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 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.

I don't really know how to put into words the way this chapter made me feel. It was quite the roller coaster of emotions, but that was entirely the point. I'd probably give it a full 5-stars, but I think this chapter dragged on a bit longer than it should have, and I think the whole mix-up between the twins -- while intentional -- just got a bit too headache-inducing by the end.

Overall, though, I think this is phenomenal entry in the series. Being the first chapter in the answer arc, I think it served its purpose extremely well. I also love that Shion (I don't care if they were mixed up at birth or whatever, I am calling her Shion as that's how she was introduced) is a perfect contrast to characters like Keiichi, Mion, and Satoshi. You can tell she's a selfish, love-struck teenager. You can tell, that even after she committed so much murder, torture, and abuse, she just wanted someone to love her. Her demonstrably unhealthy attachment to Satoshi is evidence of that. Being robbed of not only her love of/from Satoshi, but love from her family and friends as well put a massive strain on her. While I will never excuse her of her actions (note: her abusing and victim blaming Satoko hit far too close to home and made me vehemently hate her for the majority of this chapter), I can still sympathize with her. And to be fair? I think that was the point.

Meakashi is not just an answer arc, but it's a test of how far ones sympathy can go. Shion is, in all sense of the word, irredeemable, and yet in her very last moments when she regrets being born, you feel that. I've been there, and I'm sure many others have as well. It is such a strong and borderline debilitating feeling that claws at your heart, trying to drag it down to the pit of your stomach. When Shion apologized for being born, I felt what she felt: an overwhelming sense of sadness and a desire to be held. When we are at our absolute lowest, and we've come to regret our very existence, we -- consciously or not -- long for someone to give us that love and reassurance we need. It's a natural facet of humanity, and in her final moments Shion was no longer demon... but human.

a well needed break from the formula the first three chapters took.
as a bonus story, it's pretty good with the interesting new protag asakuma and all that ooishi screentime, which i love since ooishi is my favourite so far.
although rika didnt get as much screentime and exploration into her character as i thought (aside from the tips, which are also the best so far) it still provides some information about her clairvoyance, showing that all of the murders were scripted.
also that ending was pretty great, seeing ooishi and asakuma want to search for the truth, it really gets me pumped for the anwser arcs. also that little nod to keiichi's letter in chapter 1 with the "please find the truth" message is nice. the shorter writing helps this chapter a lot more too.

holy peak

copying from my status but game genuniely made me feel uncomfortable, like when keiichi kills "teppei" and when he attempts to dig him up with ooishi and the others around. honestly change of ooishi personality from the other chapters really told me something is unusual and unnerving here, along with that satoko head pat scene where she has a breakdown. and the exploration of keiichi's psyche through to killing teppei to him acknowledging the curse he can put on others was pretty great as well. my favourite chapter so far honestly.

...of course, the SoL is still abominally paced but i thought it was fine until the baseball part and irie's initial introduction. irie was plausible but i just feel some other ways about his character. the scene with him and keiichi at satoko's house was alright writing for him.

also like how in the afterparty they say meakashi is coming up next and then himatsubushi happens.