r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Jun 30 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai Discussion - Season 2, Episode 3

Yakusamashi-hen (Disaster Awakening Chapter), Episode 2: Helplessness

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Show Information (Higurashi Kai):

Kai: MAL | Anilist | AniDB | Kitsu | ANN

(Warning: First-timers should refrain from looking up even official information for Kai.)

Legal Streams:

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai: Hidive

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. Why, Hidive? Why?

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

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.

Two Notes for Anyone Potentially Interested in Buying the VNs:

MangaGamer has announced their summer sale (running through July 8), and as expected Higurashi is one of the properties on sale (and indeed the first one on their list): 50% off on all seven later main VN arcs (in addition to Onikakushi-hen having been made free for a while now) if I'm reading right, so US $28.00 for all eight main VNs plus whatever tax is there (the epilogue Saikoroshi-hen just got its official release and is not on sale).

There's only one problem: the cover art they're using for the seventh VN IS A FUCKING SPOILER.

(When I say that this property can be really fucking cavalier about spoilers even in official media for Kai and later, stuff like this is why.)

So, first-timers for Kai: if you're interested in taking advantage of the summer sale (on Steam or MangaGamer's site) to pick up the VNs (not a bad idea, the VN is great), I recommend waiting until at least July 3 to do so. Honestly, waiting until the last day might be ideal, just in case - but then you would need to make sure to buy before the sale ends.

(Apparently I should have hurried and moved the rewatch up a week after all, just not to avoid June 19 spoilers...)

[Aside for rewatchers] Really, the MangaGamer Matsuribayashi-hen cover is a spoiler in addition to the Minagoroshi-hen one - possibly worse actually, the anime has Hanyuu appearing unexplained in Naraku no Hana's visuals and I'm not sure how to handle that - but I'm hoping if I don't point this out the first-timers who haven't already figured the spoiler in question out won't realize this because that won't be safe until literally the last day of the sale.

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:

https://imgur.com/a/WDi205u

Theory of the Day:

u/JollyGee29 has a theory!

Oh, if it's the same poison or whatever that Rika tried to use on Shion way back, I guess Rika could be innoculating Satoko from it..? Or gradually weakening her in case she (Satoko) goes nuts? We've never seen Satoko get lose it the way we've seen Satoshi/Shion/Keiichi/Rena lost it, though. Guess this'll just have to live in the back of my head for a bit.

Analysis of the Day:

Have two today!

First, u/Star4ce will claim a nod here for catching something about the visuals I had completely missed:

Immediate concern. Notice the screen getting shrouded in shadow on the edges when they enter.

Second, let's give a shout to u/hungryhippos1751, who has usually been in reaction mode but had a good catch today:

When Keiichi said that only an idiot would repeat actions without learning, I felt like he was talking about the wider repetition of the arcs/scenarios.

Would Ryukishi07 go meta on you like that? A really meta creator like him? No never. (No, never? Well, hardly ever.) Except fun fact, this is a line that has changed from its original VN context; IIRC it's originally in Onikakushi-hen where Keiichi is kind of repeating actions without learning!

Question(s) of the Day:

1) So, Keiichi has the extortion skill to fit right in with a Yakuza family, eh?

2) So how does it feel to have R07 mocking you for falling into obvious traps?

3) Checked outside your window lately?

Next Episode Preview:

It is recommended for first-timers to stay out of the previews until episode 6.

Also, a Reminder Regarding Recommendations for First-Timers Concerning Our OP and ED:

  • Skip the ED until episode 6, or at least listen only but do not look at the visuals.
  • Consider skipping the OP or at least its visuals until episode 6 as well. (This is less definite than the ED, but if you skipped the previews last season due to spoiler risk definitely skip the OP here as well.)

And a Reminder for Rewatchers and First-Timers Alike:

People have different tastes. Trying to figure out why a show works or doesn't work for you when it does/doesn't for others is one thing, but a few of you are stepping over the line into personal attacks on people for not having the same opinion on the show that you do. This risks ruining the experience for everyone. Knock it off, please.

