Takano Miyo (鷹野三四) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
very_bad_end) wrote2008-03-13 08:58 pm
very_bad_end) wrote2008-03-13 08:58 pm
Higurashi: FAQ Part 2.
Same disclaimers at last time. Only read if you have already finished both seasons at least.
Chapter II: Watanagashi [Cotton-Drifting]
Q: Okay, this chapter was REALLY confusing.
A: Yes, the entire point of this chapter is to feed the viewer disinformation about the Sonozaki family. The first time viewer is most likely (after only seeing Onikakushi-hen) thinking that the 'curse' of Oyashiro-sama is really supernatural in origin, this chapter is meant to provide the false solution of: "The Sonozaki family is the one pulling the strings."
Another purpose of this chapter is to up the bloodshed a little and show that anyone in this series can die, especially the five club member kids.
Q: What's up with Rika killing herself at the beginning of the chapter? Doesn't Mion tell everyone she kills her here?
A: Yes, this is actually something that can be fully explained as an ERROR. Rika does NOT kill herself with the knife as shown here at the start of the chapter. I have no idea why that scene is even in there, maybe they just chose to run a gruesome scene as a teaser without considering the plot. XD;
Q: So Rika's actual fate is...
A: She gets killed by Shion, probably much like we see her kill Satoko in Meakashi-hen.
Q: Sonozaki Shion and Sonozaki Mion play the 'switching twin' trick a lot. Is there any way to be sure to tell them apart?
A: The easiest answer is yes, that Sonozaki Mion has a yakuza 'demon' tattoo on her back. Unfortunately, that's usually not visible so there's nothing so easy to check. Also take into account Mion and Shion are played by the same voice actor. The only way to really know if it's Shion or Mion, especially in this chapter, is to watch what each one says.
Q: So, it's really Mion who gives Keiichi the bento in the beginning of the chapter, right?
A: Right, which is why Shion didn't know about it later. Also note that similar to Onikakushi-hen, Keiichi worries about the food he's been given until he starts eating.
Q: So the person who acts as "Mion" through most of this chapter is really Shion?
A: Correct. We know from Meakashi-hen that Shion takes Mion's place the day after the festival.
Q: How did all those townspeople just 'show up' to save Keiichi out of nowhere when Shion stands up for him?
A: Yeah, this is a little unfair because it makes the viewer imagine they gather because of some mind-controlling parasite or some such thing. XD; We can assume they really did just happen to be passing by and stood up to help.
Q: Does anything happen to the delinquents after they escape the townspeople? Where'd they come from anyway?
A: Actually, yes. In the TIPS for the original games, it's told how they get picked up by Oishi. He tries to cajole them into talking about why they ganged up on him, even trying to scare them by telling them that the people of Hinamizawa really don't like outsiders. They refuse to say anything, so he gives them beer, preventing them from just driving away on their motorcycles, and then has their motorbikes' plates checked for reports of theft. They all get arrested for stealing, and Oishi remarks they were really just a bunch of losers.
Q: What is that 'pounding noise' Shion mentions hearing in the festival tool shed?
A: This is answered in Minagoroshi-hen. We know that the higher level of Hinamizawa syndrome someone becomes infected with, the more they are able to 'hear' Hanyuu. Note that in Minagoroshi-hen, when Rika lets Takano and Tomitake into the shack, Takano starts raving about the tortures done in the name of Oyashiro-sama. Note Hanyuu's reaction is to stamp her feet loudly and go: "Is not! >:o" Considering Takano describes quite a bit of torture in this chapter too, Shion's advanced hinamizawa syndrome probably allowed her to hear it.
Q: What is the 'mistake' Rika makes during the Watanagashi performance?
A: We'll never know for sure. Though that hoe is supposed to be rather heavy, so we can probably assume Rika almost dropped it or some such thing.
Q: Why does Rena act so much like a detective in this chapter? She really seems to know everything.
A: Part of it is the anime making the plot simpler for people to follow (in the games, Rena doesn't put together as much of the plot as she does in the anime). But also it's to emphasize, I think, that the Hinamizawa kids are all pretty smart. It's when they get suspicious and start thinking Oyashiro-sama is following them that they really start making bad decisions. Also consider that Rena has nothing to be paranoid about in this chapter. (No Rina, no family problems.)
