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Overview

Rena Ryuugu (竜宮 レナ Ryuuguu Rena) is one of the main characters of Higurashi When They Cry. She is a member of the Hinamizawa after-school games club and a firm believer in Oyashiro-sama.

Profile[]

Rena is the main heroine of this story. She’s a classmate of Keiichi’s.

She is quite interested in his everyday life, possibly because of an inherent urge to look after people.

She comes with the standard-issue honesty, earnesty and blushes that you find in many heroines. However, her only reward for taking care of Keiichi is an incessant series of pranks. It really is unfortunate for her.

She likes anything and everything she considers adorable, and this is also a very typical trait in a heroine. But that is also her greatest weakness...

(Taken from the MangaGamer website, which is translated from the 07th Expansion website.)

Keiichi's classmate. She has a caring personality and is Keiichi's best friend, always walking to school with him every morning. She loves anything that's "kyute,"and has a bad habit of trying to take "kyute" things home with her. When she goes into "kyute" mode, she goes out of control and all physical laws cease to apply to her.

(Taken from the Gou website.)

Appearance[]

Rena Ryuugu has short orange hair in an asymmetrical bob with longer locks in the front and spiky bangs. She has light blue eyes. Her school uniform consists of a sailor uniform with a white blouse and blue collar and a matching pleated skirt. She wears it with a yellow scarf, white socks and dark shoes.

Her casual outfit is a white A-line midi dress with a turtle neck, puffed sleeves and a long slit down the center. The dress is adorned with purple bows, one at her collar and a larger one at the back. She pairs it with a white beret, black thigh highs and long brown lace boots.

Personality[]

On the outside, Rena Ryuugu is a friendly, earnest, and caring young girl, if a little strange and goofy. She has a habit of saying "hau" and "kana, kana?" which in the latter's case is translated as her repeating the last words that she said. Whenever Rena sees something "kyute" (かぁいい kāī), she'll enter "Kyute Mode" and often loudly exclaim that she'll take them home (Omochikaeri (お持ち帰りぃ)), whether they are objects or people. Rena loves cooking and often makes many delicious meals for her friends. In Tsukiotoshi, it is shown that Rena owns a pet hamster.[5]

Despite her silliness, Rena sometimes shows great intuition and responsibility, displaying a terrifyingly perceptive side of herself that can read people and situations to their very core at a glance. In Watanagashi, she correctly deduces what happened to Satoko and Rika after a cursory glance of their home, and in Tsumihoroboshi, she keeps a collected self as she kills Rina and Teppei and plans to disposes of their corpses, and is almost able to get away with it. The latter is an impressive situation given the revelations in Minagoroshi, that Rena seemed not to display any symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome until later. Rena is also aware of how often she goes into Kyute Mode and will use this to her advantage at times.[6]

Rena shows hints of depression and sadness, given the circumstances surrounding her parents divorce. Sometimes she will say her own catchphrases to herself to cheer herself up.[7] Rena also has a secret base in the junkyard formed out of a wrecked van that she will go to for peace and quiet. Rena feels a strong attachment to the junk she brings home, thinking of them as abandoned and needing a place to live.[8]

Whenever Oyashiro-sama is mentioned, Rena's personality changes such that she insists that he is real and becomes fiercely defensive. She truly believes in the god's existence and is thankful to him for many things. Rena also has an intense hatred for lies, often lashing out violently when being lied to, such as during Onikakushi when Keiichi confronts her while going home from school, accusing her and Mion of hiding things from him, only for her to respond by calling him a liar and accusing him of being a hypocrite for doing the same.

Background[]

Rena originally called herself Reina Ryuugu, being born and raised in Hinamizawa. Her family lived in her grandmother's house for a few years and moved to Ibaraki for her mother's work. Reina started learning how to cook to help her father, and her mother regularly took her out to eat at fancy restaurants and parties. Reina and her mother also always hung out with a man Reina called "Uncle Akihito". One day, Reina's mother told her that she was planning on divorcing her father and marrying Akihito. The young Reina opposed it, but her mother said she was already pregnant.

