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Title: Higurashi When They Cry: Abducted by Demons Arc Vol 2

Story:  Ryukishi07

Art: Karin Suzuragi

Publisher: Yen Press

ISBN: 9780759529847

May Contain Spoilers

Wowsers.  This was a deliciously creepy read.  I am not normally a fan of psychological suspense, but something about this title didn’t let me put it down.  Keiichi’s idyllic life is about to take a drastic u-turn, plunging him into mystery and terror.  After learning of the suspicious deaths that take place during the Cotton Festival in the small town of Hinamizawa, he suddenly can’t trust anyone.  When it appears that his best friends, Rena and Mion, have something to do with the deaths, he is trapped in a nightmare.  Has Keiichi really been marked as the next victim of Oyashiro-sama’s Curse?

My complaints about the first volume and it’s humdrum events vanish with this dramatic conclusion to the Abducted by Demons story-arc.  Keiichi gets run through the wringer, and it’s no wonder he gets a little unhinged.  Rena, the sweet, charming friend he thought he knew so well, has been transformed into a frightening, menacing presence that he just can’t escape from.  Fearing for his life, he starts to avoid his classmates, and that only makes matters worse.  Rena is everywhere, creepy, different, and oh, so scary.  As events begin to chase Keiichi down the road to danger, his terror of Rena grows and grows.  Is she really behind the other deaths that have occurred in the village?

The narrative was tense and gripping, as Keiichi uncovers one mystery after another.  His life is in danger, and he has nowhere to turn.  The entire village has to be in on the gruesome murders, and the rumors of Oyashiro-sama’s Curse keeps him awake at night.  Learning that the village was once possessed by murderous demons doesn’t make his mind rest any easier.  As he untangles one creepy circumstance after another, the dark and menacing atmosphere ratchets up another notch.  Through expressive art, terse dialog, and the creative use of fonts and word balloons, Keiichi’s horror and the very intense fear for his life is convincingly relayed to the reader.  I could not put this one down.   At two volumes, this is worth a try if you enjoy suspenseful thrillers.  

Grade:  A-