blog好き

Sep 14 2006

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

24 Comments »

The silent warning became louder everyday. Then I kept pretending not to hear.

After hearing the story behind “Rina,” Rena rushes home to check if her father still has his cash. I wonder, I wonder if Rena knows where her father stashes his pr0n.

Pick one:

“I can’t believe he spent that much money on that whore!”

“I can’t believe he spent that much money on that God Knows Haruhi figure!”

“I can’t believe AoMM’s web hosting bill for August!”

“I can’t believe all the money we paid to the animators! Look at what we got back!”

(BTW, five million yen just doesn’t buy what it used to. Back in 1984, that would be around US$20,000. An average house in suburban Detroit at that time would be around $100,000. Gratz. You can put down a down payment for something in Livonia.)

K1 claims that life is too boring. What would be more exciting than life in Hinamizawa? The Titanic sinking? Armstrong’s walk on the moon? Having Brett Farve as your starting QB in fantasy? Driving on US101? I’m going with driving on US101.

U can’t touch this /
Look man u can’t touch this /
You’ll probably get hyped boy ’cause you know you can’t u can’t touch this /
Ring the bell school’s back in break it down

Uh-oh. Rena goes home and sees Rina’s high heels there… I mean, hasn’t her father realized by now how different he is versus Rina? Doesn’t he have a hoochie-mama detector? Wouldn’t having a tattoo in 1984 Japan be a tip-off? Or does he just say, “You know what, this is probably a bad idea, but the sex is fantastic. So screw it, I’m screwing her.”?

Rina is trying to bribe Rena with some curry and fails epicly. Try friend chicken next time. Anyway, Rena just doesn’t want anything to do with her and makes up an excuse and vacates. Knowing Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, it’s only a matter of time before Rena spills the beans that she heard something, Rina will attack her, and, of course, attacking the penultimate killer loli (who hasn’t killed anyone yet) is like whispering, “Ramen sucks. Bread rulez.” to Miki.

Rena goes to her dump, but she’s followed. I guess my question is this: wouldn’t she get her white seifuku a little dirty crawling and jumping around in a pile of garbage? Ever watch the old TLC show Junkyard Wars? That’s what I expect Rena to look more like instead of a cover girl for Tide with Bleach (now with Emo Color Guard!).

Peek-a-boo!

I found you!

Rina stalks Rena to her garbage heap; trash knows trash. “This is pretty cool! It’s like a secret hideout!”

“No one comes here; no one hears anything here. You can kill someone here! Mmmmmm!” I like where this is going. But not as much as seeing my club’s president forcing the club’s token busty-loli-face hottie into a meido uniform.

Rina tells Rena exactly what Rena doesn’t want to here… “And dad and I… are going to open a Popeye’s Fried Chicken franchise in Hinamizawa!” Actually, Rena guesses that they’re getting married, and Rena tosses out a pre-emptive, “Hell no!” Rina tips things way past the point of no return by telling Rena that she’s pregnant with Maebara’s child.

Bad times coming for Rina. Good times coming for us.

“Uso da!”

Wow, it’s been a while since the last Rena emo facial distortion… I think Jyu-Oh-Sei was still airing when we last saw one. Sad. Things like this wouldn’t happen if I were a consultant on this show… “Seriously? Guys? We’re not planning on more Rena emoness until episode 23? Isn’t this like skipping out on Dwanye Wade or Reggie Bush?”

Rena tells Rina what a bitch-hussy-whore-Raiders fan Rina is and starts making my prophecy come true. BTW, isn’t this supposed to be an answer arc?

It looks like took the Shion/Mion emo animation and just used Photoshop’s bucket tool to change the green to purple. Studio Deen! High quality animation at its finest! No expense spared!

Someone launch the website, “shionwouldhavetorturedbeforeshekilled.com”. I notice that Rina’s voice reminds me of Inoue Kikuko’s I-No voice. Inoue Kikuko has exactly two voices: Belldandy and I-No. Yet I can’t remember an anime where she breaks both out.

Those killer lolis just hang around and around and around like shitty Halloween candy. Rena starts her comeback as Rina and her melonpan are in disbelief.

Rena’s eyes light up when she sees that pipe. Whatagirl.

OH SHI-

THOSE KILLER LOLIS ARE BACK!

(This is how we roll. Bitch.)

Gratz Rena. It only took you 23 episodes to kill someone. For comparison purposes, Mai showed up faster in Mai Otome than Murderress Rena. In the 23 episode timespan:

• Six fansub groups have “subbed” the promo for Kanon.
• A new Evangelion project has been announced.
• Mikuru has been ruined for marriage. (Theoretical.)
• 45 episodes and 1 movie of Keroro Gunso have been fansubbed.
• Shana has returned, with pink hair this time.
• Shadow Warrior Chronicles has gone from Utawarerumono fantasy series, to harem series, to military strategy series, to Shadow Warrior Chronicles, to mecha series, to jumping the shark with Hakuoro’s toilet episode.
• Iran started up heavy water reactors.
• HD-DVD and Blu-Ray have already flopped.