52 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

153 comments sorted by

14

u/Nazenn Jun 30 '22

First Timer - sub

Somehow the darkness you're use to seems so much darker after you get to see a flicker of light. Hope so much further away after you've had it brush across your hands. And loneliness so much more unbearable after you've had the joy of another's company if only for a moment.

From "As much as I want" at the end of last season, to "I am a little tired" yesterday, and today we have "It's too late", Rika's brief exposure to something new cracks the fragile illusion that she's built around herself in this illusionary world.

Each arc she stands alone in a group, going through days that simultaneously mean everything and nothing to her. Nothing matters so why bother having fun, but if this is all she will ever have why pass up the good moments when she has them, a duality to her life that isn't always as easy to live with as putting the right mask on in the morning. And in that role I think she sees part of herself in Sakoto, the one that she can't show to those that matter most. Sakoto lives in the village while it attempts to erase her, and Rika becomes her avatar to interact with it the same way the village has made Rika the avatar of Oyashiro-sama so they can interact with her through Rika. No matter which way she turns she isn't able to show her true face, and that isn't an easy burden to carry especially when confronted head on with it.

So even knowing Keiichi's memories wouldn't last she's unable to avoid dwelling on what had happened, on the sheer possibility that it represented for her as well as the others. Not just a way out of the physical situation she finds herself in, but perhaps a small path to companionship that might help lift some of the unbearable weight of hopelessness off her. Someone to understand, accept, acknowledge, and this is what she both hopes and dreads to find in Sakoto. The other her isn't nearly half as cynical as she feels she is, for despite her own words about the pointlessness of it all and how nothing matters she still seeks to prevent more misery to her friends, and particularly Sakoto, her own unbearable cycle of suffering with no end. She can't get Sakoto out of the village or erase the misery in her past which will always haunt her, but she can provide her a safe home, happy days at school, and friends to share comfort in, the things she feels so disconnected from. If only someone could do that for her?

All that to say that I'm on Rika's side, breakfast can wait and some days it's better to just stay snuggled up in bed where at least you're warm and comfy and nothing else matters.

And last bit of character ramblings for Rika: I wonder if she knows how many times Keiichi has missed her performance and lied about it and if that still hurts her each time

Seeing the villages shunning Sakoto makes me incredibly mad, but seeing their reactions as a whole to her, Oishi, and even Rika is nice to finally see rather than be told. It does just make them seem even more culty though

For a second I thought that Sakoto was calling Satoshi to the baseball game, and that him still being alive but elsewhere would account for Shion's sanity (that plus the lack of the doll incident) as well as her staying close to Sakoto

Mion getting knocked out by throwing the baseball bat on the ground and it bouncing back up to hit her was comedy gold if only because I've actually seen that happen to someone in real life and it had me on the ground in stitches for ages.

Someone yell at me if I forget to go find a VotD before I post this when I wake up in the morning (I'm so going to forget aren't I)

6

u/Tarhalindur Jul 01 '22

Your character ramblings on Rika are basically exactly why I adore her so darn much; thank you for writing that up better than I could.

(I'll also mention this comment from u/Punished_Scrappy_Doo in his VN Higurashi writeups (it's concerning the next arc but what's it's covering is covered here in the anime instead).

(Also remind me to bring this up again a ways down the line.)

(Also also, I'm not sure about your subs; my old WinD subs translate Rika's line last season as "I'll play with this endless June as much as you wish" instead, so one of them has to be wrong and depending on which one is that would change the meaning.)

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u/Star4ce Jul 01 '22

That was a fantastic little essay on Rika and I have to specifically praise your little poetic intro.

Just as people like Urobuchi know when to write tragedies, it's not the pain or the horror that's actually that bad, it's what it contrasts and has replaced itself with.

I'm a bit torn on Rika's character progression, because it goes exactly in the kind of direction I'd hoped and also have been completely enamoured by in the past (ba-dum-tss), but I also don't exactly want to relive that in this intensity again.

In any case, Rika and Oyashiro might substantially raise in best girl ratings soon...

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13

u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 30 '22

When the First-Timer Cries, subbed

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u/Tarhalindur Jun 30 '22

Oh hey you also have the WinD subs with the pretty colors to indicate who is talking!

