![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teddogI got really bored today and decided that I'd peek at some scanlations of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni manga side stories.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting and I rather enjoyed it. Onisarashi-hen (Demon Exposing Chapter) and Yoigoshi-hen (Overnight Chapter) don't effect the timeline of the main storyarc. Onisarashi-hen appears to be set in the same world as Tatarigoroshi-hen and Himatsubushi-hen (Curse Killing and Time Wasting Chapters), but is set after the events of those arcs and focuses on characters who aren't directly related to the main plot. Yoigoshi-hen is a "What If" story that takes the ending to Tsumihoroboshi-hen (Atonement Chapter) and assumes that the main characters lost the battle at the school.
In terms of storytelling, Onisarashi-hen is closer to more traditional horror plotting, as seen in the first half of the main storyline, while Yoigoshi-hen is more akin to something out of Amazing Stories - think of a dark, fantastic-but-not-pure-fantasy stories.
Ah, this one seems to be a tripping point with fans. The story of Natsumi. Ugh.
My main beef with this arc is that it's too close to normal horror stories. I got into Higurashi during the run of the second season, when it stops being about killer little girls and starts being a struggle of kids, government cover ups and spiritual powers.
The problem here is that it's too much of what's already been seen in the series - the cute little girl is the killer. Um, that's not really a shock. She seemed messed up at the beginning. What surprises me is that so many people were upset that Natsumi was the one that killed her family and, in order to mentally block it out, emotionally put herself in the position of her mother.
The ending baffles me. It's weak - Natsumi stabs one of her friends, the police arrive and suddenly Natsumi is cured. I'm led to believe that it's a variation of what happened in Tsumihoroboshi-hen, when Keiichi stops Rena from blowing up the school by risking his life, making Rena reconsidered why she's on a killing spree. Natsumi and Rena were suffering from the same problem - a massive flare up of Hinamizawa Syndrome triggered by distrust of their friends. However, instead of a massive battle, we get... a bunch of weeping people.
What made Tsumihoroboshi-hen's showdown so intense was that there was a huge amount at sake. What makes it so bittersweet is that despite the efforts, fate remains unchanged. Here, there's no build up, other than Natsumi realizing that she was remembering the events from her mother's point of view and the psychopath version of her mother was really herself. Which I could see coming.
I think that were Onisarashi-hen struggled is that it took itself too seriously. Meanwhile, Yoigoshi-hen seems to be more focused on having fun.
I was expecting a mindfuck. What I got was a silly and self aware "What If" that seemed to enjoy being corny.
It's intentionally a very silly story and includes some elements that haven't been seen in canon before, such as the ability for living people to communicate with the dead.
The plot has Mion Sonozaki retuning to claim a Sonozaki family heirloom - the crime family has fallen apart and a battle is going on to reclaim family ownership. Along the way, Mion picks up some strangers hanging around the abandoned Hinamizawa. Of course, the strangers aren't openly honest about their reasons to be there, but then again, neither is Mion.
The body count is surprisingly low for this side arc. Hinamizawa Syndrome plays no role in the story and the reasons as to why people kill themselves and each other is tied more to human nature than losing control over their own actions.
Some of these theories come across as childish, especially the ones from Mion. This makes sense when you discover that the 40 year old woman is actually Shion and Mion's spirit is borrowing her twin's body in order to help protect her sister, probably out of guilt for not being able to protect the rest of her friends in 1983. So, you're not dealing with a 40 year old woman, but a girl in her mid-teens in a 40 year old's body.
Which means that you get to see a 40 year old woman kick ass with swords. :D However, she doesn't look 40. Also: KASAI DIDN'T AGE AT ALL. What the heck? o_______________O
Interesting reading, in any case. The art is, sadly, all over the place, but that's par for the course with this series.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting and I rather enjoyed it. Onisarashi-hen (Demon Exposing Chapter) and Yoigoshi-hen (Overnight Chapter) don't effect the timeline of the main storyarc. Onisarashi-hen appears to be set in the same world as Tatarigoroshi-hen and Himatsubushi-hen (Curse Killing and Time Wasting Chapters), but is set after the events of those arcs and focuses on characters who aren't directly related to the main plot. Yoigoshi-hen is a "What If" story that takes the ending to Tsumihoroboshi-hen (Atonement Chapter) and assumes that the main characters lost the battle at the school.
In terms of storytelling, Onisarashi-hen is closer to more traditional horror plotting, as seen in the first half of the main storyline, while Yoigoshi-hen is more akin to something out of Amazing Stories - think of a dark, fantastic-but-not-pure-fantasy stories.
Ah, this one seems to be a tripping point with fans. The story of Natsumi. Ugh.
My main beef with this arc is that it's too close to normal horror stories. I got into Higurashi during the run of the second season, when it stops being about killer little girls and starts being a struggle of kids, government cover ups and spiritual powers.
The problem here is that it's too much of what's already been seen in the series - the cute little girl is the killer. Um, that's not really a shock. She seemed messed up at the beginning. What surprises me is that so many people were upset that Natsumi was the one that killed her family and, in order to mentally block it out, emotionally put herself in the position of her mother.
The ending baffles me. It's weak - Natsumi stabs one of her friends, the police arrive and suddenly Natsumi is cured. I'm led to believe that it's a variation of what happened in Tsumihoroboshi-hen, when Keiichi stops Rena from blowing up the school by risking his life, making Rena reconsidered why she's on a killing spree. Natsumi and Rena were suffering from the same problem - a massive flare up of Hinamizawa Syndrome triggered by distrust of their friends. However, instead of a massive battle, we get... a bunch of weeping people.
What made Tsumihoroboshi-hen's showdown so intense was that there was a huge amount at sake. What makes it so bittersweet is that despite the efforts, fate remains unchanged. Here, there's no build up, other than Natsumi realizing that she was remembering the events from her mother's point of view and the psychopath version of her mother was really herself. Which I could see coming.
I think that were Onisarashi-hen struggled is that it took itself too seriously. Meanwhile, Yoigoshi-hen seems to be more focused on having fun.
I was expecting a mindfuck. What I got was a silly and self aware "What If" that seemed to enjoy being corny.
It's intentionally a very silly story and includes some elements that haven't been seen in canon before, such as the ability for living people to communicate with the dead.
The plot has Mion Sonozaki retuning to claim a Sonozaki family heirloom - the crime family has fallen apart and a battle is going on to reclaim family ownership. Along the way, Mion picks up some strangers hanging around the abandoned Hinamizawa. Of course, the strangers aren't openly honest about their reasons to be there, but then again, neither is Mion.
The body count is surprisingly low for this side arc. Hinamizawa Syndrome plays no role in the story and the reasons as to why people kill themselves and each other is tied more to human nature than losing control over their own actions.
Some of these theories come across as childish, especially the ones from Mion. This makes sense when you discover that the 40 year old woman is actually Shion and Mion's spirit is borrowing her twin's body in order to help protect her sister, probably out of guilt for not being able to protect the rest of her friends in 1983. So, you're not dealing with a 40 year old woman, but a girl in her mid-teens in a 40 year old's body.
Which means that you get to see a 40 year old woman kick ass with swords. :D However, she doesn't look 40. Also: KASAI DIDN'T AGE AT ALL. What the heck? o_______________O
Interesting reading, in any case. The art is, sadly, all over the place, but that's par for the course with this series.
