Higurashi When They Cry Vol. 1: Festival Accompanying Arc Kindle & comiXology

This volume begins with one of the biggest twists in the entire series, although it's not a twist within the actual plot...Miyo Takano is the main character!! The person we had just grown to despise in the previous volume is now the protagonist. We find ourselves reluctantly rooting for her as she goes through a number of traumatic events as a young girl and then grows into an indomitable scientist.This is the final story arc, the one where all the answers are revealed, so this volume is much lighter on pure storytelling and focuses more on exposition of events. This arc is not about being gripped in the dark by unseen forces but about seeing the basic chain of events that remained hidden in the shadows til now, but they are important as well as shocking events so I wouldn't call reading it a drag.Some of the plot points had me scratching my head, which is probably another result of Ryukishi07 trying to fit as many answers into one cohesive whole as possible. After all, he only has 4 volumes to tie up A LOT of loose ends. But for such a huge task I would say he's done a good job so far. For more details on some of these plot points, read on past the spoiler warning below.There are some disturbing moments like at Miyo's orphanage, so the horror element is still strong without being gratuitous, something that Higurashi has always done very well. Karin Suzuragi is the artist for this arc, as she was in the Abducted by Demons and Atonement arcs. Her artwork gets the job done, but I wouldn't call it anything special. Her characters occasionally look out of proportion (the best example of this being Rena in the Atonement arc), her characters' expressions are sometimes wooden or awkward and when characters are shown at a distance they tend to look bad. But she does a very good job of rendering the horror scenes in detail as well as dramatic character moments, which are key to Higurashi so good thing she got those right.Overall a strong start to the final story arc of Higurashi When They Cry.READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK, THE FOLLOWING SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!For those die-hard Higurashi fans, I will try to point out some things that stood out as awkward or unrealistic, as well as look at the things I really liked. Please comment on this review with any thoughts you have on these. I will try to answer your comment or amend my review.1. The first thing that bothered me was the very first illustration on the very first page. Karin Suzuragi's character designs have a tendency to look cartoony, but when even her demon illustrations look cartoony then it becomes distracting. Couldn't she have drawn the demons to look any less goofy? Especially in the third panel where they just look plain bad. A dark and twisted shape would worked more effectively, like is used in previous volumes to show a mysterious figure. Maybe they look that way because that's how Miyoko imagines them because she's a kid.2. The next thing is kind of minor, but it puzzled me. On pages 15-16, Miyoko's parents tell her they'll take her to the "department store" for a kids' meal to make up for telling her a scary story. Then Miyoko explains how she's collected nineteen flags from her kids' meals and if she gets one more she can "make a wish". But then the scene just cuts to "Sunday" which is presumably after they went out for the kids' meal. SO DID SHE GET THE 20TH FLAG OR NOT I REALLY NEED TO KNOW!!!!I've been told by Draugur in the comments below that Sunday IS the day they had planned to go to the department store, which is why the police officer tells Miyoko that her parents "appear to have been on their way to the department store"(although how they came to that conclusion is another mystery). If the father had said "why don't we go the department store on Sunday as an apology for scaring you" then I wouldn't have been confused. But this brings up another inconsistency......on page 17 (Sunday), when Miyoko goes running out to play, I assume that she thinks she'll be back in time to go to the department store with her parents. But when she gets back it turns out they went without her! That's kind of mean of them. If her father had told her beforehand "Hey, Miyoko, don't be gone too long or we'll leave without you. The last train leaves at 3 o clock" then it would have made a little more sense. I know Ryukishi07 is normally very careful about every line of dialogue and that he is a master of subtle foreshadowing, but this whole sequence just struck me as hard to follow. Maybe it's just me, because I haven't read the sound novel.3. How was Miyoko not killed or at least blown back when a lighting bolt strikes a tree just a few feet in front of her!? This is a fantastic scene in which Miyoko is opening up her heart to God and letting all her pent up anger spill out. But then on page 134 I nearly choked with laughter at the sight of her just standing there in front of the obliterated tree. It really killed any immersion I had in the scene. It would have been fine if Miyoko was shown lying several yards away from the tree...I don't know. Maybe Ryukishi07 was trying to show how strong her resolve was by having her not flinch even when a lighting bolt lands in front of her.4. After Hifumi Takano rescues Miyoko from the orphanage, wouldn't she have told him about the horrible things that went on there (thus getting it shut down)!? I guess it's not really central to the plot, but the events at the orphanage seemed like such a huge factor in shaping Miyoko that there should have been SOME kind of closure. Even one panel would have sufficed, showing the orphanage leaders being led away in handcuffs or something. Maybe she never said anything because she was afraid of getting in trouble, which is fine, but we should at least be told if that's the case. I thought some more about this, and maybe the reason we don't see what happens to the orphanage is because it would undermine Miyoko's sense that God is constantly punishing her for no reason. I guess it might have weakened the story's feeling that Miyoko has had a hard life growing up if we saw the men at the orphanage getting some kind of punishment.5. How did Koizumi know that Miyo wouldn't back down when he pointed a gun at her? He later says he was "testing her determination", but wouldn't he already know that she's extremely determined from the fact that she spent her whole life pursuing a career in researching parasites!? Right before he points the gun at her he even says "You're staking your whole life on this". If he really wanted atonement for getting Hifumi's research laughed at, wouldn't threatening Miyo's life be an unnecessary move? Especially since he later says "most of the top brass who pressured me back then are dead now". So why didn't he just explain why he got Hifumi's work laughed at and then apologize by offering Miyo his full support? I think the answer lies in Ryukishi07 wanting to perform an act of dramatic storytelling.This scene is an echo of the scene in the Massacre Arc when Miyo shoots Keiichi and his friends. The same exact themes of will v.s. force are presented in starkest possible contrast to one another. In the Massacre Arc it was (in my opinion)the most horrific moment of the whole series because of how close Keiichi and his friends were to achieving freedom and that same sense of narrowly avoiding success is present here in the Festival Accompanying Arc. This instance with Miyo and Koizumi also injects another theme that Ryukishi07 uses, namely, that what we fear is only an outward appearance of what is really going on. Miyo's line that Koizumi's bullet won't hit her is an echo of the will and determination of Keiichi and his group of friends (most notably Rika). It's only after Koizumi explained that he was testing her that I raised an eyebrow.Ryukishi07 frequently uses the gun as the ultimate symbol of force, but he could have used something less extreme in the scene with Miyo and Koizumi. Sure it wouldn't have made for such dramatic storytelling, but doesn't it seem extremely likely Miyo could have said "Okay, Okay I'll stop research on the Hinamizawa Syndrome, just don't kill me!". What would Koizumi have said then? "Oh never mind that I was just *cough* testing you, you may proceed with your research of Hinamizawa Syndrome". He could have threatened her with things that he himself was afraid of, like the possibility of Japan becoming embroiled in another conflict with China.However, since he said "you're staking your whole life on this", maybe Koizumi KNEW that Miyo wouldn't back down and only pulled the gun on her because of his own fears about what continuing the research might bring and to emphasize the danger it poses to Miyo.

