All right, so the Saikoroshi Hen arc or the Dice Killing Chapter arc is the first in the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Rei OVA series, but STOP! If you have not yet watched any of the previous Higurashi seasons (both ni and ni kai) I suggest doing so before reading this review because it's not going to make much sense otherwise.

So this episode begins with Keiichi, Rena, Rika, Satoko, and Mion all riding their bikes which escalates into a bike race by Rika, so all is nice and fun and all until Rika gets hit by a truck (made me sad...>.<) and wakes up a little while afterwards in Hinamizawas school nurses office surrounded by Satoko, Rikas teacher, and strangely enough, Satokos "missing" brother Satoshi. This confuses Rika of course because she remembers that she was hit by a Truck and instead she is told that she was hit in the back of the head with a ball? Hm, doesn't sound to right to me either, anyway! Rika meets the doctor in which she thinks is the doctor she remembers from before, doctor Irie...it's not of course, it turns out to be a man by the name of Yamamoto. Yamamoto takes Rika to the clinic in Hinamizawa for a brain scan just to be sure and while Rika is at this clinic the confusion inside that cute little girls head just grows more and more when she finds out that the clinic is named: "Takano Clinic" she is told by Yamamoto that there was an elderly doctor named Takano Hifumi who ran the clinic long ago but then passed away. Rika questions Yamamoto if Hifumi ever had a daughter in which he tells her not that he can recall as well as the fact that he does not know any doctor by the name of "Irie". So Rika is released from the clinic so that she can go back to school for the second portion of the day, when she gets to school some of her thoughts are confirmed when she sees that Keiichi is not present in the classroom meaning that Satoshi is still in Hinamizawa and has not "disappeared". After school ends Rika walks home with Rena because Mion had some business to take care of. While on their way home Rika questions Rena who in this time is called "Reina", being her original name, so Rika asks how Renas parents are to which Rena replies that they are fine. Next Rika asks Rena how Satokos parents are which, once again, she replies that they are fine and decides to ask Rika why she is asking so many questions. Rika just smiles cutely and innocently while saying that she just was wondering. A trip through Hinamizawas main street prompts another thought by Rika. All of the stores seem to be closing down due to what Rena tells her is the Dam Project, meaning that soon Hinamizawa will be flooded and the storekeepers and villagers are evacuating as quickly as possible. Rika asks if there was any dispute over the dam project and Rena says that no such thing ever happened, so the next question completely causes Renas reaction to be...well...not-so-cute.


BARA BARA JIKEN?! (meaning: mutilated corpse incident)

Ahem...yes...Rika asks about the "mutilated corpse incident" which was mentioned at the beginning of "Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni" where all of the workers involved in the dam project were killed in a very...gruesome manner. Rena gives Rika very fierce look and questions her about the incident, then the fierce scary look goes away and Renas face is nice and cute again (o:) while saying that such a thing has never happened. Rena starts walking home, without saying farewell to Rika (hiding the fact that something DID happen? Hm?). After hearing all this from Rena, Rika goes to find out for herself and sure enough, Team Hinamizawa Dam Project are right there working their asses off leaving Rika very puzzled as to why she has awoken in this time and what she has to do to return to her own world.

Final thoughts: All right, review time! This was a pretty interesting start, it looks like we'll get to know more about what happened before Keiichi came to Hinamizawa. I myself have been waiting for this to be explained more thoroughly for a very long time and finally it looks like I get my wish. Some things were a little hard to follow, but hey, what can I expect from a Higurashi OVA. Essentially there is a question arc and an answer arc and I'm very much looking forward to how this plays out. I knew from the first moment I watched the opening for this OVA series that it was going to mostly follow Rika, who happens to be my favourite character in the Higurashi franchise. I'm interested in what Rika will do and just how far she will go to return to the world in which by the looks of things, she misses very much so.