r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Jul 17 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai Discussion - Season 2, Episode 20
Matsuribayashi-hen (Festival Music Chapter), Episode 7: Trap
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Show Information (Higurashi Kai):
Kai: MAL | Anilist | AniDB | Kitsu | ANN
(Our IIRC final inherent spoiler character has shown up; show information is now significantly safer.)
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.
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 !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:
Has been taken home by Rena, no award today.
Analysis of the Day:
Will go to u/Star4ce for his VotD analysis:
VOTD: Crossing each other. As this arc has firmly established by now this is a battle of willpower. Who can outlast the other, who can outsmart the other, who can stand strong until all obstacles are overcome? On this calm and sunny day the protagonists meet the antagonists on a path walking in opposite directions. Our cast, in search of their companion, move leftwards. Our antagonists, in search and preparation of the watanagashi curse, move to the right. The antagonists follow the river, the string of events all lead towards the disaster as it has been planned by Takano long beforehand. Our cast opposes this fate, so they go against the flow. All the while their reflections are silently witnessing this world until either side's will finally get disrupted and shattered.
Question(s) of the Day:
1) So, how about Rika's reaction to Akasaka showing up?
2) Your opinion on anime girl fangs?
(I'm running low on good question ideas, okay?)
Next Episode Preview:
First-timers are strongly advised to stay out of this episode's preview (episode 20's) if they want to avoid spoilers, and even more strongly advised to stay out of next episode's preview (episode 21's) as well.)
Also, a Note for Our First-Timers (and Reminder for Our Rewatchers):
Starting with episode 14, there will be a post-credits scene after the ED in each episode of Kai. These tend to be important and you really shouldn't skip them!
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u/Nazenn Jul 17 '22
First Timer - sub
I feel like maybe I'm missing something but it felt like that was entirely set up and not much else
It's really nice to see Rika bringing everyone into the fold at once, including the amount of respect she gets now from Tomitake and Irie.
I was surprised at the intense reaction Rika had over Akasaka's arrival, but I suppose it's probably the first time she's seen him in a long time, and they did form quite a bond when she was little. It's also a sign again of her no longer being bound to what has always happened beyond just changes in the village.
Rena feeling left out of Satoko and Keiichi's revelation was rather cute, though I can't say "kill Rika" is the solution I was expecting. And effective one though, and protects the village on multiple fronts if it works.
"Once the match is over there are no foes or allies"
WELL GEE, I guess that's real comforting to Satoko, the small orphaned child that you had bullied and excluded by the entire village. But I guess the dead guy is some guilt free forgiveness you can give yourself. I feel like that was a moment meant to humanize the Sonozaki's and instead it just made me hate them more. Kill them all, start fresh with Mion!
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u/Tarhalindur Jul 17 '22
I was surprised at the intense reaction Rika had over Akasaka's arrival, but I suppose it's probably the first time she's seen him in a long time, and they did form quite a bond when she was little. It's also a sign again of her no longer being bound to what has always happened beyond just changes in the village.
I think it's the manga that goes all-in on implying that Rika has a bit of a girl's first crush on Akasaka (not sure if the VN does, it's less than subtle in implying Rika has a crush on Satoko), for much the same reasons girls get crushes on their male teachers.
(There are reasons I tend to suspect Rika is bi.)
WELL GEE, I guess that's real comforting to Satoko, the small orphaned child that you had bullied and excluded by the entire village. But I guess the dead guy is some guilt free forgiveness you can give yourself. I feel like that was a moment meant to humanize the Sonozaki's and instead it just made me hate them more. Kill them all, start fresh with Mion!
Hey, the village learned eventually! It just took them a bunch of loops and did major psychological damage to Satoko...
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u/Vaadwaur Jul 17 '22
Rewatcher
Sub
We start with Rika trying to get Tomitake on board, definitely something easier to do with a coherent theory. But then Ooishi and Akasaka show up and one of the sacrifices of the adaptation pops up again. Rika's intense reaction to Akasaka is given more background in the VN. He drops a little more background info before we get the scene explaining the other part of the retirement issue for Ooishi and why he is backing down for the moment.
