[ Episode 24: End ]

Leon
Youko

Wow. That was one finale. Personally, I felt really bad for Miyo. It goes without saying that she is my favorite character throughout the first and second seasons so I didn’t want anything bad to happen to her regardless of anything that she’s done. Nothing else really mattered to me for most of the final episodes than Miyo’s safety. It seems like she was saved due to having caught the initial stages of the H-Syndrome but I’m sure she’s cured in the end. It was said that in that world there were no losers so I’m assuming that Miyo received a happy ending as well and didn’t have to receive the blame of everything that happened.

The end with [adult] Rika and [child] Miyo was pretty intriguing. I was at a loss to what it meant for a few minutes but then figured that it suggested that Rika somehow went back in time to ensure that Miyo didn’t have to live that life of hell she would have gone through had her parents died in that bus accident. That made me all sorts of happy because all I wanted from this finale was for Miyo to survive and have a happy ending.

And that’s all she wrote. I personally thought the finale was brilliantly done and covered the tracks almost excellently. Looks like the club already won the fight and the battle from the start. Okonogi realized that but Miyo still wouldn’t take defeat for an answer, though I’m plenty sure she had that feeling locked inside her but doesn’t want to admit it. Ironically, the thing that probably saved her was getting Hinamizawa Syndrome. I couldn’t help but feel bad for her knowing that no one else gave a crap about her grandfather’s documents. The sudden pouring rain was a nice touch, a reminder of the pain she went through when she was a child.

I must say, I really loved it when Hanyuu showed up and said she would forgive her. Miyo’s last move was one shot, and she pathetically missed. Or did Hanyuu do that? Well, anyways, it seems she’ll be okay for now. Which means this whole mess is now over and done with. Congrats, Rika + gang, you’ve finally won! Yahoo watashi wa katte ze! *fanfare* And finally, the endless days of June disappear. The bit at the end gives off another new question to me. I honestly didn’t understand this scene at all. At least, the part where a supposed adult Rika appears before a young Miyo. I wouldn’t think too much on it. I’m guessing this will be explained later in the upcoming season (hell yeah).

[ Final Thoughts ]

It’s both a breath of fresh air and saddening to see that Higurashi is finally over. There is a third season coming but I doubt that it’ll be continuing this story since everything is pretty much said and done. Everyone gets to have their happy ending in varying degrees. Miyo, my favorite character, in my eyes was never a bad or an evil person. Though I know some people would rather crucify her without looking at the facts first. From the life that she led in her youth it is understandable why she turned out to be the way that she was as an adult. Having lost so much and being treated so badly could take a huge mental toll on a person. Thankfully, in the final world, she managed to receive forgiveness and live without the burden of having to fulfill her grandfather’s hypothesis or take the blame for all that occurred. If you ask me, Miyo is the true star of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. It goes without saying that I recommend this show to any and every one as long as they’ve watched the first season prior to it. It has a great story and a great cast of characters hook your attention from start to finish each episode. I look forward to the third season even if it ends up being a series of side-stories or something totally new.

[Overall series review (individual): 90/100]

Gotta hand it to Studio DEEN. I think they knew what they were doing this time from start to finish. Beginning with answers that were left in the first season and then an original arc to answer more unsolved questions. Finally, the rest of the beloved Answer arcs from Kai. I think somewhere in the middle of Minagoroshi-hen, it felt a little bit too stretched out with saving Satoko and all. It almost felt like it was totally unrelated to the last part of the arc.

Despite that, I commend DEEN once more for delivering thrilling episodes each week and not stopping regardless of a stupid girl axing her father. It didn’t have as much horror as the first season, but that was never really the point of the series in the first place. It’s a shame some people actually do see it that way. Sure, we all love it when we believed Rena and Mion were psychotic, but that seemed a little bit unnatural. Knowing the truth of what really happened is, what I say, the best part of Higurashi. As Rika is my favorite character, I obviously enjoyed a great deal of Kai. I had no problems with more insight on her character. Plus, the addition of Hanyuu was also great and we all know it. Auauau~. Well then, I’m looking forward to watching more Higurashi. Perhaps they’ll animate the arcs from the PS2 game or manga, or hell Saikoroshi-hen. I definitely want to see that.

[Overall series review (individual): B+, 89/100]

[Overall series review (average): 90/100]

[ Episode 23: Bloody Battle ]

Leon
Youko

Whoa. Lots of stuff happened in here. The Yamainu are pretty much owned by Keiichi, Mion, and the others on the mountain while Shion, Kasai, Akasaka, and Irie infiltrate the underground floor of the clinic. We get to see the badass inside Kasai and finally get to see Satoshi again. He’s been in that part of the clinic ever since his symptoms became so bad on that day of Satoko’s birthday. Shion, of course, was torn to seem in such a state and to find out that she can’t do anything but wait on Irie to find a cure. I hope that he does some day after all of this is done. I’ve been wondering about that phone call Nomura made to the head guy of the Yamainu…and I just have a feeling that he might do something to Miyo such as abandon her. All I can think of now is how everything is going to end in the next episode. I’m so excited to see the conclusion of such an awesome series! ^__^

[ Episode 22: Attack and Defense ]

Leon
Youko

Oh my God. This episode was AWESOME. Everything goes to hell for the majority of the episode. Tomitake is caught and Irie is chased down and nearly caught but is saved by Shion and Kasai. The entire crew is also almost caught but then Rika sacrifices herself with the belief that she’ll be saved by them before Miyo can attempt to kill her. And then, the badass, the hero of the entire episode, Akasaka arrives and kicks all sort of MiG ass and their leader as well! We also find out from Irie while he spoke to Shion that Satoshi is still alive somewhere. Things just keep getting more awesome with the finale approaching!

[ Episode 21: 48 Hours ]

Leon
Youko

Oh shit! Things are getting super intense! With the announcement of Rika being dead for 48 hours Miyo and her troops are thrown into complete confusion and disarray. Miyo is slowly losing it as she just can’t accept that such a thing is possible as she knows within herself that if Rika was dead then the villagers would have started to freak out. Thankfully, she hasn’t completely broken down yet and figures that she can fix things by looking for Tomitake and keeping an eye on Irie. Tomitake seems to have been captured at the very end of the episode so it looks like things will go downhill starting next episode.

[ Episode 20: Trap ]

Leon
Youko

So everyone is now getting involved in this operation. Akasaka, Ooishi, Irie, and Tomitake are now aware of Miyo and are looking out and investigating anything suspicious about her. It seems like Tomitake has found out something about “Tokyo” that he can use as evidence later and Akasaka is keeping an eye on any possible movements from the MiG. One thing I’m wondering about though is how they’re going to pull off this whole “Rika is dead” thing. I’m hesitant to think that something so simple would work so easily but then again it seems like they have thought the plan through especially since they’re getting help from Ooishi with an official police announcement and all.

On a side note, is Shion going to be involved with the group at all? She just appeared in this episode for the first time so I’m guessing she’ll join them soon enough…

[ Episode 19: Beginning ]

Leon
Youko

Now that Hanyuu has transferred into the school and has become friends with everyone, the stage is now set with its main players (well, except for Shion at the moment). It was strange seeing mostly everyone not recalling their previous memories right away but I suppose it is to be expected. I’m loving the way Rika is getting ideas from Keiichi and the others though by passing the situation off as an idea for a manga of hers. The scene at the end with Nomura was quite interesting and suggests that she and someone else seem to be pulling strings that not even Miyo is aware of. I hope to see more of her and her intentions soon.