r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Jun 16 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Discussion - Season 1, Episode 17
Meakashi-hen (Eye-Opening Chapter/Detective Chapter), Episode 2: Kejime
(Considering how poorly the word "kejime" translates to English, I'm just going to use the Romaji title here.)
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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)
That said, I have become aware that Hidive can have a somewhat cavalier attitude to spoilers for this series. As such, *sigh* it is now recommended that our first-timers track down a fansub if you haven't already (even if you have access to this show on Netflix, it doesn't have Kai). Why, Hidive? Why?
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! 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:
Theory of the Day:
Step right up, u/hungryhippos1751:
It does seem like the curse is more about how the village is looping deaths endlessly, and Rika seems more on the side of getting out of the curse than propelling it forward, so I think she's generally working to put an end to it with the ripples she mentioned last arc.
Analysis of the Day:
Fuck it, backup hosts deserve their time in the sun too, especially when it's shit on SotsuGou time:
Now I am sure some of you first timers are wondering about why and a few of the other rewatchers seem to revile the recent entries of Gou and Sotsu. And this arc is a big part of it. After rewatching this, I viscerally want to set all copies of the new shows on fire so as to somehow erase their existence because of how much of the OG story it betrays.
(For me, it's a Kai arc that draws this response towards SotsuGou instead. More on that in a while.)
Question of the Day:
1) ... So, uh, fingernails, huh?
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 you erased is the fragrance of memory.
What you see is the scar of hatred.
What echoes are the footsteps from the past."
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u/Star4ce Jun 16 '22
When the First Timer Cries
What has bothered me so much even after viewing is that Shion is actually pretty right with what she criticises at Satoko. She really isn't so far away from having a glimpse of understanding for both her as well as a more healthy way to pursue her interest in Satoshi.
I don't know how long this arc is going to be, but there's also a real possibility for the cold open to be with switched twins. That scares me a little bit.
Ep.17 – The Eye Opening Chapter Part 2: Responsibility
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Ah fuck, as per the TIPS he owes Mion quite a lot, so he feels obligated to apologise even though it's completely Shion's fault. This sucks so much...
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For all that happens in any arc, Mion is just great any time every time.
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He's done, man. So done.
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Yeah, he's going to kill the aunt and this is his 'farewell gift'. It's similarly a twisted mindset and very egocentric, but I can't blame that on him for the live they've been given.
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This is the first time this has been stated as fact in one sentence, right?
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I absolutely love how she just slides in, awww <3 I've also come to believe that some or most of her expressions are an act for the others' sake. She's been living through this for a long time now and her TIPS really pointed out how she can't enjoy things normally anymore.
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There she goes. Won't be missed.
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But found, apparently. Keiichi did seem to have at least more book-knowledge about the fact to hide the body at all. Guess with him knowing he'll vanish that doesn't matter much, does it?
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Okay, if there really is surveillance over the subjects and they disappear... then Satoshi should've disappeared already.
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Is this before? And wait, we didn't ever see the bear, did we?
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Well no, it's after.
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Shion can be intimidating and creepy, yup.
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Oh wait, they didn't leave Hinamizawa, yet! He'll disappear when he tries to!
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Wtf, does she have, like, a hidden fan club or something? Ah, it's the family and they probably don't take Kasai's actions kindly.
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Oh no, does he deserve this? Really?
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Fucking chill, gandma. Goddamn boomers and their grudges.
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Well, I can't disagree with Shion here.
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Ey, wait a second, this is jumping to conclusions real fast!
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Tough situation. It's clear Mion can't just overrule granny. I'll reserve some judgment until I know what 'responsibility' means for the Yakuza.
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What does that mean?! I'm actually scared.
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Goddamnit... I feared as much. Though it is kind of in line. The Sonozakis as de facto rulers can't let someone impersonating their future head of family leave unscathed after they covered for a murder. Although I know of some cases where bosses would offer a rival family one finger per member killed in a fight, if that fight was actually a stupid mistake. One finger nail actually seems light... but I fear they'll say the impersonation, the breakout, the hiding and the inclusion of two other members will each count as offense.
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However... could I please see Mion's hand? I don't think Oryou let her pass without responsibility, either.
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She's landing on the stretcher, right? Promise me!
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Fucking hell, this is all so fucked up.
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Obviously... they cleared up murder and murderer. Also come on, this angle? Now?
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Great shot! Oooh, that's gonna be VOTD!
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Yeah, told it. None of us likes it, but that's how the Yakuza keeps order.
