The appeal of Higurashi, judging from the first two arcs, is in how it presents its horrifying mysteries of what the true nature of the village of Hinamizawa actually is. While both the first and second arcs executed these concepts relatively differently, already by its third arc, it provides a subversion. While there is some focus on the Hinamizawa mysteries in the Curse Killing arc or Tatarigoroshi-hen, it isn’t the true focus of it. Instead, it sheds a spotlight on the characters of Keiichi and Satoko, as well as the mysteries surrounding them. An introspective look at its own characters isn’t exactly something needed to make a Higurashi story. It is far from its top priority, since it is generally most concerned with providing clues to its mysteries that the characters are generally in service of. The Curse Killing arc is a subversion in how its ethos is in how its mysteries are now in service of the two characters that it focuses on.
The girl of focus this time around is Satoko, and the mysteries of the series that have been presented in the first two arcs are recontextualized in order to better serve her characterization. In the first two arcs of the series, the identities as to who the victims of Oyashiro’s curse are given heavyweight in the context of the actual mystery, but not really in the emotional development of the characters who would probably be most affected by the curse. With the greater emphasis on Satoko’s character, the plot point of the curse getting to her brother, parents, and aunt, makes her character more layered then it was originally. While she is still the playful prankster of the group, she harbors deep anger and resentment towards the world around her. These negative emotions pour out in the final chapters the arc in an extremely shocking manner. However, despite her being the girl of focus, the one who is given the strongest characterization is its protagonist, Keiichi.
Keiichi’s role in the grander picture of the story is as the one person who is trying to claw his way out of the dense mysteries of Hinamizawa, only to be pulled back down into the abyss of misery in the series. In every situation that he is in, he is always trying to make things better for everybody, however, his efforts are usually in vain. Tatarigoroshi-hen spins what is expected in his role in the story by making Keiichi’s attempts at getting the good days finally back as his ultimate downfall. As Keiichi tries his hand at improving Satoko’s family situation, he falls into a snowball, where he is unable to break out of the situations he is in, and all efforts to improve it are usually for naught. With a one off thought or even a premeditated one to make everything alright in the end, he only makes every situation he is in exponentially worse. Eventually, it seems as if he is more of a curse than Oyashiro-sama himself. Eventually, the one sane person in a world of pure horror eventually becomes the pure embodiment of it himself.
The leaps that Tatarigoroshi-hen takes in spicing up the general Higurashi formula is representative of a quality that most amazing stories need to have, evolution. While the combination of its slice of life, mystery, and horror can eventually wear down on its readers with how its arcs are structured, the Curse Killing arc proves that the story is willing to go outside of the bounds that are expected of it. While the flame of Higurashi could have been extinguished because of its repetition, it manages to stay alive, shining brighter than ever. I can only hope that what comes after this arc continues to improve on what is already here.
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