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Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

People have been saying that this arc ends next episode. I dunno what to say about that, except that if that’s the case, this arc would be severely different to the usual arc structure of the Higurashi world. Some major differences to outline is that Satoko, the seeming victim of the whole thing, is not going down a straightforward path towards insanity and death. Just like Rika manages to return to her senses in Tsumihoroboshi-hen (regardless of what happens after in that arc), this time, Satoko is fighting for herself and for Rika. Rika may have given up, and although this arc is a sure failure as well, it’s clear that things are actually changing, however subtly.

For those of you who are just waiting for the mass killings to come, sorry to disappoint you but this show is not about blood and guts at all. The gore displaye previously is just a representation of reality, and emphasises the repercussions and results of the REAL theme of this show. Higurashi is really about trust, friendship, and all that sappy stuff that you may not have thought of. Most of the arcs have been about a group of friends who trust each other dearly, until something happens and one member of this group loses the trust. My opinion is that the reason why Rika’s world keeps crumbling is because of the lack of trust.

If this theory is correct, I guess I can correctly say that the result will be one happy ending where everyone survives, and this can only be done if everyone trusts each other and works together. This is also why I reason that Rika should seriously let everyone else know. In this arc, Satoko is the only one who trusts her, but that’s a good start compared to the rest of the arcs. On the other hand, Rika is letting herself down by not showing much trust to her important friend (though I really don’t know if Rika simply doesn’t believes Satoko about the stalker, or if she’s decided against helping her). Either way, this is a mistake—I wonder about the consequences in store for us next time.

So it seems that the culprits against Satoko are the familiar men in similar clothes. I can’t remember exactly, but I’m pretty sure these are the guys who are supposed to be involved with Takano and Dr. Irie, but now apparently they’re both dead. These same people come for Keiichi as well in a previous arc if I’m not mistaken, so it seems like the closer you are to mistrusting your friends, the more dangerous the world becomes. I wonder how things will turn out for Satoko, and whether she’ll regress to the state where she can hear Oyashiro-sama’s footsteps—in other words, sensing the existing of the omniscient sentient being…which I’m sure Rika can. =)

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