It’s pretty much a given with Higurashi that the light at the end of the tunnel is going to be an oncoming train. That’s always cast the events of this portion of “Minagoroshi-hen” is a rather tragic light. But you add the uncertainty of this being a reboot, too. So far this arc seems to be tracking with Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai so closely that it almost feels like a shot-for-shot remake. We’re all the way up to next week’a arc (and first cour) finale, and I’m still waiting for something that feels like a major change.
This arc is rather detail-heavy, to be sure. For the most part it’s decidedly short of supernatural horror and long on a different sort – the harrowing nature of insular small-town Japan. Obviously Hinamizawa Syndrome and all its accoutrements are a dramatic conceit, but one hears stories about this sort of thing a lot in Japan. Naked hostility towards outsiders, factionalism, generations-old grudges, community-sanctioned bullying and harassment. In an environment like that, who even needs curses and government conspiracies?
Does that make good television? I suppose that’s in the eye of the beholder. There is a decidedly prosaic nature to most of “Minagaroshi” even if it does serve a crucial larger purpose in the story, but I find watching how the sausage is made to be interesting in a macabre way. One has to admire Keiichi – the lad has sack to burn, that’s for sure. No matter what he may say he is an outsider here, and you can bet your bippy that the villagers (especially the fossils on the council) view him that way. He may win the day (seemingly) with his persistence and persuasiveness, but he’s violating two sacred Japanese social tenets here – talking trash as an outsider, and standing up to his elders. And you better believe that sort of thing won’t be forgotten.
Long memories are the real curse of Hinamizawa, it might be argued. The grudge against the Hojo family has certainly never gone away. And it never can until Oryou, the old crone who sits at the center of the web like a decrepit black widow, says it can. There are two main hills for K1 to climb here in getting the village council to grow a pair – first, that grudge against the Hojos. And second, the fact that the council is now in bed with the local government, and doesn’t want to rock the boat. When it comes to the government they’re happy to forgive and forget the dam war as long as the checks clear. But the Hojos have nothing to offer them so they’re forever shunned.
Keiichi does manage to guilt trip the mayor and his flunkies into more or less agreeing to help in his fight with CWS by recalling the community spirit of the dam fight, but only Oryou can remove the grudge obstacle. Keiichi’s approach is novel to say the least, but the twins’ mother he does manage to win over at least. Eventually Oryou giver her grudging assent too, but that’s obviously not the end of things. It’ll be very interesting to see how Gou handles the end of this arc that’s so closely tracked its earlier incarnation, especially as it serves as the lynchpin for the entire second cour.
