Settling in on a couple of shows mid-season is always an interesting exercise, as it affords one the opportunity to trudge through a couple episodes in a row, giving otherwise-marginal shows a better chance to grab hold. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni benefits well from such a viewing.

This show revolves around a boy that moves to a small town with a mysterious past. Specifically, there have been a series of brutal murders. This is a subject that nobody ever seems to talk about. Five years ago, a water project that would have flooded the entire town was halted. Townsfolk refer openly to the lobbying efforts of their mayor and other prominent townsfolk, who traveled to the capital to plead their case. They don’t talk about the bloody dismemberment of a construction site worker. Keiichi, the protagonist of this little drama, keeps running into little hints that something is very, very wrong in this small town.

Murder mysteries are great when there are interesting suspects or cunning cover-ups. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni places the entire town in the role of the suspect, with Keiichi’s classmates Mion and Rena as our primary windows into their thinking. In a manner that is intended to be disturbing, these characters are innocent, sweet, and cute. They spend their time after class playing boardgames with their younger classmates, and are generally pleasant to be around, having welcomed Keiichi with open arms. The more he learns about the string of deaths, the more suspicious they become.

Rena, the brown-haired one, exemplifies this, oscillating between a dark, brooding, serial-killer predator feel and a perky, cute, and friendly feel. This, coupled with the opening sequence of the first episode, gives the strong impression that the protagonist may be imaging things. Or he could be losing his mind. Or he could be harboring some seriously-violent urges.

Before I seriously intended to watch this series, I had seen a snippet or two of reviews on blogsuki that indicate that things get creepier further in. Happily, I don’t remember the details, and look forward to watching this and Ergo Proxy while Fate/Stay Night winds down.