This review contains spoilers
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.
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.