For Higurashi Month here at JanaiBlog, I have been charged with delving into the manga version of this masterpiece. So, let’s dive in, shall we?
The story of Higurashi takes place in a small village called Hinamizawa and centers around Keiichi Maebara, a boy who just moved there with his parents. He befriends a group of girls at school, and as the days wane on he finds himself fitting in and finding happiness. However, this village has a traditional festival every year called the Watanagashi Festival, to celebrate Oyashiro-sama, a god that the villagers worship. Keiichi finds out about a strange “curse” where every year, during the festival, one person disappears and another turns up dead. He normally wouldn’t think much of it, but the odd behavior of his friends and their refusal to answer his questions make him more and more suspicious and determined to find out the truth behind the curse of Oyashiro-sama.
The first thing you will notice about this manga is that while the art may be cute and almost reminiscent of the shoujo style, the story is bloody and twisted, and that quickly changes your perspective. The story is dark, intense, and suspenseful, leaving you guessing about the truth up until the very last moment. However, the story is also filled with its silly moments and its own delightful brand of comedy, and it is mixed in with the darker parts of the story just right so that you can get a laugh and still feel the drama of the more serious scenes.
