Higurashi Watanagashi finished. I wasn't sure what to expect out of this one but I came away shocked and excited.
I started reading this one yesterday morning, but I struggled just a bit to get through this because the intense heat outside means every time one of us exited and entered the house, flies seeking refuge from the heat snuck in, and eventually it got so distracting I had to stop reading, get up and try to kill as many of the little pests as I could. I killed at least ten of them before I sat down and noticed there were two more. I actually had to stop because I'd noticed I'd read two entire chapters without absorbing anything...
This morning I started from the two chapters I'd completely blanked through with renewed focus.
This part of Higurashi was very exciting and a lot more sad than the first. Keiichi spurning Mion's feelings at the start by assuming she wouldn't like such a feminine toy and giving it to Rena being the spark of the whole thing was really surprising. I'd actually been completely fooled by the initial trick with Mion and her twin sister Shion to the point where, when they were on the impromptu date together and Keiichi went into the toy store to buy "Mion" the same doll, only for it be revealed that Shion was real the whole time... I got up and paced around in shock.
Despite the emotional core of the story being so heart tugging, the usual cute and humorous things continued to happen, even after the reveal that Tomitake and Takano had died in this version of the story too.
I would later note that it seemed odd that Ooishi was saying Keiichi was "two-timing" the Sonozaki twins when he'd only seen Keiichi hanging out with one of them thus far, but realizing I'd probably just misread Ooishi's intention by saying that... only to realize I'd accidentally stumbled into the later reveal that Mion actually was disguising herself as her twin sister to try and trick information out of Keiichi, or perhaps contrition for his actions towards her.
I was completely fooled by the old spicy twins switcheroo not once, but twice.
Keiichi accidentally hurting his best friend so deeply was sad enough, but later in the game, even as he's strapped to a table and is about to be tortured, likely to death, by that same best friend... Keiichi bravely looking her in the face and telling her he deserves it, clearly understanding the depths of Mion's pain for the first time... it's funny that I myself started to cry when Keiichi was moments away from having nails driven into the joints of his fingers. Keiichi agrees to be tortured but asks if he can be left alive afterward, to which Mion informs him that, if he does live, the next time he sees Mion, he should run, as it won't be her anymore.
This grisly scene is halted before it could begin by the appearance of the police, and then what feels like the ending sequence of this part of the story plays out. Mion flees before she can torture Keiichi, Keiichi is freed along with Shion, and the locations of the bodies of the deceased are ascertained. Keiichi's family is set to move out of Hinamizawa, and Rena tearfully points out that she's the only one left now.
But then... one night as Keiichi is falling asleep, looking at a replacement doll he left on his desk to give Mion should they ever meet again, someone's throwing pebbles at his window. When he gets up, he sees none other than Mion herself again.
Keiichi grabs the doll from his desk and rushes to her, but before he can even bring it up, a knife is plunged into his stomach as Mion laughs demonically.
In what feels like another ending sequence, Keiichi awakens in the hospital, recovering from abdominal surgery, when he's visited by Ooishi again. Ooishi informs him that Mion had actually fallen to her death accidentally on the very day he was rescued. After Ooishi leaves, twisted visions of Mion's mangled corpse emerge from under Keiichi's bed...
...anyway. There was a ton to appreciate about this part. A lot of Ryukishi07's core beliefs seem to have come out this time. He stated in no uncertain terms that he hates discrimination based on otherness, he hates war and senseless cruelty, and that noble ends don't justify horrific means, nor do good intentions negate harm caused. Fucking awesome, man. I can't wait to see more.
I once said that the vibe I got from Ryukishi07 based on the bits and pieces I absorbed through cultural osmosis was "He points at you and says '🫵 Bear witness to horrors that prove your humanity is valuable'" and I'm starting to think I was right on the money.