This work became famous through anime and manga, but the original was a computer game by the doujin circle "07th Expansion". The genre is a sound novel, and the director and scriptwriter is Ryukishi07. The game, manga, and anime are all divided into a question section and an answer section, and it is structured so that you cannot grasp the whole picture of the work unless you play and read both. The official title is "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" with the "na" in red, and even in the English version, "When They Cry" with the "C" in red. The cute characters give it a cruel and thrilling story, which is hard to imagine, and it is also an excellent horror work. There are many attractive characters in this work, but this time I would like to introduce "Akasaka Mamoru", who appears in the latter half of the story and plays a major role in "Matsuribayashi-hen". His overwhelming sense of heroism greatly changes Rika's fate.
Character Profile of Akasaka Mamoru
A detective belonging to the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau, he is a so-called elite group, but in "Killing Time Arc", he has little practical experience and is depicted struggling with Yamainu.
He is calm and collected, has a strong sense of justice, and is a hot-blooded man who hates crooked things, but surprisingly, he was passionate about mahjong during his school days and was a professional-level mahjong player with the nickname "Baba no Mamoru".
He preferred high stakes and was known to wreak havoc in the mahjong parlors of Kabukicho, where he was skilled enough to completely defeat Oishi and the boss, but after repeated warnings from his girlfriend Yukie, he quit mahjong.
After he got married, he loved his wife Yukie dearly, and her death came as a great psychological shock to Akasaka.
His voice actor in the original work is Koyasu Takehito, but in the anime version he is played by Ono Daisuke.
First appeared in "Killing Time Arc"!
The story is set in Hinamizawa one year before Keiichi Maebara moves from Tokyo in the main story.
In an investigation into the kidnapping of the Minister of Construction's grandson, Akasaka is assigned to the Hinamizawa district "Onigafuchi Shiho Alliance" investigation.
On the way to Hinamizawa Watching, he meets Furude Rika, and after a short conversation, Rika's behavior suddenly changes. "Akasaka, go back to Tokyo," "You'd better go back to Tokyo quickly. Otherwise, you'll regret it terribly," Rika loses consciousness after saying this. Also, when Akasaka tries to call his wife, he cuts the phone line and says sadly, "Even if I call, it will only make Akasaka sad." Akasaka later finds out that Rika had predicted the future, but in "Killing Time Arc," he immediately returns to Tokyo, loses his wife, and is unable to save Rika.
Akasaka returns to Tokyo to save his wife
In "Massacre Arc," Akasaka visits Hinamizawa in 1978 and listens to Rika's advice to "go back to Tokyo," and decides to return to Tokyo immediately.
This prevents his wife from falling to her death down the stairs, but when he visits Hinamizawa again in June 1983, he only goes to the hot springs with his wife and then leaves, ignoring Rika's pleas to help her and failing to save her.
As a result, Rika says to Akasaka, "Akasaka is useless when he's not around at the most crucial times," and the nickname "Hot Spring" spread among fans.
Akasaka is awakened! This is the true form of the hero who saves Rika
In "Matsuribayashi-hen", Akasaka listens to Rika's advice in Hinamizawa in 1978, but instead of returning to Tokyo, he calls his wife Yukie to tell her to be careful of the stairs, thereby avoiding the tragedy of her falling to her death.
In her escape from Yamainu, Rika chooses to allow herself to be captured in order to protect everyone. This time, Rika does not give up and sacrifice herself like in the previous worlds. Having learned how to create miracles in other worlds, Rika waits for an opportunity to create a miracle by extending her life. However, Okonogi takes Rika out and orders his team members to kill the other comrades. Unable to save his comrades, Rika's life is in Okonogi's hands, and he is in a desperate situation...
Suddenly, Akasaka Mamoru, who has regrets piled up in all worlds, rushes to his aid in this predicament.
This word makes everything worth it
It's such a cool entrance scene that it makes you think, "Akasaka should be the main character!" At this time, Akasaka had been in a special unit different from the general police since visiting Hinamizawa in 1978, and had survived many battles. He trained his body every day so that he could rescue Rika someday. He was trusted by his colleagues and juniors, and had overwhelming fighting power that would not yield to any enemy. His fighting style was basically based on karate, but he used free and practical techniques that were not bound by that framework. He was feared for his incredible destructive power, such as distorting the frame of a car with his bare hands and breaking through the window on the other side with the impact.
In the battle scene between Akasaka and Okogi, some of the most famous lines in the entire Higurashi series are heard, such as "You don't know what your blow will do to your opponent, or how much pain and sadness it will cause. That's why your blow has no weight" and "That's good. How much is your salary?"
Approaching Akasaka Mamoru, the hero who changed Rika's fate!
What did you think?
Although he appeared in the latter half of the story, Akasaka Mamoru is the last "fragment" that breaks through fate. He doesn't play a big role outside of "Matsuribayashi-hen", but this shows that "the existence of one hero does not solve the story", which contradicts the concept of Higurashi, which is "communication and unity". However, he was given the nickname "Onsen" and ended up in a very unfortunate role, so in "Matsuribayashi-hen", he showed off his heroic side without holding back. His lines are generally chuunibyou-like, but that also gives him a heroic feel and makes him cool. By the way, in "Miotsukushihen", we learn that he has a tendency to go on rampages, and he leaves Detective Oishi dumbfounded during a car chase with Yamainu. If you watch the other parts, you'll see a different side of Akasaka Mamoru, so if you're interested, be sure to check them out.