When her parents divorced, Reina's father received a lot of settlement money. Reina wanted nothing to do with her mother or Akihito and started throwing out everything related to her like pictures and furniture. Reina also started to hate her own name.[9] Reina's mental state deteriorated because of the divorce, to the point where in 1982 she went on a rampage destroying windows in her school and attacked three students, permanently blinding one of them in one eye. Despite this, the victims nor the school took legal action against Reina. Console-exclusive content reveals that the students were creating a haunted house based on real stories and wanted Reina's input, but she disagreed.[10]

Reina was submitted for psychiatric evaluation. She claimed to hear Oyashiro-sama telling her to return to Hinamizawa, believing she was cursed for leaving the village in the first place. Her father agreed with her daughter's request and moved with her back to Hinamizawa in April[11]. Reina's mental state improved, and she started calling herself "Rena" since wanted to remove the "i" from it, the "icky" (いやな Iyana) things from her life. Rena then became a member of the Hinamizawa after-school games club.

Tsumihoroboshi reveals that during her stay in Ibaraki, Rena started to experience the sensation of maggots crawling around in her skin and resorted to self-harm, thinking she was getting rid of them. Minagoroshi expands on this and reveals that Rena developed terminal symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome because of her stress. Hanyuu briefly intervened and was able to cure her symptoms temporarily, giving her the message to return to Hinamizawa.

In Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou, several years after Takano's defeat, Rena attends Gogura University with Keiichi and Mion as of 1988.

Relationships[]

Overview[]

The Club

Family

Other

Keiichi Maebara[]

Keiichi and Rena have a competitive dynamic that shines in club games, with hints of romantic tension developing between them. Keiichi gives Rena gifts sometimes; in Onikakushi he wins a teddy bear for her at the festival and is supposedly kissed by her (however it was Mion relaying this fact to Keiichi a few days after), and in Watanagashi he foists his doll prize onto her.

Keiichi and Rena are often both described as having fiery spirits, with Keiichi's burning red while Rena burns blue.

Mion Sonozaki[]

Mion is friends with Rena as leader of the club. Sometimes Mion will get rough with Rena when she goes on tangents about Oyashiro-sama.[12]

Other Club Members[]

Rika and Satoko are frequent targets for Rena's kyute mode due to the many punishment outfits the girls are forced to wear.

Rina Mamiya[]

Some arcs feature Rina dating Rena's father. Rena has a hard time accepting her because of Rina's personality and due to the perception that Rina is trying to break their family apart, especially when she throws out Rena's junk and makes her feel unwanted.

Role in the Story[]

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Question Arcs[]

Onikakushi[]

Rena Ryuugu is first introduced. She shows up at Keiichi's house waiting for him for them to go to school together. It's established that they're both very good friends, eating lunch together and going treasure hunting at the garbage dump after school. During one of their treasure hunts, Keiichi is briefly surprised by Rena bringing a hatchet to the dump.

After Keiichi learns of Satoshi's existence and Rena and Mion's awareness of Tomitake's murder, Keiichi confronts her while going home from school, accusing her and Mion of hiding things from him. Rena responds violently, calling him a liar, and accusing him of being a hypocrite for doing the same. Keiichi is horrified at this change in Rena's behavior, almost believing that she was replaced by someone else. Rena smiles and asks for Keiichi's understanding. Leaving Keiichi with his knees on the ground, she walks home ahead of him.

After almost getting ran over by a van, Keiichi, now convinced that someone is trying to kill him, starts carrying around a baseball bat. This causes a worried Rena to have another conversation with Keiichi. She angrily asks Keiichi why he's copying all of Satoshi's actions from last year, and worries that Keiichi will end up "transferring" just like Satoshi.

On a rainy afternoon, during one of Keiichi's phone calls with Ooishi, Rena visits Keiichi. Worried that he won't have anything to eat because his parents aren't home, she offers to make him dinner. Keiichi witnesses another violent outburst from Rena, and slams the door on her fingers over and over, causing her to apologize profusely. Keiichi ignores Rena and heads back to his room, and looks over at Rena in the rain, still apologizing.

The next day, Keiichi while going home from school, finds Rena following him around with a hatchet. Rena chases Keiichi around the village, saying that she will listen to Keiichi and save him, and that she won't let Keiichi suffer the same fate as Satoshi. During the chase's climax, Keiichi witnesses Rena holding up the hatchet, and in desperation asks Rena who in the village is making people disappear. Rena tells Keiichi that he's misunderstanding something, and that there is no human culprit, and that it is all done by Oyashiro-sama's will. Keiichi, scared for his life, pushes Rena to the ground and runs away.

