Content warning for the following: mentions of suicide, mentions of child abuse. I am going to go into the broad strokes of events in this game so topics within will be touched upon. This post includes spoilers.

The first four chapters of Higurashi, comprised of chapters Onikakushi, Watanagashi, Tatarigoroshi and Himatsubushi (known as the Questions Arc) follows the events of our protagonists Keiichi and his group of friends Rena, Mion, Rika, Satoko and Shion, in the Japanese country town of 1983 Hinamizawa. Knowing near nothing about the game, aside from being horror/mystery sound novels, I ended up being pleasantly surprised in multitude of ways.
Higurashi deftly hooked me into it with its alluring writing, drawing me into the main cast with their easygoing companionship and fun, daily club activities; which so perfectly contrasted the brutal viciousness that often marks the latter half of each chapter.

Within each chapter there are internal chapters (mini-chapters), lending a more structural novel-feel to the game, often leaving me with lingering questions or an unsettling moment at their closure, which then flows into the TIPS. TIPS, something I’ve seen employed to a slightly different effect in Seabed, offer extra information on a piece of “evidence” or event that may have occurred that we have (or haven’t) seen mentioned in the story. These are usually presented with a change of narration through a different character’s perspective, or a vague indication of whom the text may be from. TIPS are delightful little tidbits that often had me reeling after a revelation, equal parts “red-herrings” and “clues” to get you thinking about how they might connect to the story within the chapter (or other chapters), and the overarching mystery that wraps Higurashi.

And that core mystery stays mostly unchanged throughout each chapter, yet the story plays out differently each time, often unfurling a new layer and/or angle to it, and engaging the cast in a woe-some event that likely results in some horrific deaths.
As they often joke in the post-game all-cast reviews: This game is all bad ends.
Therefore, I found this to be an unexpected aspect that Higurashi caught me by surprise with, no, not the cast reviews (although they are a charming delight), but the fact that each chapter plays out differently, and are not sequential stories. The story will always begin a few weeks after Keiichi has moved into Hinamizawa with his family; there’s a build up to the Watanagashi Festival; and the same person, Tomitake, will die on the night of the festival in the exact same manner. As the days lead up to the festival, Keiichi learns of the town’s past — the townspeople’s tie-in with the government backed dam construction and the events surrounding it; its history, a village supposedly comprised of an oni bloodline; and of the local god, Oyashiro-sama, and their curse that is enacted on the nights of and following the Watanagashi festival.

Onikakushi

Onikakushi is the self-described “prologue” chapter, and it was a very strong opening to the game that lingers in the mind and tinges the following chapters. The writing starts off easy going and comfortable as it floated me into the day-to-day life of Keiichi. Being a new arrival in the town, we follow him through his school days while his newfound friends invite him into their in-group and engage him in their competitive yet friendly club activities. I really enjoyed these charming scenes! Their activities usually range from playing such things as board and card games, physical games like tag, or just mucking around at the festival, complete with their competitive customs and all in-line with their club’s rules of engagement. I knew the whole time Higurashi was setting these up to make the latter half more impactful by contrasting the lighthearted with the dread that permeates Keiichi’s narration later, but I let it hook me in any way.
And the way Onikakushi ratchets up its horror is so delicious. The ever-increasing fear of what was once safe and reliable (his friends, his home) born of paranoia — Keiichi being undermined and growing more frantic the further into that fear he builds around him. The way he continues to convince himself that he is in danger due to being perceived as an outsider to the town, that he’ll be the next victim, his proximity to related parties too strong — it all comes to a head in the closing mini-chapter. Holding my breath heading into the final, frenetic moments as Keiichi, seeing no recourse, turns on the offensive and kills Mion and Rena in a fit of pure fright after they surrounded him, and later, after his “escape”, hearing him kill himself in the same manner as Tomitake over a frenzied call to the police… my stomach dropped at the ending of this chapter.

