Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai: Utsutsukowashi-hen (ひぐらしのなく頃に怪 現壊し編, lit. When the Cicadas Cry Mystery: Reality Breaking Chapter) is an arc exclusive to the manga adaptation of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Utsutsukowashi itself is a prequel to Meakashi focused on Shion Sonozaki's experience at St. Lucia Academy. The volume also includes two chapters of Onisarashi, by the same artist, that take place after its main story. It has not been published outside Japan.
The series is assumed to be cancelled. En Kito has stated that he would not be able to complete it due to other circumstances.[1]
Contents
Publisher's Summary
Japanese
ひぐらしのなく頃に 新たなる物語開演！
聖ルチーア学園を舞台に繰り広げられる凄惨な事件。ひぐらしのなく頃に新シリーズ登場！！
English (Translated)
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: A New Story Begins!
A horrific incident unfolds at St. Lucia Academy. A new Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series!
Synopsis
Mizuho Kousaka is a girl attending St. Lucia Academy, struggling with schoolwork and rumors surrounding her past. She becomes the sole witness to a teacher's apparent murder, though the school tries to brush off the grisly incident. Mizuho starts to make friends with Shion Sonozaki and soon becomes witness to another incident.
Chapters
Sympathy (共鳴 Kyōmei)
At St. Lucia Academy, the students murmur that a math teacher was found dead in the swimming pool last night, and it was probably a murder. Rumors say he was having many inappropriate relationships with students, so his death might have been revenge by one of them.
They heard one girl in their class was called to the director’s office and was the first person to find the body: Mizuho Kousaka. Mizuho was just standing by the corpse and staring at it. She’s always alone and never replies when others speak to her.
After explaining things to the director, Mizuho goes back to her classroom desk and is interrupted by another student Yukari. Yukari tells Mizuho that she has a French composition to write and needs to stop bringing down the class average. She demands that Mizuho show Yukari her notebook but she stays silent. Yukari angrily snatches it out of her hand and Mizuho pleads her to give it back, reaching out for it and falling out of her chair. Yukari asks if this notebook is related to her studies at all and threatens to bring it to a teacher when Shion Sonozaki arrives. Shion plucks the notebook out of Yukari’s hands and says she’s not being a very good class representative, bullying girls like that. Shion happily hands the notebook back to Mizuho and tells her to keep it hidden next time, winking. Shion tells Yukari she spilled coffee on her own French composition and Mizuho runs off. Shion watches her go and comments that she’s an “outlaw student.” Shion is suddenly called on the intercom to go to the student guidance room.
Shion is seated in an office with a teacher, Sister Maria, who calls her troublesome. Maria laments the recent pool murder as another act of God and Shion says she’s not the culprit, drawing surprise from the nun. Shion says she would’ve done a better job dealing with the body if she did do it, and Maria tells her to stay obedient, as that’s the reason she’s in this school. She says St. Lucia is meant to teach girls from elementary all the way to college how to be proper ladies and laments that many girls are sent there for other reasons, feeling a dark shadow looming over the place. Shion gets up to leave and Maria asks how Mizuho was doing. Shion says she looked fine and Maria says the teacher was killed brutally, and it was the second time Mizuho’s been in a situation like that.
Shion walks the halls and ponders what Maria meant by that when she sees Yukari and asks about Mizuho’s past. Yukari says she isn’t fond of gossiping about others, but after hearing that Maria ordered Shion to do it, Yukari explains that when Mizuho was very young, she was almost killed by her grandmother. Shion relates a bit to that and asks what made it “the second time”: Mizuho was protected by her father and he was killed before her eyes; apparently her grandmother was against her parents’ marriage. Yukari heard that Mizuho’s mother sent her to St. Lucia to protect her. In the end it was probably different, but this is all just gossip.