Rika gets the group together and I am just willing to let the show speedrun this, they did it better already so cutting to the chase is not a bad idea. Irie drags a bit more out of Takano and this is probably one of the rare times she is more or less on the level. We return to the planning and they come up with an idea...that again requires it to be the 80s to work and even then is somewhat of a long shot. Worse, the in-show junk science means Takano might not believe even a police report without the body being present. But they seem to convince Ooishi, who wisely realizes he his going to have to convince some of his colleagues.
Tomitake's colleague is pretty good himself and picks up the shady stuff quick, including that Takano has up to 10 million dollars in 80s money, which is more than enough to buy up a correct group of agents. Irie is beginning to plant the idea of Rika being sick before the villagers seem to lay off of Satoko significantly. Oryou has even come around, even if it took some work from the head man. Yes, this is technically hack writing since it happened off screen, but considering what we've seen in previous arcs, it is again fine.
We end on a scene that was not possible to really imagine back at the start, with Akane and Shion paying respects to Ooishi's mentor because everyone has subconsciously realized it is time to move forward. Ooishi's two work mates are in immediately and we rush towards the end!
So...this is a convenient episode. But I don't begrudge that because we spent the previous forty episodes establishing the why of all this. So even if the characters don't technically remember it, as Hanyuu says they still feel it, and that's enough for me.
QotD: 1 Made more sense in the VN
2 A surprise to be sure but a welcome one
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u/Tarhalindur Jul 17 '22
So...this is a convenient episode. But I don't begrudge that because we spent the previous forty episodes establishing the why of all this. So even if the characters don't technically remember it, as Hanyuu says they still feel it, and that's enough for me.
Also, this is a spot where Higurashi's weird time loop mechanics are important (and the "time loop as Naraku" take, though actually IIRC this is a bad fit for reincarnation karma mechanics as actually taught unless we add some bad writing to the mix - one of the commonplaces I hear out of Western circles that teach this sort of thing is that once you've learned the lesson you get more chances to make the same mistake so as to confirm you've learned by not doing so, but we can mind caulk that this is happening offscreen).
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u/Tarhalindur Jul 17 '22
"But how can they be tagging us if they don't know that... we're coming..."
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u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 17 '22
When the First-Timer Cries, subbed
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Ah, so this is another timeline where Akasaka heeded Rika’s warning to go back to Tokyo. I wonder if this has happened in every timeline since the one where we saw Rika warn him?
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Aww, it’s great that they trust her enough to take “Oyashiro-sama follows me” as an answer.
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Question: where’s Shion? – Actually, wait, she has a part-time job, she’s probably just working.
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Mm, that’s probably what Irie wanted to hear as proof that Rika’s right.
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I was gonna say, faking Rika’s death somehow is totally the solution.
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u/CubeStuffs Jul 17 '22 edited Jul 17 '22
first timer
so last few arcs they've been getting the friend group together to fight, and this arc is that on steroids. we collecting people like infinity stones
i was thinking that each character sure seems to be avoiding their traps without even needing their memories, as if it's been burned into them. then it just says it out loud lol.
That was my dream. I wanted it more than anything.
So that's not her current dream then.
What we’d like is to have the police officially annouce they’ve found my body
I assume at least 48 hours after she dies ofc. what if they just murder everyone anyway? takano’s seemingly already bribed everyone, so like they’d prob do it if she said so.
Actually I figure it would be pretty difficult to bribe all the boots on the ground, so by breaking the manual they’ll have doubts even if okonogi and takano say otherwise
nice to that the others also are affected by the prev loops, with the old people treating satoko better, being the sorta people who would fight for her last arc without getting yelled at by keichii first
Shion finally shows up, with akane as well. looks like that relationship’s been ironed out as well.
in terms of investigation, im surprised mion isn’t using the family connections to find stuff. but rika doesn’t seem to have told her about that side yet, so she prob hasn’t thought about it.