But the thing is, in my time with the Questions Arc of Higurashi, it goes through great pains to make it clear these actions do not stem from nothing. Keiichi himself eventually makes the observation that he might have been manipulated by the resident pig-in-uniform Ooishi to draw out the perpetrators of the murders. His fear is exasperated by uncertainty. His approach to his friends: their relationship undermined by a lack of communication; feeling isolated and further isolating himself—it is important to note because I believe this is why the chapters develop the way they do in conjunction to whatever else is going on. You watch (but might not realise initially, thanks to Keiichi’s fearful perspective) as Rena sees him walk an identical path as another friend who went through the same thing, and in her desperation to prevent those events from repeating, tries her best to approach Keiichi on the matter and keep him safe from harm (ultimately failing that goal and in keeping herself safe too). It’s harrowing. Yet you can see how it reaches that point. Yes, the horror is there and yes, there is a mystery coating everything — yet over the course of the next couple of chapters, Higurashi continues to elucidate why these kids would act in this manner.

Watanagashi

Watanagashi follows up that chilling ending by bringing into the fray Mion’s twin sister Shion. The focus of this chapter is the twins and their family, the Sonozakis, as well as the Watanagashi Festival itself. Admittedly, diving right into this one so immediately after completing Onikakushi may have been a mistake, as the lighter tone of the front half of the chapter here clashes so harshly with the feelings left within me from the prior’s ending. Nevertheless, falling back into the groove of the writing was pretty easy, even if this chapter is front-loaded with some so-so stuff.
Higurashi has these moments where it kind of hits this obvious ‘doujin-work-being-sold-at-comiket’ type of scenes… and that’s something I haven’t really broached upon with these chapters.I don’t want to spend much time on it, but the contrast of these type of “fanservice-y” scenes with the rest of the game; given how lucidly Higurashi often presents its own subject matter, makes it a bit jarring in a way, perhaps lightly undermining itself at times.

Regardless, in this chapter, I had some fun in the way Keiichi seems to find it easier to believe that Mion has an alter-ego she’s going by rather than the fact that they are indeed twins and two different beings (which lead to a scene I quite enjoyed in satisfaction through his obliviousness). Mion as a whole is the focal point of Watanagashi: we’re introduced to new facets of her character mostly through her role and position in the Sonozaki family, and the inheritance of their legacy and what that means for herself, the town and her friends; her influence towards the town and others, and how that is exerted or is enacted. A lot of this is reflected in her personality, especially in scenes where Shion is involved — there’s a lot in this chapter that sets up twins’ relationship, and it’s very fun to watching how they each bring out another side of the other not often seen. They're opposites, in a way, but they have commonality in their mannerism. I really enjoy their messy dynamic, so I hope that future Answer Arc chapters will bring that out more to the forefront.

Rena is also a delight in this one and steals the show a little bit in the latter half; we do get to see another side of her with more clarity than Keiichi had prior. It’s so important to me that this is the chapter where we see Keiichi have to tackle the events around him and is dragged into facing it through his friends. Rena is there to support each other in confronting what they both fear, and Rika does her best to console him and let him know he isn’t alone in it where she can once shit starts hitting the fan.

I found I really enjoyed the horror in Watanagashi the most, even when it was making feel a fair bit distressed. It’s moments like these are where Higurashi shines for me. Making use of everything integral to the sound novel’s presentation, yet limiting the visuals to obscure the gore by a fair bit really heightens it. Both for the scenes with Takano recounting her research on the “true” history of the Watanagashi festival, all the while surrounded by very same torture implements she’s describing that were used in that history, and everything to do with the growing fear of everyone connected to that catalytic moment getting picked off and murdered one by one… along with everything that follows Keiichi and Rena’s visit to Mion’s house in the final chapters. Oddly, Watanagashi is perhaps the one chapter where I felt the least satisfied with what it brings to the mystery table (but more for what I think it is obfuscating rather than answering.)

Tatarigoroshi

Tatarigoroshi was a strenuous chapter to read through, equally painful and engaging, more so due to its subject matter than for any other reason. What a horrifyingly bleak ending this one goes out on. The whole town becomes a no-go zone, everyone is dead thanks to noxious swamp gasses that spew forth overnight. Hinamizawa Syndrome. Retroactively understanding that as the source of Keiichi’s unhinged demeanour and panicked actions throughout this chapter and the previous ones too (and maybe even the actions other characters…) However, before all that, we highlight Satoko this chapter, her situation, and the horrifying abuse she’s suffered under her carers. It’s…a lot and part of why I somewhat struggle to write about this chapter. There are only a few scenes where we directly see that abuse she suffers, more than anything, we see the effects of it in her changed demeanour, mannerisms and outbursts.
Through that, Tatarigoroshi makes it glaringly obvious why Keiichi chooses the path he sets onto, killing her uncle, given that every alternative course himself and the group, and any adults that are in positions to do anything about it, ultimately are limited and often circle back into placing the ire of her abuser onto Satoko herself.