Rena later finds Keiichi unconscious and brings him back to his house, nursing him. She tells Keiichi that she's called both Mion and the "manager." Mion arrives at Keiichi's room, then Rena proceeds to hold Keiichi, while Mion pulls out a syringe from her skirt pocket. Mion tells Keiichi that he's going to suffer the same fate as Tomitake. Just before the syringe is able to touch Keiichi's body, Keiichi breaks free from Rena, grabs his bat and beats Mion to death. Keiichi then turns around and does the same to Rena, while confessing his love to her, shown in the game's opening scene.

During the epilogue, police investigation determined that Keiichi planned on killing both of the girls when he invited them to his house, with no mention of his acts of self-defense.

Watanagashi[]

A games tournament is held at a store owned by one of Mion's relatives, and Rena is given a doll by Keiichi after he wins one.

Sometime after the Watanagashi Festival, Satoko and Rika go missing, and Rena helps Keiichi and the other villagers search for them. They investigate Rika and Satoko's house where Rena determines that the two of them went to Mion's house to get soy sauce and were asked to have dinner there.

The next day, Rena and Keiichi head to Mion's house to confront her about Satoko and Rika's kidnapping. Mion admits to torturing and killing them and explains much of Hinamizawa's past. Mion asks for Keiichi to follow her into the underground torture chamber and Rena lets them go, planning to contact Ooishi and the police nearby in 30 minutes.

After the incident, Keiichi's parents plan on moving away from Hinamizawa. Keiichi says his farewells to Rena, and Rena says that she'll be lonely, as she's the only one left.

Tatarigoroshi[]

Rena joins the club in a curry-cooking competition and later a bento-making contest. She helps the club in a baseball game.

While walking home, Keiichi mentions Satoshi's name and Rena gets surprised, as she thought she and Mion told him about his "transferral". Rena says that Satoshi never came back last year and insists that he never actually ran away, claiming it was actually Oyashiro-sama's curse. Mion tries to calm her down as Rena says that Satoshi told her all about his nightmares, a sign that he was cursed by Oyashiro-sama.

The credits show that Rena died in the Great Hinamizawa Disaster.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai[]

Meakashi[]

In 1982, Rena meets "Mion", unaware that she's really Shion. Shion walks home with Rena and take shelter in a bus stop when it starts raining. They talk about how Satoshi has been distancing himself from everyone lately and has been worried about Satoko a lot. Seeing Shion's sadness, Rena asks if she loves Satoshi and tells her to smile, as it'll surely cheer him up. Rena mentions that Satoshi has a part-time job and should finish raising money by Satoko's birthday. Shion thinks to herself that Satoshi would be better off not worrying about Satoko and then sees Rena giving her a strange stare, seemingly reading her mind.

Rena says that all they can do is encourage Satoko and Satoshi to do their best and says that maybe even Satoshi is getting tired of Satoko. Rena says that Satoshi himself told her he was getting tired of protecting Satoko and felt guilty about it, and that Satoshi trusts her because they both experienced similar dreams of hearing extra footsteps. Rena's disposition changes as she professes that Satoshi is being cursed by Oyashiro-sama because he wants to leave Hinamizawa. Rena explains that as a child, she was born in Hinamizawa and moved to Ibaraki for a few years before moving back and was forgiven by Oyashiro-sama. Rena says that Satoshi is raising money to buy an expensive teddy bear for Satoko, but he could also use that money to leave the village. Shion is confused by Rena's strange ramblings.

At school, Shion disguises as Mion again and starts attacking Satoko, blaming her for monopolizing Satoshi. Satoshi appears and hits Shion back, and Rena breaks the two of them up. She gets the class to clean up and has Shion and Satoshi reconcile.

Rena does the same things she did in the Watanagashi arc.

The credits say that Rena resides in Shishibone City as of 2004.

Tsumihoroboshi[]

TsumihoroboshiCG (12)

The school has a water gun fight, which ends with Rena and Keiichi the winners. The next day, Rena and Keiichi walk together and talk about their parents. Rena claims that her parents are lovey-dovey and Keiichi wants to meet them, but Rena tries to dissuade him. They go to Angel Mort to attend the Dessert Festa and enjoy the punishments suffered by the other club members for losing the water gun fight. Kameda, Tomita, Okamura, and Irie arrive and challenge Rena and Keiichi in a dessert-eating contest for the title of the true winners. Rena excuses herself to use the restroom and runs into Rina Mamiya, and the two exchange pleasantries.

