[blog] Green Starfish's Inconsistent Blog

Here's my long-postponed backlog blog. Not sure how much I'll update this since I don't think it's all that necessary, although I might at the very least post all my completion reviews here as well for the sake of completeness.

The reason I decided to create this blog in the first place, is because my Higurashi When They Cry review hit the character limit and I didn't want to split it into separate chapters since I consider those as parts of a whole. Thus I've decided to make a blog so I can post it. Enjoy my Someutsushi review. For context, it's the first side story arc and the second Ch3 console arc.

September 9th - Higurashi When They Cry: Someutsushi - 9h 49m - (100%) (Don't want to give a rating until I've finished the full Higurashi series.) - Beat the chapter, saw all the tips, including the after-cast party.

Here's my review:
Pros:
Someutsushi provides a unique perspective of someone in almost the opposite situation that Keiichi is in, where she used to live near Hinamizawa but moved out. Natsumi's perspective provides a fresh unique POV compared to Keiichi with its different setting and slightly older cast. Despite being a couple of hours shorter than the main arcs, Someutsushi still manages to build up its cast so that you get attached to them as much as you do the main cast. Another way that it feels different compared to the main arcs is that it takes place over a much larger timeframe than the main arcs, which mostly works to its benefit by making it more unique.

I liked the ways that the chapter connects to the main chapters in a realistic way, which is technically what makes it a side story. It even manages to expand on some aspects of the main story and give new insights into that as well. The ending of Someutsushi is a bit more sudden than those of the main arcs and it includes one of the most shocking moments so far, which is Haruko murdering Aki out of nowhere.

Neutral:
One aspect of Someutsushi that felt worse compared to the main arcs was the ending sequence. It felt a bit too dragged out. I was expecting it to end after the main climax, but then it went on for another scene, and then another one. It was still very interesting, but maybe it could've been condensed a bit more.

Another slight complaint is that this is supposed to be the question arc for the side story, but it revealed much more than the past 3 question arcs for the main story did, which makes me doubt whether it deserves that title. This is definitely due to the side story being condensed to 2 arcs instead of the main story's 8, but I felt like the mystery could've been kept a bit more secret. I already feel like I know what happened in Someutsushi, there are barely any mysteries I'm left wondering about like I am in the main arcs.

I finished Himatsubushi which is the 4th main chapter of Higurashi. Although, it's shorter than all the other ones.

September 15th - Higurashi When They Cry: Himatsubushi - 9h 18m - (100%) - Beat the chapter, saw all the tips, including the after-cast party.

Here's my review:
Pros:
Due to Himatsubushi's short length, it doesn't set up any of its own mysteries but builds upon the main overarching mystery of the game. But before I get to that, first some background. The flashback setting of the chapter was pulled off very well. It made sense why the case it covered wasn't mentioned in any prior chapters, which I originally worried would be an issue. Seeing the differences in Hinamizawa 6 years earlier is also quite the contrast compared to the rest of the chapters and interesting to see.

The main plot twist that Rika knows what is going to happen beforehand including her death raises a lot of questions. Why didn't she try to prevent any of the events? Is she unable to for some reason? Why does she know what's going to happen? I think the most likely answer to the last question is that the link that Rika has to Oyashiro gives her some powers, such as being able to see into the future.

The epilogue is much more shocking than I originally suspected. Not only was Rika trying to warn Akasake of his wife's death but also pleading him for help. It paints the rest of the story in a tragic light, that Rika was doing her best but that it didn't quite work out.

Tsukiotoshi is another console arc, which according to the 07th-mod reading order should be read after Meakashi. Still, my brother recommended I read it before that, because vibe-wise it's closer to a question arc than an answer arc, which I ended up doing.

September 21st - Higurashi When They Cry: Tsukiotoshi - 7h 34m - (100%) - Beat the chapter.

Here's my review:
Pros:
Tsukiotoshi is a combination of all the question arcs up to this point as it shares elements from all of them. The most obvious one is from Ch3, as Teppei is with Satoko in this arc as well. However, the direction of the story is vastly different compared to Tatarigoroshi. For one, Rena and Shion join Keiichi for the murder, which is what allows the elements of the other chapters to seep through into this one.