Q: If everything's Shion pretending to be Mion from the Sonozaki estate, why does the anime sometimes show Shion in Shion's clothing talking from her Okonomiya apartment during the phone-talking scenes with Keiichi?
A: ...Good question. It might be that scene wasn't done after the switch, or it might be another anime mistake. There are much less 'clues' that the Sonozaki twins switch in the anime in general.
Q: What was up with 'Mion' shaking the ladder?
A: Behold the sometimes ugly to look at art of the first series. XD; Unlike the scenes in Onikakushi-hen, which were Keiichi's imagination, we can probably assume that's really 'Mion' speaking. The whole scene is supposed to be a hint that it's really 'Shion' and not Mion. (Because she specifically rants about how Satoko was a burden to Satoshi.)
Q: So why does Shion only laugh once Keiichi realizes she's lying to him?
A: Keep in mind Shion is VERY insane at this point. Besides that, everything Shion does in this arc is to implicate Mion and the Sonozaki's in general as the real culprits. This too only makes Keiichi think Mion is responsible.
Q: If the whole confession is just disinformation from Shion, why is she able to fool both Keiichi AND Rena? Wouldn't Rena know as a resident of Hinamizawa what parts were strange?
A: Shion really plays to their fears well in her 'confession'. Keep in mind Keiichi's an outsider, he doesn't know any better. But also keep in mind that Rena is a 'believer' in Oyashiro-sama. That's why when talking about killing Rika and such Rena uses words like: "Then Mion... 'hid' Rika..." Furthermore normal villagers really were suspecting the Watanagashi festival murders as things put on by the Sonozakis, so it's not wrong for Rena to buy into that.
Q: Why doesn't Mion tell Keiichi she's really Mion and Shion is really Shion? She had plenty of time!
A: Keep in mind Shion had been keeping Mion locked in that cage for likely days, killing her friends in front of her, likely giving her no food, and giving her only that shroud to wear. Also keep in mind Mion really really didn't want Shion to kill Keiichi, which she likely would if he knew the truth.
Q: Why does Shion play along with the whole 'demon' thing once Keiichi tells her that?
A: Because it played perfectly into Shion's version of Hinamizawa syndrome, that she was acting as 'Mion', but she wasn't really 'Mion', so what was she? If she wasn't Mion and she wasn't Shion, she had to be a demon.
Q: Why does Keiichi just go rushing out to see 'Mion' once she 'comes back'?
A: At first glance, it does seem a little separated from common survival instincts. In the manga/games/etc. Keiichi doesn't just run out to talk with her, he takes the doll he gave to Rena and tries to give it to her. (She stabs him anyway, so the actual event is the same.)
Q: How did Keiichi survive being stabbed by 'Mion'?
A: Note that she stabs him right in the gut. While painful, intestinal wounds are not as fatal as chest wounds or head wounds. Shion probably just ran off after he crumpled over, and someone must've discovered Keiichi and called an ambulance before he lost too much blood.
Q: Why does Oishi suggest Takano was a dead body walking around on the date of the festival?
A: Keeping the timeline in tact, Oishi probably knows the truth about the murders at this point: that it was all Sonozaki Shion who committed them, escaping by trading places with her sister as the 'victim'. But the investigation is likely not finished. In this situation, there's nothing Oishi needs from Keiichi in terms of information, so he most likely only told him that the autopsy revealed Takano hadn't died by the time of the festival.
Q: Does Mion really climb out from under the bed and attack Keiichi?
A: No. Keiichi was succumbing to the shock of the entire ordeal. One of the TIPS from the game states explicitly that Keiichi dies from a sudden case of heart failure while he was recovering. His mind likely imagined the sudden pain as Mion making a final appearance, especially after the visit from Oishi provoking his paranoia even more.
Q: In this chapter, does the "Great Hinamizawa Sterilization Campaign" not occur? If Rika was dead but it wasn't discovered for over a day...