After the festivities, there is still no clear winner. Rena and Keiichi walk home together, with Rena happy that she's able to have so much fun in Hinamizawa every day after moving here a year ago. Rena goes by herself to the junkyard and tries to psych herself up repeating her regular catchphrases. She spends some time relaxing in her base in the junkyard and listens as it begins to rain. Rena takes a nap and dreams of the day her parents divorced, and how Rena got rid of her mother's belongings after that. When Rena wakes up, she realizes it's late and has to head home, even though it's still raining. Rena thinks about how her father has gotten happier because of Rina, but Rena still can't bring herself to accept her.

The next day, Rena comes home from school to find that her father renovated the living room with some new furniture Rina picked out. Though Rena appreciates the change, she starts to feel like she doesn't belong in the house anymore, being reminded of when she threw out her mother's belongings. Rena tries hard to make herself like Rina, and her dad interrupts her pondering by asking her to pick something up in Okinomiya. Rena goes to the store where the clerk tells her the order was caught in traffic, and Rena goes to a nearby coffee shop to relax. Rena notices some gangly-looking people entering the store and sitting next to Teppei, who takes some money from them. Rina is shown to be with Teppei, who's acting just as vulgar as he is. Rena overhears Rina talking to Teppei about threatening her new boyfriend for some cash and leaves the store with him soon after. Kasai and Shion then enter, who sit next to Rena after seeing her.

After being introduced to Kasai, Rena asks him who Rina and Teppei are, as Rina seemed very afraid of him. Kasai explains that Rina and Teppei like to put on badger games, where Rina will date a guy with a lot of money while Teppei pretends to be an angry boyfriend and blackmails them for money. Rena quickly leaves and heads home, where she finds a note from her father saying he's out. Rena searches her dad's room and finds his bankbooks, where he's made many expensive purchases using the divorce money. Rena determines that she needs to deal with Rina but doesn't know what to do and thinks about getting Kasai's help.

While walking home from school the next day, Rena and Keiichi talk about happiness. Rena says the secret to her own happy days is to realize that they're going to end one day. Rena asks Mion if she can talk do Kasai, lying that she found something he dropped at the coffee shop and wants to return it in person. Mion is confused but she agrees to speak to Kasai.

Rena goes home and runs into Rina, who's just come from from eating lunch with her father. Rina says she and her father want to talk to her about something but Rena interrupts by saying she's going treasure hunting with friends and quickly leaves. Rena goes to the junkyard and Rina follows her, who sees that she's actually alone. Rena hatred and negativity towards Rina grows as they walk and talk, ending up at Rena's secret base.

Rina asks Rena if she likes her and says she and Mr. Ryuugu were talking about their future, and Rena is reminded of her own mother talking about Akihito. Rena says she won't allow Rina to marry her dad, and Rina starts laughing since she never expected Rena to say it so bluntly. Rina starts acting like her vulgar self, saying she knew all along that Rena disliked her because of the way she acted around her. The two exchange vitriol for each other, and Rina says she's pregnant. Rena accuses her of lying, and Rina claims it's true; she can't abort it, and it would cause trouble for Rena's father if he cut things off with a pregnant lady suddenly.

Rena exclaims that she knows all about Rina's plans with Teppei to swindle her dad out of his money. Rina starts choking her, saying that everything could've ended nicely for Rena if she weren't snooping around. Rena breaks free when she cuts Rina's hand with a piece of glass. Rena then picks up a pipe and hits Rina with it, making her run away in fright. Rina tries to get away by climbing up a junk mountain but falls off and breaks her neck, dying. Rena beats her corpse again to ensure she's dead. Rena feels relieved that Rina is dead but now worries about hiding her body. She believes she did the same thing as Satoshi did last year in killing his aunt, doing what was best to ensure his happiness. Rena sticks Rina's corpse in a scrapped refrigerator for the time being.

Rena goes home and tells her saddened dad he doesn't need to remarry, warning him that Rina's pregnancy was fake. She explains Rina's plan with Teppei to scam him, but her dad still doesn't seem to believe her. Rena thinks he'll learn eventually. The next night, Teppei breaks into the house and threatens Rena's father, demanding to know how he's going to take responsibility for getting his "wife" pregnant. Rena sees that her dad has finally snapped out of it and tells Teppei she can take him to Rina, claiming that Rina is hiding and gave that message to her. Teppei follows Rena to the junkyard, where she kills him with one well-placed swing of her cleaver.