The chapter builds up a good mystery, while also showing how the viewpoints of the characters can get warped by their insanity. At first, it is unclear as to what happened to Satoko and Shion, which made me think that something similar might've happened to Shion's disappearance in Watanagashi. Instead, the plot twist is that Satoko went insane and killed Shion herself, which is even more surprising since I thought that Satoko was incapable of going insane. This was due to her age and since she didn't do so in Tatarigoroshi.

Even though you can surmise that Satoko was behind the murder due to her clawing out her own throat, the characters are blinded by their insanity and instead suspect Mion, which leads to her murder as well. After this, Rena and Keiichi start suspecting each other as well. (I'll get back to this later.)

For the ending sequence, you switch perspectives to Rena. I like the red text as it showcases how far off the deep end she is at that point. This is also the first time you witness the great Hinamizawa disaster first-hand, which leads to yet more questions than answers. There seems to be an extraordinary group killing people, that might be behind the disaster. This is corroborated by Rena saying that the disaster wasn't caused by a curse after apparently witnessing pieces of paper being struck together. Importantly she also thinks it is vital to inform people right away. This ending sequence is great because it gave me a tantalizingly slight glimpse into the answer, without revealing all that much, which left me wanting more.

Neutral:
The one part of the story that felt a little off at first was Keiichi's and Rena's distrust of each other. It's very sudden and starts immediately after Mion's death. You would think that they would have some more comradery after what they had accomplished together. The game does explain that the distrust stems from the excuses for their terrible actions. Keiichi believed that it was all fate and destined to happen, while Rena believed that by killing them, she was saving them from Oyashiro's grasp. The only problem is that it wasn't conveyed very clearly and needed a bit more explanation.

I finished Meakashi which is the 5th main arc of Higurashi and the first answer arc.

October 22nd - Higurashi When They Cry: Meakashi - 16h 24m - (100%) - Beat the chapter, read all the tips and the staff room.

Pros:
As the first answer arc, Meakashi delivers, answering most of the questions laid out in Watanagshi such as the syringe Rika had and how Mion stabbed Keiichi after she was supposedly already dead. It does this while leaving mysteries for the remaining chapters and even creating new ones, such as who Rika was calling to when she died.

This chapter greatly benefits from the POV character being Shion instead of Keiichi, like in most of the question arcs. It allows the reader to understand the dynamic that Mion and Shion have and how close they are. Alongside that, the chapter starting a year earlier gives insight into Satoshi's disappearance and the twist that he was the one who murdered his aunt.

The big twist that Shion was the one who committed the murders while pretending to be Mion was surprising yet made a lot of sense considering her love for Satoshi and wanting to punish those responsible. This leads perfectly to the moment where she realizes Satoko's strength and how she failed to keep her promise to Satoshi. To further crumble Shion's motivations she finds out that the Sonozakis aren't responsible for the murders, which is easily the most direct clue given to the reader so far.

Meakashi also has the most memorable soundtrack so far, with a bunch of great pieces, such as Solitude, Thanks, Confession, Shadow and of course the ending theme You.

Neutral:
The one plot point that could've been explained a bit better was the fact that Mion and Shion switched places permanently at some point before the events of the game and that Mion was born as Shion and vice versa. The reason I was confused by the swap was due to Shion's insanity. I thought that she was so insane that she started believing herself to be the true Mion. She was already pretending to be her after all. Luckily there's a tip at the end of the game that spells it out for you very clearly in case you managed to miss that plot point.

I finished Tsumihoroboshi, the 6th main arc of Higurashi and the second answer arc.

November 14th - Higurashi When They Cry: Tsumihoroboshi - 19h 36m - (100%) - Started November 3rd - 11 Days Taken - Beat the chapter, read all the tips and the staff room.

Here's my review:
Pros:
Tsumihoroboshi is action-packed with amazing moments. While other chapters had one or two standout scenes, Chapter 6 has three, which are comparatively longer and more memorable than the previous moments as well. I'll discuss these three moments in detail and why they work so well, but I'll first get some general positives out of the way.

