Higurashi When They Cry: Curse Killing Arc, Vol. 1
Hinamizawa may seem like a boring little Japanese village to those who don’t know that it carries the curse of the deity Oyashiro-sama. Keiichi, a new resident recently transplanted from the non-cursed metropolis of Tokyo, is still learning just how dangerous the village can be: each year the curse is fulfilled when someone dies at a festival called “Cotton Drifting.” And one of his friends lost her parents, and possibly her missing brother, to this curse. Despite the undertones of horror and darkness, most of this manga volume is not all that scary. There is some frightening imagery that accompanies the few instances where the creepiness of the theme slips in, but for the most part the story focuses on carefree things like cooking contests and baseball games. While this first volume opens a new Higurashi subseries, there are two others currently available in English (Abducted by Demons Arc and Cotton Drifting Arc) that fans should be steered toward. Grades 10-12. --Danica Davidson