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Sep 06 2006

Categories: anime, episodic review, higurashi
Tagged: higurashi, higurashi:rena

32 Comments »

The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from her life, Rena is visited by the Chicken of Emo Killing Sprees.

(I found this image in a Noiji Itoh artbook. If only we could get Shana, Haruhi, Rena, and the chix0r from Demonbane to share some tea together.)

If there’s one thing certain about Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, is that each arc starts off promising before falling off a cliff like Shaq in the fourth quarter. Hopefuly, this newest Tsumihoroboshi arc can carry its weight for a while… at least limp to the end. Everything begins as it should… with Rena overlooking a dead body flush with freshly exposed blood. Good times.

“I wonder how much effort does it take to make a person happy?”

(As much effort as it takes Shion to squeeze into that Angel Mort dress.)

“I believe unhappness is like a spiraling series of events. Once you get sucked it, it’s difficult to get out.”

(The Patrick Ewing Theory. No not that one but the one where New York decided to trade Ewing’s useful expiring contract for Cap Killer Glen Rice. That caused the Knicks to keep trading away prime expiring contracts and lottery picks for useless dead meat… and now… well… good luck Isiah.)

“Isn’t that happiness? Rena thinks so.”

(I’m just glad Rena got a new outfit. Whew! And it looks kinda sexy… Crazy Ramblin’ Black Jumpsuit Rena…)

After that teaser flashforward, the episode really begins with a carefree squirt gun battle between K1 and the rest of the killer lolis. Reminds me of Higurashi Daybreak. Mion is once again epic in bloomers.

K1 shows off some skills and get the better of Mion. What, pray tell, has occured in Higurashi to make me believe that K1 has any hint of athletic ability? We’re one minute in, and I’m already thinking this is a bizarro arc… maybe K1 is actually a twin this episode.

K1 has prevailed against Mion, and I think Studio Deen blew a perfect opportunity for some fanservice. Wet, white T-shirt + Mion + zoom = PROFIT. I’m not sure how that equation can be any more clear.

Meanwhile, Rena and Satoko are locked in a battle of wills as Satoko has depleted Rena of her ammo. Fortunately, Rena has thought two steps ahead and hid a spare gun nearby. How’d you like to get outwitted by a girl who spends her spare time rooting for KFC statues in the local dump? Pretty terrible, right?

(Rena is pretty epic too. Good times.)

(Rena’s baby fat is pretty epic too. Ally McBeal Rena is just not as attractive as Healthy Girl Rena. Good times.)

Unfortunately for Rena, Satoko thought three steps ahead. She clogged up Rena’s gun with sand… and I love her line, “As I have always said, keep a discreetly laid trap for the final act.” Doesn’t Kururu say that exact same thing at the end of the Keron Special Forces arc?

While Satoko was gloating like any good James Bond villian, Rena breaks apart and watergun and bombs Satoko… a winner is Rena. I never understood why those damn villians or even Dr Evil never just shot and killed those damn spies. Too easy of a solution? Or is gloating a part of the villian’s job like petting a festively plump cat?

K1 though doesn’t waste any time and starts his assault. I think that this has been a great idea so far with the squirt gun fight, but the animation quality is just piss poor. Maybe I’m just steaming that I haven’t seen Wet T-shirt Mion.

Wow, Rena shows off some moves. For some strange reason, I get flashes of Naruto in my head the past few seconds. Reminds me a bit of the Major as well… who do you think is the most bad assed female lead in anime? The Major? Revy? Zero no Louise?

I have a big gun
I took it from my Oyashiro
Sick with Justice
I just want to feel you

I’m your angel
Only a ring away
You make me violate you
No matter who you are

It’s all up to you
No one lives forever

(I think Red Fraction could have worked as an OP to Higurashi with shots of Rena licking her machete instead of Revy dancing with the bullet shells…)

And we’re back to Ally McBeal Rena… BTW, the conversation that just occured between K1 and Rena is foreshadowing at its Sunrise-best:

“I knew it would come down to an one-on-one between us.”