A: YES. This is a point that really gets missed for people who only watched the anime. In this chapter, Takano does NOT succeed in her plan to exterminate all of the villagers. It is partly her own fault too, ironically, for providing Shion with more material to make her paranoid as we saw in Meakashi-hen. However, since Rika and most of the Hinamizawa people die, it is not a 'Good End' by any means. (Also consider that Hinamizawa was made out to be a violent town where murders occur after the events were over by the media, so it's not a very bright future for the normal townspeople either.)
Q: So what happened to everyone after the incident?
A: In the original games TIPS, it states the current whereabouts and state of everyone in Hinamizawa who was involved in that incident in the 'present day', around 2006. This is supposed to be an official police investigation. The ones that most stand out are: Rena, still alive and well, and living in the city, away from Hinamizawa. The parents of Maebara Keiichi: moved back to Tokyo after their son was attacked and later died in the hospital (You really have to feel bad for Keiichi's family in this one. Their only son is killed in the place they came to escape their sad past, and afterwards their only option is to go back to the city they left in the first place.) And Irie Kyosuke: alive, but current whereabouts unknown. (Lot of mystery there...)
Q: What happens to Takano in this chapter? Since she failed, would that mean...
A: Since both Watanagashi and Meakashi-hen were released before it's revealed Takano is the source of everyone in Hinamizawa dying, we'll likely never know Takano's fate unless this story is revisited at some point. But given the events in Matsuribayashi-hen, we can likely assume Takano lost control of the Yamainu once it was discovered Rika was dead, she may have actually committed suicide then. (Though I admit I also want to know exactly what happened too... XD)
Q: Is there any other difference between the original games and the anime? There seem to be a lot in this chapter.
A: Yes. When Oishi talks to Keiichi the last time in the hospital, he asks if Rika had diabetes. When Keiichi tells him no, not that he knows of, Oishi tells him: Furude Rika was discovered carrying a syringe of some sort when her body was dug out of the pit. But they didn't know what it was for. (:o)
Q: I was fooled completely the first time I saw this arc.
A: Me too. :(
Chapter II: Watanagashi [Cotton-Drifting]
Q: Okay, this chapter was REALLY confusing.
A: Yes, the entire point of this chapter is to feed the viewer disinformation about the Sonozaki family. The first time viewer is most likely (after only seeing Onikakushi-hen) thinking that the 'curse' of Oyashiro-sama is really supernatural in origin, this chapter is meant to provide the false solution of: "The Sonozaki family is the one pulling the strings."
Another purpose of this chapter is to up the bloodshed a little and show that anyone in this series can die, especially the five club member kids.
Q: What's up with Rika killing herself at the beginning of the chapter? Doesn't Mion tell everyone she kills her here?
A: Yes, this is actually something that can be fully explained as an ERROR. Rika does NOT kill herself with the knife as shown here at the start of the chapter. I have no idea why that scene is even in there, maybe they just chose to run a gruesome scene as a teaser without considering the plot. XD;
Q: So Rika's actual fate is...
A: She gets killed by Shion, probably much like we see her kill Satoko in Meakashi-hen.
Q: Sonozaki Shion and Sonozaki Mion play the 'switching twin' trick a lot. Is there any way to be sure to tell them apart?
A: The easiest answer is yes, that Sonozaki Mion has a yakuza 'demon' tattoo on her back. Unfortunately, that's usually not visible so there's nothing so easy to check. Also take into account Mion and Shion are played by the same voice actor. The only way to really know if it's Shion or Mion, especially in this chapter, is to watch what each one says.
Q: So, it's really Mion who gives Keiichi the bento in the beginning of the chapter, right?
A: Right, which is why Shion didn't know about it later. Also note that similar to Onikakushi-hen, Keiichi worries about the food he's been given until he starts eating.
Q: So the person who acts as "Mion" through most of this chapter is really Shion?
A: Correct. We know from Meakashi-hen that Shion takes Mion's place the day after the festival.
Q: How did all those townspeople just 'show up' to save Keiichi out of nowhere when Shion stands up for him?
A: Yeah, this is a little unfair because it makes the viewer imagine they gather because of some mind-controlling parasite or some such thing. XD; We can assume they really did just happen to be passing by and stood up to help.