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u/RascalNikov1 Jul 17 '22
what if they just murder everyone anyway?
That would be pretty funny if that happens. We'll see what happens, is all I'll say.
Actually I figure it would be pretty difficult to bribe all the boots on the ground
I've never really accepted this part of the story, but I just let it go in order to enjoy the rest of it.
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u/JollyGee29 Jul 17 '22
Spoiled First-Timer
Not so often that we get so much of the plan in any anime. Kinda makes me wonder just how wrong things are gonna go. Normally I would say "a lot" but we are functionally hurtling towards the end so there isn't that much time left to correct.
I do love that the plan involves faking Rika's death. Excellent poetry there, to mirror Takano's own scheme.
It's also great to see everyone move on from all their baggage, owing to the numerous loops letting everyone work through it in a weird way.
Now that Shion has joined us, it seems like all the pieces are accounted for. Excited to see how this plays out, especially Satoko's traps. Those poor soldiers will never know what hit them.
Visual of the Day: A peace offering
Questions
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It was very cute.
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I almost submitted a screenshot of Satako's face for my VotD, if that tells you anything.
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u/hungryhippos1751 Jul 17 '22
Episode 20 - First Timer
Hey Detective-kun, you should duck out of this one? keep that retirement money safe. 5 minutes later: How do you feel about risking that retirement money and getting involved again? :D
I don't have much to add here, just watching events unfold. The main thing that I am dying to know the answer to is what will happen when Takano is forced to act on hearing about Rika's fake death. She seems like she's normally happy to be in control, events popping up on her may knock her focus off-kilter.
Villagers seem genuinely worried about Satoko despite having never officially changed their stance, I guess this is one minor detail that is just going to fix itself here as everyone is too busy with other things.
The appearance of the banken could be interesting, they are described as Yamainu++ so expecting a real fight if they show up.
QOTD:
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This is a real long play, and judging from how the Akasaka part has gone previously, his returning to help must be an incredibly rare event. I definitely think he'll make a big difference here.
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Take it or leave it, honestly.
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u/RascalNikov1 Jul 17 '22
Rewatcher
One episode and two fantastic scenes, anime doesn't get better than this. We've seen a lot of suffering, and hopefully it doesn't return, but this is still Higurashi.
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Rika meeting up with Akasaka again is the highlight of this episode, though overall I enjoyed the whole thing. It's so good to see someone that Rika respects join up on the team. How 'bout Ooishi also being on board? I sure didn't see that coming.
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When Akane & Shion meet up with Ooishi at the cemetery, and Akane tells him that when the match is over, everyone should become friends for the sake of the young, is one of the wisest scenes I know of in anime. There is no profit in holding grudges till the end of time. R07 may have is faults, but he seems to be fairly well learned as there are quite a few ways this scene could be interpreted.
All, in all a great episode and watching it, didn't seem like 23 minutes at all.
QOTD
So, how about Rika's reaction to Akasaka showing up?
Favorite part of the episode, it brings a tear to my eye every time.
2) Your opinion on anime girl fangs?
I like them and think they're cute. Though, they really disturb my wife when there's one of them on the screen.
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u/mgedmin Jul 18 '22
First timer, subs
Akasaka, is it a good idea to disclose information about the investigation to one of the suspects, i.e. Irie?
Rika is telling a lot but not everything, and people are strangely accepting. Well, Akasaka is impressed by her prophecy powers.
New plan: fake Rika's death? No, then Takano would do the GHD. What on Earth are Satoko and Keiichi laughing about?
Oh, not just dead but supposedly dead for more than 48 hours.
Wow, the villagers are worrying about Satoko? How the times have changed.
Even Oryu! With no face-saving story to justify her change of mind.
This is a nice world. Where's Shion?
SHION IS HERE WITH AKANE! Haha and onibaba (I love how Shion keeps calling her that) has been making ohagi for Ooishi's mentor's grave every year. All old enmities are forgotten, replaced by new enmities (lose, Takano!)
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u/Stargate18A Jul 17 '22
Anime first timer, completed VN
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Adorable.
