3.5/5 ★ – likevin96's review of Higurashi When They Cry Hou - Ch.3 Tatarigoroshi.

- Weakest of the three entries so far, but still solid - Satoko was my least favorite of the main heroines going into this chapter and she still is going out. Her VA is definitely a reason - it just doesn't feel right - Keiichi is awful and his VA makes it even worse. I'm not completely sure if that's Ryukishi's intention, but I sure hope so. I suspect it is, but maybe not to the extent I'm experiencing here - I wish there were Mangagamer-style CGs - Definitely the most frustrating rather than simply horror / thrilling out of the entries so far. It's a very different approach to the story that I don't necessarily hate, but it's tough to stomach at times. I'm torn at Ryukishi's depiction of child abuse here. While it is obviously, for the most part, incredibly sympathetic and horrifying in what is likely a realistic way (especially with the statistic TIPS), its implication of Satoko in her continued suffering is strange. I wonder if there's more than meets the eye there, because as it stands there's a bit of an element of victim blaming here. It's just such an incredibly difficult subject to work with, especially due to the heavily implied child SA, that I'm not sure if he perfectly threads the needle in treating it with the gravitas such a subject deserves (although he certainly attempts to) - The 1500 second speech / moment is just amazing. It was a very interesting direction things went after it This was by far the "most difficult" of the chapters so far, both hard to read and containing the most inscrutable mysteries. While this is a dip from the first two chapters, it still works as a great piece in this amazing overarching story and I can't wait to read more