The next day, Rena sleeps during class. Keiichi learns of Rena's family situation and worries that he hurt her feelings when he talked about being bored every day. Mion says that the club is like a family to Rena. Rena goes to the junkyard and chops up Rina and Teppei's corpses, putting them into garbage bags and hiding them in some containers. At home, Rena consoles her dad, who apologizes for not acting like a proper father. Rena starts feeling happy that her father has become revitalized and is willing to find work.

After school the next day, Rena excuses herself from club activities. She goes to Yagouchi to find a place to bury the bags while the club goes to the junkyard for a treasure hunt and chance upon the trash bags. Rena confesses her sins in front of the club at the junkyard, believing that she did the right thing given her circumstances. Keiichi asks why she never told the club, as they could've helped Rena find a better way. Rena says she couldn't trust them because of what happened with Satoshi last year; all of his friends knew of his situation but all they offered was sympathy, and Satoshi was forced to murder his aunt and disappear.

Rena admonishes Mion, Rika, and Satoko for not helping Satoshi and then breaks down crying, as she was also approached by Satoshi despite her being new to the village and didn't do anything to help. Keiichi says things surely would've been different this time if Rena just trusted them, as everyone has learned from their experiences. Mion, Rika, and Satoko join hands and forgive Rena for her sins, asking that she forgive them for theirs. Keiichi says they're the only ones who know about the corpses, so they can keep it a secret. Rena decides to believe in everyone and puts her hand on top. Having affirmed their friendship, the club takes the trash bags to Yagouchi and buries them.

Rena goes to the library to return a book her dad borrowed and runs into Takano. They talk about the series of mysterious deaths, with Takano convinced the curse will strike again this year. Takano explains her theory that Oyashiro-sama may actually be a foreigner who came to Onigafuchi long ago and gives Rena one of her research scrapbooks, letting her borrow it for a while. Rena gets dizzy thinking about her past encounter with Oyashiro-sama in Ibaraki and confesses to Takano that she really did meet him. She felt like maggots were crawling around in her body and cut herself to get rid of them. Takano tries to calm her down as Rena goes on about her spiritual encounter. Takano says she believes Rena's story and gives her a few more scrapbooks, thinking she'll be able to understand what was in them. Takano tells her to keep this secret.

Rena gets sick and spends a few days not playing games with the club, later feeling well enough to join them in Cluedo the day after the festival. Chie calls Rena away since she has a visitor, Ooishi. Inside his car, Ooishi shows Rena a picture of Tomitake and asks if she knows him, as Tomitake was found dead the night of the festival. Tomitake's shirt had the club member's names written on it. Rena realizes what happened, and then Ooishi shows her a picture of Takano. When Rena goes back to the classroom, she packs up and heads home early.

Rena reads the scrapbooks, which outline a conspiracy masterminded by the Three Families to keep faith in Oyashiro-sama going strong. Tomitake's death was similar to what Rena experienced in Ibaraki, with him clawing at his throat to get rid of the maggots. Takano's death may have been caused by the Three Families since she was investigating them. At home, Rena gets a call from Ooishi.

Over the next few days, Rena becomes convinced that there's a conspiracy being led by religious fanatics in the Three Families to preserve faith in Oyashiro-sama by spreading a parasitic virus across the village; she believes Takano was killed because she was close to uncovering it and that Tomitake's death was a result of the virus. She convinces Keiichi and Ooishi of her suspicions, thinking the Irie Clinic is much too fancy of a building for a place like Hinamizawa. Rena doesn't want to tell Mion or Rika, unsure of

Rena's suspicions grow even more when she keeps seeing white vans all across the village belonging to a company called Okonogi Gardeners. At school Rena catches a glimpse of the company's phone number when a gardener speaks to Chie, and she calls it only to find the number isn't in service. Rena believes they're just a front company, but unbeknownst to her the number she called was an outdated one and wasn't updated in time.

Rena runs away from home and digs up Rina and Teppei's corpses, only to find they're missing. Unbeknownst to her, Mion had the corpses moved with her Sonozaki connections since a development project was planned for that area, so the corpses would've been discovered otherwise. Rena believes Mion sold her out to the police however.

Rena decides to get Ooishi's help and tells him about the conspiracy, and he tells her in turn that the Sonozaki family is looking everywhere for her. Rena thinks they're after her scrapbooks, but in reality Kasai sent them to get back the item of his that Rena claimed she had. Ooishi also tells Rena about the discrepancy regarding Takano's death, being that she should've been dead while she was at the festival, and Rena becomes confused.