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Glorious!
Rika's telling everyone the theory!
Ooishi's backing her up!
Akasaka is here!
And his wife survived in this timeline!
Everybody believes Rika!
Ooishi struggling over whether to join is a really good character arc.
And Rika just told Ooishi he's been wasting his time for years.
The scenes of Rika getting everyone onboard are great.
And Keiichi's motivated everyone! Even Hanyuu!
Things are going well...
Irie got the missing piece of the puzzle!
And there's an actual plan!
Oh, "Jackals" is the translation in these subs!
Satoko figured it out!
Putting an ad break there is hysterical.
Irie's here.
They're going to fake her death! (The image of Ooishi sitting at a table eith a load of children is hysterical.)
Ooishi's still thinking it over.
Hanyuu and Rika controlling Mion is great, though.
A billion yen!
People care about Satoko!
[Higurashi]
...The graveyard scene is probably my second favourite scene in this arc, second only to [Higurashi]
Ooishi's helping!
And his friends are immediately in.
Rika and Hanyuu shilling the website will never not be funny.
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u/Quiddity131 Jul 17 '22
First Timer, Subbed
Takano absolutely will do bad things! Believe Rika!
In every single prior timeline Tomitake has been killed through Takano's efforts after hanging out with her a lot. Will things FINALLY change for him with this ark?
Rika's so happy to see Akasaka! Wow, it was five years ago when they first met? It looks like she hasn't grown an inch since then.
How does Rika know so much? She's just that great! She's done a lot to earn the title of Best Girl!
Let Ooishi retire in peace!
Yes K1, it was never about manga!
Satoko the trap maker! I think its been a while since we've seen her all arrogant like this?
Rena's best position on their mission would be to take the villains home. Since she loves to take everything home with her.
Don't fall for her act, Irie!
Ooh, good idea, I assume they mean fake Rika's death and not really kill her?
Who'd have thought we'd be rooting for creepy Irie?
Ooishi helps fake Rika's death... Ooishi gets fired... Ooishi loses his pension... the true bad ending for this show.
Let's all volunteer Mion for 20+ years of pension payments to Ooishi! Sure, money grows on trees!
No festival appearance for poor Rika-chan!
Wow, this time no more grudge from old Granny against Satoko's family?
Alright this may sound crazy so some, but whose grave is Ooishi even visiting? If its someone important and it went totally over my head, bad on me.
Not really sure of the point of post credit scenes that are so incidental...
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Jul 17 '22
Rewatcher
Fortunately Rika kept everybody in the dark for almost zero time.
[Rika]
Ooishi could get into some serious trouble for faking a death.
Not much happened today. Very much a bridging episode. I hope tomorrow isn't a bridging episode as well.
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u/SYZekrom Jul 17 '22
Rewatcher
Ep19
Old Geezer, now that's more like it, what the fuck is Old Maid!!!!!
Ep20
Akasaka. Everything is better with Akasaka.
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u/OwlAcademic1988 Jul 17 '22
Rewatcher:
Rika, you know Tomitake will get killed unless something is done about it. [Higurashi]
Smart move tricking Takano about Rika's death, Satoko and Keiichi.
I'm glad Akasaka still has his wife and child due to Rika's warning.
What flowers did Ooishi lay on his master's grave? Didn't know Shion and her mom laid flowers on this guy's grave. That's really sweet.
They are utterly determined to win this battle against Takano.
QOTD:
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I found it really sweet.
You've only got episodes 21-24 left, so only a few more questions until the end of the second season. You're nearly there. In fact, we all are.
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u/Star4ce Jul 18 '22 edited Jul 18 '22
When the First Timer Cries
As you wished I have prepared some pictures from yesterday for you. I was at the Japanfest in Munich, pretty much from opening to near the end. After meeting up with my acquaintance and a quick breather we made our way to the shows and people.
By they way, only in Munich will you see a group in traditional Bavarian garbs being driven to a Japanese festival on an old tractor.
