Watangashi is the second entry into this episodic visual novel and once again sees us play as Keiichi, the newly arrived city-boy adapting to rural life. All four of his newfound friends also make a return as they continue to live life to the fullest by making the smallest of club activities into a massive event. For those that have played the previous title, you may be wondering, “wait, what?” right about now. This review will contain inevitable spoilers, so it is highly recommended you play the previous entry to avoid ruining the many surprises that this intrigue-filled series offers. With that said, this is not exactly what I’d call a continuation of the events that occurred last time. It is more akin to choosing a different route in a VN that leads to a branching plotline.
After the shocking events that occurred, seeing everyone happy again and acting normally is quite uncanny. It once again opens with a long slice of life section before anything out of the ordinary happens. With the assumption that we already know about all of the characters, the main focus will center around your school friend Mion in a tale far more romantically focused than before. The writing is as entertaining and hilarious as ever, making us genuinely care for everyone around us. Knowing what we know, there is always the sense of being around a metaphorical time-bomb in an otherwise unassuming world. Even compared to the first chapter’s glacial pace, I was surprised with how slow the horror crept in. You’ll find the plot to be more sad and tragic than unnerving throughout, despite your life very much being in possible danger.
The central theme this time is less about the previous yearly disappearances and more about the history of the town of Hinamizawa itself. You’ll learn quite a bit, but only after around the 8 or 9-hour mark where the troubles begin. This fact kills any momentum the last chapter built up and once again leaves the people not into the slice of life genre or simply wanting to move the plot along, to endure through it. I’d argue it is still necessary as it introduces new characters who would mean little to you if they just cut straight to the chase. The payoff is worth it and is something I’ll keep vague as to not spoil, but damn, do I really want to mention how haunting it is. Higurashi When They Cry always seems to masterfully build suspense and defy expectations.
Our protagonist, Kei, is the only thing to have regressed. He is much more of a typical horror cliché, making one dumb mistake after another. That is kind of disappointing after having praised his reasonable reactions and train of thought last time, even if they weren’t always correct. Kei was just a kid caught up in something beyond him, but now he brings it on himself more often than not, making it more difficult to sympathize. Mion, on the other hand, I’m glad has been fleshed out more. She was always an entertaining character and discovering more about her, as well as her family, is fascinating. Equally as interesting is that old foes may now be allies or vice versa. You can predict some things with prior knowledge of the first chapter, yet this entry is akin to being handed another piece of the puzzle that may paint a different overall picture than you initially thought.
In total, it took me around 14 hours to complete, which is two more than the prior game. It retains the option to switch between the updated character art and the original less than stellar ones. Also returning is the post-game scenario in where every character meets up in one place to talk about what happened in the story, like some kind of book club. That is as entertaining as ever and brings up good points & theories to make one that much more eager to find out what happens next time. If you’re reading this review, it is likely you want to know if it is worth putting down some cash after the first free title. The answer to this is an easy yes. Watanagashi continues the tradition of building a wonderful world before violently tearing it down around you for reasons still beyond our understanding. The mystery remains just as tempting to uncover, and what it does answer opening up a whole slew of new questions. If you’ve enjoyed ch.1, then this is an easy recommendation.
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