Author: psgels

Cos was right. This episode was much better than the standard which Higurashi managed to set. We finally have an episode at which we have tension, but the animation doesn’t go over the top. I absolutely loved this. The creators finally realize that Higurashi’s brilliance lies in the subtle details, and not in the fake-emo-distorted images. Emo-distorted images do help, of course, in fact, they work really well, but not if they’re so fake as in Higurashi. Thank goodness the creators learned in this episode.

Satoko’s put into recovery after what happened at the previous episode. Mion, Chie and Keiichi are surprisingly the only ones who stayed with her until the evening. Then the episode already begins good when Keiichi gets one of the craziest ideas ever: kill the uncle himself. The entire episode’ll focus on this aspect, nothing more. This episode also confirmed some thoughts I’ve had for a while: Higurashi’s episode get more and more focused on one subject. The anime is way more episodic than it was at the beginning of the show, at which all kinds of events just went through each other. There are good sides, and bad sides to this. The bad side is the predictability. Though the good side is that they can really give the viewer the chance to live along with the plot. This especially worked well during this episode.

When he’s at home, he asks his mother some subtle questions about the perfect mystery. As she’s a lover of mystery novels, she gives him some nice inspiration for his plans. If nothing happens, nothing starts. Keiichi tries what most killers who don’t want to go to jail try as well: conceal the body as good as possible.

Keiichi then goes to school, and for some reason, he goes to Satoshi’s locker, as he assumed that a baseball bat would lie in there. It did, just like in the first arc. (Apparently, Keiichi likes to use baseball bats as a weapon). He then makes some preparations, and phones Mion to ask her to take Satoko to the Watanagashi. He lies to her, in a very similar way Satoshi did back then. It’s much like Keiichi’s phone-conversations with Shion in the second arc. Keiichi now also realized what I predicted during the previous episode: the drug addict who killed Satoko’s aunt was actually Satoshi himself. Of course, this could just be a wild idea of Keiichi.

Another interesting theory about Satoshi’s disappearance, which would explain Satoko’s behavior at the end of the previous episode is the following: Satoko was actually the one who killed Satoshi in some way, though she now sees that as a huge mistake. When Keiichi reminded her of Satoko, she remembered the fact that she killed him, and went berserk, and kept on apologizing.

In any case, Satoshi and Keiichi were very much alike, which would hint at the fact that he indeed did kill his aunt. Still, I believe there’s more than just that. After all, otherwise they wouldn’t just announce this this early in the series. The next day, the Watanagashi starts, and Keiichi grabs a shovel. He then heads to a place in the mountains, and begins digging a hole. While he digs the hole, he gets flashbacks of his own past. It’s the first time we see such a thing.

The flashback does explain why he managed to think of such a plan. Keiichi’s horrible with theories, though when it comes to practical knowlegde, he’s incredibly smart. That would explain all his theories in the first arc. It seems that he was really hated back then, and people started to bully him, putting dead rats in his desk, etc. That’s why he got transferred to Hinamizawa Village and met the others. It suddenly becomes clear why Keiichi’s mother and father are away for such a long time. They live in Hinamizawa because of Keiichi being bullied. Still, why does he move away again in the second arc? In any case, the fact that Keiichi was bullied does explain why he’s so eager to protect Satoko, with the disease only making this worse.

Then we get our first reference to the title of the anime: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, or when the cicadas cry. In other words: in the evening. Anyway, right before sundown, Keiichi grabs Satoshi’s bat, and gives Satoko’s uncle a call to lure him out. Satoko’s been in custody by the police, so he needs to come to the police office. The plan almost goes wrong when it appears that the guy doesn’t know where the police office is. ^^;

Keiichi, meanwhile waits for the guy, and hits him down with a metal bat. What follows is probably the best couple of scenes from Higurashi yet. Keiichi chases the guy, and beats him to death. He buries the body with the shovel (interesting note: Keiichi had prepared a hole for the guy, but he couldn’t find it anymore). Rain starts, and Keiichi’s incredibly happy that he did it. Though I think that everyone would be, after that much adrenaline poured through your body. (another interesting note: this was probably the first time in anime ever that the main character commited a murder, and had to cover up for it in such a way ^^). In any case, I just loved this. Especially when Keiichi beat the guy down with the club. Finally a paranoid scene which doesn’t look too fake. (It’s probably because he didn’t talk or laugh at that moment).