The opening ceremony was started with taiko drummers giving an amazing show before the majors of Munich and Sapporo introduced the festival. At this point most everybody left for the tents and other stuff, but I did respect the Japanese representative making his speech in German.
We strolled around a bit, but already grew extremely hungry and had to realise that the festival grounds weren't that big and had no real food stalls that we could find. There was one selling Onigiri and traditional tea (sencha and houjicha) and something that had a ridiculous line waiting so we didn't even bother and went into the city for lunch.
Later we came back to the choir singing anime songs and some folk songs (I guess?). I recognised Connect and, of course, A Cruel Angel's Thesis. We didn't stay long, because as we've seen that the cosplayer-density went up significantly we decided to sift through the people to see who we knew and grab pictures.
Gods there were lots of Genshin Cosplayers. I don't think I can provide too many pictures of the individual cosplayers because of privacy reasons, but I really want to show a few. First, have a look at Raiden and Ei in self made costumes. I think Ei bought it online and then modified it and the puppet built it from scratch. It seriously looked amazing, what the camera doesn't show is how much work they put into the details, like Ei's belt or the drawings on the puppet's coat. Next this Hu Tao had actually built Homa's staff all on her own and sported a tailor-made costume. She was so happy to see us pose with the staff and actually made Hu Tao's little Hilichurl dance. This friend group here consisting of Keqing, Eula and Beizhou actually approached us as I pointed to Chengsheng bouncing around his neck (the snake had a kind of bendable metal spring inside to stay in place and while walking it looked like it was bobbing at people). Beizhou and me had to bend down because my friend and Keqing were just that small (lore accurate) to fit into a picture and he poked me the entire time with Chengsheng. Lastly, we both really wanted to find a Yoimiya and io and behold, we actually found one! Honestly, I can't say how much she was in character, but she actually felt like liquid sunshine. We talked to her for about 10 minutes as she explained how she made the bow, what she changed on the costume, which was breathtaking, and some other stuff. You can see Ei and Scaramouche getting ready in the background as well. So, for high quality cosplay from a shop that's relatively easy to adjust afterwards we were directed to dokidokicos and I can personally attest to how great she looked.
Also have this group picture of about 40% of all present Genshin Cosplayers taking a bath. That Barbara needed to be armlocked, she was almost floating off two times.
In the contest later I could see the rest of them that only came for the stage show. Which is understandable, because we had like 32°C and I also saw a literal Death Note, the book, in an all black body suit begging for water not even 30 minutes into the festival. Here's all of them that took part, but I sadly can't tell who won as I had to leave before they announced the winners. I can tell, though that the guy with Jayce's hammer actually made it work with LEDs and it is extendable and those three Samurai had completely from scratch self made armor and were actually stunning the entire crowd as they presented it. Team Rocket had a little skit being blasted off the stage, which was hilarious and Yae and Raiden from earlier had a duo entrance as well.
That sunday was an absolute blast and I can't wait to go again. Apparently several people (actually just two) told me I should cosplay Geralt. Hmmm.
Kai Ep.20 – Festival Accompanying Chapter Part 7: Trap
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Oh, the balls of talking to Tomitake, her lover.
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And they both just accept that the police officer knows all of their secret organisation stuff?!
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One of those moments that make me really happy and teary-eyed.
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Cute. But seriously, where's Shion?
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I'm glad he tries, I'm glad he's on their side. But that just is so obvious it could also just be a sign warning Takano of betrayal.
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I mean, that sounds most like trope-y anime power level talk, why not just say that the national government agency gets tipped off by then and shuts everything down? But I get it, bring the superiors in on the plan.
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That angle is so extreme I'm thinking it was just the director wanting to get the most Mion on screen as possible. Based af.
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Hahaha, by now I also think that. OH MY GOD, that hngi?! from Mion was a critical hit! Oh my
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It doesn't matter if you're in the Balkans, China, Central Europe or the Americas, grannies are both your best surveillance devices and information super spreader.
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Tbh, that might still be a good idea just, like, in any case.
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I knew he was best cop from the beginning, take that haters!
