actually liked? nice one, ryukishi.

i just felt the middle was a bit... blah compared to the rest. i think there's some good moments (i'm done with this world's rena) but they kinda falter compared to the other parts i mentioned. also why does the ANSWER ARC leave me with more QUESTIONS, RYUKISHI? WHY DOES RIKA HAVE THAT SYRINGE? WHAT EVEN IS MIYO?
(i know it'll be explained in some other chapter but eh)

i thought the theme about rena's family was very interesting as well, especially with what rina attempted to do and the aftermath of rena's dad and her but that got disregarded so that rena can sperg about aliens and maggots i guess. it does tie into the mental illness theme, and i think it's portrayed pretty well with rena's paranoia, her distorted thinking about miyo's scrapbooks and how it affected ooishi (shoutouts to the goat character) and straight up bizarreness at moments. the rena pov did kinda wear off me hours in but i like how the text goes from a very light pink to red through the chapter, nice touch.

also, the plot twist about keiichi shooting children with bb guns made me laugh because it reminded me of a 4chan greentext where a guy goes out at night and just fights highschoolers and homeless people for fun. atleast he's fucking great in this chapter. the moment where he confesses that to the club members and talks to mion about rena's theories actually made me a bit embarassed for thinking rena was right about secrets and the theories. this also leads into how tsumihoroboshi is the only instance of a "the power of friendship" trope i like

In my opinion, Meakashi is the best arc of Higurashi. It’s intense, cathartic, and wonderfully paced. Meakashi is basically a character study of Shion, most of which takes place while she is by herself or consumed by her thoughts. While this is certainly a different approach, I think it works in Meakashi’s favor, because Shion is such a compelling and well-written character, definitely one of Ryukishi07’s best.

Meakashi’s portrayal of trauma and isolation and their effect on your mental health is superb. While often presenting herself to others as confident, fun-loving, and friendly, she is in actuality a very lonely, cold, self-loathing, and manipulative person. Her whole life, Shion has been abused, rejected, and neglected by her family, many of which are violent yakuza; these factors have left a lasting impact on her mental health. She’s essentially abandoned at a boarding school that she despises, and when she escapes to Okinomiya she must live in isolation to avoid being caught and tortured by her own family. Whenever she does go out, she must dress up as her sister to avoid detection. While she attempts to cope by projecting herself onto the Houjou siblings and becoming increasingly involved in their lives, she can never truly shake her feelings of distrust, rage, and loneliness. Her self-hatred and anger initially manifest as hateful thoughts towards Satoko, who she relates to the most, but gradually become more intense and destructive as the arc goes on. You truly feel just as trapped as Shion as she tries to make sense of everything she’s gone through, especially after the slight time-skip that happens around halfway through the arc.

It’s not only Shion that makes this arc good- Higurashi is a psychological horror visual novel after all, and this is one of the most genuinely unnerving arcs in the series, especially near the end when you are trapped in Shion’s mind as she tries to justify her increasingly violent and irrational decisions. The mystery element is also strong- while this is the first “answer arc”, and it certainly does clear up the questions from Watanagashi-hen, it leaves the reader with a long list of still-unanswered questions, and leaves you wanting to read on and unravel the rest of Hinamizawa’s tale. Another thing I love about Meakashi is how it captures Shion’s mental state following her escape, and her overall feeling of aimlessness post-trauma. The complicated feeling of wanting to recover, but being unable to shake your hurt and bitterness, constantly retreating into your memories, and just feeling… stagnant and unchanging, is genuinely so perfectly captured.

I also really love this video analysis, as I think it breaks down both the arc and Shion as a character wonderfully, though be warned that it contains spoilers for Higurashi as a whole. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIqrUmJLr5A

Higurashi really bewildered me with this one. I've never seen such an interesting take on a mystery where you play the same A flip of the perspective on the same chapter where the same events occur, but that said perspective makes everything new.

Instead of Keiichi or Akasaka, we are introduced to Shion who I felt needed more character and I was glad to be able to read in the eyes of her; she was an even more fun and energetic addition to the bubbly cast of Higurashi. We get to see that Shion struggles with her position as a sister without the demon's mark of the Sonozaki line, and suffers by Oryou's decisions to isolate her from the family--literally picking favorites for tradition. For a social butterfly, the struggles start to form and she feels lonely, trying to shrug it off from what she truly feels.
Her interactions are great too, I really liked the dynamic of Satoshi and Shion. With Shion crushing on him, as she learns that he is gone combined with the information about the murders and "demoning away" in Hinamizawa, she starts to go crazy and the twists and turn unravel itself with the dramatic plot.
I really liked this one just as much as the others for not only getting me to question more about the mystery as a whole and who the culprit is, but its unique way of introducing me that said mystery.