Miotsukushi Omote

This article is about the original version of Miotsukushi and its modified successors that function as an alternate ending to the main Higurashi When They Cry story. For the portion of Miotsukushi that concludes the Advanced Story, see Miotsukushi Ura.

Overview

Summary (PS2)

Summary (Omote)

TIPS

CG

Miotsukushi Omote
Japanese	澪尽し編・表
First Inclusion	Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri
Arc Type	Answer
Preceded by	Minagoroshi

Miotsukushi-hen Omote (澪尽し編・表, lit. Waterway Exhausting Chapter: Surface) is an extra arc from Higurashi When They Cry. It was originally released as simply Miotsukushi-hen (澪尽し編, lit. Waterway Exhausting Chapter) in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri as an alternate ending to the series taking place after Minagoroshi. Later ports feature an altered version titled "Miotsukushi Omote" to differ it from Miotsukushi Ura.

Plot Summary

Main article: Miotsukushi Omote/Summary

Rika Furude wakes up in another world, aware of who her enemy is, but Hanyuu has mysteriously disappeared. Left discouraged about the fate of this new world, Rika grows increasingly uncomfortable as time goes on.

Keiichi Maebara takes notice of Rika's sadness, and she decides to trust him with the knowledge that she has been traveling between many worlds. Keiichi proves that he's much different than the Keiichis in the previous worlds, and Rika becomes determined to seize her fate.

As Rika tries to learn more about her enemies and their motives, tragedies from other worlds begin creeping in: Rina Mamiya plots to swindle the Sonozaki family and dates Rena Ryuugu's father, Satoko Houjou's uncle Teppei Houjou returns to Hinamizawa, and a rift between Mion Sonozaki and Shion Sonozaki begins to grow. In order to bring everyone together, Rika and Keiichi work to resolve their friends' problems before it is too late.

Characters

• Rika Furude
• Keiichi Maebara
• Satoko Houjou
• Rena Ryuugu
• Mion Sonozaki
• Shion Sonozaki
• Hanyuu
• Miyo Takano
• Kyousuke Irie
• Jirou Tomitake
• Akane Sonozaki
• Kuraudo Ooishi
• Teppei Houjou
• Rina Mamiya
• Tomoe Minai
• Natsumi Kimiyoshi
• Miyuki Akasaka

Concept and Development

"Anyway, I was lucky to meet Kanou-san. I basically left everything to him in terms of direction. I simply told him "I want the production to be unique to home video game consoles, and please don't worry about making a complete reproduction of the original work.""

— Ryukishi07, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri Official Guide Book Staff Interview

Kiichi Kanou was entrusted with writing Miotsukushi when Higurashi Matsuri began development. It was added in place of Matsuribayashi to give fans who had read the original story incentive to read the PS2 version. Miotsukushi began development around the time Ryukishi was still writing Minagoroshi and became a complement to Matsuribayashi in many ways: Ryukishi intended for both works to have a happy ending, but chose to write Matsuribayashi from the "A" side centered on the adult characters; Kanou wrote Miotsukushi from the "B" side centered on the children characters.

Ryukishi would often send Kanou parts of Matsuribayashi that he wrote, with Kanou incorporating similar scenes into Miotsukushi. The arc title was both a reference to a poem in the Man'yōshū about a landmark for ships to enter a harbor, and a reference to the main characters giving it their all to reach their goal.

There were many ideas proposed for Miotsukushi, but not all of them made it in. A love triangle was proposed between Keiichi, Rena, and Mion, however Ryukishi opposed it. Kanou also wanted to add a segment focusing on Rena's past when she was still called Reina, however it was cut since there wouldn't be enough space. He was later able to feature it in Tokihogushi and Miotsukushi Ura in Higurashi Kizuna and Sui.

Release History

Original Release

Miotsukushi-hen was first released in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri for the PlayStation 2 on February 22, 2007.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna

This arc was rereleased in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna Volume IV on February 25, 2010 for the Nintendo DS. Additional chapters were inserted into the middle of the arc that conclude the Advanced Story. Many other changes were made to the arc:

Original Scene	Replacement
After a discussion with Rena, Keiichi hears Hanyuu’s voice.	Keiichi recalls memories from Onikakushi.
Natsumi Kimiyoshi attends the Watanagashi Festival and joins the Club's games.	Natsumi attends the festival with her own friends and doesn't join the club. Miyuki Akasaka joins instead.
After the cotton drifting, Keiichi and Rika see Hanyuu floating in the river. A flashback to Hanyuu's past occurs after this.	Rika falls into the swamp.

Some other changes made include:

• Tomoe Minai making an appearance, with some scenes rewritten to involve her.
• A plot twist where Hanyuu has been disguised as Rika all along in this arc while the real Rika was sealed inside of the ritual storehouse.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sui

This arc was rereleased in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sui, where the additional Kizuna section was split off as its own arc and given the Ura subtitle to distinguish it from the original version, which received an added Omote subtitle. However, Sui and Hou are officially treated as containing 19 and 23 arcs respectively, implying that Omote and Ura are collectively counted as one arc.

Sui released on March 12, 2015 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hou

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hou (console) included this arc and was released on July 26, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch and January 24, 2019 for the PlayStation 4.

Trivia

• According to Kanou, some fans have referred to the arc as "Miontsukushi" due to Mion's prominence in it.

See Also

• Kotohogushi, a story arc originally released in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri Official Guide Book that acts as a prequel to this arc.