Shion hears that the murder incident will be brushed off as an accident since St. Lucia is like that, but she has more important business. Shion talks to Mizuho at the chapel and asks to work on her French composition with her. Mizuho is nervous but Shion tells her not to fear, as they sit next to each other after all. If they don’t do their homework then they’ll have to take part in weekend duties; Shion is tired of working during holidays, so they must do their homework. Mizuho says she doesn’t dislike duty and likes being useful to people, but Shion pinches Mizuho’s face and tries to make her understand, letting go when she starts crying. Shion watches Mizuho weep for a bit and then pats her head, saying she’s the same as her.
Shion explains that as a child, she too was going to be killed by her grandmother, or “the hag“ as she calls her. The Sonozaki family long believed if they gave birth to twins, one would be a devil child, and it was customary to kill one of them. Shion was that twin, but by some miracle she never died but is now confined to St. Lucia. Shion can relate to Mizuho’s position and says that she gets very angry when she sees her face like this. Shion tells Mizuho to act more firmly and have faith in herself. Seeing Mizuho cry some more, Shion pulls an object out of her bag and gives it to her. This is a special charm that will make Mizuho feel better if she holds it. If Mizuho is in trouble and makes a wish, then Shion will swoop in to save her. Mizuho is unconvinced, saying the charm is just a piece of an eraser and Shion exclaims that it’s special and comparable to the likes of Excalibur. Shion promises that before the day ends she’ll finish Mizuho’s French composition. Mizuho laughs, finding her new friend to be very persistent.
Outside the chapel are two twin students, seemingly listening in to Shion and Mizuho. They grab hands and walk off.
Misunderstanding (誤解 Gokai)
Class ends. Mizuho looks at her eraser charm and then at Shion, who’s snoring at her desk. Mizuho wakes her up and asks if she can play karuta with her, and Shion is excited that Mizuho’s worked up the strength to ask that. Some classmates take notice of the sudden commotion. Shion asks why they’re playing karuta since there’s two of them, and Mizuho says she couldn’t think of anything else. Sion says it’s an improvement, and soon Mizuho will be able to talk more about herself.
The two girls walk outside. Shion says she’s tried to talk to Mizuho in the past, but she was a little stubborn. However, Mizuho never worried much about what others thought of her. Mizuho accepts that as a compliment, saying it’s the eraser’s power. Shion says Mizuho is the first friend she’s made in this school, enthusing about being able to do all sorts of fun things with her.
The girls run into Yukari, who hands Mizuho last week’s French homework and tells her to do it over; the nuns can’t be allowed to see such a bad thing. Shion asks what gives her the right to order that, and Yukari says that as the class rep, she must preserve the equilibrium of the class. Mizuho’s grades are bringing down the class average, and everyone’s gotten tired of doing duties every week because of it. Yukari accuses Mizuho of either doing her work too fast or not putting enough effort into it and asks what she’ll do. Shion tells Mizuho to refuse, as she knows how hard she’s been working; she wants Mizuho to properly defend herself. Mizuho bows her head and apologizes. Yukari says Shion’s work is bad as well but decides to overlook it, asking if Shion making a charm for Mizuho was an order from Sister Maria. Shion insists that’s not the case, and Yukari says Shion asked her about it earlier. Mizuho bows to Shion and apologizes as well, saying she didn’t know about her punishment and that she’ll do her best not to be a nuisance to anybody. Mizuho walks off alone, and Yukari soon leaves too. Shion ponders by herself, and the twins appear. They say the situation is cruel, like telling a flightless bird about the beauty of the sky. Shion asks what they want.
Mizuho goes to the chapel and thinks of a time when some students were asking her why she came to St. Lucia, because of something with her family. Mizuho says she won’t cry and that this is a punishment, clenching her hands. A student comes up from behind Mizuho and hugs her, saying she needs to pray. Mizuho is caught by surprise and the girl says she needs to stay quiet otherwise she won’t hear the song. Suddenly, a girl falls off the roof of the school and hits the ground, creating a puddle of blood. Mizuho is asked if she heard her song and calls out her name. Mizuho asks how she knows that, and the girl says everybody in St. Lucia knows her as the survivor of the tragedy. She says the truth is different and introduces herself as Saki Ootori, saying she’s the same as Mizuho.