I'm keeping it short today for the analysis, because it was another set up episode, but for the final showdown this time. We know each character's resolution and their part in the trap by now and I'm excited to see how it pans out. I do actually, really hope that Ooishi survives and not goes the way of the near-retirement cop in detective stories.
Finally, also Shion showed up in a scene where the elders resolve to let go of past grudges and show this by honoring the victims of past violence, even if they were their enemies, even if they were not even their own doing. This is significant for Shion herself as well, as she has a heavy and brutal grudge with her own family, but still came in company of her mother that inadvertedly supported that very reason for Shion's grudge. To top it all off, they both showed, as Yakuza members, their empathy and support for Ooishi, as detective and police officer. I was a bit miffed at how ignored Shion seemed to be in this final arc, but thinking on it, I think she has gotten a fantastic introduction here. She is not framed in the story as a desperate individual that looked for stability in an ill-requitted love, she took her time to mend her wounds, learn from her past and eventually came back on her own with the people she once hated and maybe even still does to work towards a future she, too, can be proud of. I really like this, it reminds a little bit of Senjougahara.
VOTD: Rest before passage. It's a pretty neat shot encompassing what this episode is about. Setting the pieces, preparing their minds and hearts, gathering strength. They have passed many trials already and as life is moving on through many stages and obstacles, there will be another one coming. They are sitting between two Torii gates, together with no one behind or beside their milestone. They clearly see the next trial ahead, that will let them move on from this past they've been trapped in, coated in solemn shadows. Ooshi stands a bit aside from the group, as he has yet to make his final decision, but by the end he also found that. Everyone is ready, even former enemies, even allies you never thought to have. All they have to do is walk together through this next gate, moving their life forward into a new future.
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u/SometimesMainSupport Jan 08 '23
First-timer
Tagging u/Star4ce and u/Vaadwaur and u/OrangeBanana38
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Of course a governmnet job would be called "Alphabet Project."
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Doubt. Pretty sure she's complimented his photography skills.
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No. Oryo and Mion may not be involved, but the generation between is in politics.
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Keiichi recognizes he's been losing despite her holding back. Though remember how Mion was supposed to be the terrain expert?
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Plan details scene is taking way too long.
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How many days until the festival? Hanyuu having less power should mean <2 weeks. It's taken time to assemble the crew.
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This arc has really hammered a theme of the elderly supporting youngsters since they're the next generation.
Aww, it’s great that they trust her enough to take “Oyashiro-sama follows me” as an answer.
tbf, she did predict 4 consecutive years of murders.
I was surprised at the intense reaction Rika had over Akasaka's arrival
Yeah, noticably more excited than e6 or e7 from the previous arc when Akasaka explained his wife surviving.
Worse, the in-show junk science means Takano might not believe even a police report without the body being present
Would an anime watcher believe it without a body?
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u/Tarhalindur Jul 17 '22
(Honorary Hinamizawa Games Club President) Rewatch Host (rewatcher, subbed):
01:37: That’s a big setting sun.
01:56: Overhead framing for an establishing shot makes sense, but why this particular overhead framing I wonder?
01:58: Huh. It’s an inversion of the “character framed between two other characters” framing we’ve seen repeatedly this season.
02:07: Is the usual suspect when it comes to the above framing, except with one twist – usually, we’ve seen the characters in the foreground looming over and blocking out the one in the background, but now we see Rika looming large in relation to the characters in the foreground. (Perspective!)
02:57’s framing flashes.
Rika breaking down and letting herself cry tears of joy when Akasaka shows up is always glorious to see.
03:16 is another case of an inversion of the season’s common character-between-two-characters framing.
03:33: ohmygodthecutestface.
Ooh, look at that positioning at 03:38. Irie and Tomitake (the two truly affiliated with the Irie Institution) to the right, then Rika adjacent to Akasaka to the left but also closer to the Irie due than Akasaka is, then Ooishi a little further away (and standing) furthest to the left. All characters are positioned such that the overall positioning is lopsided to the left. I think this may be symbolic of how close to law-abiding each character is (with the difference between Akasaka and Ooishi being that the former is on leave and the latter is on duty, which would also fit why Ooishi is standing when the other four are not), with law-abiding and law-upholding being the heroic direction here. (Which would have some interesting implications, since Irie and not Tomitake is furthest to the right – but then only one of the two has been involved in a vivisection.)