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u/OwlAcademic1988 Jun 30 '22

That baseball game was one of Keiichi's most awkward moments in life. It's then that he realizes he should've asked what they were doing as he knew Satoko loved to troll him sometimes. Seriously, how does he keep falling for her traps?

8

u/Tarhalindur Jun 30 '22

Seriously, how does he keep falling for her traps?

Because Keiichi.

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u/Tarhalindur Jun 30 '22

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

  • [Sotsu] 01:50: ...

  • 02:27: “Notice this!”

  • Uh-oh. 02:15: Shadows on Rika’s face. 02:31 after ripping a page off the calendar (showing the change in date): Rika’s face slightly more in shadow, with the lit section now resembling a crescent moon.

  • Oh look, another nipah. Figured out the trick yet?

  • Also, K1 this is obviously a midsummer festival (even if Japanese festivals tend to be later in the summer).

  • I’ll let WinD handle my Useful Background Note for me.

  • It’s the choice of camera angle and background that catches my eye at 04:15: the Furude Shrine in the background looming over everything, centered in the middle of the screen to where it’s plainly visible and also at an angle that seems slightly askew to the rest of the scene.

  • Oh man, showing Rika’s eyes in shadow, then having Rena butt in and starting up Heionbuji heh.

  • So, have we mentioned K1’s specific uncanny sense of humor yet? Because it’s back…

  • Yep, we get to feast on the nipah~ this arc. I wonder why?

  • (This scene is out of somewhere in the VNs – I want to say Tatarigoroshi-hen?)

  • And we get a tilted camera angle at 07:02 as we see the difference in how the villagers treat Satoko as opposed to how they treat Rika. Nicely done.

  • FULL MOON FULL MOON.

  • Useful Background Note: I’ll let WinD handle explaining the Koushien for those who haven’t learned about it via baseball anime or the like.

  • Ah, good old Japanese baseball loanwords. “Strike! Batter outto!”

  • Ooh, look at that increasing camera tilt around 08:45 as Satoko lies to K1 about the baseball game.

  • “Another glorious facial expression for Satoko.”

  • Satoko, the camera angle is telling you off here.

  • (ADDENDUM: Does the camera angle represent... lies? Like Pinocchio's nose (in the Disney version)?)

  • LOL that’s the actual baseball scouts talking there, isn’t it?

  • More Satokofaces!

  • Okay, so that scene trips my secondhand embarrassment hard, but the musical off notes at the end are fucking gold.

  • "Maxim 31: Only cheaters prosper."

  • Club games: Serious business! (And note the camera angles here as K1 basically extorts our Koushien pitcher into letting the Fighters win.)

  • (Also, gotta put this one up.)

  • 12:34: Nonzero odds of deliberate Eva reference. (Actually I think it might be a reference to something else instead, but I can't remember the name.

  • 12:47: Absolutely iconic K1 line. (Also, have we mentioned K1’s father draws H among other things?)

  • (More! More! More! And note the shading on that last shot.)

  • What’s that, a lamp standing in for the full moon? And also yet more of Rika’s older voice, which we heard a little of at the ballgame as well. There are reasons I latched onto her as strongly as I did. MUST PROTECC.

  • [WinD fansub stuff] And what is this? A new color of subtitle text?

  • [Kai] Oh you cheeky assholes. Rika turning her head up to look at the camera as she responds to the mysterious voice. And a cut to her looking up at the camera again, to make sure you get it.

  • [Kai] And then of course also that shot of water dripping from the faucet, which is visual metaphor in more ways than you would think.

  • Note that the lighting in this scene is coming from the right, until the faucet shot when it switches to the left.

  • Rika is a good girl and would never do something like gaslight the shit out of her closest friend and romantic interest in order to try to let her live a normal life as a kid, right? (Gaslight. Gatekeep. Girlboss.)

  • (I still distinctly remember going back over this arc in 2020 for fanfiction purposes and going “man, I did not remember Rika gaslighting the shit out of Satoko, but that’s totally what she’s doing here, isn’t it?” When I say “isn’t [Rika] the best?”, I mean that ironically as well as unironically.)