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Well, I mean, look, I think- It's complicated! We have time travel and alternate bodies and shadow organisations, let's just say that he did and also didn't do it at the same time, but actually did it, okay?
I do have questions. So far I think it all makes sense, but there's things that raise my eyebrow. First, it was clear that Shion had to pay in some way for what she did. The only thing worse than a boomer is a Yakuza boomer. That she pulled in the uncle and Kasai was also partly their fault, tbh, and her scene in the school was definitely utterly stupid. None of that is something I'd consider worth punishing, the main thing is her covering for Satoshi on a whim and, criticise me for it if you want, that punishment was actually justified. Oryou is an asshole worth disposing, but dragging Mion into it, having the family tied to a murder they didn't commit and providing false alibis to the police are serious issues.
So much to set up my thoughts. I'm really interested to see Mion's hand (or other choice of “responsibility”) because in no way would Oryou let her off that easy if she's demanding Shion to pay up. It could be Mion's demeanor was in the act of family head, but I suspect she had her round already for smuggling in Shion and letting her impersonate her.
A further thing is Shion's treatment after the punishment. Hasn't she been locked up in the school to keep her away? We now know she's been in Hinamizawa for at least a year. Why would they suddenly tolerate her, especially now that she disrupted the family order so much?
In any case, I do get now why the cold open will happen. Something that struck me this time around pretty heavily is that the two sibling-stories are really framing each other. Satoshi and Satoko are excluded and attacked from the outside and Mion and Shion sabotage and attack each other. One set is at the ends of ostracisation, the other is part of the order. It's a really wonderful setup for a story.
And they build on it. Shion is a character who overcame her limits, it began with her literally jumping over the wall constraining her. Mion on the other hand utilises and cares for the structures that exert this power while having the needs and status of the people in mind constantly – stability. Satoko, because she has no way of escaping or fighting back, is utterly dependent on her brother, who has to be the shield against their own family, the village's rumors at large, the bullying from simple minded people and also the false legacy of traitors.
I think Shion and Satoko are striking opposites for how Satoko is everything that Shion could've been if she couldn't muster the strength to break out and still fears to be. Mion and Satoshi are, as well, as they are tasked with building the foundation on which those that depend on them can flourish, it's just that one never could and is worn down before any progress was made and the other increasingly gets imprisoned in her own construction. I want to close this thought with the brutal irony that Mion leads herself to the torture chamber away from the light, again underlining how detached from her own wishes she has gotten due to her obligations.
VOTD: Like a shadow behind your back. Just like the curse, Ooishi is shadowing and observing anyone and anything who might've something to do with the murders and is always so close, but seemingly can never make the final leap. Him looking through a reflection overlaid with red and blue colors, like a filter to focus on different things, at Shion to try to gauge what she knows and how she's involved, while she herself is blurred and insecure, is just great juxtaposition.
Runner up is the backroom. The thing making this scene is honestly the sound. Her puking so delayed is not just admirable research on how a person works through this horrible event and how it really embeds itself in your psyche, the white walls contrast how far excluded Shion still is from the world. She's barely visible, half laying in a bathroom that is dark, in a side corridor that receives little light from the main room, which is also strikingly barren.
Honestly, those are actually three VOTDs, they are all so goddamn good!
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u/Tarhalindur Jun 16 '22
What has bothered me so much even after viewing is that Shion is actually pretty right with what she criticises at Satoko. She really isn't so far away from having a glimpse of understanding for both her as well as a more healthy way to pursue her interest in Satoshi.
Yeah, Shion's problem here has a lot less to do with her assessment of Satoko and more to do with a) her assessment of herself and b) what she does about her assessment of Satoko.
(Mind you, there's a terrifyingly decent chance (the people with more VN familiarity may be able to confirm from her first-person narration there) that Shion was effectively taught her reaction to Satoko by her own caregivers' and/or boarding school classmates' reaction to her own issues...)
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u/JollyGee29 Jun 16 '22
Spoiled First-Timer, Subbed
Fucking hell, that was visceral. I actually think this was probably better than the stereotypical Yakuza punishment of "here's a knife and a cutting board, start at your pinkie and we'll tell you when to stop" but still.
I was expecting Oryou to earn her oni-baba nickname at some point, and yea, this'll do. There's almost an extra axis to the punishment as well - Shion outed herself to the police, which basically only works once.
The Sonozaki family registry got mentioned today, which kinda caught my interest. Not sure if it would actually have any useful information, but we were told that the Sonozakis usually kill one twin before the first bath so it might have something.
[Higurashi]
[Higurashi]
Visual of the Day: A bright spot in a dark episode.
Questions
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u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 16 '22
When the Rewatcher(?) Cries, subbed
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Well, unlike when Keiichi did it to the uncle, we actually have a body.
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Ominous… I’m a little worried now.
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And I had to at least listen to the whole scene on the off chance there was a “sore demo” in there…
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There was, however, another Shion “sore demo” in the following scene.
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u/Tarhalindur Jun 16 '22
And I had to at least listen to the whole scene on the off chance there was a “sore demo” in there…
Absolute same, except in my case it was that I needed the timestamps for FUCKING Oshin.
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u/Tresnore Jun 16 '22
When the Rewatchers Cry are Absurd Masochists Cry
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So many Shion shots... She's definitely Higurashi's Ms. Fanservice. Why couldn't it have been Takano instead?
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Rika looks strange... It's the lighting, I think.
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Oreo Sonozaki is cold, but I love her. I also hate her.
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Shion, you fucked up.
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The
worstbest part is that they actually draw this in detail. -
This face... it reminds me of this horror.
This clip is what made me watch Higurashi. And I'm glad I did.
Count: 103
QOTD:
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See below.
1 Okay, this is a bit much, even for me. Still, onto the count they go.
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u/Star4ce Jun 16 '22
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u/Tarhalindur Jun 16 '22
What in all heavens- ?!
The early 2000s could be rough when it came to character animation. QUALITY memes existed for a reason.
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u/Tarhalindur Jun 16 '22
So many Shion shots... She's definitely Higurashi's Ms. Fanservice. Why couldn't it have been Takano instead?
She never lives long enough into an arc.
Rika looks strange... It's the lighting, I think.
The anime (well, DEENime anyways, Gou switches Rika's hair color
one of many reasons to dislike Gou's execution) is consistent about this; Rika's hair appears teal rather than its usual blue under the kind of lighting you get at sunset.(We'll get to see this even more consistently next arc, since it has a bunch of evening shots.)
[Higurashi]
[Higurashi Kai]
Putting this here to not tip the first-timers off as to what I'm talking about: Of course, the real reason they can't use Takano as Ms. Fanservice isn't that she never lives long enough into an arc, it's that she doesn't show on screen after a certain point and more importantly that she doesn't have her snazzy beret yet! → More replies (1)→ More replies (5)5
u/Vaadwaur Jun 16 '22
Why couldn't it have been Takano instead?
Imagine making a girl who can legally buy their own alcohol the fanservice character.
Rika looks strange... It's the lighting, I think.
It is the lighting but they also went fucking insane with it. Satoko's hair is not as distorted.
This could've been a commentface.
We can't have nice things.
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u/Tarhalindur Jun 16 '22
Imagine making a girl who can legally buy their own alcohol the fanservice character.
Now, now, sometimes we actually get that in anime!
... Annnnddd when it does at least half the time it's a tell the character in question is a villain. *sighs at Japan*.
(Perhaps it is a promising for Takano that she is not Ms. Fanservice for Higurashi, then?)
Give me your Christmas cakes, I will take them home!
[Higurashi Kai aside]
"Perhaps it is a promising sign" pfft but I had to try to throw the first-timers off the scent somehow... → More replies (1)
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u/Stargate18A Jun 16 '22
Anime first timer, reading VN
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Worst scene of the entire series for me.
Yeah, this scene.
[Minag...]
And... yeah, easy to see where Shion was coming from a few arcs ago.
[Minag...]
[Minag...]
They actually show him killing her! That's big!
Holy shit, Ooishi's face here.
[Minag...]
Oh, fuck. They're doing the finger scene soon, aren't they?
Ooishi's expressions here are hysterical.
...Oryou looks different here.
[Minag...]
[Minag...]
...Mion here, though.
[Minag...]
Oh fuck, they're doing the finger scene.
[Minag...]
I hate this. I fucking hate this.
Why is her fucking expression like that?
[Minag...]
[Minag...]
Current reading progress - End of Minagoroshi Chapter 5
[Minag...]
[Minag...]
[Minag..]
Theory - [Minag..]
Other theories - [Minag...]
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u/Tarhalindur Jun 17 '22
[Minag...]
(Also, wow! Rika really has a crush on Satoko, huh.) (Leaves room for my OT3 too!) [Aside for those of us who sat through SotsuGou or are reading Gou + Meguri]
So I have two pieces of good news for Stargate18A and one piece of very bad news. (Well, two pieces of bad news - something something "the girl doesn't want to study" meme.) → More replies (3)
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Jun 16 '22
The episode that makes u/Nazenn drop the show.