Q: Does anything happen to the delinquents after they escape the townspeople? Where'd they come from anyway?
A: Actually, yes. In the TIPS for the original games, it's told how they get picked up by Oishi. He tries to cajole them into talking about why they ganged up on him, even trying to scare them by telling them that the people of Hinamizawa really don't like outsiders. They refuse to say anything, so he gives them beer, preventing them from just driving away on their motorcycles, and then has their motorbikes' plates checked for reports of theft. They all get arrested for stealing, and Oishi remarks they were really just a bunch of losers.
Q: What is that 'pounding noise' Shion mentions hearing in the festival tool shed?
A: This is answered in Minagoroshi-hen. We know that the higher level of Hinamizawa syndrome someone becomes infected with, the more they are able to 'hear' Hanyuu. Note that in Minagoroshi-hen, when Rika lets Takano and Tomitake into the shack, Takano starts raving about the tortures done in the name of Oyashiro-sama. Note Hanyuu's reaction is to stamp her feet loudly and go: "Is not! >:o" Considering Takano describes quite a bit of torture in this chapter too, Shion's advanced hinamizawa syndrome probably allowed her to hear it.
Q: What is the 'mistake' Rika makes during the Watanagashi performance?
A: We'll never know for sure. Though that hoe is supposed to be rather heavy, so we can probably assume Rika almost dropped it or some such thing.
Q: Why does Rena act so much like a detective in this chapter? She really seems to know everything.
A: Part of it is the anime making the plot simpler for people to follow (in the games, Rena doesn't put together as much of the plot as she does in the anime). But also it's to emphasize, I think, that the Hinamizawa kids are all pretty smart. It's when they get suspicious and start thinking Oyashiro-sama is following them that they really start making bad decisions. Also consider that Rena has nothing to be paranoid about in this chapter. (No Rina, no family problems.)
Q: If everything's Shion pretending to be Mion from the Sonozaki estate, why does the anime sometimes show Shion in Shion's clothing talking from her Okonomiya apartment during the phone-talking scenes with Keiichi?
A: ...Good question. It might be that scene wasn't done after the switch, or it might be another anime mistake. There are much less 'clues' that the Sonozaki twins switch in the anime in general.
Q: What was up with 'Mion' shaking the ladder?
A: Behold the sometimes ugly to look at art of the first series. XD; Unlike the scenes in Onikakushi-hen, which were Keiichi's imagination, we can probably assume that's really 'Mion' speaking. The whole scene is supposed to be a hint that it's really 'Shion' and not Mion. (Because she specifically rants about how Satoko was a burden to Satoshi.)
Q: So why does Shion only laugh once Keiichi realizes she's lying to him?
A: Keep in mind Shion is VERY insane at this point. Besides that, everything Shion does in this arc is to implicate Mion and the Sonozaki's in general as the real culprits. This too only makes Keiichi think Mion is responsible.
Q: If the whole confession is just disinformation from Shion, why is she able to fool both Keiichi AND Rena? Wouldn't Rena know as a resident of Hinamizawa what parts were strange?
A: Shion really plays to their fears well in her 'confession'. Keep in mind Keiichi's an outsider, he doesn't know any better. But also keep in mind that Rena is a 'believer' in Oyashiro-sama. That's why when talking about killing Rika and such Rena uses words like: "Then Mion... 'hid' Rika..." Furthermore normal villagers really were suspecting the Watanagashi festival murders as things put on by the Sonozakis, so it's not wrong for Rena to buy into that.
Q: Why doesn't Mion tell Keiichi she's really Mion and Shion is really Shion? She had plenty of time!
A: Keep in mind Shion had been keeping Mion locked in that cage for likely days, killing her friends in front of her, likely giving her no food, and giving her only that shroud to wear. Also keep in mind Mion really really didn't want Shion to kill Keiichi, which she likely would if he knew the truth.
Q: Why does Shion play along with the whole 'demon' thing once Keiichi tells her that?
A: Because it played perfectly into Shion's version of Hinamizawa syndrome, that she was acting as 'Mion', but she wasn't really 'Mion', so what was she? If she wasn't Mion and she wasn't Shion, she had to be a demon.