“I have more respect for you now.”

“Instead of more respect, I would have been happier if you said you fell more in love with me.”

(Ah, puppy love. It’s great. Until the serial murdering begins.)

Satoko asks Mion who won, but Mion is too pre-occupied if she should kill Rena for hitting on her man. Or is Mion thinking about how this fight is a pale, pale, pale, pale comparison to Mad Dog Meido vs Revy?

Having Mion lead forward for no apparent reason is a good decision. Having her T-shirt dry up so fast is a bad decision. Simple as 1-2-3.

Like a conquering hero or a beauty queen, Mion declares that the fight is a draw to everyone’s satisfaction. I’m sure the hornier boys in the school are just happy to see the girls in bloomers.

But K1 and Rena disagree with the outcome. “Mion, Satoko, and Rika… are you prepared for the penalty game?” Ahhh! Lens flare! Ahhhhhhhhhh!

(Isn’t K1 not losing a penalty game jarring? It’s like turning on the TV and seeing “Houston Texans 48, New England Patriots 3.”)

Loved this nonsensical symphony of cacophony. “Ni-ku!” “Do-ki!” “Nii-pah!” I’m going to use this as my new ringtone. I can imagine my phone blaring “Ni-ku do-ki nii-pah!” at my next project meeting as everyone stares in horror as I pick up and answer with a, “Can I call you back? I’m in a meeting right now.” Oh man, I’m pumped. I’m going to plan this scenario for my meeting on Friday.

If there is an Oyashiro-sama, I’m sure that it’d agree with me that we need some serious fanservice to save this show. And what a glorious opportunity for such an endeavor.

(I’m convinced Rena and K1 make the perfect anime couple. Take that K1 and Belldandy, Kira and Lacus, and Shinji and his right hand!)

Loss of words. Um, those cakes look delicious?

K1 checks her down like an internet stalker meeting his prey while Rena enjoys a kawaiigasm.

Mion tries to top the bloomers from earlier with a cat tail attached to a pair. All while wearing a seifuku top two sizes too small. There’s just too many different moe modes combined into one… sometimes, less is more.

Rena doesn’t agree with me and gets tossed into her second-Cialis-fueled kawaiigasm.

It’s like a scene out of an h-game. The choices pop up:

A. Say “Hi!”
B. Order some desert.
C. Order a drink with two straws.
D. Order a lap dance.

Hidden option: Order the loli wearing the meido fuku in the background.

Meanwhile, Rena’s kawaiigasm is reaching dangerous levels. She multiplied?!?

To ruin everyone’s good time, Dr Irie shows up… completely random. I can only imagine his seiyuu asking, “Hey, can you throw me a bone here?” And they end up making Irie looking like a complete pervert.

We’re introduced to Rina and her melonpan, who seems to know Rena. How many combinations of names can they come up with that are four letters long, start with R, and end with an A? I’m guessing by arc 31, we’ll be introduced to Shion’s manicurist, Rzza. And we still won’t be any closer to a real plotline by then.

“I never lived each and every day to it’s full extent nor have I seen so many delicious… confectionaries. I think moving to Hinamizawa has brought me happiness, even if I’m drugged, stabbed, or falling off of a bridge.”

“Rena seems the same. I also moved to Hinamizawa a year ago, and I still can’t believe the fun, happiness, and KFC statues that I have found here.”

(I think that’ll be the next name for this blog… Shinjirarenai!… so I’m still on pace for Watashi wa Watashi in 2008…)

“But for everyday to be this fun, it’s scary to think that someday maybe it will all fall apart. That and since I’m too busy having fun, I’m going to fail my enterence exams, spend the next three years of my life as a ronin, and become a manager of some hot springs where I’ll meet my promised girl… right before Rena slices me up into sashimi.”

