Well, it’s time for “祭囃し編” now. This is very exciting for me as this arc should answer any questions that haven’t been answered before (considering that this is the last arc of the original doujin game). If you usually skip the opening sequences of a show, it might be worth not skipping ahead this time around as they’ve made some additions and modifications to the opening sequence.

I should’ve seen this coming, really. Given the amount of episodes that we have left, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see them present more questions to the viewers over answering any of the existing ones. Could Takano’s mistreatment really have turned her into such a sadistic person? It sounds a bit unlikely. There has to be more than meets the eye. I also want to note that I can’t help but think that the old man that gave Takano that briefcase of cash wasn’t really an actual friend of the dead professor Takano.

I didn’t watch the previews personally so I have to say that I’m having difficulties figuring out how Takano’s going to get saved. She seems to be in a rather remote environment so it’s questionable as how she’s going to get through this one. Admittedly, she seems to have climbed over some mountain passes or something so she might have ended up in the orphanage over on the other side. Let’s see how this plays out.

Well, this arc certainly ended with a big bang. There weren’t really any “fights” since all these people just dropped down immediately but I still think that these “action scenes” were done quite well. The conversation of Rena with Takano was also very nicely executed. I simply must commend the production staff in their voice casting choices as they all fit their role very well.

There were a lot of sappy scenes in this episode with our group of protagonists dropping left and right but it didn’t really feel all that clichéd in my opinion. The bit after Rika died was kind of weird though with all that chit-chat about faith and trust in your friends. It seemed as if they were simply placing the blame of their loss completely on Hanyu, har har.

A new arc will be starting in the next episode and it looks like it’s going to talk about Takano’s life as a child which means many mysteries will be uncovered with new ones surfacing. I’m hoping to ramp up a bit and go through more episodes in the next couple of days since I’m rather far behind in this series (I mean, hell, the series just ended recently on episode 24). I haven’t spotted anything next season that I’m planning to blog about, so this should hopefully give me some leeway to play catch up.

Nothing too special really happened in this episode. At least we finally learn why Rika’s been a target this whole time. I certainly didn’t see that coming. I’m guessing that the trigger that’s killed everyone in Hinamizawa thus far has to be slightly different from what the original syndrome induces. As we saw in episode 5, all the dead people that was in the school didn’t seem to have died from clawing at their own necks.

Ooishi’s always been a likable character and it’s a shame to see him get taken out. I have to admit that it was a pretty cool scene. Certainly a lot cooler than seeing Keiichi and the others try to brew up some pathetic plan. I found their conversation, particularly Shion’s comment about Irie, way too lighthearted for the situation at hand. It seemed really out of place.

The arc seems like it’s going to come to an end soon. So that leaves us with a lot of episodes for “祭囃し編”, which is alright with me. I don’t know how they’re going to fight against Takano’s minions when they show up, but I’m certainly getting pretty riled up about it. Will Satoko’s traps play a role in the next episode at all? Do they even have any weapons?

To be completely honest, the bit with Satoko regaining her freedom was rather anticlimactic. I guess I shouldn’t have been expecting too much since even I personally can’t think of a cooler way that could’ve been employed for Satoko to get out of her uncle’s grip. I have to say that it’s pretty pathetic on Rika’s part to have not convinced Satoko this whole time. I mean, they just made it seem so easy.

Well, Takano was probably one of the most unlikely person that people would’ve guessed to be the mastermind behind all the crap that’s been happening in Hinamizawa. I knew she was the villain some time after the first season as I had willingly spoiled myself (although I have deep regret over this in hindsight) over a couple of plot points. Still, it was a little hard to swallow until this episode.

Now, with the gears in motion and the story not resembling any of the past arcs, I can’t even begin to imagine as to how things are going to unfold for the rest of this arc. I may have spoiled myself a little but there’s still a lot that I don’t know (such as the ending). How will the main characters react to Tomitake and Takano’s death given what Rika had said the night before? How will they defend themselves against the coming horror?

Well, this episode was rather interesting. I personally hadn’t expected them to get this far. I guess they’re really going for some kind of a “good ending” build up here. Of course, the name of the arc, “皆殺し編”, doesn’t really offer much reassurance to any sort of a “good” ending.

I don’t really know what to expect from the rest of this arc as it seems like the Satoko business will be wrapped up in the next episode. It should be about time for the festival soon, so does that mean we’re going to get back to people dropping left and right soon? How will Keiichi’s “powers” come into play here? Will he able to do anything useful once the plot has shifted gears?

I do hope that things will pick up immediately after the resolution of the Satoko case. I know we still have a lot of episodes left but I’d much rather have them slowly elaborate on the plot over some filler episodes. I guess that the current scenario probably doesn’t really give much leeway for fillers, but hey, you never know.

Nothing too shocking really happened in this episode. I must admit that I’m still having difficulties in seeing how this is supposed to all tie in with the main plot of the story. However, since the show has had an excellent record in keeping me interested and surprised, I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end.

I’m kind of intrigued by the fact that Satoko actually has a condition that warrants her fright. I just kind of assumed that she had some other disease that had to be treated by taking those shots. It kind of makes sense now with Takano’s picture game from “厄醒し編” as it really actually served a purpose for the sake of analyzing how she interpreted images. The game wasn’t actually just a useless “exercise”, per se.

Although Keiichi’s first go with his classmates didn’t align with my prediction on laughs from the last episode, his subsequent plea for assistance from the baseball pitcher certainly did. It wasn’t as funny as the third episode but it was still pretty cool seeing Keiichi rally all these dessert lovers to his cause.