Q: Why does Keiichi just go rushing out to see 'Mion' once she 'comes back'?
A: At first glance, it does seem a little separated from common survival instincts. In the manga/games/etc. Keiichi doesn't just run out to talk with her, he takes the doll he gave to Rena and tries to give it to her. (She stabs him anyway, so the actual event is the same.)
Q: How did Keiichi survive being stabbed by 'Mion'?
A: Note that she stabs him right in the gut. While painful, intestinal wounds are not as fatal as chest wounds or head wounds. Shion probably just ran off after he crumpled over, and someone must've discovered Keiichi and called an ambulance before he lost too much blood.
Q: Why does Oishi suggest Takano was a dead body walking around on the date of the festival?
A: Keeping the timeline in tact, Oishi probably knows the truth about the murders at this point: that it was all Sonozaki Shion who committed them, escaping by trading places with her sister as the 'victim'. But the investigation is likely not finished. In this situation, there's nothing Oishi needs from Keiichi in terms of information, so he most likely only told him that the autopsy revealed Takano hadn't died by the time of the festival.
Q: Does Mion really climb out from under the bed and attack Keiichi?
A: No. Keiichi was succumbing to the shock of the entire ordeal. One of the TIPS from the game states explicitly that Keiichi dies from a sudden case of heart failure while he was recovering. His mind likely imagined the sudden pain as Mion making a final appearance, especially after the visit from Oishi provoking his paranoia even more.
Q: In this chapter, does the "Great Hinamizawa Sterilization Campaign" not occur? If Rika was dead but it wasn't discovered for over a day...
A: YES. This is a point that really gets missed for people who only watched the anime. In this chapter, Takano does NOT succeed in her plan to exterminate all of the villagers. It is partly her own fault too, ironically, for providing Shion with more material to make her paranoid as we saw in Meakashi-hen. However, since Rika and most of the Hinamizawa people die, it is not a 'Good End' by any means. (Also consider that Hinamizawa was made out to be a violent town where murders occur after the events were over by the media, so it's not a very bright future for the normal townspeople either.)
Q: So what happened to everyone after the incident?
A: In the original games TIPS, it states the current whereabouts and state of everyone in Hinamizawa who was involved in that incident in the 'present day', around 2006. This is supposed to be an official police investigation. The ones that most stand out are: Rena, still alive and well, and living in the city, away from Hinamizawa. The parents of Maebara Keiichi: moved back to Tokyo after their son was attacked and later died in the hospital (You really have to feel bad for Keiichi's family in this one. Their only son is killed in the place they came to escape their sad past, and afterwards their only option is to go back to the city they left in the first place.) And Irie Kyosuke: alive, but current whereabouts unknown. (Lot of mystery there...)
Q: What happens to Takano in this chapter? Since she failed, would that mean...
A: Since both Watanagashi and Meakashi-hen were released before it's revealed Takano is the source of everyone in Hinamizawa dying, we'll likely never know Takano's fate unless this story is revisited at some point. But given the events in Matsuribayashi-hen, we can likely assume Takano lost control of the Yamainu once it was discovered Rika was dead, she may have actually committed suicide then. (Though I admit I also want to know exactly what happened too... XD)
Q: Is there any other difference between the original games and the anime? There seem to be a lot in this chapter.
A: Yes. When Oishi talks to Keiichi the last time in the hospital, he asks if Rika had diabetes. When Keiichi tells him no, not that he knows of, Oishi tells him: Furude Rika was discovered carrying a syringe of some sort when her body was dug out of the pit. But they didn't know what it was for. (:o)
Q: I was fooled completely the first time I saw this arc.
A: Me too. :(
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--But, Higurashi's really a great series! Highly recommended... I guess if you can watch it on Veoh or Youtube. XD
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Sui-exclusive ending
Re: Sui-exclusive ending
There is a path where Keiichi realizes the Shion is really Shion in the torture chamber, but from what I remember, it ends much the same as Meakashi. Only Shion outright kills Keiichi and then presumably dies due to the syndrome.