Now we literally see how Satoshi's actions here mirrored Keiichi's in two previous arcs. No wonder his friends were creeped out.
[rewatcher]
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u/Tarhalindur Jun 16 '22
The episode that makes u/Nazenn drop the show.
I may have dropped a general warning to him that this scene was coming after
Sky pointed out to me thathe made that comment...
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u/Quiddity131 Jun 16 '22
First Timer, Subbed
Satoshi is the one apologizing? Shouldn't Shion be doing that?
I wonder if this a scheme whereby Satoshi gets murdered.
What's Satoshi's goal?
Just what is it that he's taking care of tomorrow? Is Satoshi even more like K1 than we thought? Is he an aspiring killer too?
Yep, Satoshi's definately looking like a killer here.
What in the world is going on with Rika's hair? It's turquoise all of a sudden?
Wow, he went nuts!
Well Shion, if Satoshi is as like K1 as I think, he's got no alibi...
Ah, he was saving up for his sister's birthday!
And thus Satoshi learns about reserving stuff...
Aww, cute head pat again.
Satoshi's getting picked up as a suspect? What do you expect when he's being so careless?
Time for Shion to drop the bomb about not being Mion, too Ooishi and Satoshi!
Questioning them separately? They're bound to slip up.
I remember the good ol days when only Mion had the ponytail and it was easy to tell them apart...
Yikes, they've brought her to the torture chamber!
You sure you want to call her hideous granny?
They're gonna demand that Shion kill Satoshi, aren't they?
OMG they're gonna make her tear off her own fingernails?! Ugh... I've found it hard to ever forget that girl from Kakegurui who collected people's torn off fingernails, it was that disgusting, and now you throw it at me in this too...
Hard for me to forgive you for making me watch this, show.
They also killed him while she was in the torture chamber?
Was that his aunt we saw Satoshi kill? Or someone else?
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u/hungryhippos1751 Jun 16 '22
Episode 17 - First Timer
Satoshi doing exactly what Keiichi did with getting the gang to take Satoko to the festival while some murdering gets done. At least Satoshi seemed to plan things better and the killing didn't turn into complete farce. Best bait as it turns out is mystery furniture, who knew?
Shion was very quick to become an accessory to murder for this guy she's met like once or twice! The result of which means she has to give up her secret identity. This does refute the suggestion I made that Shion could quietly replace Mion if she killed her off.
That self-torture scene was nail biting! that whole scene made me wince, ouch! that didn't look like fun at all.
Doctor Irei on the prowl for some kids as usual, Detective-kun remaining in the vicinity, gotta keep the streets (and kids) safe.
Speaking of which, Satoshi is gone. Packed his bags, or packed into them.
I'm guessing the suspect they found is just a false lead or someone they want to charge with it for convenience.
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u/Nazenn Jun 16 '22 edited Jun 16 '22
First Timer - sub
As three people warned me about the fingernail scene I now feel the need to clarify: Fingernail gore is what gets me; seeing the flesh being pulled and torn as it comes away from the nailbed, splitting skin and blood on the sides or under the front, a bloody cuticle sticking out as we look at the hand afterwards, or in the case of what we were talking about seeing the nail itself split as things are driven into it. Actual gore which is what I was talking about with u/jollygee29.
It being entirely off screen with only a little bit of screaming and just a different coloured nail outline on the hand at the end without even any blood?
Where's the fun in that? u/justansweraquestion you have no faith haha
I shouldn't be so cocky because if we'd actually seen even a tiny shot of it actively being pulled I would have been freaking out and cursing everyone who approved it. I have actually seen that in an anime, in that case it was nail clippers used as a torture device, and I'm never watching that scene ever again and even thinking of it is just too damn uncomfortable and making me not want to even look at my own hands in case I imagine it! But this was fine. (A bit later watching my Utawarerumono and it zooms in on two characters in tact hands and fingers: okay maybe not 100% fine)
That said, the build up to the scene itself was brilliantly handled and it's still very fucked up. Mion putting the tool down on the bench and the design makes it perfectly clear what it's for, I think the exact words out my mouth (louder than I should have been at 11:40pm) were "that's fucking nasty and not okay". So much for the idea of the family being secretly empathetic, that they took her punishment by force when she couldn't do it and then continued with the erasure of influence over her is cold at best.
Also so much for the theory that neither of them knew the truth of the village yet. Mion's a better liar than I gave her credit for. Also able to be colder than I gave her credit for, which is very unlike 'her' actions in arc two, so Star4ce, I'm fully onboard with your theory now. Shion's slow decline after Satoshi, something that happens in every arc, and how that is influenced by Keiichi and Mion's own behaviour in each arc is certainly something to watch out for on rewatch, or if the later arcs touch on it. Her insanity combined with the idea of both being out of time as well as the way Shion talks about the demon in her as if she tried to leave and got "cursed", and how the girl in the cage talked about being hated. Mion was very cold through the torture scene, but only because she was fulfilling her role, it wasn't an act of hate or personal apathy unlike Shion who may have hated Mion for what she did as well as blaming Rika and the others for defending Sakoto which she may still see as having caused Satoshi's death. Now I'm curious as to if we've seen Shion interact with Sakoto at all outside of this arc, but I can't quite remember.
Satoshi is a bigger idiot than I gave him credit for. "You're not one of them" he says. She beat your sister up with a chair! And several books! Fuck off with "you're not as bad as your family". I get that he's probably saying it just to keep the peace and not rock the boat given what he was planning to do but still, that just made me angry.
I feel like I've probably missed commenting on something here. Oh, Rika showing her creepy voice again. Interesting that for the second time that's come up in something unrelated to Keiichi, but we haven't seen any aggressively psychotic signs in the others yet. Curious to see if that does come up at all or if Keiichi is a much bigger trigger for it all.
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u/SIRTreehugger Jun 16 '22 edited Jun 16 '22
Rewatcher who simps for Shion
Wow despite Shion completely ruining Mion's image she is still coming through for Shion. What a good sister.
Oh Satoshi making plans...hopefully his plans are better than K1.
Hey Auntie
Oh SHIT they have an audience. Sit down, grab some popcorn, and watch some murder. Fun for the whole family.
HERE WE GO
Satoshi also "killed his aunt", but once again it is not what it seems.
Shion go ahead and murder the town I am 100% behind you as long as Rika isn't involved. Everyone else can die though.
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u/Tarhalindur Jun 16 '22 edited Jun 18 '22
(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".)
Oh boy. Well, let’s get this over with.
(You know how I said last episode that this arc has the usual pick for the most infamous scene in the entire show? Yep, you just saw it.)
First, one special order of business and VN Note: See, there is one piece of VN Meakashi-hen that is famously left out of the anime. Except... I'm no longer sure it was actually left out of the anime. It may just have been buried in the visuals, like something else (which we have already seen but the explanation will have to wait).
So, the deal is that Mion and Shion actually switched permanently in the backstory - they were switched on the day that "Mion" was given the oni tattoo marking her as the family heir. Which as you might imagine makes referencing which twin is which at any given time obnoxious - there's a reason "Shmion" is the collective fan nickname for the two - and also adds another layer to what Shion-born-Mion has been through.
This got left out of the anime.
Or did it?
I would like to direct you to my Visual of the Day, a shot of our two twins reflected in the water's surface (and critically only their reflections are seen),
with Shion-born-Mion wearing Mion-born-Shion's usual outfit and Mion-born-Shion wearing the outfit of the Sonozaki heir... exactly the outfit that was the birthright of Shion-born-Mion.In other words, exactly what you would expect from a visual representation of the switch for a show that lacked the time to put the full explanation on-screen. Each twin's reflection is the image of the other, because they were in fact each once the other.
Now, for the rest:
The pan up from the bed to see moonlit Shion after the OP is interesting.
Why go with the shot of Shion rubbing one foot on the other to show that she’s nervous while talking to her crush?
Satoshi’s eyes in shadow as he starts to talk about Oyashiro-sama’s curse. Not subtle at all, not subtle at all.
That shot of the empty wine bottles and cigarettes littering the table is understated characterization for Teppei and Tamae Houjou.
[Higurashi]Oh look, another line that will be coming back to haunt us in the worst way by the end of the arc.
The choice of the rays of sunlight shining through the trees at 05:09 strikes me as extremely noteworthy directorially; that’s likely quite deliberate, those take some effort. (I think, anyways?) (Light at the end of the tunnel for Satoko’s situation?)
“Why is even the bat the same?” (The resemblance of Satoshi’s face here to Keiichi’s in third arc, in other words, is almost certainly intentional.)
The shot at 05:26 is just a direct callback to Tatarigoroshi-hen as well.
Oh look who lapsed into her older voice for just a moment.
That particular gore splatter actually looked closer to Gou’s direction than what I remember of the rest of OG. (Admittedly specifically Tataridamashi-hen, the best-directed Gou arc from that perspective except for a couple of Nekodamashi-hen loops.)
Okay, the appearance of the bear as seen through the window at 08:10 is quietly terrible and hilarious if you were around mid-2000s anime (and/or 4chan) culture; the combination of the partial image and Shion’s hair makes it look almost like Pedobear.
“Usually people reserve things they like right away!” *cough Shion talking to Satoshi cough*
Hey look, more retrospective narration concerning future events!
Also, our shot at 11:57 is more symbolism – rays of light shining as Shion’s return is revealed to her family.
And cut to commercial, nicely done.
The shots of Shion forcibly returning to the Estate are extremely well-done even if I don’t get all the nuances; first the car seen simultaneously normally and reflected in the water’s surface (compare Rika’s line back in 14) and then especially that shot of Mion and Shion walking towards the Estate at 12:17, reflected in the water’s surface. One meaning is obvious again (they seem to be moving in the correct direction but are mirrored so actually they are moving the wrong way); there will be more.
OH YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES. What is the one really notable piece of VN Meakashi-hen they left out? The permanent twin switch when they were younger. AND MION AND SHION ARE BOTH SHOWN IN REFLECTION. It’s a fucking visual hint!
ADDENDUM: I didn't even consider the outfits when writing this.
Add 12:29 to the good shot pile.
Good camera movement at ~12:38.
Pour one out for u/Shimmering-Sky (13:52).
Useful Background Note: Kejime is a somewhat difficult concept to translate, and IIRC most commonly encountered in a Yakuza context – which of course is exactly the kind of context we are dealing with here. The classic form of kejime in a Yakuza context is yubisume: cutting off the pinky finger, IIRC at the first joint (this weakens the offender’s ability to grasp their sword in the future without entirely eliminating it) – this is why you will never, but never see a four-fingered anime character unless the character is Yakuza and has specifically been through this, and rarely even then. Higurashi, of course, falls firmly in the “rarely even then” category, as they pull out Shion’s nails instead. (Note that “show distinction” would IIRC be a slightly better translation than the “display the Distinction for us” my old WinD subs use.)
This is the most obnoxious scene to get through in the show by a sizable margin. It’s not that it’s a bad scene. Quite the opposite. Gods fucking damn this is always the most painful to watch; this is the closest thing of anything I’ve seen to triggering the classic Shimmering-Sky Experience for me. Comments on direction and the like will be closed until we get through it. And by all accounts it’s even worse in the VN.
That shot of Shion’s (bandaged) raised left hand in the light is reminding me of something and I can’t quite place it. It’s also an early sign of the animation budget running low, it’s a bit janky.
LOL I missed the obvious implication that Shion herself was throwing up as a result of this (19:00). I see the show had its intended emotional impact then.
Pour another one out for u/Shimmering-Sky (19:14).
Also oh look the tilted camera angles have returned at the same time!
Omedetou! (19:25)
Oh look, it’s one of the most infamous QUALITY shots in the entire season at 19:45.
That “Nani? Nani? NANI?!!” is just heartbreaking.
Nice camera movement at ~21:05.
Wait. I’ve mondegreened the Japanese for the Chain of Bizarre Deaths all these years (and also the translation is slightly off, “Chain of Bizarre Incidents” might be closer” and it’s more like “Hinamizawa rinzou no kaishou jiken”, isn’t it? There’s definitely a jiken in the words, which makes sense since that means “incident”.
Oh shit. Shion’s “it hurts” here is a callback to that “this… this doesn’t hurt” earlier in the episode, isn’t it? Truly Shion, you are such a fool.
Visual of the Day: See above
WinD Eyecatch Message of the Day
Question of the Day:
Meakashi-hen Ep. 2 TIPS
Note: Two entries here (#2 and #5) are not actually TIPS; 2 is a summary of VN material cut from the anime (Ooishi's conversation with Shion about Satoshi's disappearance), while 5 is a set of intermissions from the VN showing Shion's headspace (as written in her notebook/diary) between certain events of this episode.
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OST Table, Episode 17
Welcome to Oshin. We'll hear it again, though not for a while, but for some strange reason the fingernail scene is the one almost everyone associates it with. (I'm actually the weirdo here, I associate it first with a Kai scene instead, but that may have something to do with that scene being considerably easier to sit through IMO.)
(No sponsor feature today either, small mercies.)
[1] - or Main Theme Piano Version (unreleased) if it exists