Rena goes to hide in her hideout and hears some Sonozaki gangsters looking around. Rena overhears them talking about her scrapbooks and that she was seen in Gogura, and they leave. Rena starts to believe that the real Takano was killed while a duplicate took her place at the festival, and that the Rena the men were just talking about is another doppelganger; unbeknownst to her, the club was worried for Rena and claimed she was in Gogura to throw off investigation by the police.

TsumihoroboshiCG (8)

Soon, Rika appears and talks to Rena. Rena becomes suspicious and claims she's not really Rika, and Rika's personality changes as she speaks in a more mature voice. Rika says it's been a long time since she called herself Rika Furude and pulls out a syringe, offering to inject Rena with it and make her feel better. Rena thinks it's the same drug that killed Tomitake and refuses to take it, fearing what it will do to her. Rika sighs and puts the syringe away, saying she's done with "this" Rena Ryuugu and will get along with the next one. Rika tells Rena to enjoy "this" Hinamizawa and leaves. Rena yells back at her, not wanting to replaced. Rena thinks about packing up her things and realizes that the maggot disease has infected her again.

Later that night, Keiichi goes to Rena's hideout to speak with her and notices the bandages on her neck. Rena insists she's fine, thinking that Mion forced her to eat something poisoned her with the same drug that killed Tomitake when she gave away parts of her lunch earlier. Keiichi defends Mion and says that Rena simply took a random part of Mion's omelette, like they always do when they share lunches. Keiichi says the police might know that Rena killed Rina and Teppei, and Rena continues suspecting Mion when she says the corpses were gone when she dug them up earlier. Keiichi explains that Mion did it to stop the forestry service from finding them, but Rena still refuses to trust her.

Keiichi tells Rena to calm down, but she expresses belief that aliens are behind the parasite and the Takano and Rena doppelgangers. Keiichi slaps Rena and reminds her of a few days ago, when the club reinforced their friendship and promised to trust each other. Keiichi implores Rena to keep trusting him as a friend, and Rena reveals that Ooishi told her that before Keiichi came to Hinamizawa, he shot at little kids with a BB gun and seriously injured a girl. Rena accuses Keiichi of keeping secrets and declares he is not really her friend. Keiichi is stricken with grief at this, and Rena leaves.

The next say, Keiichi confesses his sin to the other club members at school. Suddenly, Keiichi remembers the true events of Onikakushi's world, where he killed Rena and Mion when they tried to draw on his shirt; a similar punishment to what Tomitake went through at the festival. Keiichi realizes that Rena was reaching out to him despite him beating her to death and promises to stop the Rena in this world from going down a similar path. Rika also promises to help, regretting giving up on Rena the previous night.

The police and the Sonozakis meet to clear up the misunderstandings between them, where they learn that Takano's scrapbooks are nonsense and equate to speculative fiction about Hinamizawa's past. They agree such that the police will be responsible for finding and questioning Rena regarding her relation with Takano, and the Sonozakis must be contacted as soon as possible so they can send a lawyer for her.

Rena goes to Keiichi's house to apologize to him, her maggot disease symptoms getting worse. Keiichi says they should go to the Irie Clinic as soon as possible, but Rena refuses to. Rena admits that she also did horrible things before she came to Hinamizawa, and they both understand that what matters is who they are now. Rena says she's going to save Hinamizawa from the conspiracy and asks Keiichi to help. Keiichi thinks that by trying to reject her, Rena's going to misconstrue it as an attack on her, just like he did to her in the other world. Keiichi promises to help Rena. Rena leaves to prepare for tomorrow, keeping it a secret.

The next day, Rena calls the school and lures Chie away from it. She then heads over there with her hatchet and takes the school hostage, coercing Keiichi into helping tie up their classmates. The police soon surround the school, and Rena negotiates with Ooishi over the phone and demands that he raid Sonozaki facilities to stop the conspiracy. Rena sends Keiichi out with her scrapbook to hand over to Ooishi. When Keiichi returns, Rena reveals that she spent the morning spreading gasoline all over the school; she has a lighter and is threatening to blow it up if the police don't meet her demands. A timer is also set to go off and blow up the school anyway at a certain time.

