It’s impossible not to compare this with its predecessor and it does come up a little short. That said, the last pages of this book nearly make up for it, a magnificent set of two-page spreads that make for a killer ending. It goes less dread-filled and more cackling evil pure villainy which just isn’t as interesting. Part of the problem is that the antagonist here doesn’t offer the quiet psychopathy of the last arc. There’s definitely some good stuff - the potentially expanded roles and questions about just what the other characters actually know are quite a welcome addition, though they largely come to naught this volume. People die, things have changed, it doesn’t feel quite as hopeless (until it does), some explanations are given but then get supplanted by even more mystery.

It’s not a bad read, by any means, but it doesn’t offer as much mystery and while the doomed romance angle is there this time (and not from the direction I expected), it isn’t capitalized on. This is definitely the lesser of the two Higurashi series I’ve read so far. This time around is no different, as curiosity threatens to kill several cats and the endless tragedy of the village gets a little more fleshed out. It’s festival time for Hanamizawa, which is better known as the moment where the other shoe drops. I was planning on writing a longer review, but all I want is curl up and sleep at the moment. The message of this arc is clearly that one should be honest, don't judge based on appearances (the doll and how Keiichi didn't give it to Mion which is why she went totally south) and also to just put heavier locks on everything. I did feel sorry for everyone involved and everyone surrounding them. The last part of the book is OMG and then there is the ending that just is the cherry on the cake. It was still exciting to read, but I was just eager for things to really get exciting.

It was quite interesting to read, though at times there was just SO MUCH dialogue that I got a bit tired of it all, I noticed that my head and eyes just started wandering (and they already do that a lot, but here it is even more). Keiichi finds out all sorts of more things about the town and about the Sonozaki's. This time the prelude is over and people start dying. The next part in the series and this time the gore happens.

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