Woohoo, the show is getting awesome again. This episode was just full of unexpected and great plot-twists. Characters got a bit more fleshed out, and I still have trouble seeing Keiichi and Rena being so close to each other.
We start with the introduction of another character: the village chief. Okay, he never gets show on the screen, but it seems that he disappeared the day after the Watanagashi. Our fivesome discusses this event, Rena gets all giddly, and Shion (Mion?) looks away when he mentions Oyashiro-sama.
Keiichi still thinks about what happened during the Watanagashi, but then he runs into Rika. This is the first time she really got some scenes which centered around her. The two of them hold a very cryptic conversation. Rika knows what Keiichi did. Then Keiichi realizes that Rika knows what he did. Rika then sees that he realizes that she knows what he did. Keiichi then knows that she knows that he realizes that she knows what he did, and I can continue like this for a while longer. Rika, being the shrine maiden and all, decides to forgive and protect Keiichi. During this conversation, Rika rapidly switches from being scary to serious to cheerful. Overall, very nicely done. She also warns Keiichi in scary-mode about an elder sister, who is angry at her younger sister for committing an evil act. She probably means Mion and Shion with this. Mion appears to be very angry with Shion. (And we’ve seen her getting angry before ;))
Rika also mentiones a very interesting fact: there’ll be no more club meetings for a little while, as she wants to avoid the elder sister for a while. This really gives a different perspective to the arc, but I’ll get back to this later, as there’s an event which plays later in the episode which is connected to this statement of hers.
That evening, Shion calls Keiichi again. He apologizes, and she forgives him. She then begins to break down, as she tells him that it’s her fault that the village chief disappeared. She told him about what happened, and he disappeared afterwards. Keiichi then realizes that he did tell Rika about it. Nice plot twist, very nice plot twist indeed. He calls Rika’s house, but she doesn’t answer. He then contacts Rena, and the two of them run into Mion on their way to Rika’s house. Rena was being dead serious, for the first time ever not literally. I can’t say what’s scarier, when she takes the dead serious litterally, or when she doesn’t. Though, the fact remains that she was awesome at that time.
They arrive at Rika’s house. Apparently, she lives along with Satoko. Both of their parents died, so they have been taking care of themselves ever since. The doors are locked, Mion finds a ladder, Keiichi climbs it while looking for an open window and Rena goes to look somewhere for keys. When Rena’s gone, Mion enters Oyashiro-mode, and tells him that Satoko’s parents fell off the cliff because of Oyashiro, and her brother, the infamous Satoshi also disappeared. She shakes the ladder very brutally, though her mood completely disappears when Rena gets back with a couple of other villagers. I do have problems with this again. At that time, Mion was so badly animated, the scary part was almost gone, even though her face was in emo-mode again.
Still, it does bring up an interesting issue. Why does Oyashiro-Mion want to hide her mood in front of Rena? In the previous arc, the two of them got in emo-mode often at the same time. This probably means that Rena indeed has not been infected with Oyashiro’s curse. This also means that something must’ve happened for her to be infected in the previous arc. What would that have been? Does Keiichi play an unconcious role in this? And how did Mion get infected? And what did the “no blood” mean, which Mion kept repeating?
Another interesting fact I only realized after watching the episode once more: that night (exactly two nights after Watanagashi), there’s a full moon. It simply CAN NOT be a coincidence that there’s a full moon, right at that particular day. It absolutely can’t. It has to have some kind of meaning. Also, why wasn’t there a full moon on the most logical option: the night Watanagashi itself?
Anyway, inside Rika’s and Satoko’s house, Keiichi, Mion and Rena find some wrapped-up dishes and some finished cookings which haven’t been touched. Rena comes with her theories afterwards. But first, she actually COMFORTS Keiichi, who keeps blaming Rika’s disappearance to himself. I was a bit startled to see her so humane, but I absolutely loved that scene.
