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Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Episode 24: Tsumihoroboshi Chapter Three - Article No.34

September 30, 2006 on 2:57 am | In Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Anime Review |

Summary
Dr. Irie and Officer Oishi analyze the body of Tomitake, who died again on the night of the Watanagashi Festival like in all of the other arcs. Oishi wonders if a drug caused Tomitake to claw out his own throat. Then he suspects that Takano is dead, too.

Rena enjoys a club activity with her friends as usual until their teacher interrupts them and informs Rena that someone wants to see her. She finds Officer Oishi waiting at the door of the school building and he invites her into his car. Oishi shows Rena photos of Tomitake Jiro and Takano Miyo, both of whom she identifies immediately, and questions her about when did she last see the two. The last time when Rena met them was on the night of the Watanagashi Festival…
Before the festival, Rena and Takano encountered each other at a library. Takano was there to do research on Hinamizawa’s serial cases of freak deaths. She told Rena about the legend of Oyashiro-sama and her theory that the villagers actually commit the crimes and credit them to Oyashiro-sama’s Curse.

Rena confessed to Takano that she has met Oyashiro-sama before. She broke Oyashiro-sama’s taboo by moving out of Hinamizawa with her mother to Ibaraki and suffered plenty of horrible things. Rena thought that when she cut herself with a razor, countless maggots crawled out of the wounds mingled with blood. Then Oyashiro-sama appeared and told her that the only way to cure the problem was to return to Hinamizawa. As Rena related to her story, she became frenzied. Takano snapped her out of the trance and told her that she believes her. Takano then lent Rena notebooks containing research that she had done on the history of Hinamizawa and Oyashiro-sama. She asked Rena to keep it a secret.
At home, Rena remembers Officer Oishi telling her that Tomitake and Takano are now dead and pages through Takano’s notes. She finds articles on “Homesick” and “Maggots, in relation to Oyashiro-sama”…

On his way home from school, Keiichi notices Rena beckoning to him from the roadside bushes. She pulls him in with her and tells Keiichi that she’s being watched and Tomitake and Takano have been killed, possibly due to the research that Takano was doing. A white van drives by and Keiichi wonders if that car is on the lookout for Rena. From what she has read in Takano’s notebooks, Rena thinks that the three heads of Hinamizawa, or more specifically, the Sonozaki household, committed the murders under Oyashiro-sama’s name. Rena requests Keiichi to not tell any of this to Rika, Satoko, and Mion and leaves for home.
Keiichi walks by the white van, which has parked. The driver inquires Keiichi whether he’s seen a girl clad in white and wearing purple ribbons or not, to which Keiichi denies. The driver then asks for directions to the school before driving off.