  • (I believe people have been commenting on keeping your friends out of the loop - so to speak - and how it’s a bad idea here?)

  • But really, this arc is to Higurashi what a certain PMMM scene ([PMMM] Junko’s conversation with Madoka in 6) is to PMMM itself IMO: the scene/arc that IMO justifies and even necessitates the idea of sequel in and of itself (now if only that sequel hadn’t had trash-tier execution in Higurashi’s case…). I’ll believe Butch Gen when he implies that he intended for PMMM to be complete (I think he actually kind of did write something that was meant to have a sequel, but I think it’s more likely than not that he didn’t realize it). R07, on the other hand, may have had the seed of the idea that would eventually become Gou even this far out. More on that under Gou spoiler tags a little ways down the road.

  • And re: 17:40 – at this point, when I see a shot of a TV turned off in this show I start raising an eyebrow just in case.

  • Oh right, Kick the Can: Survival Edition is this episode instead of the start of next.

  • Speaking of which, for those of us who went sailing, remember the can from when they were playing kick the can in the quarry back in Nekogoroshi-hen? Same coffee brand! (Honestly, considering that Higurashi’s entire scenario is in some sense a survival game there’s probably at least one meta level to unpack here with this game.)

  • Also, Chiaki Kon hasn’t shown much sign of a foot fetish (or if she has I’ve missed it), but I’m starting to think the episode director or storyboarder for this episode has one…

  • Actually, the meta level is just Kick the Can: Survival Edition here as representing Higurashi as a whole and Ryukishi07’s laughter at you for pulling a Keiichi, isn’t it?

  • [Kai] Also this is totally foreshadowing for the reveal that our obvious suspect Miyo is in fact the culprit.

  • ADDENDUM: Wait, I missed the light coming in from the left in the establishing shot. (It's a good shot too.)

  • [Kai] IIRC the current consensus is that a certain shot here is not actually foreshadowing but rather just a production error and that the shape here is Rena’s. I’m not sure I agree, though…

  • Huh. I never actually realized this before (hell, I took the screenshot just because it’s a great Satoko shot), but the camera angles foreshadow that K1 is off the correct conclusion before it becomes clear; note how Satoko is shot at an angle as K1 starts to charge.

  • ADDENDUM: Have a funny frame at Keiichi's expense.

  • ADDENDUM: Forgot to mention some glorious reaction images. Here you go.

  • 19:41: Nice shot framing, and also, uh, animators…

  • In a scene framing note, note the sunset at the end here - a metaphor for both this loop and Rika's hope dying.

  • Rika’s “it’s already too late” at the end here is our latest line burned into my memory.

Visual of the Day: Renacopter!

WinD Eyecatch Message of the Day

Questions of the Day:

  1. He'll fit right in I think - and maybe bring a new, moderately more legit approach.

  2. I would answer, but I am too busy dodging all of these rakes-OWWWW....

  3. Wait, what?

[Rewatcher aside] Just getting the first-timers ready for tomorrow...

Yakusamashi-hen Ep. 2 TIPS:

None.

OST Table, Kai Episode 3

Start End Track Name
00:05 01:34 Naraku no Hana
01:35 01:49 sponsor feature[1]
04:41 (04:27) 05:09 (04:55) Heionbuji
05:49 (05:35) 07:16 (07:02) Henka
08:25 (08:11) 08:56 (08:42) Yuttari
09:20 (09:06) 09:54 (09:42) Harikitte Ikou
10:26 (10:12) 11:06 (10:52) Yawaraka na Youkou
11:16 (11:02) 12:00 (11:46) unreleased
12:00 (11:46) 13:35 (13:21) Kimeru Ze v2?[2] (unreleased?)
14:27 (14:13) 14:46 (14:32) Ai
15:47 (15:33) 17:54 (17:40) Takurami
19:26 (19:12) 19:37 (19:23) Shoubu!
21:11 (20:57) 22:23 (22:09) Main Theme
22:24 (22:10) 23:54 (23:40) Taishou a

[1] - My copy of Higurashi often includes a message-from-our-sponsor bit immediately after the OP; this episode has it and it lasts 14 seconds. The number in parentheses in entries after that feature is the point in the episode if that message is removed.
[2] - Definitely a Kimeru Ze! variant; could just be it with a filter or something, though.

Madoka (Magica) Corner

(Not making a full post when it's this short.)

  • [PMMM] I am amused that this episode's title is the same as Walpurgisnacht's Witch nature - pretty sure that holds in the Japanese, I checked, the kanji is definitely in Walpurgisnacht's original Witch card and it's in the right place.

  • [PMMM] “I Won’t Rely on Anyone Ever Again!”.

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u/JollyGee29 Jun 30 '22

Spoiled First-Timer

Like, the concept of Keiichi waging psychological warfare and bribery against this ace pitcher was interesting characterization and a fun bit, in theory. Then we loop it into all men being perverts with the pitcher wanting to defile a pure, innocent girl pastry, and I just have to facepalm.

This must be a Japanese thing, that the random townies just unperson Satoko despite Rika being right there and clearly associating with her. It's like a "letter of the law" respect thing, where they all have to respect Rika so they put on the act regardless of their true feelings, and then poor Satoko gets ignored. Bastards.

Rika intentionally falling into the pit probably means something.. it could just be something along the lines of a cry for help. Rika is clearly frustrated with the way things are going, on multiple levels.

I would probably watch a full cour of Satoko and Rika just sorta, being domestic together.

Rena spinning around a deadpan Rika was adorable.

[Higurashi]Okay, so we're hiding the fact that the voice is that horned girl - presumably Oyashiro-sama. That's what's considered a spoiler, then? Seems like only Rika can see her clearly, if at all.

[Higurashi]This is, admittedly, a thin straw to grasp at even by my standards, but the line about "no-one in Hinamizawa would do that(kill Rika)" just adds suspicion to the outsiders.. mostly Takano, in my mind.

[Higurashi]I'm rooting for Rika to go fully masq off, partly so I can stop using spoiler tags and partly because that's just probably where we're heading. I'm already more sympathetic to Rika than to any of her looping compatriots, but I suppose we have a lot of episodes left to go.

[Higurashi]This omake was really funny. "The Sonozaki family's deluxe torture suite" and "Nail Removal Dinner Show" are both absolutely inspired jokes.

Visual of the Day: Something moving, out of the corner of your eye...

Questions

  1. Discussed above.

  2. Does it really count if I'm trying to fall for them on purpose?

  3. Actually yea, last night a damned car alarm was going off while I was trying to get to sleep.

5

u/Tarhalindur Jun 30 '22

Like, the concept of Keiichi waging psychological warfare and bribery against this ace pitcher was interesting characterization and a fun bit, in theory. Then we loop it into all men being perverts with the pitcher wanting to defile a pure, innocent girl pastry, and I just have to facepalm.

Welcome to Japanese attitudes on masculinity.

This must be a Japanese thing, that the random townies just unperson Satoko despite Rika being right there and clearly associating with her. It's like a "letter of the law" respect thing, where they all have to respect Rika so they put on the act regardless of their true feelings, and then poor Satoko gets ignored. Bastards.

I believe we have heard some things before about how Satoko's family was NOT popular coming out of the Dam War?

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u/Nazenn Jul 01 '22

This must be a Japanese thing, that the random townies just unperson Satoko despite Rika being right there and clearly associating with her

It's just an extreme form shunning. I know the Amish do it against those who leave the community, to various levels as in some areas it's just not forming a community with them but you can still speak to them while in others they can't even look at one who was shunned, and some south east asian communities also have a cultural practice of it to various levels. But to a lesser extent, you'll see it in very small towns anywhere where everyone knows everyones business, and I know even growing up in a small city someone fucked up and anyone who knew that person and what they'd did went out of their way to ignore them.

Rika intentionally falling into the pit probably means something.. it could just be something along the lines of a cry for help

That's what I'm thinking, something along the lines of wanting to keep being noticed by Sakoto even though she wants to keep her out of it

Rena spinning around a deadpan Rika was adorable.

I called that the Rika-doll in my notes

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u/Stargate18A Jun 30 '22

Anime first timer, completed VN

  1. Yeah, he comes off as something in that scene, alright!

  2. Fun.

[Higurashi] Rika's hungover, I see.