There is one particular moment in this chapter that really stood out to me in regard to this though: A scene roughly midway through where Keiichi relentlessly hammers question after question on what they, the club group, can do about this situation. It’s a surprisingly sobering scene where Mion’s descriptions of their past efforts to get child protection clued into this situation doesn’t really go anywhere. The scene continues to build up how powerless these characters, these kids, feel about it all, how little they can do anything. It’s also a really fantastic scene for the characters here? You get so caught up in Keiichi’s headspace yet can also see the way the rest of the girls are hurting, and the moment where Rena flips his questions back onto him to try and get to see it from their perspective, basically putting him in his place for it, does much to diffuse the building tension within the group and knock Keiichi out of his misplaced aggression, all the while adding subtle dimension to her character.

And in the final hours, in watching Keiichi try his best to explain himself to a rather distressed Satoko, I can’t help but draw a direct comparison to this procession as to the ending of Onikakushi. The roles are reversed here: Keiichi, believing wholly (and totally zonked out on Hinamizawa Syndrome) that he can protect Satoko while she, fearful of him and what he has become, tries her best to escape his presence. There is, what feels to me, an intentional repetition in his actions and Rena’s. What I am meant to glean from that information I am still not sure, but the fact these chapters have these moments always strikes me.

Himatsubushi

Himatsubushi feels somewhat like a freebie chapter that coasts you into the Answers Arc. It opens up very confidently stating that by its conclusion, you should have everything you need to take a guess at the truth of the mystery (or should already have that, hah!). While I very much enjoy playing along and theorising with the game, I don’t necessarily want to engage with the story in a way where it feels like a puzzle to solve. This one is a bit odd in that it is set a couple of years earlier from the first chapter, and features a one-off protagonist to narrate through, Akasaka, an officer tasked with investigating the town for kidnappers. As a whole, by breaking off from the established formula, the chapter adds another dimension to the layers of the grander mystery given so far, and offers an alternative look at past events that have shaped the story.

There is one thing this chapter does that compounds onto the core that I’ve interpreted from Questions Arc: That the kids do not want this at all. How often are they pressed into a corner and feel the need to lash out? See when they are placed into a situation where no matter how much they put their heads together, they can’t find a way out? Pushed into isolation to pursue their goals, to eradicate anything that is in their path towards that, pushing away from others and failing to connect meaningfully.
And I think there is an interesting contrast built by Akasaka’s position both as an outsider, a police member, and an adult, and how that is paralleled with Keiichi.
Something that didn’t dawn on me until after I completed Himatsubushi and contemplated what role Akasaka exactly plays, was that the adults’ role in this story is a failed one. He says as much in the conclusion of the chapter himself, while comparing events with Ooishi, far removed from them by time and distance: he failed Rika. Rika, who seeks him out and tells him what will come to pass; he fails to see the way she extends out to him for help, and then it is too late. This is reflected in Irie’s role too, a character introduced in Tatarigoroshi, an adult in a position that is looked up to; well respected and entrenched in the community; and close to the kids, yet still fails to be able to achieve anything meaningful to help, ultimately killing himself because of it. It’s bleak – if the kids can’t turn to those who should be able to extend the care and guidance needed to navigate any of this then what? We’ve seen what happens, it’s happened every time in each chapter. Keiichi’s parents fuck off to Tokyo and leave him on his lonesome for a few days because of work; the younger two girls, Rika and Satoko, don’t even have parents anymore and are fairly independent, except for when Satoko’s abusive uncle returns and through that imposes a separation from the rest of the group, Rika is brutally killed and made an example of multiple times, Mion, as an inheritor, is put into a position to enforce the towns history onto its peoples…I fear for whatever Rena’s situation is too, for what little we have been able to glean of it.

Going into Answers Arc, I have some questions and lingering thoughts: