Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Episode 5: The Great Hinamizawa Disaster ]

This episode left both of us speechless for a while after seeing the end. It has to be one of the best episodes of Higurashi to date. Just…wow.

Leon
Youko

This episode was absolutely painful to watch. Seeing things unravel was almost as traumatic as being there to witness everything that went down. Seeing everyone dead, Keiichi, Shion, Mion, Rika, and eventually Satoko left me speechless for a good amount of time after the episode had ended. Rena’s whereabouts were definitely mystery for me but it seems, according to Satoko’s vision, that Rena didn’t make it out of Hinamizawa alive. What did Rena find out? She obviously had to know something for the MIG (Men in Gray) to come after her all the way into the mountains. She didn’t go to the school where almost the entire village was found dead after midnight so she had to have been on the run either before the disaster occurred or a little after. This is because she had to get out of the range of the supposed poisonous gases which seemed to cover a wide area of the village.

Sadly, Rena didn’t make it out. This becomes apparent after Ooishi reveals Rena’s cap with the blood splattered over it. It’s painful when you know your favorite character was killed trying their best to prevent their demise. I also felt for Satoko. She’s had to endure so much such as the villagers prejudice and the loss of her brother, and on top of that she finds the body of her best friend completely torn up and bloody. She couldn’t catch a break in this arc. Speaking of which, what the hell was up with that nurse? Was she working with the MIG or is she someone prejudiced against the Houjou’s or just plain someone superstitious about a lone survivor? As for Rika, I didn’t expect to see how exactly she was killed. We’ve always been told that she either disappeared or was just shown dead at the shrine. At least we know now that the MIG are responsible in this time-line.

I’m beginning to wonder just who is responsible for all of the stuff that goes down in Hinamizawa. That includes the deaths of the villagers and the MIG. Who exactly are they working for? For now my suspicions are set on Takano based on her behavior and her actions in all the previous arcs. I can’t exactly say why yet or at least not properly explain my reasons as to why I suspect her just yet but it’ll all probably fall together after some more thinking on my part. Perhaps I’ll find out about her and much more in the next arc, the arc that I’ve heard is the best in all of Higurashi: Minagoroshi-hen. I can’t wait!

My personal EV of this episode would definitely be a 9.5/10. ^^;

—

All I can say after watching this…. What. The. Bloody. Hell. I’m friggin’ lost with words here. So much trauma in one go. Those bastardized MIG and that nurse. I feel so bad for Satoko. Seeing her best friend’s dead body, running away and clinging on the bottom of the bridge. It looked like she drowned but she survived only to be in very unstable conditions. I don’t get why Ooishi had to do all that though. Well at least I’m glad it wasn’t because of that that killed her. What the hell is the deal with those MIG + nurse?

Something doesn’t add up though. Was Rena really there? There wasn’t a scream when we first saw Satoko running for her life. How did Rena even escape the massacre? Well I do think she is clearly dead though from the blood. If this massacre was at midnight did those MIG bring them all to the school or something? It’s not like there was a late PTA meeting, right Leon? lol

Ugh, can’t believe I had to sit through Rika’s death again. And I thought they were hinting it could’ve been prevented but I was dead wrong. Ah, one last thing. Hanyuu didn’t appear nor did I notice a faint outline. Makes you think… what and ending too. Just when Ooishi was gonna find out the truth.

Very big kudos to Studio DEEN for this. This is a mighty solid episode. A+
And next week, the moment we’ve been waiting for. Minagoroshi-hen. I dunno, but from the looks of it, it will be like what we’ve seen now, only we will find out approximately all the answers to the questions we’ve asked for a long while. I do hope this will be as good as this episode, hell I’ll be damn amazed if it turns out way better. Better than the Great Hinamizawa Disaster episode? Quoth Ooishi, “You’re fucking kidding me!”