Once again Higurashi delivers a amazing story. I'm not sure if I prefer ch 6 or 7 but both are 10/10s in different ways.

I'm planning on writing a more complete review of all of Kei once I'm done so I wasn't going to do a spoiler review here however I gotta say this chapters too good to not mention some stuff.

First of all Rika & Hanyuu are amazing. Pre ch7 I wasn't sure what to make of Rika, she was very interesting but I wasn't certain of what it could be, so I suppose that was a part of the story I was unable to figure out for myself (sorry r7) but this chapter was a amazing look into Rikas character. I adore the way Ch 6 & 7 have been using perspective to tell the story, being able to see different characters views on thing is really cool, and Rikas very pessemistic outlook compared to Keiichi is a great contrast. If I explained more it would be pointless but I gotta say I adore the way perspective shifts around. And I love the strange 3rd person perspective that doesn't really seem to be first person, but there I'm not really sure if that's just a intential way of writing or if it's meant to be from Hanyuus perspective, because for example in this chapter when Ooshi gets killed, the perspective is not one of either of them but of noone, it feels like 3rd person but I distincatlly recall some things that seemed out of place if it was. anyway enough perspective talk

Rika is a super amazing character and she's grown on massivley. I never disliked her in the past chapters but she was always the character I was most disinterested in, but here she turns it around to become maybe the most interesting character, I adore her arc in this chapter. I adore the way we see previous chapters that previously seemed unconnected tie in here and how it shows that the entire story was planned very indepth from the start.

I love the way it changes you're perspecitve on scenes in the past, like Takano in Ch3, and how the disease affected everyone up to a point and the footsteps.. it's all so good. but my input here is really nothing special so I'll try not to drone on throughout the whole review.

Another thing I adore is that despite not remembering the past events how all the characters are clearly growing after going through their whole character arc, it's neat being able to see them change despite the fact that they techincally shouldn't. Though I guess if I had to have any complaint about the writing it's how come the gang didn't start remembering past shards before? I'm not that bothered since the rest of the game(book?? I still don't know if I should really call this a game)is super well written,and honestly regardless if there is a explanation or not... I kinda don't care honestly.

Music was amazing here, all the songs at the end especially are spectacular, just great music all round (but thats normal for Higurashi at this point). Also it's nice that some of the more overused sounds aren't being used as much, sure some stuff like the general Higurashi etc are fine, but if I hear that god damm mangled string insturment sound again I'll break, there was a scene in Ch5 where they played it after like every line Shion said so it just overlaps a billion times. and that piano too gets overplay alot in the Qs arc.

Obligatory the Steam sprites are horrrible, in Ch1 I was ok with them but I honestly despise them now, they are just horrible. (sorry to the artists that worked on them though...)

I'll stop here but very very final rough thoughts, Hanyuu is great and I love her basically being the explanation for everything, very funny. Also she's just great in general. Again Rika is written really great here, and so is everyone basically. the main cast dynamic is great, but I gotta say after ch6 Keiichi and Rena work so well together I love them both, I can't believe how well written everyone is honestly. BUT I almost forgot but why the fuck was there mention of the ps triple in this chapter?????? I think I had the translation set to 0 so there was no censor but like...??? break all the canon for a cheeky 4th wall break about the ps 3?? I don't actually mind it, it's cool to see such a obvious thing from the time the game came out that I ended up finding it super charming, but god that took me out of the game so hard. Also speaking of there were way more 4th wall breaks here right? like I can't really recall a single one before this, bar the after party. Again I don't mind it that much but it's still kinda strange. Also I kinda miss the afterpartys, they were fun. though I guess being in the answers arc theres no need for them to theorise and stuff. also the new messages with R7 are super nice he seems cool.

Also I read all this in 2 days which is pretty impressive for me, shows I've been infected with Higurashi brainrot, though the game crashed like 4 times somehow, very odd (espeically since I rarely saved as I was reading non stop for a while) anyway review over.

Ch7 peak, consistent super high quality writing and providing very nice conclusions to the mysterys set up in previous chapters.

Despite the fact the first 10 sub-chapters or so are basically going back and forth with Child Services I felt like the pacing on this was pretty good? The events themselves are repetitive, but not the characters' reactions or the drama it creates, and it added a lot to the suspense wondering 'how the hell does this end in a massacre?'

...With that said, I don't think it quite lives up to this suspense. Every Higurashi chapter so far imo has fallen prey to a trap of 'interesting and engrossing plot that builds up to a climax midway and then the tension completely dies' (except for Onikakushi and Watanagashi, which I'd say more straightforwardly continually ratchet up the tension). But it feels especially unsatisfying here because saving Satoko takes up a huge chunk of the chapter.

The actual scene where the main cast get killed is super chilling, but to immediately follow it up with them all reuniting as ghosts is a bit saccharine I feel? Tsumihoroboshi also had a bit of mood whiplash with Rena and Keiichi's fight that I didn't entirely vibe with, but I think it's fair to say it at least means something after all the heaviness of the previous arcs + Rena trying to blow up the school. But I don't know... this felt like it diminished it a little. I guess because also this arc isn't especially heavy on the oppressive horror atmosphere that pervades a lot of the others, so it feels like when we finally get a taste of that it immediately gets undercut.

Also I think the absolute worst thing for Higurashi's pacing is characters' internal monologues. People malign the Onikakushi slice of life stuff a lot (and rightfully), but Rika is just constantly going on about fighting destiny and believing in a miracle and whatnot and it's just... I get the point, but it could have been dialled back.

And on that note, this chapter pushes 'if everyone believes they can make a miracle happen' so hard it was genuinely starting to sound less like typical anime power of friendship and more like that culty pseudoscience self-help nonsense that teach bad things happening to you is because you didn't do enough positive thinking. I understand this isn't the intention here, and 'keep on believing and fighting' is a valuable message in the context of the story, and I'm not trying to be cynical here - it's just it gets hammered home so. Damn. Much.

This review sounds pretty critical, but I generally enjoyed this chapter (and Higurashi so far) a lot - I'm just more interested in trying to dissect what didn't work for me than what did. But all in all it's a nice chapter with lots of good character moments and answers to mysteries, and I am eager to get into the finale (though perhaps not right away).

Currently I'd rank the arcs at: Meakashi > Tatarigoroshi > Watanagashi > Tsumihoroboshi > Minagoroshi > Himatsubushi > Onikakushi