Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Celebrating All Things Spooky: Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 5

 Celebrating All Things Spooky, Reviews, Video games  10 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Oct 092023
 

Earlier this year, we discussed the third and fourth chapters of the horror visual novel Higurashi When They Cry.

Now, as part of this year’s spooky October, it’s time to talk about Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 5 Meakashi, which is an important turning point since it’s the start of the Answer Arcs.

The previous chapter presented things from a different viewpoint instead of following Keiichi, the protagonist of the first three. Chapter 5 also has a different point-of-view character, this time showing us events through the eyes of Shion.

Chapter 5 covers two periods of time. The first part of the story takes place a year in the past, to show the events leading up to Satoshi’s disappearance. This was an interesting look at events only referenced before.

Click for Higurashi Chapters 3 and 5 spoilers
I also found it unsettling just how closely the events surrounding the murder of Satoko’s aunt parallel the murder of her uncle in Chapter 3. During that part of Chapter 3, Keiichi spent a good deal of time thinking about how it probably happened exactly like this for Satoshi, but it almost seems too close (except, of course, that the aunt stays dead). Coincidence? Like so many other things in this story, I don’t know.

The second part of the story covers events we’re more familiar with, as it follows the same path as Chapter 2. Many parts of Chapter 2 were unclear, and seeing them from a new perspective explains quite a bit.

Not only is it informative, but it’s also quite dark, one of the creepier entries so far. If you’ve played Chapter 2, you’re already familiar with how things spiral out of control… and now here in Chapter 5, you see how it all happened. That’s not to say everything is explained, though. My biggest questions coming out of Chapter 2 still remain.

Click for Higurashi Chapters 2 and 5 spoilers
The timeline surrounding Shion’s death and her stabbing Keiichi is still unclear. It doesn’t address Takano being dead before the scene in the storehouse, either.

More interestingly, this chapter carefully builds up an explanation for how the Sonozaki family could be responsible for the supposed “curse of Oyashiro-sama,” but then tears it down, with Mion swearing that her grandmother only let it be implied that they were responsible for the deaths/disappearances because of the power that suggested.

Rika is very suspicious in this chapter, as she shows up with a syringe that causes the victim to tear out their own throat, like how Tomitake died (and Keiichi in Chapter 1). The game makes an intentional parallel between her footsteps and the extra footstep that someone cursed by Oyashiro-sama hears, too.

Right now, I’m sticking with my theory from Chapter 4 that Rika is trying to avert a bad future and causing multiple timelines as a result, but it still doesn’t explain everything.

Anyway, Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 5 Meakashi had me thoroughly invested, as it shows events from a different point of view and explained some of the confusing events from Chapter 2. It’s also the last one I already had in my backlog, so I’ll need to pick up the remaining three chapters someday soon.

I still have many questions. Where is this going? Will everything be explained? Will the payoff be satisfying after all this buildup? One way or another, our Higurashi journey will continue with Chapter 6.

Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 4: An Intriguing Change of Pace

 Reviews, Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jul 242023
 

Having just finished the third chapter of Higurashi, I’d normally take a longer break, but instead I decided to continue on and read Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 4 Himatsubushi since it’s shorter than the rest and concludes the Question Arcs.

All of the chapters have taken different approaches so far, but Chapter 4 is the most noticeably different.

Instead of following Keiichi after his arrival in Hinamizawa, it’s set several years earlier and follows a young police officer visiting the town to investigate a kidnapping that could be related to the protests against the dam project.

It has less of an emphasis on horror, although it does have a few unsettling moments.

As I mentioned in my last review, I have theories about what’s going on that never quite seem to answer everything. In keeping with the chapters before it, this one adds a few more details that could support one idea or another but isn’t enough for me to put the pieces together yet.

Click for major Higurashi Chapter 4 spoilers
Rika’s apparent ability to see the future, particularly as shown in the TIPS from her mother’s point of view, make it seem more likely than ever that there’s a real supernatural element.

That, together with her wanting to escape her fate, could fit into my parallel timelines theory… maybe? Maybe she keeps seeing the future and changes things to try to avert it, and that’s how we get different outcomes?

On the other hand, her general predictions could be coincidence while her predictions of the upcoming deaths point to an elaborate conspiracy planned years in advance. Someone with the power the Sonozaki group has could theoretically arrange a sequels of deaths/disappearances to take place across years to create the illusion of a curse. That would still leave way too many questions about the other seemingly-supernatural incidents that have occurred in the previous episodes, though.

I don’t have too much to say about this chapter, although I found it to be an interesting change of pace. This also wraps up the “Question Arcs,” which means the next chapter starts the Answer Arcs… where we’ll get some answers at last, possibly.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the next chapter brings!

Higurashi When They Cry Chapter 3: The Mysteries Deepen

 Reviews, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Jul 172023
 

Look at that, I actually continued Higurashi without letting another year pass me by again.

So far, each chapter of Higurashi has felt quite different. The first episode was a slow build-up to intense paranoia. The second episode played out like a mystery, with surprises waiting just when it seemed everything was resolved.

That brings us to Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 3 Tatarigoroshi.

Like the previous episodes, the third entry begins with a slice-of-life section in which everything seems lighthearted and fun. This time, those fun days are cut short by sadness, with an unhappy section of the story that retains the slow pace but sees the main character falling into despair as he’s unable to do anything to help a suffering friend.

The tone felt much more somber than the previous two episodes, and then it took a darker turn in a much different way.

And from there, things start getting strange – adding even more mysteries on top of those from the first two episodes. As I played, I started to develop theories about what was actually going on, only for later developments to throw those theories into confusion again. The ending, especially, left me with more questions than ever.

That’s about all I can say without spoilers.

Click for Higurashi Chapter 3 spoilers
Right now my two major theories that I keep being torn between are “Keiichi is an unreliable narrator with false memories” and “there are parallel timelines and Keiichi jumps between them sometimes,” but neither of those has an explanation for the creepy footstep.

The story Keiichi’s friends tell about him being with them at the festival seem to overlap with what happened in one of the previous chapters, which is why I started to wonder if they could all be running parallel to one another. And the previous chapter, like this one, had people being alive when they were supposed to already be dead; it can’t be all just delusion.

It feels like each chapter carefully builds up to a plausible rational explanation for the curse, only to pull the rug out from under you with an inexplicable incident.

Then there are characters like Ooshi and Takano, who seem to be more sinister in each new episode.

This wasn’t my favorite chapter, because of how long it took for things to really start happening, but the questions raised once they did were worth it.

Higurashi When They Cry – Ch. 3 Tatarigoroshi was sad, disturbing, and confusing all at once, and I’m really curious to see how this will all be wrapped up. Maybe for this October, we’ll actually get through the whole series to see how it plays out!

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