With this episode’s events, it seems that they’re going to tie in “祟殺し編” with this arc. I never really liked “祟殺し編” because of its idiotic ending and we had a glimpse of that idiocy here both as some brief flashback scenes and in the way how Rika just kind of went back and forth between whether she cared about anything or not. I just found it ludicrous in how she tried to act all tough throughout the episode but then just started crying at the end of it all. Admittedly, we also got a bit of that from Chie sensei when she decided to go talk to Satoko’s uncle although her failed attempt was actually funny to me whereas Rika’s change of heart seemed really out of place.

In terms of the overall development of the arc as a whole, I’m really liking it. The pacing for this episode was fine and we are also presented with some new information. It’s interesting (and also rather odd) how Takano is actually on Rika’s side but has been killed every loop. You’d think that she’d try to convince Takano and Tomitake to not do things that might get them killed…but no, just no.

It’ll be interesting to see what Keiichi’s got brewing for the next episode. If it’s anything like what happened in the third episode, we’re going to be in for some good laughs. Depending on how quickly this event gets resolved, I’m curious as to whether these events actually transpired in the visual novel or not. When you consider how many episodes it took for each arc in the first season, you have to wonder whether they’re adding original material into the anime series or whether the last two chapters really are long enough to span so many episodes. Though, as aforementioned, I’ve been totally fine with the developments and pacing of this arc so far, so even if this “section” isn’t actually in the visual novel, I’m totally cool with it.

Well, this episode was certainly very interesting what with everyone magically being able to recollect what happened in a past loop. It’s not clear exactly as to what this all really means since they all seem to be under the assumption that it was just a weird dream. I mean, Rika certainly seemed quite excited about the fact that they all remembered something although it all seems a little unfounded if you ask me. Aside from what happened in “綿流し編” and “目明し編”, not having Shion go crazy really doesn’t prevent Rika’s death in any way.

It’s a mystery to me as to what those “construction workers” are doing protecting Rika. In the past, (I think?) they’ve always been portrayed as being the bad guys. Given that Rika is aware of the time loop thing, doesn’t this fact bother her? Or do both the good guys and the bad guys just happen to wear the same clothes?

I didn’t bother to catch the previews so I don’t know what’s coming in episode 8 but I sure hope that something cool is revealed next round. The gang’s got a couple of days before Watanagashi so there’s definitely time, but I guess the question here is whether anything could be done. If Tomitake and Takano’s deaths are the (in)direct triggers for Rika’s death, will the enemy attempt to make any moves prior to the fact? If they do, how will Rika’s bodyguards intervene? And also, how will Rika’s friends help her on her quest?

So, “皆殺し編” is on. With so many episodes left to finish this arc and “祭囃し編”, I think we’re going to be in for quite a few cliffhangers. Case in point, we’re presented with some information about the time loop and Hanyuu in this episode but neither is really elaborated on. I’m not sure as to which of the two I’m more interested in, although I guess they’re probably interrelated at the end of the day. I guess I’m more intrigued by Hanyuu since I’m curious as to what purpose does she and Rika actually serve. Surely some higher power must be involved if they’re constantly getting resurrected with the complete knowledge of the fact that they’re reliving their lives again.

On the topic of Hanyuu, I have to say that Studio DEEN made the right choice in asking Yui Horie to voice her. Her Kanon Ayu voice really works well in this role. It’s hard for me to believe that she was actually voicing Eri Sawachika in School Rumble. She seems to be rather useless (like Ayu) because you would think that having another person to float around through walls would be useful…but that clearly isn’t the case if Rika has managed to die during every single loop.

This arc’s conclusion could be a real eye-opener since this arc’s name translates to “massacre”. With the twists of “fate” that have been triggered in this episode, there are probably going to be a lot of revelations and I’m confident that this arc is likely going to be a completely “new” one despite the hinted ties that it seems to have with “綿流し編” and “目明し編”.

Okay, so I was pretty off in my episode count prediction for this arc since this episode was the last one when I was expecting there to be another one or two after this one. In a way, I guess I’m glad I’m wrong since I really wanted to get going onto the last two answer arcs. This arc has shown us quite a few things but a lot is still left in the dark. It is a little frustrating since it seems as though every episode is a little teaser but I think it’s worked out quite well. I mean, it’s certainly kept my attention and I do feel that it’s a good series.

So we get to see Rika get murdered by the bad guys in this episode. If we tie it back to the disaster that killed everyone, I guess her death was supposed to be a message to the villagers that Oyashiro-sama was angry. They then would’ve released some toxins into the air to make some people go crazy to make themselves seem more credible and hopefully take control of the village again. One thing I don’t get is what Tomitake and Takano’s death has to do with anything. I guess Takano’s death makes sense if you factor in the events of “罪滅し編” but it seems weird for Tomitake to die. I guess they may have, amidst the chaos, revealed that the two of them had entered the locked chamber and that they got what they deserved as God’s punishment. I’m curious as to how their deaths triggered anything though since Rika was saying how nothing had changed after her conversation with Tomitake, hm.

Anyway, it’s going to be fun finding out how the protagonists are going to avert disaster in the last two arcs. The act will likely put the bad guys behind the bars but of course, it’s the “how” that we’re all intrigued about. Where are they going to get the evidence and how? Takano’s notebooks are nice and all but I don’t know how well that’s going to stand in court against a bunch of skilled lawyers.