Companion (同士 Dōshi)
Shion relaxes in the bathhouse and wonders what was up with Mizuho. Although it was a misunderstanding, Shion certainly lied to get info about Mizuho. Shion gets out of the bath and notices a light from a police siren, wondering what’s happened this time.
Sister Maria talks to some officers, insistent that the girl’s death was not a suicide. The detective Kuraudo Ooishi asks if it might be murder then. Maria says this must be another trial from God like the last incident. Ooishi can hardly believe that the math teacher’s death from last month could be called an accident. He heard that the day of the incident, the pool was drained for cleaning, yet the teacher was found dead by drowning inside of it. Just a little bit of water was leaking out into the pool, and the teacher was face down and tied up; no matter how you look at it, it must be a torturous murder. Ooishi’s companion is surprised by the description and asks Maria why she never informed the police. Maria says this is St. Lucia Academy, so the teacher’s death was a judgment from God. She says this place has rules, and the detectives should follow them as well.
Maria tells them to come along to talk to a student near the scene of the crime. Mizuho hears them and remembers how suspicious Saki looked back then. She runs to the group, saying she saw a suspicious person near where a person died. Maria thinks she’s talking about the pool incident but Mizuho says she's talking about today. Ooishi takes notice, wondering if Mizuho might be a serial killer since she was close to two crime scenes. Maria chastises him for saying such a terrible thing, saying that Mizuho is just a girl and knows enough about the horrors of murder. She explains that Mizuho was ina situation where she was related both to an assailant and to a victim. The detectives ask what that incident was, and Mizuho excuses herself while saying she just saw everything wrong. Ooishi asks again what incident Mizuho was involved in, and Maria says he won’t hear anything from her.
The girls gossip over the student’s recent death, with Yukari also looking worried. Shion says this is a great time to discuss their inescapable fate, and Yukari asks if she can really enjoy listening to these horrible stories. Yukari is disgusted by Shion’s casual approach to death and leaves. Shion quickly asks if she’s seen Mizuho but Yukari doesn't know. She asks why Shion cares about her so much, and Shion says Mizuho is her comrade; she can’t trust friends or colleagues, so she trusts someone who has the same scars as her. Even some demons have scars.
Yukari speaks to another nun and gets study handouts from her. She says Mizuho still hasn’t turned in her French composition and that it should be familiar to her since Mizuho’s father works for a French trading company. Yukari reminds her that Mizuho’s father is dead, involved in an incident long ago. The nun remembers and says that story is familiar all across St. Lucia, even to the teachers. She says Mizuho carries a notebook around with her, and that the story about her being killed by her grandmother was something she made up.
Meanwhile, Shion meets with Mizuho and is shocked to hear she met with the criminal behind the falling incident yesterday. Mizuho thinks Saki was also behind the pool incident. Shion asks her to think about why she might’ve come to her. Mizuho is surprised, as she thought Shion would never believe her. She wondered if the person she saw even did kill anyone. Mizuho exclaims that it’s abnormal for people to kill others. Shion laughs at her joke and then asks if the person she saw was a student or a teacher. Mizuho says it’s not a joke, and Shion reminds her that the intent to kill relatives is there as soon as they are born. Shion ominously says people kill people and Mizuho asks if they’re really friends. Shion expresses that they’re comrades, and that she’ll definitely protect Mizuho. Shion holds her hand out, and Mizuho thanks her.
Inside-Out Chapter & after
- Main article: Onisarashi-hen/Plot Summary
These two chapters are epilogues to the main Onisarashi story.
Gallery
.jpg "Utsutsukowashi colored page (1).jpg (455 KB)")
.jpg "Utsutsukowashi colored page (2).jpg (1.09 MB)")
Trivia
- The "Kai (怪)" used in this manga's title, meaning "mystery", is different from the "Kai (解)" used in the title of the answer arcs of Higurashi, which means "solution".
External Links
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