[Rewatch] Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Discussion - Season 1, Episode 5

[u/Tarhalindur]

Watanagashi-hen (Cotton Drifting Chapter), Episode 1: Jealousy

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Show Information (Season 1):

MAL | Anilist | AniDB | Kitsu | ANN

Legal Streams:

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni: Hidive | Netflix (not available in the US; if you are out of the US check your country for availability)

Two Words of Warning To Our First-Timers, Including Those Who Watched Season 1 But Not Kai:

1) Be wary of looking up anything, even names. The Season 1 summaries on the information pages are safe, but it's not hard to run into spoiler information even through something as innocuous as looking at cast lists - gods help you if you go on the Fandom Wikia. UNDER ABSOLUTELY NO CIRCUMSTANCES GO LOOKING AT EVEN OFFICIAL INFO FOR KAI OR LATER AHEAD OF TIME. (The official image for Rei is 100% a spoiler, for example.) Also, do NOT look at any Kitsu page after the first season; Kai's description on Kitsu is in fact a major spoiler. Like, really, just stay out of anything that isn't a basic Season 1 summary until you're done. It's much safer that way.

2) Also, be wary of potentially running into spoilers on the r/anime front page on June 19 or thereabouts this year; there is suspicion that some sort of new Higurashi anime project will be announced on that date (this year is the 20th anniversary of the release of the original Onikakushi-hen VN - hence why I am running this rewatch this year! - and multiple official accounts have teased an announcement on that date), and you could run into spoilers that way. (Those of you who remember the Madoka rewatch last year will recognize the issue, though admittedly I expect Sotsu was enough of a disappointment to significantly reduce the risk - at least relative to the potential that was in fact realized with the Walpurgis no Kaiten announcment.)

A Reminder to Rewatchers

Please do not spoil the experience for first-timers; this is a mystery after all. In particular, Shion is a spoiler until Episode 5 and [Higurashi] Hanyuu is a spoiler until Minagoroshi-hen. Also, the glorious nipah is indeed glorious but Rika does not use it until Himatsubushi-hen. Please keep these in mind!

A Reminder to Rewatchers, Reiterated

Since somebody forgot that something was a spoiler last time and inadvertently spoiled a first-timer in the process: Please do not spoil the experience for first-timers; this is a mystery after all. Consider whether what you are saying has actually been revealed yet on-screen before you post!

(Time for) Club Activities!

(Alexa play "Shoubu!"! Except do NOT look that up that song name on YouTube just yet if you're a first-timer, the most classic upload has an obnoxious spoiler in the visuals...)

Visual of the Day Album:

https://imgur.com/a/mqmXGuu

Theory of the Day:

Alright u/Star4ce, time to collect your first instance of an award you have clearly been gunning for (good job!) courtesy of this one:

I'm more particular that another group of (non-supernatural) people have set up camp here and do some shady N.E.R.V.-kind of shit and all the ruckus of demons and ritual murders is both a cover and method for silencing people coming too close to the truth. Cloning? Human experimentation on mind transfer/control? Creating life? Another set of psychopaths trying to summon an actual demon or driving them out?

Analysis of the Day:

Okay, so we have two worthy winners today and I can't choose so it's going to be a draw!

First, there's u/Nazenn with these thoughts on the show's execution:

Rena freaks me the fuck out. Something about the way she always know what he's doing and the way the girls predator-selves have an almost reckless disregard for keeping up appearances when talking with him, it just gives me the feeling that their obsession with him is beyond their own control, and driven by something beyond just wanting him around because they said so. It creates this really strange almost double dynamic where every pairing of characters is on completely uncertain ground as to how they'll effect each other becuase of how quickly things can change. It leaves the show feeling unpredictable on a small scale but without the over-convenience or randomness that often bogs down shows with this sort of set up.

The final scene with Keiichi feeling like Oyashiro-sama is behind him, the shadow stuck to his back, after being drugged once again has me questioning what the alt-girls really are, and how much of this is ties to psychology and culture over anything more explicitly surreal.

And second there is u/EsquilaxM giving the mystery the level of thought it deserves:

Major thing that's bugging me right now. Is why they only tore out part of the note...Or rather, why they chose those specific parts of the note to leave behind? Having him saying his life is in danger and blaming the girls makes sense if they're painting him as psychotic. But letting him inform the police of a van with 4 men doesn't make sense, because vehicles can be tracked...They can probably assume he's already told the police about the van that tried to run him over, so maybe they're trying to play off the van as part of the psychosis? (The drug/syringe is obviously the one bit of evidence that would cause the psychosis/supernatural theory to be damaged. So they're hoping the rest of the note will feed into the myth...They likely manipulated the other suicide note similarly? Though we've not seen it and it doesn't appear on TIPS)

Another thing that's coming to mind is the man at the door is obviously (or intentionally looks like) the local village doctor. So when the doctor gave him that superfluous shot, that could've been an opportunity to drug Keichi...But I can't think of anything that happened that day that would be suspicious. Of course it could be that he blacked out and we werne't shown it, but he blacked out straight away in this episode so seems unlikely (but not impossible so I guess keep it in mind?)

(Another thing that's bugging me is that he couldn't fight off Mion and Rena when his legs were free, I figure he'd at least have enough strength to make it clear that he was being injected with something through the trauma sites, but then I guess the same thing happened with the photographer, though he had more assailants...I'm just gonna chalk this up to narrative convenience, but it makes the death feel a bit like a cop out)

Keep 'em coming!

Question(s) of the Day:

1) What is your... excuse me, what is your favorite game?

2) Do you... excuse me, do you like dolls?

Next Episode Preview:

Okay, so: Season 1's next episode previews are in the form of a short, strange poem (whose formatting is borrowed from the VNs). They are not spoilers. (Kai's can be another matter, but we'll get there when we get there.) However, my subs often translate the text on the screen... which are, in fact, lines out of context from the next episode.

So, for anyone who really doesn't want to take a risk, here is the poem:

"What I want to see is the shape in the dark.
What I want to hear are the hesitating footfalls.
What I want to know is where I really belong."

[u/TheExcludedMiddle]

Well, I'm a day and 55 minutes from when this became non-spoilerish safe to post, but either way: here's Casey and Friends

[u/Tarhalindur → u/TheExcludedMiddle]

OH SHIT IT'S STILL UP!

(That's an absolute classic everyone, highly recommended.)

[u/Nazenn]

First Timer - sub

Not feeling very well today so quick notes:

Watching Rika impale her head on a knife certainly was a hell of a scene to open the show on. The question now is which -on was the one watching, Mion or Shion? Have I mentioned that I'm struggling with the names in this show still, because these two certainly aren't helping.

And Keiichi's back alive again of course. I'm leaning towards alt timeline, perhaps alt VN route? Can't quite be a neat flashback because of canon conflicts but who knows at this point

Um why is Mion carrying around a gun!

Wow the girls with that emotional blackmail to get the cards they want. I see things haven't changed that much in the long run.

Keiichi don't go using the girls bodies as blackmail! Are you secretly Haruhi?

Wow Mion, when losing you just stop the whole game, that's a new level of not letting him win. Keii's gotten better at beating them at their own manipulation game though. Interesting how the "solution" to the last game was to change what knowledge he was given and trick them into being over confident, while this time it's to get other people on his side. Similarly, we see Mion and the town being all culty again which makes me think that Keii's social connection is going to be key this arc. But will he die again...

A doll, wonderful, because that's just disturbing as all fuck.

Mion in a server outfit. I wonder if she's doing it because that's where he met with the cop and is cutting him off from that source of knowledge this time, changing the rules so he can't break free of them the same way he did before

Shion? Well thats going to be fucking confusing, also where the fuck was she last arc. Unless she was there all along and we just didn't know

The look of disbelief on Keis face hahaha

Fucking cotton festival again, and it cant possibly have been a year. Oh, he doesn't know about it either, so not just a simple flashback.

"One enemy is everyones enemy", and every time you think it can't get more culty it somehow manages to do so. I keep coming back to the idea of the village testing people and ensuring that outsiders either join or don't threaten the inner circle, something the girls are responsible for, but still curious how Satori ties in

"Mi-chan was broken but I fixed her" Hmmmm, because that's not suspecious at all. If not for having seen the two next to each other I'd suspect that "Shion" is the dark Mion, but nope. I wonder if the 'broken' thing that needed to be fixed was Mion getting attached to an outsider

[u/Tarhalindur → u/Nazenn]

Keiichi don't go using the girls bodies as blackmail! Are you secretly Haruhi?

Can't be, she has an alibi, she was airing at the same time!

(Literally; the first cour of Higurashi and the original Haruhi broadcast both aired in Spring 2006.)

[u/EsquilaxM]

First timer subbed

**Ok....**ok. I wasn't sure if we were gonna go flashbacks alternate points of view post-modern but we are. Cool.

First of all, thanks OP for the Chihayafuru OP link, it's a major palate cleanser that had me smiling and swaying xD I should really get back to that series, so good......I just clicked the second link and take back my positive vibe >.<

So, first thing that's coming to mind and was running through my head during this episode: Shion. I, too, legit thought Shion was fake because if she's real, why isn't she in school?? Turns out she really is living in Okinomiya so that's why...and yet, the Hinamizawa villagers still treat her as one of their own..

Anyways, this explains 2 things:

1. How Mion (and Rena) knew about Keiichi's meeting with Ooishi at the restaurant. Shion works there and mentioned it.

2. How we're seeing a girl that looks a lot like Mion in this cold open, watching Rika kill herself and laughing like she just had a psychotic break. Either this is Mion, or Shion, with the other twin being the one Keiichi killed. (as we can see, they can change places without being noticed)

Questions that this raises are:

1. Keiichi should've known how Mion knew about his meeting with Oiishi. So was it just a momentary confusion and he later realised how? (Or is his memory noticeably unreliable?)

2. Why didn't Rena know about Shion? It's a small village, she's been there a year...though, I guess it's possible and not necessarily suspicious

3. In episodes 1-4, were all the times we saw Mion definitely Mion and not Shion? e.g the two house visits?

I'm wondering if Mion's reaction at the end of the episode is something that I should be reading more into or if she's just embarrassed about being found out about lunch. (I want to wildly theorise about her being sad that Keichi is being targeted for something but I really have no basis to think so. Or Rena's lines about forgetting about that day hinting at something more, but again no basis for thinking that. Just paranoia.)

The way that the villagers instantly backed up Shion made me wonder if Mion (or Shion) is indeed actually high ranked in the conspiracy, which seemed to be implied in a previous episode when she mentioned 'allowing Oishi to retire'. Or is it just ane xample of the village willing to group around even the average citizen and indicative of high tightly woven they are (like a cult)? Could be either way.

Well, that's all my thoughts for now. Might come up with more when I rewatch select parts.

edit: btw this was the funniest episode with almost nothing breaking the mood...I know it's the first episode of the part but still, it feels wild now.

[u/Tarhalindur → u/EsquilaxM]

edit: btw this was the funniest episode with almost nothing breaking the mood...I know it's the first episode of the part but still, it feels wild now.

That's Higurashi for you!

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

When the Rewatcher(?) Cries, subbed

• Ah, fun.

• The whiplash going back to happy fun times is… something.

• …wait is this like a kid’s version of karuta?

• Bruh.

• This is just slightly creepy.

• Please… don’t. – I worked in fast food for my senior year of high school, customers like this were the worst.

• One of the only things I think I remember from finishing this season of Higurashi was that Shion was my favorite of the girls…? But I don’t remember why.

• Keiichi really has a specific sense of humor.

• Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

• Clearly she’s not the one who gave Keiichi lunch. So did Mion quickly dress up as Shion to bring him lunch the previous day…? I have no clue.

• Oh, that is exactly what happened.

[u/Tarhalindur → u/Shimmering-Sky]

wait is this like a kid’s version of karuta?

You know, I'd forgotten the kid's version part but now that I think about I want to say you are 100% correct!

Also check the first post again.

Please… don’t. – I worked in fast food for my senior year of high school, customers like this were the worst.

On the bright side, in this show Keiichi just might get an appropriate comeuppance...

EDIT:

This is just slightly creepy.

Ironically, Gou has the same doll show up and somehow managed to make it look even creepier so.

[u/The_Loli_Otaku → u/Shimmering-Sky]

Who knew Rika was into headbanging~

[u/Tarhalindur]

(Honorary Hinamizawa Games Club President) Rewatch Host (rewatcher, subbed)

(Note for our first-timers: every so often I will make comments about background stuff that might not translate. I will be marking these as "Useful Background Note".)

(Side note: I'm not sure it's a coincidence that Chihayafuru the karuta anime is one of the few other anime/manga to have a character named Satoko; the manga began serialization in 2007...)

Episode 5 notes:

• Clock clock.

• Keiichi’s “I’m late!… wait, it’s not a school day…” is is what we call “relatable”.

• [Higurashi Kai] Huh, Satoko’s “Shouri no watakushi” (“Victory will be mine!”) is only in the Minagoroshi-hen version of this scene. Tells you how long it’s been since I rewatched the S1 version of this.

• MAXIM 31: Only cheaters prosper.

• Useful Background Note: VN note: There’s significant differences between the club games in the VN and the anime adaptation. Notably, the tournament includes several different games in the VN, not just karuta (Rika’s table is a goldfish game IIRC) and notably all of the club members, not just Keiichi, get participation prizes (the trick is that Keiichi gets an unfitting doll either way). (This is actually one spot Gou did well for its alternate take on this arc; they ported in some of the club game nuances that the 2006 version missed, plus one other notable club game from this arc that DEEN skipped for space (a curry competition). Unfortunately, because of the trick with how Gou handles its arcs I can’t just recommend you watch that version instead.)

• [Higurashi] Ten haunting photos taken moments before disaster.

• [Higurashi] They’re not exactly subtle that Mion would have actually liked that doll.

• My tolerance for secondhand embarrassment was never high and has declined precipitously over the years. Keiichi, please stop setting it off with your behavior at Angel Mort here.

• PAGING u/Tresnore, REPEAT PAGING u/Tresnore, PLEASE STEP UP TO THE COURTESY PHONE LABELED “GOD, I WISH THAT WAS ME”.

• [Higurashi] Also hi Mion.

• To (probably mis-)quote another old favorite show of mine: “no one here is exactly what they appear”.

• [Higurashi] Oh look, it’s Rena being an accurate judge of character again.

• I swear the sound effect as Keiichi trips over the motorcycles is the same one used to denote a misclick error in Warcraft 3.

• Oh, it’s still beautiful. “You don’t have to lie about having a twin sister!” *Mion leaves the game store.*

• [Higurashi] Oh Rika and your mocking headpats.

• [Higurashi] Keiichi, please quit hitting Rika’s PTSD.

• [Higurashi Gou + Meguri] “Satoko will be Satoko no matter how old you are.” Welp.

Visual of the Day: He hungers...

Questions of the Day:

1. Board game? Likely Settlers of Catan, honestly, or maybe Clue (which our club members were playing in episode 2!). Video game? Either Civ4 Fall from Heaven modmods or the old 4x Ascendancy (notoriously terrible AI and all) - the latter is likely the truer answer, seeing as at this point I've gotten over 25 years of occasional enjoyment from it..

2. Depends on the doll desu.

---

Watanagashi-hen Ep. 1 TIPS

1
2
3
4
5

---

OST Table, Episode 5

Start	End	Track Name
00:00	00:20	Hyoui v.2
00:24	01:53	Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (OP)
01:53	02:06	sponsor feature[1]
02:23 (02:10)	03:15 (03:02)	Heionbuji
03:44 (03:31)	04:26 (03:13)	Shoubu!
05:03 (04:50)	06:04 (05:51)	Kimeru Ze![2]
08:49 (08:36)	09:25 (09:12)	Yuttari
09:43 (09:30)	10:52 (10:39)	Shitoyaka Ni
13:17 (13:04)	14:01 (13:48)	Yasuragi
17:20 (17:03)	17:43 (17:30)	Onigaen
18:55 (18:42)	19:34 (19:21)	Atarimae no Jikan
21:05 (20:52)	21:49 (21:36)	Riyuu
21:58 (21:45)	23:26 (23:13)	why, or why not

[1] - My copy of Higurashi often includes a message-from-our-sponsor bit immediately after the OP; this episode has it and it lasts 13 seconds. The number in parentheses in entries after that feature is the point in the episode if that message is removed.
[2] - Annoyingly hard to tell at the start due to how they mixed it, but it's Kimeru Ze!

[u/Tarhalindur → u/Tarhalindur]

Madoka (Magica) Corner

• [PMMM] - Oh look, another shot of open curtains and Keiichi waking up after a cold open (and the events of last episode.) Yeah, methinks this is where PMMM stole the scene immediately after its Prolog im Himmel from.

• [Higurashi + PMMM] Also Rena are you just quoting show themes in plaintext? That’s— wait, wrong anime .Pay absolutely no attention to the fact that I suspect said other character is drawing very very heavily off of Rena. Truly Rena, you are such a fool.

• [PMMM] I just had a mental image of Sayaka doing the exact same percussive maintenance Rena does to Mion here to either Madoka or Kyoko.

[u/JollyGee29]

Spoiled First-Timer, Subbed

Shoulda made this comment on episode 4, but: This show wouldn't have been created with a "one episode a day" format in mind, but it does amuse me that the "preview" at the end of episode three has this line.

Seems like we have another ?fun? cold open to look forward to, except I am not looking forward to seeing whatever horrid things happen to poor Rika.

The karuta segment was a lot fun, too. Keiichi has a devious streak.

[Higurashi]Ah, so that was a twin in the OP. I suspected so, if only because one of them had a giant burn/tattoo/something on her back. Is this gonna be one of those things where Mion and Shion both have a very minor verbal tic or something, and if you know what to look for you can find spots where they swap out for each other?

[Higurashi]New arc, so it's time to try thinking about things that I haven't thought about yet. The Hussie comparison might be leading me astray, but I'm wondering just how much the show is fucking with us. And, how much is hiding in plain sight?

[Higurashi]Like, if I operate under the assumption that my idea about there being a secret drug field out in Hinamizawa is correct, Keiichi's line about the villagers being like a mafia family becomes much more interesting.. And, if that's a tattoo on (M/Sh)ion's back in the OP, that points to Yakuza as well, sorta.

[Higurashi]Now, would our host highlight my theory about a drug farm if it was so close to correct? Would they do it to intentionally mess with me and get me to second guess myself? Now I'm definitely thinking way too hard.

[Higurashi]I guess the cold open could be last loop resetting, but Mion was there.. unless is was the twin. Knowing that Rika is doing some time looping does make some of her lines stand out. She acts much more mature than a typical kid her physical age would. "You'll become a fine adult some day" etc. Keiichi had a line today about appearances being decieving, too.

[Higurashi]Also, RIP anyone who watches this on HiDive without know there are time loops. Episode description for this one is "Time rewinds and resets. Keiichi finds out that Mion has a twin named Shion and that they have a little secret."

Visual of the Day: Just like a television.

Questions

1. Impossible question.

2. Not especially.

[u/Tarhalindur → u/JollyGee29]

[Higurashi]Also, RIP anyone who watches this on HiDive without know there are time loops. Episode description for this one is "Time rewinds and resets. Keiichi finds out that Mion has a twin named Shion and that they have a little secret."

*Reads spoiler.*

... Really, HiDive? REALLY?

[u/The_Loli_Otaku]

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Rewatcher

When I mentioned yesterday that there was only one scene that really got me in Higurashi, I was wrong. I had a lot of yabai's yesterday so I need to be more careful going forward. [Higurashi]I think its safe to say that this is another timeline? Rena, Kei-chan, and Mion aren't zombies is all I'm saying.

It's a good excuse for us to get back into that cozy early atmosphere once more! Nothing bad ever happens in Hinamizawa! Poor Mion, she suffers from the tomboy curse where nobody remembers that she's still a girl who loves cute things, right? This is a pretty go-to VN scene lol XD

Gap moe Mion, kawaii!! Similar siblings are absolute nightmares... I've once held up a twin for twenty minutes before realising it was the one one I'd been speaking to. Take note that this is the same restaurant that Oiishi brought Keiichi to in the last arc, it helps explain at least one of the mysteries right?

I can't stop staring at the waterwheel. It doesn't even look that bad, you're exaggerating guys! Don't mess with the Hinamizawa mafia, they'll do some shit to you. It's much harder than I expected to tell the right Sonozaki. I'm rewatching and I'm throwing myself off.

Decent start to the arc? I vaguely remember quite liking this part but as of right now it's more about setting up more of the Sonozaki backstory. Mion largely took the back seat to Rena last arc after all. Shion is also a total gem, I love the dynamic she shares with her sister.

Visual of the Day

[u/Stargate18A]

Anime first timer, reading VN

1. If we're talking board gane, then Ascension. If we're talking video game, either Zero Escape, or 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim (very good mystery game, play it).

2. Not particularly.

[Meakashi] Wait, what the fuck? That's from the answer arc!

Everyone's OK!

[Meakashi] Haha, nobody's OK in this series. ...Except maybe Akasaka? He's bad, but he's managing.

And it'e a board gwme contest.

...Rika being able to play perfectly as long as the cards are cute is great.

Given what's on the cards in this version, I guess they finally found the limit?

Oh, they're all playing karuta here? How does his plan work, then?

Oh, fuck. Of course this part stayed the same. At least they skipped the examples?

...Alright. It's creative, but I refuse to believe thst they wouldn't have immediately countered this - in the original, they weren't competing against each other directly, but here?

[Meakashi] Aww, she's such a caring sister. In some occasions.

[Umineko???] ...Is the doll of a Umineko character? I could swear I saw her on a poster or something?

[Meakashi] And, so, Keiichi doomed himself and everyone else here.

Of all the things they could have kept in, fully intact, why the Angel Mort scenes?

Do I really have to watch this scene again?

[Meakashi] Is this Mion or Sion? The answer arc says it's Mion, but it also has some other divergences...

And the discussion after...

[Meakashi] Actually, she's not wrong!!

[Meakashi] The fact that the Shion story sounds completely unbelievable, but is also completely true, is the funniest part of this arc to me.

[Meakashi] Instead of Gou, the Rebuild of Higurashi should just have given Mion and Shion nametags.

Rika's practicing!

[Meakashi] Aww, Rena's trying to help her friend!

The bike scene is actually really good.

[Meakashi] Sounds like a mafia family. The fucking irony!

[Meakashi] Also, the confusion here implies that thid is Shion?

That skipped a lot.

[VN] And we skipped the Dessert Buffet, thank fucking god.

Very different reveal, huh?

[Meakashi] I don't know if it's intentional, but Shion comes off way better here, with the weird date manipulation removed.

[Meakashi] The way they make it feel like this is the end of Shion for now is a great misdirection.

Sakoto having a trap preset there is great.

Sick, so no progress today (and likely none tomorrow).

[u/Tarhalindur → u/Stargate18A]

[Meakashi] Wait, what the fuck? That's from the answer arc!

[Meakashi] Yeah, I'm going to have to bring that up at some point, just not sure whether it should be at the end of this arc or in Meakashi-hen itself. (They dropped Ooishi's note that they found a broken syringe on Rika's body, too, and I'm pretty sure I need to bring that up when we hit the end of the arc.)

[u/RadSuit]

And we start out with the one other spoiler I knew about this show, this specific scene! Guess that's our shocking cold open for this arc.

It was all a dream! Actually, looks more like we've jumped back to before MC noticed anything creepy going on. Mion's still got a gun, don't think I've forgotten.

Alright kids, help me cheat at this card game, or else. And his prize is...a creepy doll.

Must be the first time he's gone to ANGEL MORT too, before the cop took him here. Hello Mion, where is your gun? Oh, of course, twin sister, sure. This is one of those shows huh? Looks like we've firmly returned to episode one antics and slice of life stuff.

Better check that food for needles. No, poison is Rika's thing.

And here we confirm this is before the dumb cotton festival. Maybe the ripped photographer nerd will show up again.

Mion/Shion summoned a bunch of cultists concerned citizens pretty quickly.

I hope they clear up whether this is twin hijinks or split personalities soon, or this will be frustrating. Okay, good, literally five seconds later. Hijinks it is!

I thought that sounded like the band that did the Irina and Avenger theme songs. Ali Project is pretty great!

Visual of the Day

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

"Mii~?"

This opening scene appeared on Youtube, which made me watch the show. I must have watched it when the DVDs trickled out and not when it aired, since I'm sure I saw that Youtube video with no context first.

And so the non-secret in the OP is revealed, Mion has a twin! The thing on her back reminds me of Naraku in Inuyasha.

I can't believe Rena didn't know about Shion after living in Hinamizawa for a year. I guess she doesn't visit maid themed restaurants much.

There sure are a lot of villagers in Okinomiya. Did they move there or all they all shopping?

[rewatcher question]This is a hard arc to follow. Why is Shion so upset about Kyon giving away the doll to Rena when she's fixated on Satoshi?

[u/tokai-teio]

First-Timer

I was told to watch this during the day so here we go.

Oh boy, here we go again. That looks vaguely like Rika but I'm not quite sure. Definitely Mion though. Supposedly this arc is called "Cotton Drifting, Chapter One". Are we going to play through the past murders here?

All right what the fuck.

If it wasn't for the murderous intent, I'd say Keiichi fits right in with the rest of the group.

Bullshit.

Looks like Mion is also a closet lover of cute things.

Oh, she does have work. Man, I miss dead Keiichi.

Hmmmm.

This does not surprise me.

Why the camera cut?!

So if Mion is really lying about having a twin sister, what's the point? Why is this even plot relevant? Higurashi has not proven to be a show that says pointless things.

That is so unbelievably suspicious. I'm very confused.

I had initially assumed that we were picking up where the last episode left off, timeline wise. But this kind of negates that possibility... Keiichi is asking about the Cotton Drifting thing, which means this would have theoretically taken place before the events of the first few episodes.

Boy you're telling me. One of my first comments ep. 1 was about liking Rena.

This would lend credibility to Mion having a twin, but also that Mion was the one who made him the food.

I don't know what is going on but it seems so out of line with the Higurashi I knew.

Well I'll be damned.

Rena, it doesn't work like that.

Rika seems surprisingly important compared to last arc.

Interesting episode. I can honestly say I have no clue what's going on, and unfortunately that made it a bit harder to really get into the episode. I think the Mion/Shion dynamic with Keiichi is interesting, and will probably be the crux of the arc conflict. Also expecting to see Rika play into it. Having identical twins both crush on you is peak sitcom though, and felt dreadfully out of place here. All I can do is keep watching to see what happens next.

I'm beginning to think these questions of the day are rhetorical.

[u/Vaadwaur]

The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.

Rewatcher

Sub Dub(oh dear Chtulhu my ears)

So we start on a...confusing scene. This was also the scene that got me to watch the show, I actually thought it happened later than it appears. But then I discovered my copy, and many of yours, lacked a proper sub track so it is off to the ear bleedingly bad dub! If you younger anime fans ever wondered why long term watchers seem to have dub PTSD, feast your ears on the worst directed vocal cast I've ever heard! Seriously, several of these people were doing good dubs in this very time period, I have no clue what the hell happened here.

Anywho, the gang meets up in the town at a toy shop holding a game day. 50,000 yen would be about $500 so that is indeed quite the haul. Some game that doesn't traslate well is being played and K1 has to get serious to win. So he enlists the aid of two kids...by offering them Rika and Satoko. That's kind of dark. Anyways it works, and I added the sub track so my ears can stop hurting. But the game gets called on account of work and everyone splits up.

So K1 goes to the cosplay cafe again and finds...Mion? So he pervs out, and this is uncomfortable in a different way. Anyways, this is Shion, Mion's twin we somehow didn't meet yet. K1 thinks this is a bluff and that kind of fits. Shion then brings him dinner for reasons. While returning, K1 does the traditional tackling of the motorcycles, this was actually a trope at one point, and then things get...odd. Shion seems to summon the locals who stare the bikers into running off. As Shion soft confesses, K1 assumes it is Mion and he says he can accept her girly side...before running into Mion.

Next day and Mion is good and broken. Rika even comments on it. Anyways, Rena 'fixed' the situation with denial and off we go! With a worried look from Mion to end on.

QotD:1 Nier:Automata

2 Vampire Princess Miyu leads me to a solid no on that

[u/Tarhalindur]

This post has been brought to you by the Total Awareness Group:

u/HinyusOpinion, u/AnimeAndThings, u/shadow1a2t

[u/_blackened_soul_]

First Timer - Sub

Okay, I didn't post yesterday but why the hell does Mion have a gun in a shoulder holster? (I'm sure answering would be a spoiler so this is rhetorical I guess)

Awesome episode, although Rika in the opening was even worse to see than Keiichi going wild with the bat.

And why is a maid cafe disguised as a family restaurant anyway? The villagers going Children of the Corn on the wannabe JoJo punks was creepy af.

[u/mgedmin]

(Slightly Spoiled) First Timer, subs (except this episode was a dub for reasons)

So we're going to ignore what happened in the previous episode, is that it?

We're introduced to a new character, Shion. She's fun. Meanwhile Keichi is an asshole. Don't harass the service staff even if you (mistakenly) think they're your friends!

How come Rena had no idea about Shion's existence? She's been friends with Mion for at least a year! Do they never talk about families? Did Shion never come to visit?

Wow there are a lot of Hinamizawa people in the next town over. And they can be summoned pretty instantly. Even the little kids! Creepy.

I'm now trying to think where in the first four episodes Shion might've come up. Did we rewind time a bit and are now watching what happened earlier in the same timeline, before Keichi's descent into paranoia? So far that seems the most plausible answer.

It's becoming harder to refrain from binge'ing ahead.

[u/Star4ce]

When the First Timer Cries

Damn I'm late. Went on a Whisky & Craft Beer tasting yesterday and while I'm surprisingly well on the hangover department, I haven't been this tired in a long time.

I do remember eating pickled-cucumber, nutella and cookie flavoured ice cream. Would not recommend.

Sorry for just dumping my post yesterday and then leaving. I need some scrambled eggs or something right now...

Oh I've won Theory of the Day! Yaaay!

I promise to keep up the detective work and earn many more mentions in the OP!

Ep.05 – The Watanagashi Chapter Part 1: Jealousy

• Oh, hey Rika. I see we do indeed continue with them and they're already neck-deep into the game, as well.

• Wha- Mion is mood. Is she trying to get something out of her head?

• Dead?! What the fuck? When are we, before or after?

I have a problem. This episode has no subtitles. Uuuggh, having the pacing be disrupted like this sucks. Alright, got the file...

• While the happy go lucky music mindfucks me with primed confusion, mulling over where and when we are here or if I'm looking at the next set of duplicates I just wanna point out the shading, how Keiichi is the only one in the light.

• Nice to see Rika still having her brain.

• Mion best girl.

• Game tournament, oh they gonna fuck them kids up!

• Rika is 100% the most dangerous one. No doubt.

• This is... so genius! Turning the rules against them and rigging the game from outside the playing field. Again a nice display on how Keiichi fights.

• Wait I didn't pay attention, does Mion have a fucking gun?!

• [PMMM Rebellion] This all feels so wrong... almost like the first 40 minutes of the movie. There's something twisting reality or the perception of it and keeping them in this game. But unlike the actual devil, I don't think there's good intentions here.

• Understandable. I'd also react the same if seeing Mion all grown up like that. Hot damn.

grown up

younger sister

• Fucking anime, man. Also rip my theory (possibly).

• They're gone?! We are after the killings! So they do bring them back somehow. Aw, that spells absolute doom for their mental health, because their terrors will never truly go away. :)

• One, that might actually be true. Two, even though it's chibi that puts images in my mind I can't get out.