The final main arc of Higurashi begins with a young girl named Miyoko Tanashi. Tragedy strikes this young when her parents are both killed in a train derailment. As her father dies, he tells her to find his old mentor, Hifumi Takano. With no family, and the authorities unable to locate the mentor, Miyoko is sent to an abusive orphanage.Unable to take the abuse, she conspires with a few of her friends to escape. They take their chance, but the staff catches them. They scatter into the surrounding mountains. The rain pours. Lightning flashes. Young Miyoko demands answers of god, telling him to strike her down or give her the happiness she craves.She'll have one chance to survive. One chance to contact her mentor.If the name Takano sounds familiar, then you shouldn't be surprised to know that this child is your villain, Miyo Takano. We get to see her life. What has driven her to wanting to destroy an entire village and make herself into a goddess. How she learned about the Hinamizawa Syndrome, how the Irie Clinic was funded, and more. The backstory is being revealed as we move closer and closer to the events of the story.Miyo is a driven young woman. She had a tragic upbringing and a love for the man who saved her that drove her to the acts of madness she commits that leads to the tragedy again and again. It's a fascinating read, gripping and involved. After so many volumes of wondering what is going on, finally the backstory, the truth, is revealed.Unlike some stories, you feel like it makes sense. That things add up. This wasn't a story made up as the creator went along. He knew the answers to all the important questions as he worked. It's a great start to the final chapter of the story!

While I love this series and enjoyed this volume, I'll admit that I'm glad that this is the last arc of the series. While Higurashi started off with a resounding bang and intensely driven story lines, over time the series has worn at the edges as the repetition began to feel slightly redundant in places. The choice to merge multiple volumes into an omnibus edition still remains a good choice for Yen Press. The good is that we're sliding into home plate. Two more omnibus volumes to go before the final showdown.This volume differs slightly from the prior story arcs in that we're finally given a peek into the early life of Miyo. It won't surprise many of the constant readers that she had a pretty tragic past. Not only did her parents die, but she had to remain in an orphanage that would haunt even Dickens' nightmares. Considering some of the abuse she saw and received, it's no surprise that she would go off the deep end later on in her attempt to justify her adoptive father's research about the disease that's caused everyone to go bug nuts crazy in previous arcs. Ryukishi07 has done a great job of highlighting the more intense portions of the story arc and the artwork works well here.The artwork in general here is fairly nice. The "normal" scenes with Miyo are done in a rather peaceful manner, which clashes well and provides a nice jarring, eerie feeling when things go so terribly wrong as they always do in Hinamizawa. It wasn't necessarily my favorite artist of the series, but I did like the artwork.Overall this is a good volume and for those completionists out there, this will be a must buy. I just don't know if this will be enough to cause some of the earlier readers that abandoned the series to pick it back up again. Definitely a library read if you can get your hands on it, or something to buy together with a friend.

Excellent packaging, quick shipment, as described. Thank you!

It let in on why the character is the way that she is it did good job on making you feel sorry for her

My 15 yr. old daughter loves to read manga and loves anime. We are always able to purchase the latest available manga and anime items on Amazon.com at a reasonable price!

Manga ist nicht Mint sondern kam mit kleinen Knicken an, da der Gesamtzustand allerdings in Ordnung ist, ist das kein großes Problem.