The Tsumihoroboshi's music keeps up the same quality that Ch5 had, with multiple fantastic songs, my personal favourites being Pros, Z.E.R.O, Escape, Cradle Song, and Birth and Death. The opening theme Qualia of the Shining Sky added to the chapter by 07th Mod is great as well, it has a better ending than the other openings so far and has a repeating beat that makes the song feel more coherent.

One benefit is that the chapter has a fast pace, especially at the beginning. It only takes 3 chapters to get to the meat and potatoes of the chapter, which starts with Rena's ENTIRE backstory. (I'll get back to this later.) It only keeps escalating from there with Rina being introduced, made a villain and disposed of within 3 chapters. By that point, you're only halfway through the chapter but you have no idea where the chapter could go from there as there was a resolution to Rena's murders. In classic Higurashi style, one event then naturally sets the trajectory for the remainder of the chapter and brings that to its conclusion. Even before the third part, Tsumihoroboshi starts strong with some non-linear storytelling, specifically a flash forward to something Rena has done, which immediately hooks the player and leaves them thinking about what it could be. By the time the player is about to reach that scene, they will have mostly forgotten about the start of the chapter but will eventually realize what's about to happen and how it all slots together.

That scene is of course the scene where the group discovers that Rena has done the horrible deed of murdering Rina and Teppei, but despite that still manage to forgive her. Keiichi pulls it off by telling her that they're friends and that friends trust each other. Friends don't face their problems alone, forcing them to carry all that mental baggage by themselves. No, instead they reach out and help solve problems together. This may seem a little corny from the outside looking in, but it connects to what is a fundamental core of Higurashi's story. If you think about it, a lot of the problems in the previous chapters came from people not trusting their friends and not talking it out with them. In Ch1 Keiichi stopped trusting his friends after he found out about Hinamizawa's dark past, a similar thing happened in Ch2, where the catalyst for the entire debacle could've been avoided if Mion had talked about it to Keiichi. In Ch3, Keiichi believes that he has to solve Satoko's problem by himself, instead of as a group. Lastly, in Ch5, Shion snaps because she stopped trusting in Mion and that the Sonozaki's couldn't have been behind Satoshi's disappearance. After five chapters of mostly misery and betrayal, it is refreshing to see something good happen for once—something unequivocally good that makes you smile.

This point of trust is reinforced further throughout the chapter. When Rena and Keiichi start believing in Takano's theories, Rena stops trusting Mion and tells Keiichi to not talk about the theories with her. The Keiichi we saw in Ch1, 2 and 3, would've followed these orders and continued living in fear, doubting his friends, but due to the aforementioned scene, in Ch6 Keiichi knows the power of trusting his friends and decides to tell Mion anyway. He immediately finds out that the theories in Takano's scrapbook are complete nonsense. After clearing that first seemingly insurmountable hurdle, he is rewarded for his trust.

The second standout scene in Tsumihoroboshi is the one in the classroom the morning after Rena has gone into hiding. We get some backstory for Keiichi which greatly fleshes him out and lets him fully escape the somewhat basic cookie-cutter protagonist role he had before. This backstory comes in the form of Keiichi talking about his past to Mion, Satoko and Rika, including the secrets he had been hiding. This makes Keiichi realize that what happened in the past doesn't matter as long as you are forgiven for your mistakes and have learned from them.

Up to this point in the chapter, astute players would've noticed the striking similarities that Ch1 and Ch6 share. Ooishi calls a person out to his car and explains what happened on the night of the Watanagashi, which leads to that person doubting their friends. The key difference is that in Ch6 instead of that person being Keiichi, it is Rena. These similarities aren't merely a nod, but they are crucial to Ch6's story as in this scene Keiichi manages to (somehow) remember what transpired in Ch1. Right after learning a valuable life lesson, he is crushed by the realization that he can't be forgiven by Rena and Mion for murdering them in Ch1 because they're dead in that chapter. Keiichi doesn't let this make him hopeless however and turns this tragedy and misfortune around into determination to prevent the same from happening to Rena. In the scene before this one, Rika gives up on the current chapter's Rena and Hinamizawa. She resigns herself to her death and is ready to await the next Hinamizawa, which will likely be more of the same. She has completely given up on making any difference in the current timeline/time loop. The main reason why this scene is amazing is that Keiichi's determination and remembering the events of Ch1 (which Rika believed should have been impossible) shows her that there is hope for her escaping her situation, that she can make a difference and help avoid the tragedy. It's a fundamental shift in her perspective going forward. Likely one she held when she started looping before she became disillusioned at her lack of progress towards escaping the time loop.

