Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai: Episode 6
Rating: 8.5/10
Impressions:
With the theme of friendship being enforced in this episode, I can’t help but feel all happy inside after watching it. It seems like the underlying premise of the entire show is friendship, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s exactly that which makes it possible for the characters to remember events from previous arcs, or have them in their subconsciousness. And perhaps these bonds between the group of friends need to be deepened in order for a certain miracle to happen to save everyone…but if that’s the case, it really isn’t much of a miracle is it? Rika and her friends would unknowingly save themselves from this repeating hell…
Anyway, for those of you who had not managed to put together the pieces regarding what the hell these repeats mean, the beginning of this episode basically spells it out for you. And we also meet Hanyuu, and it is revealed that she and Rika work together to ‘reboot’ the world every time Rika dies. Personally, I would just want to stay dead, so I admire Rika for her determination in altering her destiny (which seems to have dwindled over the years, though thankfully, Keiichi is there to rekindle it with his cockiness—something which might turn out to be way more important than expected…)
In the transition Rika goes through during the beginning of the episode, she speaks of rules…I wonder if she’s actually talking about rules X, Y and Z…fufufu I shouldn’t say any more. Game players should know what I mean at least. And speaking of rules, it seems that Mion (or should I call her Shion?) going crazy with hurt from not receiving the doll is at least not going to happen this time around. And why? It’s all thanks to Keiichi, and perhaps Rika hasn’t noticed, but with her interfering with a small event like the card game, something important like this comes about. Ahh, I can’t believe Rika hasn’t tried interfering with her fate before…
One other thing I wanna mention…Hanyuu (or Rika) mentions how no one ever notices her. But that’s not true (I think ^^;;)…if you think back to an instance such as the first arc, where Keiichi goes mad and starts hearing footsteps…which he believed to be Oyashiro-sama (which may or may not be true). But, I wonder which cute little spiritual girl those footsteps belonged to? Oops, did I say something unnecessary? xD Well, anyway, I can’t wait to see the next episode, which will bring us closer to the resolution. Higurashi is getting so good now…and only people like me, who don’t just think of the violence would say that…sigh.
Popularity: 18% [?]
4 comments
4 Comments so far
Leave a reply
Please use the <spoiler> </spoiler> tags for spoilers.
Loading ...
It was nice to see Rika beginning to shed the fatalism that marked her words in this season. Though I wonder if that is merely the setup for yet another tragedy; in the ancient pagan stories, like the Greek dramas, the characters fight nobly against fate only to be slapped down because they are dealing with forces that are much bigger and more powerful than themselves. The lesson in stories like Antigone and Oedipus pretty much boil down to–”try as hard as you might, there is no escaping your destiny.”
Anyways this show has regained the footing that I felt the first few episodes were starting to lose. Love love love it.
Heh I agree with you, Higurashi is about alot more than the violence, and it’s probley my favorite summer season show so far.
after watching this episode, i too felt so happy and think that this is getting better and better. Its getting a lot more sense and you can’t help but hope the “gang” would find a way to end this endless loop.
Rena’s death doesn’t fit this arc if this is a flashback from her talk with Oishi. Is that really Rena’s blood on the hat, or is it her blood type?
Even if it is her blood, it doesn’t prove that she was murdered (or even killed some other way) only that she was injured. She could have done that by clawing at her throat due to the “parasites”. All of the previous arcs seem to have been constructed carefully enough to prevent something that looks like such a glaring error. If Satoko’s guess is right, then maybe Rena was chased by the thugs, and fell into the river, escaping the disaster just as Satoko did.
At any rate I’d have to believe that Rena survives somehow, in this arc.