In any case, Keiichi’s mission is accomplished and he heads home. Still, he almost collapses. Then, Takano runs into him, in her car. Without Tomitake. This provides some very interesting theories when you compare it with the previous arcs. He tries to find an excuse for being in the middle of the rain with a shovel, though it doesn’t work. Luckily, Takano doesn’t mind, and she takes him with her. Keiichi’s bike gets left behind, and in the car, Keiichi sees something like a wheelchair lying on the backseat. Takano then asks Keiichi whether the corpse was properly burried. >:)

In any case, let’s take a look at Takano, shall we? She just went to the temple, along with Tomitake, there she saw something, the two of them left and headed for the riverbank. Then something happened which caused Tomitake to strangle himself with his own nails and now Takano has his dead body inside the trunk of her car, and she’s planning to dump the body somewhere. Interesting theory, no? Still, there are a lot of questions unanswered. Like, did Takano kill Tomitake, but make it look like he killed himself, or did the guy really kill himself? I would say the former, as Takano has a big grin on her face for the entire time. Still, what was her reason to kill him? And what’s with the wheelchair? And how did she end up burned to a crisp in the second arc? And what was Shino’s role in this? Did she go into the shrine as well, without Keiichi? (interesting note: it did NOT rain at the end of the Watanagashi during the first and second arc… what’s up with that, can Keiichi also influence the weather?).

The fact also remains that Keiichi did leave some traces. The hole he dug, for example, either still exists, or was found out about after he left. He didn’t conceal the second hole he dug properly, as the ground was not totally even. Furthermore, he left his bike near the scene of the crime and even though it’s 1982, detectives must have had at least some tricks to find out about the murderers.

I think the best part of Higurashi remains at the parts at which Keiichi lies towards his friends, and then immediately gets pwned back and brought into incertainty. It might be something personal, as I’ve got a problem with lying myself, though these scenes were just absolutely incredible to see.

Differences with previous arcs:
– Satoko’s uncle did not visit in the first and second arc, otherwise she must’ve been absent for a number of days as well, at which she wasn’t. This does mean that something happened which made her Uncle return to her.
– Keiichi does not attend the Watanagashi, and he never enters the shrine.
– We never see that Rika participates in the Watanagashi.
– Mion and Keiichi talk over the telephone this time, instead of Shion and Keiichi.

For probably the first time in Higurashi, an episode totally focuses on one character. And all of the events happening center around this character, perhaps meeting up with Tomitake and Takano is the only scene that didn’t involve her in some way. Keiichi also plays for narrator again, which is interesting, seeing the nature of the show. And yet again, each of the characters acts a little bit different. I’ll get to this at the end of the post, when I discuss the differences from the previous arcs. Tomitake is perhaps the only one who really stayed the same. In any case, you just can’t help to feel sorry for Satoko. I’m no exception to this, and I loved the episode.

We start out one morning, three days before the Watanagashi, and Satoko seems to have called in sick. Everyone is worried about her. Keiichi, Rika, Mion and even Rena (we never get any paranoid actions from her). Then the OP rolls. Keiichi helps a couple of kids get their football back, and then Oishi runs into him. This time, Oishi isn’t looking for Keiichi, but he’s looking for Satoko. Keiichi refuses to tell Oishi about Satoko’s condition, and then Oishi gets evil for the first time in the anime, trying to strangle Keiichi. He eventually manages to get his information from a couple of little girls.

It also becomes clear that Keiichi’s the heir of the Maebara-estate. Apparently, his father is a rather famous artist. Anyway, Irie, or the Director, manages to save Keiichi. Apparently, Oishi and Irie aren’t friendly with each other. Later, Irie tells Keiichi a few facts about Satoko’s past. Apparently, after their parents’ death, she and her brother were taken in by her aunt and uncle, though they were heavily abused. Apparently, the aunt was the victim of last year’s Watanagashi, being beaten by a drug addict. Her uncle then moved away. Though he still visits them (this becomes clear when Keiichi hears a rumour from a couple of boys).

That evening, Keiichi decides to pay a small visit to some kind of house. I seem to have missed something here, as it’s not the same house that was shown in the sixth episode. Or do Rika and Satoko live apart after all? Anyway, then he manages to run into Irie and Satoko. Apparently, Irie met up with Satoko while she was bringing some groceries homewards, and it was just too much for her to carry, so he offered her a lift.