Rena tells the class about the conspiracy and then starts beating up the restrained Mion, blaming her for moving the corpses and ratting her out to the police. Keiichi tells her that Mion did it because of the development project, but Rena still believes Mion deceived him. Rena continues beating up Mion, and a crying Keiichi tries to stop her, saying she'll regret it one day. Rena threatens to kill him and light up the gasoline, and Keiichi yells that she needs to trust him. He recounts the experience of killing Rena and Mion in another world, wanting Rena to understand that he's going to repay her for what she did for him then. Rena doesn't listen and hits him, then leaves to take another phone call from Ooishi.

Ooishi stalls Rena on the phone while Keiichi tries to disarm the timer. He gets tricked by a decoy wire and Rena tries to attack him, but the newly freed Rika tries to stop her. Rika picks up a broom and parries Rena's slashes, but she's ineffective due to her small stature and gets knocked aside. Satoko sets up some traps to stall Rena, but she also moves past her.

Rena chases Keiichi to the roof of the school, who has successfully disarmed the bomb. Armed with a bat, Keiichi challenges Rena to a duel and promises to believe her alien theory if she wins. Rena charges at him with her cleaver, and they begin fighting. The rest of the class escapes and watches the battle in awe. As they fight, Rena starts to enjoy it and realizes that they never settled their dispute from the water gun battle. Rena gains the upper hand and knocks away Keiichi's bat, then prepares to deliver the finishing blow. However, Rena starts crying since she doesn't understand how things turned out this way. Rena lowers her hatchet and wonders if it really was the right thing to kill Rina and Teppei, and Keiichi embraces her while assuring her that she can go to her friends for help at anytime. Rena cries, and Keiichi announces to the watching crowd that they've successfully overturned the demon's script.

Rena's fate after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster is unclear.

Minagoroshi[]

A narrator speaks to the reader about the rules that make up Rika's tragedy, with how Rule X involves Rena or someone else succumbing to paranoia in many worlds.

Rena and the club play in a games tournament in Okinomiya. Later, the club enjoys some ohagi made by Mion. Keiichi compliments Rena's cooking and says she always makes her ohagi small but carefully, and Rena says she's never made ohagi before.

A few days later, the club takes a look at all the stuff donated to the Furude Shrine for the upcoming Watanagashi auction. Rena says she and her dad are planning to redecorate their house since he just got a new job. Rena tells the club about her parents' divorce and that she recently found her dad was spending a lot of money on some lady, so Rena talked to Mion for advice and later convinced her dad to stop seeing her and put Rena in charge of all their settlement money. Rena thinks she may have killed that lady if things continued as they did and remembers having a dream about actually doing it. Rena understands how important it is to speak to her friends. At Okinomiya, the club tries to practive mahjong tricks and become acquainted with Ooishi and Akasaka.

Satoko is taken back by Teppei to live with him, and Rika tells the club what's going on. They decide to visit the child consultation center and get them to take action, but the social workers reject them. Seeing Rika's dejection, Rena convinces her to believe in everyone and continue fighting for Satoko. Over the next few days, Rena and the club continue protesting the center by gathering their classmates. Satoko returns to school after a few days but has a panic attack when she sees the principal, and Rena tries to calm her down. The group later petitions the Three Families for help. Rena helps to convince Kiichirou during a meeting by pointing out a picture of him during the dam war and appealing to his Hinamizawan spirit. The protest ultimately succeeds, and Satoko is rescued from Teppei.

Rika seems sad a few days after the festival, even though Satoko is safe and sound; some strange people have also been walking around the shrine grounds. Rena and the other club members ask Rika what's wrong, and she explains the existence of Hinamizawa Syndrome, Tokyo and the Mountain Dogs, her own role as the queen carrier, and the truth behind Oyashiro-sama's faith and the Irie Clinic. Rena and the others believe in Rika's story and offer their help against her mysterious killer.

Rika and Satoko escape from their shack at night and make a run for it when some Mountain Dogs try to break in. Rena and the other club members arrive to help fight some Dogs during the chase. They plan to steal a Mountain Dog van only for Takano to suddenly appear and shoot Keiichi dead. The club members are restrained by the Dogs and summarily executed by Takano. After Mion and Shion's deaths, Rena derides Takano for being so cruel. Takano says she will become Oyashiro-sama and bring her own curse upon the village, and Rena says that's not possible since he's already here. Rena is killed right after.

Rena's spirit joins everyone else after Rika's death, and they convince Hanyuu to join them in the next world. Rena says she could always feel Hanyuu but could never speak to her and reaches her hand out.

