Danielle Leigh’s Reading Diary — 2/26/09 | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources

CBR Live! Archive

Danielle Leigh's Reading Diary -- 2/26/09

by Danielle Leigh
in Comic Reviews, Danielle's Reading Diary

Today I discuss the second, and extremely creepy, volume of Higurashi: When they Cry (Abducted by Demons Arc) by Ryukishi07 and Karin Suzuragi.

The first volume, which certainly piqued my interest but didn't really capture it, ends up being 200 pages of set up for the paranoid, cracked-out thrill ride that is volume 2. At the end of volume one, protagonist Keiichi is starting to become suspicious his new female friends -- i.e. or as I think of them, "fanservice cliches" -- are part of the murderous circle that has been responsible for the death of one or two outsiders each year during the time of a small town festival. In volume 2, we are stuck inside Keiichi's head, which is extraordinarily unpleasant place to be (which is part of the pleasure of a truly good horror story). Is Keiichi right to suspect his friends of participating in the town killings? Or has he become overly paranoid by imagining these girls (or at least two of them) are cold-blooded killers?

I think it is the paranoia that really makes the story so suspenseful -- it takes the context of Keiichi's everyday life it makes it extremely sinister. Suddenly, you really don't want that cute girl from next door making you a box lunch, believe me. As Keiichi takes steps to "protect" himself, he learns that a boy just like himself -- another transfer student -- went through the same motions a year earlier....and that boy is dead. Add more instant paranoia and stir!

The fanservice-y art is actually a touch of brilliance. A slight difference in eye shape and facial expression and suddenly you are confronted with the scariest beast on the planet -- a cute as a button teenage girl with murder on the mind. The artist has taken the harem-shonen style and adapted it to this suspense tale, which is probably why this volume is so scary. It takes the familiar and turns it inside out. And that is why it is not only good horror, but also a good suspense tale. In the end, the scariest demons may be the ones we can only imagine.

Review Copy provided by Yen Press.

Posted on February 26, 2009 @ 07:40 AM

Leave a Comment

Comments below

9 Comments

Michelle Smith

February 26, 2009 at 9:08 am

You have succeeded in making me want to give this series another chance. I read part of vol. 1 in a Border's a few months ago, but got turned off by all the boobs going "Byoing!" and put it back on the shelf.

Danielle Leigh

February 26, 2009 at 9:11 am

Yeah, that was what was so boring about volume 1. Now I think that the fanservice was purposefully so cliched, in order to lull the reader into a false sense of security. Well. It certainly worked on me!

James Moar

February 26, 2009 at 10:59 am

I saw the anime (which isn't fanservice-heavy), and there are plenty of big twists and reveals to come.

Grico

February 26, 2009 at 1:48 pm

Yeah the series sound pretty interesting in a disturbing way. I'll have to pick it up at some point.

Dave

February 26, 2009 at 3:03 pm

Every time I read something about this series I wonder why I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. The concept really seems like something I would be into, I love this kind of subversive stuff that plays with genre expectations.

I guess my question would be if there is a reliance upon preexisting knowledge of harem manga cliches to fully appreciate the story here? I've never really been all that interested in the genre and consequently I can't think of a single one that I've actually read.

Danielle Leigh

February 26, 2009 at 4:31 pm

hi Dave! Well, I'm certainly not the audience for shonen-harem shows (like Love Hina, Negima and so forth) as they tend to bore me to death. I think simply being aware that they exist and having some knowledge about them is enough as far as I can tell.

I know that Higurashi has several different "iterations" and the Abducted by Demons Arc (I believe complete in two volumes) is just the first one...so I'm not really sure what will happen in other versions of the story.

Kenotic

February 27, 2009 at 3:14 am

Good review! I enjoy that the series turns a lot of tropes on their head -- and all of the sudden it turns from "This is kind of creepy" (i.e. Cute girls all throwing themselves at the main guy) to "This is REALLY creepy" (i.e. Cute Girls, random vehicles, and possibly a whole town trying to kill the main guy).

I've seen the anime series, and the best part is simply that the characters turn out to be smart -- neither dumb harem cliches nor horror movie cliches. Some of the lead girls all have great deductive reasoning skills, and Keiichi is actually quite ingenious and have a leader's mind.

Comic Book Resources

CBR Live! Archive