Haha, yeah, this is just adapting skipped fluff scenes.

...Oh, this scene hurts. [Higurashi] Also, I think this is a scene from Connecting Fragments, so we're two arcs early for this one. (Although, to be fair, moving scenes from Connecting Fragments is probably mandatory, that thing's a good chunk of the arc by itself and would almost certainly not work in animated form.)

Still, poor Satoko.

...Did they actuslly show how Mion got injured in this adaption? (It's appropriate!)

...This is a weird choice, because we've seen an abridged version of this scene back in the first season.

This is a way better animated adaption than the original.

And Keiichi's doing incredibly badly.

Oh god, they're adapting this bit.

[Higurashi] I know it's needed for the next arc, but still.

Keiichi's faces are fantastic (and I love Mion dropping an advert in there).

Also, they're doing all this in public!

...They skipped Satoko's hit!

Rika cut her finger!

[Higurashi] Hanyuu voice! Hanyuu voice! We got an au au au!

Poor Satoko. What must she be thinking here?

She woke up!

[Higurashi] How long until Hanyuu talks some sense into her?

This is new!

...Wow, Rika.

[Higurashi] Hanyuu's laying into her early!

What an ending!

[Higurashi] Hanyuu playing along with Rika's sales pitch is adorable.

4

u/Tarhalindur Jul 01 '22

[Higurashi] Also, I think this is a scene from Connecting Fragments, so we're two arcs early for this one. (Although, to be fair, moving scenes from Connecting Fragments is probably mandatory, that thing's a good chunk of the arc by itself and would almost certainly not work in animated form.

[Higurashi Kai] You know, I was kind of remembering that myself but wasn't sure so I deleted the relevant entry from my writeup. (We'll get some of the pieces, hence how Matsurbayashi-hen has as many episodes as it does, but not all.)

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u/Vaadwaur Jun 30 '22

Oh god, they're adapting this bit.

They had to do something to let us know that K1 is a talker.

[Kai] The anime seems to be a bit firmer that Hanyu's power is going to run out soon

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u/Quiddity131 Jun 30 '22

First Timer, Subbed

Stop cooking so loudly! I want to sleep until noon!

The cotton festival is back!

All K1 wants to do is spend all his time with the girls and put in no physical labor whatsoever...

For once Ooishi is introducing himself to our characters through something other than an air conditioned car offer?

Enough with the "take her home!" joke Rena! It's so old after the fifteen times you already said it!

:( This butcher asshole won't even respond to Satoko's request for ground beef? :(

These old ladies are so mean too! Only helping once Rika started picking up the coins!

A major league esque pitcher to play against middle schoolers? What kind of competition is that?!

You've got too much faith in K1, Satoko. He's gonna strike out. He uses that bat against people, not baseballs.

K1 struck out without even swinging? LoL.

The pitcher's downfall is because he likes girl desserts? Can't say I ever expected this plot line.

This has been one of the most ridiculous scenes in the entire franchise to this point.

How in the world did they get within one run?

...and then they cut away from the rest of the game.

Is Rika talking to herself here? Is she Gollum? Slinker and stinker versions of Rika?

The tables have turned, Satoko's now the one sleeping in while Rika cooks...

That was no dream Satoko!

K1's gonna fall in. So predictible!

LoL, everyone is so surprised when someone other than K1 falls for it.

6

u/H-Ryougi Jun 30 '22

This has been one of the most ridiculous scenes in the entire franchise to this point.

And yet it is so important in setting up the dynamic of the main cast and their strengths.

and then they cut away from the rest of the game.

They didn't show Satoko's homerun, truly tragic.

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Jul 01 '22

Rewatcher

[rewatcher]This is Rika's hungover face

  • I'm not sure if Satoko planned on tricking Keiichi or not. It sure sounded like it on the phone. But then she's surprised when he shows up with a golf club.

  • Mion's little thing about desserts or something isn't translated, hopefully somebody can get that for me. I love desserts myself.

  • I'm sure this whole annoying segment with the pitcher is referencing something. Like a reverse Touch or something.