Matsuribayashi[]

The Connecting Fragments section details Reina's experiences with her medication after her parents' divorce. She hears Hanyuu telling her to return to Hinamizawa in 1982 and moves back there with her father. Hearing about the Watanagashi Festival's purification aspect, Reina decides to change her name to Rena. Satoshi later confides in Rena about his home situation.

Hanyuu takes a physical form and joins the club as Hanyuu Furude. Rena happily accepts her, feeling as though Hanyuu has always been watching them. Rena starts to shed tears now that Hanyuu's one of them. The club plays with Hanyuu to induct her into the club.

Matsuri manga v7 p155

Rena smacks a Dog into the path of Keiichi's bat

Rika gets everyone's help against the Mountain Dogs by explaining the secrets of Hinamizawa disguised as a comic book idea. Rena and the club brainstorm ideas, and they later give Rika their assistance when she reveals it's all true. The club hides out in the Sonozaki torture chamber when Kasai and Shion appear with a wounded Irie. When the Mountain Dogs invade the Sonozaki estate, the group escapes to Satoko's trap mountain.

At the mountain, the Dogs attack again where many are taken out by Satoko's traps. Rena helps fight the Dogs by launching ambush attacks. After the Mountain Dogs' defeat and Takano's arrest, Rena and the club go to attend the Watanagashi Festival. At the cotton drifting, Rena gives Hanyuu a cotton ball of her own.

Trivia[]

Design Origin[]

Higu official character guide page 05

Evolution of Rena's design from Visual Fan Book.

The design of Rena Ryuugu traces its origin to Ryukishi's fan-rendition of Lenna (レナ Rena) from Final Fantasy V in her Dragoon (竜騎士 Ryūkishi, lit. Dragon Knight) outfit with a spear. In this guise, she appeared in multiple Leaf Fight expansion packs put out by 07th Expansion. This version of Rena has become a mascot of 07th Expansion - it is used during the intro of main Higurashi releases along with their logo and currently the profile picture of their official Twitter account - while this outfit later became the uniform of Angel Mort waitresses.

As shown on the image on the right, this design was called (竜騎士 レナ, lit. Dragon Knight Rena). Notably, the surname of Ryūgū Rena (竜宮 レナ) literally means "Dragon Palace".


Akiha drawn by ryukishi07
  • In 2005, Takashi Takeuchi of TYPE-MOON and Ryukishi07 were asked to draw each other's characters. Ryukishi07 drew Akiha Tohno while Takeuchi drew Rena.[13]
  • Rena's signature weapon started out as an axe. It was changed to a nata because it seemed more stylish.[14]
  • Rena's recurring appearances on the covers of the original arcs was to show the contrast between a girl and "kyoki", which means either "dangerous weapon" (凶器) or "insanity" (狂気).[14]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 http://07th-expansion.net/higu_hou/02.htm
  2. Tatarigoroshi
  3. Tsumihoroboshi Day 26
  4. At a special Higurashi event, Ryukishi07 answered questions from fans and gave age ranges for the main characters. While audio and video recordings were not allowed, secondhand reports indicate that Rena is in second-year middle school.(1)(2).
  5. Tsukiotoshi Day 3.
  6. Tsumihoroboshi Day 8. (Rena asks to meet Kasai through Mion and doesn't want to reveal why.) "H-Hau......He had this kyute beard and these kyute sunglasses......I'm so crazy about kyute things...Hauuu." Could I fudge my true intentions with my Kyute Mode?...I tried it anyway. Mii-chan usually takes words at their face value, and indeed she seemed to buy it.
  7. Tsumihoroboshi Day 6. Come on. Say the magical words. It'll cheer you up. Rena: "Hau..." Keiichi: "Hum?" It didn't make sense to say it now, but I was going to say it anyway, because this is my magical phrase that always cheers me up.
  8. Tsumihoroboshi Day 6. ...Just like an animal that rubs its scent on its home in order to feel secure, I collected all the junk in order to make sure that I could stay here. No, that's not it. ...I wanted to bring them to my house because they were abandoned by their former owners. And they needed a place to live.
  9. Tsumihoroboshi Day 5
  10. Connecting Fragments (console): Incident Report 1
  11. Meakashi Day 7
  12. Tatarigoroshi Day 4
  13. Ryukishi07 blog post
  14. 14.0 14.1 Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Famous Scene Investigation File 100
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