Satoko then looks too sad. It’s not done in an over-the-top way, so it’s just perfect. You just can’t help to feel pity with her. Especially when you see her bruises, and you see her begging to Keiichi to not interfere and compares Keiichi with Satoko (apparently, the two had a lot in common). Still, at that moment, she is in disease/demon-mode. She just reacts totally different from Mion, Rena and Shion when she does.

Irie also has problems with this, but he manages to convince Keiichi to stop. The two of them talka bit later. Apparently, Satoko wants to survive on her own against her uncle, without anyone’s help. This is why the child welfare agency hasn’t interfered yet. Apparently, she really lives on remembering Satoko.

Keiichi then wakes up at the next morning, and then he runs into Tomitake. Apparently, he was planning to go with Takano to the shrine two days before the Watanagashi. This was the first time that Takano talks about the fact that she has seen him before. She also mentions that Keiichi’s the heir of the Maebara estate. As the two of them don’t have to fill in Keiichi about what happened at the Watanagashi, the three of them could speculate a bit. Takano suggests that someone could be using the Watanagashi-murders as a cover.

At school, Keiichi confronts the others with the fact that he knew that Satoko didn’t have a cold. And yes, everyone knew what was happening. They decided to cover it up with a lie, in order to not make other people worried. Still, they get sad when Keiichi mentions it. Then Keiichi asks Mion to listen to him for a bit. He then asks her to make the next Watanagashi-victim Satoko’s uncle. I’ve got some small problems with this. He just knows too little in this arc to be suspecting Mion to be the murderer. He also just assumes that Mion’s a murderer, and thinks about totally other things. Still, it was adorible to see him wanting to safe Satoko. The great thing about Keiichi is that he’s crazy enough do all kinds of things that people would normally consider incredibly risky.

In any case, Mion refused. And she told Keiichi that she’d never do anything as killing. This brings up an interesting issue. Remember episode eight? In there, Mion confessed that she was the center of all of the Watanagashi-murders. Sometimes, she was directly involved. At other times, she wasn’t. At one of these times, she was lying. At the moment, I’m guessing that she was lying when she told Keiichi that her family had nothing to do with the murders. After all, we know that she’s able to lie in order to hide truths that don’t need to be known.

The next day, Satoko seemed to have returned. Apparently, someone called the child protection agency. She and her uncle managed to convince them that there was a misunderstanding. Satoko did this willingly. This only makes her case even sadder and more awesome. It is then revealed that the uncle isn’t even blood related. Satoko’s mother seemed to have remarried another guy, whose brother was the uncle. Even her father used to abuse her.

Then, the fivesome has lunch, and the best scenes since the first arc are shown. Everyone who couldn’t feel pity with Satoko after that scene should be labeled as an emotionless bastard. Rena gets giddly first (awesome as well ^^), and then Keiichi pets Satoko a bit. This reminds her of Satoshi, and Satoko gets paranoid, pushing Keiichi away with enormous force. She also throws up a bit. The episode ends with Satoko repeating “gomen nasai” over and over. I absolutely loved this. 🙂

A thing I wonder is about Rena. She has been infected/her demon has awakened. Then why isn’t she chasing Keiichi with a large machete, or something? What causes her to react differently from the first arc? I guess it would be Keiichi pushing her. After last episode, Keiichi totally stopped suspecting her, which was something that he did during the first arc. In that case, her reaction is totally different from Mion, who just needed the slightest emotional disappointment in order to literally slaughter the entire neighbourhood.

I’m wondering what’s up with Irie. This arc shows that he really is a nice guy, without any malicious intentions. In that case, what were his intentions at the fourth episode? Why did he send so many men in order to save Keiichi? Cos’ disease theory would fit right in. Keiichi had the disease at that time, and couldn’t think clearly. At that time, Irie was trying to cure him, and he asked the help of Mion and Rena in order to inject some antidote, though he completely misunderstood them, and beat them to death with a club. But still, this does leave some open holes. Even for hallucinations, some of them were just too natural.