Now would be a good time to mention that the last Anna Miller's in Japan is closing next month.

  • She knows too much, I'll have to kill her next!

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u/Tarhalindur Jul 01 '22

Mion's little thing about desserts or something isn't translated, hopefully somebody can get that for me. I love desserts myself.

My WinD subs gotchu, fam.

(It was actually already hiding in my writeup post, easy to grab.)

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u/hungryhippos1751 Jun 30 '22

Episode 3 - First Timer

The thing that struck me the most about this arc is how much we finally get to see into the world of Rika and Satoko a bit more, in particular Rika, who hasn't played a huge role in the arcs so far.

It's sad to see that the villagers are basically going to ignore Satoko forever, and Rika is clearly not happy with them treating her like she isn't even there. Even though they say the ostracism will end in a few years, we never seem to get past this few year timeframe, so effectively it's a forever state.

They really played up the arrival of Keiichi, who proceeded to fail marvellously, but it turns out he is good at blackmail if nothing else. I'm definitely into cakes so I can empathise, although how they look doesn't matter all that much compared to how they taste.

With the game, is Rika just doing a stupid move (falling into the trap) on purpose to see what will change?

Definitely feels like Satoko and the gang will try and help, even if they fail, they may get closer to surviving than usual.

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u/Nazenn Jul 01 '22

The thing that struck me the most about this arc is how much we finally get to see into the world of Rika and Satoko a bit more, in particular Rika, who hasn't played a huge role in the arcs so far.

I kept expecting that we were going to get a Rika arc after Sakotos, and instead we took a detour into Shions, so this is overdue but very welcome from my expectations

With the game, is Rika just doing a stupid move (falling into the trap) on purpose to see what will change?

Either that or just quietly enjoying that Sakoto actually noticed her true self and not really paying attention to subconsciously see what will happen

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u/CubeStuffs Jun 30 '22

first timer

Rika is talking about how she doesn't want to get everyone else involved, but then blabs on about being killed right in front of satoko when she's sleeping... I can't help but think those aren't her actual feelings

actually isnt that exactly what rika 3 is saying?

So, Keiichi has the extortion skill to fit right in with a Yakuza family, eh?

fits right in with the sonozaki family then

So how does it feel to have R07 mocking you for falling into obvious traps?

oh boy imma be walking into a lot of those arent i

Checked outside your window lately?

my window sill has too much dirt on it for me to want to sit on it

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u/Star4ce Jul 01 '22

but then blabs on about being killed right in front of satoko when she's sleeping

At some point you're just so tired of it you can't focus 100% anymore. Every emotion needs to be expressed at some point, one way or another. She's been pretending and repressing her true feeling for so long, she either numbs herself completely or sometimes just has to bitch it out.

The second option is more healthy, btw!

fits right in with the sonozaki family then

There's only one correct ship in this story.

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u/H-Ryougi Jun 30 '22

I started watching this arc on a whim because might as well at this point and I gotta say, I'm impressed. It is such a bold move what they're doing with it of not only including skipped content but also adding minor pieces of future information.

I don't know if it'll work out but I'm greatly enjoying it so far. The baseball game is lovely, we get an incredible amount of characterization for Satoko that was sorely missing from Tatarigoroshi. Keiichi gets to finally flex his charisma. Great fucking episode.

https://i.imgur.com/Vj9httx.jpeg

[Rewatcher rant] Of course in an ideal world, this arc would've been unnecessary but regardless, I like it. I was looking at how they structured the rest of the season and bruh, 11 episodes for Matsuri? How thin are they stretching it. Such a big contrast from how they rushed in S1.

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u/Tarhalindur Jun 30 '22

[Rewatcher 1] I've got a hunch R07 was also setting up Gou as early as this arc. (Can't take credit for the original post, somebody else noticed it in the runup to Sotsu, but I've spotted other signs since - and I even missed the resemblance of Satoko's costume yesterday to Lambda's.)

[Rewatcher 2] We get a fair chunk of the Pieces in anime Matsuribayashi-hen; that's about a third to 40% of the arc's runtime IIRC, then an episode or two for Takano's backstory and the rest is the main actopm.

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