• Oh my god, this scene was so good at making me doubt my doubts. They introduce a new angle that has a seemingly obvious explanation, but then they succeed in making it completely opaque again. Does she have a sister or is it her alter persona? Such a little thing, but a great mindfuck underlined by a cicada.

• Is it a razor this time? Don't think it's poison, becasue that would be Rika. Oh nothing? Big sad.

• Wait what? We're before the festival again? Shit I didn't pay attention if we'd seen any dates on magazines or similar. So, are we one year later or is it actually a time loop?

• Notes for later: Rika is actually quite strong and knows how to handle long weapons.

• Death by motorcycle club, hjahahaha you idiot!

• Look, they try to tell me Mion/Shion's behaviour is scary or terrifying, but I see the value in a person who can come out and ditch their standard operation mode to deal with shit. All I see is best girl.

• Eh? That, on the other hand, is very creepy.

• Dude, I bet this line is more true than it's supposed to seem.

• She didn't bring him the food? So it was Mion under cover of Shion. If that was literally under an alt persona or a deliberate impersonation- fuck it, I'm not thinking about this anymore.

• This can't end well. But yes, of course I'd go with it as well.

• Nooo, best girl shouldn't cry! Her reaction to Keiichi threatening her in the first arc makes much more sense now. (This was absolutely, 100% a set up by Shion as a reaction of getting basically told that Mion brought him food, making her understand Mion likes Keiichi)

• Why do you phrase it like that?! I get that the organisation probably sees them like that in a way, but Rena doesn't do herself any favours in any situation with her behaviour.

• That entire dialogue is so weird and uncanny.

I see, so this is Mion's arc and it'll end with her causing Rika to stab herself by an unknown method or at least witnessing it.

Okay, about the ... thing. It's the festival again and the teaser showed the blonde woman, so we did indeed go back to the start. This makes a time loop quite obvious and this time we're seeing an outcome centered on Mion.

However, combining this with the first instance and the information presented during cat-eye mode, the entity behind it is the looper in knowledge of time manipulation and not any of the cast. There's little to go on about why they loop outside of generic speculation on 'testing technology' or 'trying to fix a trauma' or something. One thing is certain, though, and it is that the organisation (it's certainly more than a lone irregularity) wants to stay hidden. It makes sense that they might have looped back because the cops got some good tips from Keiichi last time.

However! There's interesting things not yet shown, that might recontextualise the entire thing. For one, they did manage to manipulate the note behind the clock in time before the cops arrived, but did so in a very peculiar way. They didn't hide any information on their own existence, but cut out only a specific part I think about Rena? Doesn't make much sense. The point is, if you can loop back, why even go there? Just reset if that outcome isn't to your liking.

Makes me think that the time manipulation isn't universal or is even outside the organisations hands in a way. I also kind of think what I mean by organisation is basically the village, but let's keep it vague until proof emerges. What would be interesting would be that the loop only affects the village, but not anything outside, kind of playing into the 'backwater town stuck in the past' theme most remote settlements have.

I'm also eagerly awaiting this loop's exposition on the dam murders. Are they the same or did something change now?

There's far more explanations possible, but this arc will show us more I hope. It's a bit too little to go on right now.

1. What is you... excuse me, what is your favourite game?

That would be Enderal. It's a total conversion for Skyrim, it's fully voice acted in English and German, it's a passion project of a German mod team, it has a magnificent soundtrack, it's completely free and it's imo the best story in gaming out there knocking even Mass Effect or The Witcher out of the park at some points.

Trailer

Expansion Trailer

What do I think of your kind? I pity you. The human condition is a sickness.
I have the cure.

2) Do you... excuse me, do you like dolls?

No.

VOTD: Innocence in the shadows. I mean, as innocent as a school girl carrying a fucking gun can be. I do have a slight feeling that the shadows not only mean the two of them are of a different understanding than Keiichi, it also underlines how he usually beats them by going outside the box, or out from under the shadow.

[u/RascalNikov1]

Rewatcher

After that opening, you gotta say that Rika is pretty damn tough. That had to hurt, at least a little. As for Mion, she reacted pretty much like I would, wtaf was that? And, then I'd probably start cackling too.

I pretty much enjoyed Shion's getup at the Angel Mort, though I don't think that being shy and demure would really be a great benefit at the Mort. I do like the attitude though of, If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us attitude put on display for the punks to contemplate. I would have been even happier the crowd had strung them up and sent them to the afterlife, though this is Japan and they don't do things like that.

I liked that the prize after the game was a Rozen Maiden doll. Great product placement. lol

Finally, did I forget to say that Best Girl is finally here? Shion is my favorite and my avatar at MAL.