But then again, if Keiichi really was infected, this would also explain what drove Satoshi away. Satoshi just had the exact same disease Keiichi had in the first arc. There was nobody to support him, so his disease kept getting worse. Then, at the night of the Watanagashi, he killed his aunt, then he realized that he was going into the wrong direction, and ran away from Satoko. Probably trying to protect her. He also took his saved money, as he did prepare his trip. At the moment of the anime, he either died, or he’s still alive somewhere. Living his life, thinking of Satoko.

If you view it like that, then it appears that the first arc was actually a crucial introduction to the anime. It didn’t focus on Rena at all. It focused on the disease! It showed how someone, infected by the disease loses himself more and more. When you compare this to the following arcs, at which Keiichi doesn’t become paranoid AT ALL, you can deduct that the disease can actually be prevented, provided that there are other persons who actually treat you with care. In the first arc, Rena and Mion tried, but failed. Their last attempt, to use the syringe, failed miserably. In the second arc. Mion never got any support out of anyone, so ever since Keiichi gave the stuffed toy to Rena, she’s been fighting against her disease, and losing. That means that during this episode, Satoko already was awakened because of her uncle, but she managed to fight her disease, and she managed to not lose herself in the process. Now, with what happened at the end of this episode, this balance has been destroyed, as Keiichi reminds her too much of Satoshi. Keiichi will now have to do his utter best in order to be able to save Satoko from killing herself by means of the disease. I also fear for the uncle now.

There’s just one part about Higurashi I hate. You just KNOW that the next arc will focus around Rika. There is no other way. Even though I’d love to see that, it’s just too directed, which is not good for a show like Higurashi. We’ll probably get to know more about her mother who commited suicide, and what the mysterious illness was that struck her father. (any bells ringing at your end as well? *wink, wink*). The fifth arc will then focus on Rena. The more I see this, the more I begin to believe that she indeed did not enjoy sufficient background. This will probably be given in the fifth arc, so that the sixth arc will be the one to tie all strings together.

I’m also wondering. When Satoko’s mother and step-father fell off the cliff, only the step-father’s body was found. What happened to the mother’s? There’s also no clue about what happened to Satoko’s real father. Has he died in the meantime? It would seem logical, after all, otherwise Satoko would’ve moved in with him already.

Differences with previous arcs:
– Keiichi actually values Satoko’s life above that of his own. He’s even more humane than he was at the previous episode.
– Rena is either paranoid, worried or giddly. She never has serious- or detective-mode on like in the second arc. Her disease actually fades. We don’t see any paranoid reactions from her, when you compare it to the first arc.
– Rika’s even cuter than before.
– Satoko is acting more and more angsty. Her disease gets active, in contrast to the previous arcs.
– Mion is actually concerned and serious, in a non-angry way.
– No Watanagashi during the second episode of the third arc.
– Rika does not mention the fact that she participates in the Watanagashi.
– Takano mentions that she’s seen Keiichi in the hospital (interesting note: there has yet to be a mention of the link between Irie and Takano).
– Keiichi meets up with Tomitake two days before the Watanagashi, instead of the day before in the second arc.
– Oishi does not want to talk to Keiichi this time. Oishi is also seen working on a case before the Watanagashi has taken place, and his personality is totally different. After all, the case involving Satoko is more personal, so he doesn’t have to be nice, and fill Keiichi in with information, like he did in the previous arcs. I’m wondering what will happen after the Watanagashi. After all, Keiichi will be an important witness again, having seen Tomitake and Takano whilst at the temple.
– I’m not too sure about this one, but does Takano carry a camera in the first two arcs? In any case, this is the first time she mentions it.
– The fact that Keiichi’s the heir of the Maebara family, and that that gives him some status, is mentioned for the first time.
– Chie-sensei is actually shown and mentioned. She played an incredibly small part thus far, I believe she was only mentioned in the first episode. And is it me, or does she looks a suspicious lot like Rena? Wasn’t she some kind of relative to Rena?

Overall, now I know for sure: there is a disease, not a demon. All of the events happening in Higurashi can be logically explained. Still, I do have a few questions. First of all, where did the disease originate? It appears that people already carry the disease, and that sad emotions are able to trigger it to become active, making the victim paranoid, causing visions and making them not afraid to kill others. Is this hypothesis true? And what are Tomitake’s and Takano’s part in this? And what about Mion’s tattoo? (Wild Theory: what if the Cicadas are actually the ones who spread the disease? It would at least explain the title of the series.)