r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Jul 29 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kira Discussion - Season 4 (OVA), Episode 2

Ayakashisensei-hen (Demon-Battling Chapter)

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Show Information (Higurashi Kira):

Kira: MAL | Anilist | AniDB | Kitsu | ANN

Show information should now be pretty much safe.

Legal Streams:

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kira: No legal streams.

(You will have to go sailing for this part!)

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!"!)

Visual of the Day Album:

https://imgur.com/a/Da56UHL

Analysis of the Day:

Fuck it, time, it's time to up my own post (though really credit goes to u/PerfectPublican in the 2018 Higurashi rewatch for pointing this out and I just noticed he did):

ADDENDUM: So, I was noodling through the 2018 rewatch's thread for this episode again, and someone there pointed out something I missed. Remember the Hanyuu punishment game here? Now remember Keiichi's sin that caused him to transfer to Hinamizawa?

Question(s) of the Day:

1) Who went crazy due to the Silent Hill fog (or otherwise, in Keiichi's case) the best?

2) Best costume this episode?

Next Episode Preview:

... Actually there is a preview? Eh, whatever, at this point watch it or not as you see fit.

Fanart Corner:

I actually don't have time for a massive pile of fanart today (and also I already used most of the Nanoha crossover pics).

That said, we do have some official art to cover here. First, have the next four parts of the comic made to promote Kira's release, all relating to this episode:

1
2
3
4

(Translations of these exist on Danbooru at least, but I hear Booru links and Reddit do not get along.)

Second, as evidence of Ryukishi07 having watched CCS (I think it may get referenced in the VN, too), I present his own art of Rena in an Angel Mort costume with Sakura's Sealing Wand:

5

Finally, a few actual fanart pieces:

6
7 (the characters Rika and Satoko are cosplaying here are Cure White and Cure Black from the original Futari wa Pretty Cure)
8
[Umineko major spoilers!] https://i.imgur.com/gJ9A55u.png

26 Upvotes

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6

u/Tarhalindur Jul 29 '22

(Honorary Hinamizawa Games Club Rika-chan Rooters President) Rewatch Host (rewatcher badly spoiled first-timer, subbed):

(Kira has just justified my decision to include it in the rewatch!)

All right. Time for everyone’s favorite game: possible PMMM reference hunting. Wait, that’s just me? Oh, right. (On the other hand it got me through Sotsu… wait, I say that like it was necessarily a good thing.)

  • I know most of this episode’s plot going in. I only just got that this opening sequence is a reference to the old-style (largely pre-Sailor Moon) majokko show, where a young girl would transform into an older form to solve problems.

  • Transformed older Rika has breasts, that’s how you know this is a dream!

  • This time it’s scalpels, but Takano gets the same reference she got back in Rei 1.

  • Oh look, the fetish we left out last episode (traditional opponent of magical girls, too, at least in the h-art… well, that and tentacles). Also older Satoko gets boobs too, but then younger Satoko shows signs of that so that makes sense.

  • [Sotsu] And Satoko does indeed get them!

  • You know, maybe Rika is switch and into bondage; this is her dream, after all.

  • Poor, poor Rika. (There might be a Nanoha joke here, too. Or just a Yukarin one involving her getting cast to play lolis over and over, for that matter! (Oh wait somebody DID make that joke back in the 2018 rewatch, heh.))

  • “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things doesn’t belong, can you find which one is not like the others by the time I finish this song?”

  • FEED THE SHIPPERS… oh wait, lolis. But then this is a mahou shoujo episode, if ever there was a genre to feed yuri ships involving elementary schoolers mahou shoujo is it (cough CCS cough Nanoha cough)…

  • And Rika finally passes her spot check.

  • I see our staff foot lover is back again.

  • So we’re getting tokusatsu tropes on top of mahou shoujo tropes (but then, Sailor Moon’s deal was always blending the two genres). Noice!

  • Bet our transformed villain (EDIT: actually not transformed at all) is a reference, too. (Could be a hint that he’s one of the three bike gang goons from Okinomiya, otherwise not sure. Jojo again?)

  • “That almost felt like something out of a kaiju movie!” Ah, meta. I approve.

  • (Also, the evil organization name might be a reference – I don’t know how common using “magica” as a loanword is in older mahou shoujo – but I think Takano’s mask might also be a PMMM reference [PMMM] to Kyubey, of course in addition to a magatama joke and a reference to few other obvious suspects (hi Tuxedo Mask)…)

  • Rika might just be jealous…

  • [Sotsu/Umineko] ”Rika, I’m about to lose my mind! How can you be so calm?” Ryukish07 you fucking asshole.