You may think that it's unreasonable for Rika to become disillusioned especially when there are many things she could do to help prevent her death, but you have to realize that she's been stuck in the time loop for around 100 years without ever managing to find a solution. This implies that the solution to Rika's death is much more complicated than we might at first imagine. Being stuck in a time loop for 100 years also means that Rika's mental age and the age of her body are so drastically different. To the extent that she feels disconnected from her body and resorts to alcohol to drown out her problems. The biggest thing we learn about Rika's situation however is the existence of a mysterious character who's by Rika's side. It's implied that she's the supernatural one who knows about the future, including when Rika is going to die instead of Rika herself. This is because Rika asks her for that information in one of the tips. She also seems to be the one who seems to have caused the problem, so she's probably behind the time loop in some way.

The third standout scene in Tsumihoroboshi is actually the entire last part of the chapter. It covers Rena's last-ditch attempt to reach "victory" and expose the conspiracy she believes in. At this point, everyone except Rena has realized that the theories in Miyo's scrapbook are false and that she's being delusional. Rena is very clever and devises a hostage situation which results in the school blowing up, with almost no way to avoid it. I thought that this chapter would end in a tragedy like all the previous chapters and there were moments within this last part where I was certain that would be the case. If you had been paying attention to Keiichi's character development throughout all the chapters so far you would've noticed that Keiichi does trust his friends more in each chapter, just not enough to make a difference in the outcome. However, in this chapter, it does make a difference. To further reinforce the message of the chapter, the bad endings are avoided when Keiichi puts his full trust in his friends and their abilities. It is only with that level of cooperation that they manage to diffuse Rena's hostage situation and that Keiichi makes her realize the error of her ways. Finally, tragedy has been avoided.

Neutral:
The one minor nitpick I have for this chapter is that maybe Rena's backstory could've been shown in a more diegetic way. Previous character's backstories are given piecemeal throughout their respective chapters mostly from other characters. Meanwhile, Rena just reminisces on her life and you get given everything in one go, which devalues the backstory compared to if it had been given another way. Especially since Keiichi's backstory was given similarly, but he was prompted to tell it by Rena not trusting him, because he didn't tell her about his past.

I finished the second ending of Taraimawashi, which you read later than the rest of it. Because of that, I've decided to post my full and updated Taraimawashi review here. I have left the original completion date since that accounts for the majority of this chapter's playtime.

September 3rd - Higurashi When They Cry: Taraimawashi - 4h 8m - (100%) - Beat the chapter, read all the tips and the all-cast review.

Here's my review:
Pros:
Taraimawashi is the first console chapter you play and even though it is very short, it still adds interesting information worth considering. The first notable piece of information is that the great disaster happens no matter what, unlike Ch3 where it could be a supernatural force that grants Keiichi's wish to have Hinamizawa perish. The second is that both Mion and Shion went missing around the time that Satoshi disappeared which could mean that they have more involvement in that case than you were first let on.

Before this chapter, I was also under the impression that the right thing for Keiichi to do was to ignore all the strange things happening around him and act normal, but with the existence of the great disaster, that solution is futile.

Despite its short length, Taraimawashi's ending still manages to leave a strong impression due to its sudden nature. You just go 10 years into the future where Mion is the sole survivor of the disaster and in an amnesiac-like state. It's very shocking and frankly harrowing.

Taraimawashi's second ending, which you read much later, eludes to the fact that the disaster is fishy and that there might've not been a disaster at all, but the clue Rena gives is cryptic so I don't know what it could mean. If the chapter had stated that the hamster died from a natural cause like starvation for example, that could potentially prove that there was no gas at all, but it doesn't clarify anything like that, so I'm left dumbfounded how this clue would help Mion figure out the secret behind the disaster.