The only thing slower? K1’s and Belldandy’s relationship.

Fatality. Did Rina, uh, wet herself sometime during this process?

Purple… messed up teeth/mouth… I give you… the new Eva unit 01.

Loved this shot of Rena streaking Rina’s blood across the fridge. They should put this on the cover of the last DVD… who am I kidding? They’ll put up some smilin’ fanservice shot of the girls.

(Still, Rena may have a viable self-defense defense for use in court since her life was in jeopardy, and if she didn’t kill Rina, Rina would have killed her. Or so she could spin. Still, she brutalized someone carrying a child with a pipe. Justice, you figure it out.)

Rena comes back home, with that sparkling clean seifuku that I could have sworn had blood on it three seconds ago, and sees Satoko’s uncle kicking the ass out of her dad. Well, Rena, thinks, I might as well kill him now and get it over with. At least I won’t be tried as an adult.

(I find it hilarious that he follows her out to the dump to supposedly meet Rina. Even Sunrise would shake their heads at disbelief at Rena’s story.)

Double fatality. Now this is the Rena that we all know and love.

(Where’d she get a machete sharp enough to cleave a man’s skull open? In the dump? Ikea? Using Veronica? Gotta love how all the search systems back then were all named after Archie comics characters. Can you imagine Share and other file sharing clients renamed after Higurashi characters? I’m off topic, I know.)

The next day, Rena works hard cleaning up the mess. She sure is dilligent chopping up the body, storing them into little bags, and hiding them in a fridge. Wouldn’t it be easier just to smash the teeth (prevent dental profiling) and then burn the rest? Then make up a toxic chemical sign and put it at the enterence of the dump?

The rest of the Killer Loli SOS Brigade (a joke of a misnomer by now… considering that Shion, K1, and Rena have the highest kill counts thus far) are trying to play strip mahjong, only by my count, there’s about sixty tiles and four hawt meidos short. Mion suggests that the gang go play treasure hunter with Rena… uh oh… could that be the trigger to this arc? Missing mahjong pieces? I can imagine that they go to the dump, see what Rena has done, and then swear that they’ll keep everything a secret. By 25, Ooishi would threaten K1 with gay sex, and he’ll snitch on Rena thus causing the final confrontation.

On cue, they find Rena disposing of the bodies at the dumb. K1 tries to pull off a cool speech about friends, family, and trust, but fails miserably. Knowing the events of the previous reboots make him as much of an authority on making good, smart decisions as Ah-nauld is an authority on Puerto Rico. Oh wait.

K1 really let those tears go. Meanwhile Nii-pah, Satoko, and Mion are all questioning K1’s manhood. An epic milestone in each and every Higurashi arc.

K1 decides to offer Rena a hand and support… cool? K1? They go together like mayo and bananas. Mmmm… mayo and banana sandwich…

I loved this show of Rena bawling. Cute. Especially for someone who viciously murdered two people thus far.

Everyone decides to pretend that this day has never happened. That they’re going to forget about it until it has become their own truths. I felt the same way watching Utawarerumono‘s first DVD bonus. Now that I think about it, wasn’t it about Hakuoro owning like an army of badguys? Yeah… that’s what the bonus must have been about.

We cut dramatically to the start of the Watanagashi festival, and this time it’s Rena running to meet everyone else. Previously, it has been K1 in that splendid role. But without a train wreck, this arc just doesn’t have that Higurashi magic… and… welcome train wreck, just on schedule:

If this Tsumihoroboshi 2 arc is supposed to be an answer arc, it’s not answering much beyond, “When does Rena actually kill someone?” Instead of answering questions, they propose new questions… like wait, Oyashiro-sama? WTF happened to it and the dam? And also, wasn’t that Satoko’s uncle who was killed? Wasn’t Satoko emo after K1 killed him, yet nothing in this arc? Or if he suddenly wasn’t her uncle, isn’t this like the WWE where the Undertaker goes from Prince of Darkness to Redneck and back again? Does that mean that we should treat Higurashi‘s plot like any angle from the WWE?

For a better story, I recommend the much more fleshed out and enjoyable manga adaptation. Better pacing. Better art. Better story. Actively tries to sell the mystery angle. Or, better yet, Studio Kimigabuchi’s (group behind RETAKE) version that features an arc without K1 and with Satoshi, uh, having his way with the Sonozaki sisters. Just much better.