In my second sitting of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Keiichi really needs to talk to somebody. He’s got a lot of issues to work through, and the initial indications look like the writers aren’t afraid to give us what they foreshadowed.

Rena and Mion continue to baffle poor Keiichi with their friendly, perky, helpful attitudes. A careful re-edit of the first four episodes would make it appear that Keiichi and Rena have a shy, budding romantic relationship. But all is not well.

Keiichi, convinced that the girls are trying to kill him, cuts himself off from them socially. Mion confronts him, appearing to be genuinely concerned for him. The nature of the town’s serial-killer secret comes to the forefront, and in a manner totally uncharacteristic of recent teenage-boy anime, they have a frank conversation.

This doesn’t go over well with Mion. Some not-so-subtle death threats are made.

A similar confrontation with Rena on his way home drives home the dire nature of Keiichi’s predicament. Throughout all of this, it should be noted that the girls only ever act oddly when alone with our male protagonist. This could all be in his head, really. He’s becoming paranoid, and exhibiting violent impulses in reaction to what may be imagined deviant behavior on the parts of Rena and Mion.

If it weren’t for the fact that I have episodes five through seven already sitting on the hard drive, this could have been a convincing end to a rather disturbing little mini-series. Of course, few production companies have the cajones to actually tell a story and let it stand on its own merit, so I presume that this will be dragged out in a somewhat implausible or cheap way. What a terrible cynic I’ve become. A cynic, but a sucker for an interesting story. The next chance I get to string an hour together will likely see me loading up the next chapter in this bizarre murder-mystery.