“That’s why I feel it’s better to live everyday to it’s fullest. I’ll tell you this K1… you don’t have a lot of days left.”

Even though it has started to rain, Rena decides to head out to the junkyard once again… and there she stops by a van…

… that is just filled with cute stuff as Rena listlessly watches the rain outfit as she thinks, “Don’t think that you are unhappy. I am happy. I am most definitely happy” WTF? Rena is homeless? What just happened here? Wow… floored by this series.

We’re treated to a short montage of Rena a while ago when her parents were undergoing a separation. Apparently, her mom was quite a hussy and presemably got knocked up by a man other than Rena’s father… so Rena went emo and ended up living with her father. Out of all the families, it looks like K1 has the most stable. All the other characters have some serious family issues. This is a straight plot item without a sarcastic non-joke attached– what’s it doing in AoMM?

Whew. She’s not homeless. Still, if that whole sad alone time in the van in the dump scene was supposed to garner sympathy from me, it worked. Poor Rena. *sniff* *sniff* BTW, it was just, uh, five minutes ago we were watching Meido Satoko walk around. Feels like five episodes before with this mood swing.

I just found this scene to be hilarious. The Colonel out there in the rain… dumped out into the cold because that purple haired hussy that is seeing Rena’s dad deosn’t like it… Rina’s gonna die. No doubt about it. You do not mess with the Colonel and live. At least not in Hinamizawa. BTW, is there even a KFC in Japan but outside of Tokyo in 1984?

The next day, after trying to run an errand, Rena decides to take a break at a quaint tea shop. Unfortunately, at this point the show does its usual thing and veers off the road and into the gutter. Ugh. Good times didn’t even last an episode.

The purple haired hussy is really Satoko’s uncle’s woman? The two of them are just absolutely terrorizing some poor saps into their extortion scheme. Plot gets thicker… except this arc is supposed to be an answer arc, and this ain’t an answer to any question besides, “Looks like Satoshi’s uncle didn’t grieve much after Satoshi beat the crap out of his aunt, did he?”

Epic symbolism. All we need now is a giant, burly snake diving into the sea, an apple stabbed by a sword, and the firing of a Revy’s splendid, shining, thick, black gun.

Rena realizes that it is Rina and goes catatonic after overhearing how they’re planning on screwing over her dad (the bad kind) next. Uh-oh. Hasn’t pretty much every arc been perpetuated by the adults? Is that the theme to Higurashi? Adults are evil? In the first arc, wasn’t it Ooishi who baited K1? In Watanagashi, wasn’t it Mion’s uncle who gave him the evil Shinku doll in the first place? Then Satoko’s uncle… the dudes who kidnapped the boy… Onibaba… and now Rina?

Shion “Where the @!%# have you been?” Sonozaki finally makes her grand appearance and checks out Rina’s ass. Fantastic. Why didn’t they include her in the dessert festival earlier in the episode? Why didn’t they stick her there in her Angel Mort outfit? Why didn’t they animate the scene where the guys drop cake on their, uh, crotch area and harrass Shion into cleaning that up? Why, or why not?

Shoin and Kasai end up telling Rena about all the bad things that they know about Rina and Satoko’s uncle… uh-oh… bad times. Or at least stabby times approaching. I just love the Kasai-Shion dynamic here… “Yep, he’s her pimp.” I’d love to see Shion and Mion get catty over Rina… “Even I wouldn’t wear such a low-cut tube-top!”

Okay, let me get this straight. This is supposed to be an answer arc. We should learn something. Instead, we’re treated to completely new plot points from left field… what in the previous 21 episodes indicated that Rena has her private bus or has this Rina problem? Bah. I don’t care anymore. Like the end to Mai Otome, I no longer care what the ride entails, just as long as there’s plenty of emo facial distortions, ridiculous plot points, and symmetrical docking fanservice, I’ll be happy. That’s my happiness and Higurashi and Naku Koro ni.