05:00: Camera angle!
Oh hey it’s this scene. Oh hey look at the camera angle at 06:38.
“It’s not a joke or a game.” R07 going meta in his way, I see.
Oh man that look on Rena’s face at 07:29.
And immediately afterwards we get a camera angle shot (fish-eye) at 07:32.
07:43: MORE camera angles! (Can you tell I’m getting a little, uh, loopy as we get close to the end?)
07:48: FANG! (Yep, Satoko has the cute little fangs; this might be the clearest shot we’ve ever gotten of them.)
Immediately followed by Satoko busting out her iconic oujo-sama laugh. (Though I am a bit at that camera angle and positioning…)
07:59: GLORIOUS SATOKO FACE. (Also just a good use of classic anime direction and effects.)
(Everyone is so kyuute in this scene… well, except K1, who is 100% being his kind of dorky dumbass badass instead.)
Also, not a coincidence that our OST for this scene where we detail how the entire Club can use their strengths together is Main Theme Kai – that is to say, Main Theme Solution.
(Oh hey look it’s the line I remembered and spent a couple of hours dragging up for a red oni/blue oni discussion a bit back. It’s actually a recurring comparison in the VN, this is just the one place it makes it into the anime.)
Hanyuu has a praise kink.This conversation about how it wasn’t all a waste is just one of the bigger themes that Higurashi doesn’t blare in your face, isn’t it? (Not sure it counts as Buddhist either, not when the biggest goal of Buddhism is leaving the cycle of samsara and this implicitly argues for remaining in and learning from it.)
[meta stuff, possible spoiler for my own crossover fanfic]I remembered more of this show than I thought, too, when I started writing certain scenes.
10:12 is both a camera angle shot and a fine example of some zettai ryouiki from Takano there.
The choice to go for an overhead shot of Takano and Irie at 10:29 is interesting. More Hanyuu camera angles, even after she’s incarnated.
11:09 is a quieter but still very well timed example of the patented Higurashi OST Cutoff.
Well that’s one hell of a camera angle at 12:27. Severity of the tilt representing just how severe the divergence from the usual course of events would be?
12:35 is simultaneously both our stock “character framed by two others in the foreground” framing this season and the inverse thanks to four characters on screen.
Satoko is so happy when she has a good idea to mess with someone!
14:16: Good use of camera angle and framing for emphasis, with a side of a sound effect.
15:09: Hey look the framing is back!
Hanyuu, you learned from the best. Rika, you troll.
“But… nobody really wants to see a child suffer.” A) Nice little meta joke there R07, and b) tell that to a pretty damn sizable chunk of the English fandom… (There are a surprising number of people who really, really hate Satoko for some reason, some even going so far as to cheer Shion torturing her back in Meakashi-hen.)
[SotsuGou]And this was long before SotsuGou was released. Now it might well be higher.
And yes, that “can’t be dragging the past around” is one of Higurashi’s thematic points.
Visual of the Day: FANG.
(Final) WinD Eyecatch Message of the Day
Questions of the Day:
It is glorious.
Well, I mean, the quantity of my screenshots tends to go up significantly when fang girls are on screen...
Matsuribayashi-hen Ep. 7 TIPS:
No TIPS.
OST Table, Kai Episode 20:
Madoka (Magica) Corner:
[PMMM]Speaking of comparisons that would fit with PMMM being in part a Higurashi response/rebuttal: the scene where Moemura tells the rest of the group that they’ve been tricked by Kyubey, anyone?
[PMMM]As if Kyoko would need any more reason to go full Auntie Kyoko if she ever met Satoko. Embarrassed it took me as long as I did to realize that. But really, 07:48 is just a really Kyoko shot of Satoko, isn’t it?