Anyway, Rena’s theory: Satoko bought some tofu at an old ladies’ that night. Tofu is used as the last ingredient of miso-soup, which was to be found on a large pot on the stove when Rena searched the room. This means that Rika was there, cooking, until right before dinner-time (apparently, dinner-time in Japan is at 19:00, instead of the usual 18:00), Satoko was getting the final tofu, because it appeared that they ran out. Because of the dishes which were wrapped up in the fridge, it becomes clear that something came up, which caused them to skip their dinner. This probably was right before dinner-time as well, otherwise, they wouldn’t have cooked. Rika probably noticed that they were out of soy sauce as well, so she went to some house, in order to borrow some. She then stayed there, for some reason, and when Satoko came home, she contacted her, ordering to come as well. The people at that house probably offered Rika and Satoko some dinner instead, making the dishes that Rika cooked obsolete. Satoko wrapped some of the dishes and went to Rika. Since then, they disappeared. This is quite impressive, though nothing mysterious comes from Rena. She all did this with the help of logic and common sense. I liked her even more after this.
They then run into Oishi, Rena leaves, and we see one of the most awesome scenes in the series. First of all: Oishi knows what Keiichi did on the night of the Watanagashi. Rumour have been spreading the morning afterwards. (who started these rumours, exactly?) Then the good part comes. Remember Shion? She’s been left outside of the spotlights this episode, in contrast to the previous one. It appears that she disappeared as well. Another scene that the creators managed to bring extremely well. It indeed seems like Keiichi didn’t see something that the other three did see. What could it be?
Another interesting fact which gets revealed is that Shion could’t have talked to the village chief, in order to confess her actions. Shion heard about the murders the morning after Watanagashi. At that time, the village chief was visiting a hospital in a far away place, to see a proctologist. On the way back, he was delayed because of a train accident, so he barely arrived in time for the shrine meeting, after which he disappered. Shion couldn’t have talked to him, unless it was after the meeting, which brings up very interesting discussions.
To close things, none other than Shion decides to give Keiichi a call. This is most obviously Mion, trying to imitate Shion, as she only confirms what Keiichi tells her, well acted. She also ends with the emo-laugh, and the episode closes. Well then, at which exact points did Shion pretend to be Mion, and Mion pretend to be Shion? The one with the ladder could’ve been the same Oyashiro-Mion from last arc, though it also could’ve been Shion who was infected with his curse (remember the first episode?). The first Shion, was that Mion again? Or really was that Shion. In any case, it would’ve been a different person than the one from the end of the second episode. You don’t forgive someone for yelling at you with such insults that fast.
This does mean that both Mion and Shion know what happened at the night of the Watanagashi, regardless of which one it was who entered the temple along with Keiichi. And at that time, when Shion disappeared and Mion appeared. Cos already mentioned that that could’ve been the same person. What was the other one doing at that time? And do Mion and Shion know about the switches of the others? And are they working together if they do?
Anyway, back to Rika. When you combine her story with Rena’s theory, it seems that Rika knew that she was going to disappear. Then why would she do it during dinner-time, unless if it was to set her own disappearance in scene? And what does Satoko have to do with this? In any case, Rika hasn’t disappeared entirely, as she still has to stab herself in front of the big sister. This makes us believe that the one in the emo-moods really was Mion after all, unless big sister means something different than age. And what exactly did make her stab herself anyway? She knew that it was going to happen, so she tried to run away. Though, unfortunately, the big sister will eventually find her at the end of the next episode.
Changes with the previous arc:
– Rika actually plays a big role.
– Rena’s not infected with Oyashiro-sama, and actually acts caring towards Keiichi.
– Oishi is much more suspicious.
– Mion (or Shion) is the one who tells Keiichi about Satoshi. Satosho also has no meaning at all in this arc.
– Rika and Satoko disappear/fake their own disappearance.
– Keiichi doesn’t get as paranoid as he did in the previous arc.
– Important: Keiichi actually cares about his friends. Something he didn’t show in the previous arc.
– Rika seems friendlier to Keiichi.
– Rena’s past is NEVER mentioned.
– The link between the main characters and the deaths/disappearances never gets mentioned.
– Keiichi’s parent are at home after the Watanagashi. At least his father is.
– Keiichi does not go to the hospital.
– No bento.
Similarities:
– Phones are widely used once more.
– Mion (if she actually is Mion) gets posessed by Oyashiro-sama.
Another thing, before I’ll stop, is the following: Keiichi’s behavior. As I mentioned before: he actually cares about his friends this time. These feelings were nowhere to be found at the first arc, as he was just struggling to keep alive, and suspecting everyone and everything. Could it be that Keiichi reacts differently during each and every one of different arcs of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni?
