Wait, is it possible that there will finally be a happy ending to one of the Higurashi worlds?
Creative Staff
Story: Ryukishi07
Art: Karin Suzuragi
Translation/Adaptation: Alethea and Athena Nibley
What They Say
At last, after countless failures, Rika has exposed Takano’s mad plot to destroy the village of Hinamizawa for the sake of her and her grandfather’s research. Barricading herself in Irie Clinic, Takano draws her allies in close even as Rika and her friends organize a siege outside the facility. Takano’s cleverness has allowed her to elude capture in every other world. Will Rika find a way to defeat her would-be murderer and reclaim her life beyond the Cotton Drifting?
This final confrontation will decide everything!
Content: (please note that content portions of this review contains spoilers):
It won’t be enough for Rika to just survive the night of the Cotton Drifting, they have to rescue Tomitake and have him call in the Watch Dogs to defeat Takano and her Wild Dogs. But to do this, they have to somehow lure away many of the Wild Dogs so they can have a chance at successfully invading the Irie Institute to retrieve Tomitake. Shockingly, Rika volunteers to be bait. Rika will take her friends to the mountain under the guise of trying to escape from Hinamizawa, only the mountain is Satoko’s personal land of traps!
Rika’s gamble works and most of the Wild Dogs, including their leader and Satoko take up the hunt in hopes of capturing them before they escape to the next valley. It doesn’t have to be mentioned that Rika’s escape from Hinamiza will ruin Takano’s plans for destroying the village which will highlight the brilliance of her grandfather’s research. Yeah, all of Rika’s pain for more than a hundred years of reincarnation has been caused by Takano’s desire to prove her dead grandfather’s research was correct. Pretty messed up.
For Shion, infiltrating the Irie Institute has become much more than just a mission to rescue Tomitake. Dr. Irie has admitted that Satoshi is still alive and housed in the clinics basement! All these years and Shion’s first love is still alive; not just missing and not dead. This may prove to be the greatest fuel her rescue team needed to over power the Wild Dogs guarding Tomitake. But even then, can they defeat trained soldiers barricaded in their headquarters? It will likely take a great show of trickery to kick things off; and Shion has an idea.
There is a lot of great stuff in this volume, but for me the most entertaining is the battle on Satoko’s Trap Mountain between Rika’s group and the Wild Dogs. The Wild Dogs are trained professionals, and the kids are, well, kids. But Satoko has spent years honing her traps and the Wild Dogs don’t expect this will be anything more than a game of chase. That is a huge mistake on their part, and Takano’s. With dozens of traps scattered across the mountain and Mion’s tactical brilliance, it becomes child’s play for the kids to take out the Wild Dogs one at a time.
Even if Rika and her friends wipe out the Wild Dogs, and Tomitake is rescued and calls in the Watch Dogs, there will still be a final faceoff with Takano. What will happen in this faceoff? Remember, it only takes one stray bullet to kill Rika and end the Higurashi universe once and for all.
In Summary
All these story arcs have led to this final opportunity for Rika and her friends to put their best foot forward and show the world what they can do. Whether it is Satoko showing off her trap building skills or Mion displaying her tactical prowess on the field, everyone gets the chance to show their enemies that they shouldn’t be taken lightly!
On the other side of this coin is a great scene between Takano and Tomitake that highlights their unexplored love for each other. Tomitake is bound and helpless, while Takano breaks her icy exterior and offers her heart to Tomitake. It is a great scene as it is one of the few reminders that Takano is a human with a tragic past. Regardless of that tragic childhood, it isn’t an excuse to kill an entire village just to prove her grandfather was correct in his research. Placing yourself in Tomitake’s shoes, would you allow your love for Takano to forgive her crimes and take her side in all this?
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: April 29th, 2014
MSRP: $18.99