Daijoubu

The fun and games return this episode, replacing the slow pace of the first episode. But being Higurashi, the sense of dread and mystery surrounding the larger plot is never far off.

It was good to be back at the start of an arc where you get the usual over-the-top fun stuff with Satoko’s traps in the classroom, Rena getting excited about kawaii Rika and Satoko, that extended tag game, and the batsu game punishment costumes (Rika’s pacifier, lol). Of course, the arrival of Tomitake and Takano immediately halts the humorous part and brings up the presence of menacing secrets. On the whole, though, this seems more fun and packed with humor than the beginning of arcs in the first season (except maybe that last arc), but then I suppose as the serious part of the story gets more intense, they have to similarly build up the sense of fun earlier on.

And now you have both green-haired twins in class too! So they are definitely moving more quickly than in the past and have the whole extended gang there from the start. It was speculated by a bunch of people, based on the opening (and maybe by knowing the game ending) that the focus of this series would be more on Rika. Certainly this episode starts and ends with scenes of her and Satoko at home, rather than Keiichi, as in three of the first season arcs, or Shion, Rena or Mamoru Akasaka, as in the other three.

One really interesting part is that whole “minagoroshi by tickling” sequence. When the girls are at the door and are all scary looking, and Keiichi is recoiling in horror, even though its all fun and games we (the audience, who know the other arcs), can’t help but be reminded of Onikakushi-hen, and then later, when the same thing happens from Rena’s perspective, of Tsumihoroboshi-hen. Interesting how the show can be self-referential in a complex way, linking to the terrifying even through its a humorous sequence.