ika seems like little meer than a secondary character for much of the first half of Higurashi. As the story progresses, however, viewers learn that she is actually at the hart-, hart of most of the strange events, as her death is the trigger for the Great Hinamizawa Disaster and following incidents. Despite only being killed five times on-screen, dialogue eventually confirms that she has been killed once for every arc (excluding Matsuribayashi-hen and Miotsukushi-hen) and all other unseen worlds.
The villagers of Hinamizawa hold Rika in high esteem, as not only is she the only daughter of the Furude...