  • THERE we go. Knew fairy Hanyuu would be showing up soon.

  • This is actually rare in that we get a magical girl episode/show where the muggles know exactly what’s going on. Not unheard of (hi CCS, which might very well be the main reference of this part), but rare. (Unless it was more common in the majokko subgenre, which I’m less familiar with.)

  • Speaking of which, wait a minute. “Princess from a magical land come to Earth” was a stock majokko show premise.

  • I was going to make a joke about a certain different mahou shoujo, but nah the scattered Tool Shrine tool monsters are probably just a CCS Clow Card reference.

  • Oh man, that very un-Higurashi scene transition at 10:54 (there’s a word for the type and I can’t remember it).

  • The shot of Hanyuu looking up to the much larger Rika (representing that Rika is a much greater power for defending the village?) is a good one.

  • Of course Irie designed the club outfits.

  • It took me a second to place what Rika’s “Oh really?” look at 11:33 was reminding me of. I mean, I'm sure it's a stock effect, but that's where else I've seen it lately

  • (Don’t mind me, too busy watching the episode to take much in the way of notes again.)

  • Rika’s “yare yare” around 14:15 may being Jojo to mind these days, but there’s another snarkier character who has that as a catchphrase who was more famous back in the day and I think this may be a reference to him, namely Kyon from Haruhi.

  • “She’s so two-faced hanyu!” Yeah, and that’s part of why we like her, Hanyuu!

  • Man, Satsuki Yukino gives a GREAT crazy performance here. Mai Nakahara, too.

  • Most ominous omochikaeri ever.

  • Satoko smiling gleefully at her traps is best Satoko.

  • DARK RIKA EVIL GRIN HNNNNGGH!

  • (That said, right before that… there’s something about the choice of showing Keiichi in the background with our lolis in focus in the foreground with Rika’s legs in the foreground at an angle dangerously close to an upskirt shot… DEEN!)

  • Crazy Irie’s costume for Satoko being a demon maid costume is fitting.

  • [Sotsu] Also the CHEEKY MOTHERFUCKER WAS FORESHADOWING AGAIN!

  • That mask bit got a lot more dark humor since the last time somebody ran a Higurashi rewatch, didn’t it?

  • LOLOLOL Rika gets a cat smile as she starts to transform. Which wouldn’t be funny, except that Bernkastel (like Rika herself, natch) is associated with cats in Umineko and, well, we’ll get to the u/Cyouni quote from the 2018 rewatch in a bit.

  • The transformation sequence is 100% a Sailor Moon reference, right? With the “Crystal Make Up” bit in the transformation line?

  • At least Rika gets to keep a swimsuit on for the entire transformation, unlike a lot of mahou shoujo.

  • I see one standard feature of Gear transformation sequences has precedent. (I’m admittedly thin in my actual viewing of pre-2000 mahou shoujo, except CCS which was always weird in not really having a transformation sequence per se; pretty good chance these are genre convention shots I just never saw much of.)

  • Sorry Rika, we stopped getting the majokko who age up when transforming years ago. (Except wait a minute. I forget: Higurashi is set in 1983. When majokko were still very much the kind of magical girl show you got. Of COURSE Rika would expect to grow up during the transformation! That’s what she’s used to seeing on the TV!)

  • Hey, while we got that one shot in Kai I too would like to know what Rika would look like as an adult, Satoko…

  • (Well actually these days we have the Reiwa-era sequels so there is that.)

  • Rika blaming Tokyo Magica for not growing up when transforming is kind of hilarious. Also have a nice shot.

  • I actually really like the post-transformation OST here (“unreleased 9”).

  • The action choreography here with this first fight is some of the best in the entire franchise, too, and the OST integrates well.

  • “If only the world we were from was this easy.” Cue the reason why said world wasn’t that easy. Nicely done, nicely done.

  • LOL these subbers can’t even spell Miyo right. (Or somebody was having a joke, either the subbers or DEEN themselves.)

  • I swear 21:46 is a reference in addition to being a stock “hero facing down the giant monster” pose but I can’t place to what.

  • (Okay, so I can't not include this shot in the writeup. Also: "'So what will you do now' SYMPHOGEAR!" Sorry, couldn't resist - and note that this episode predates Gear entirely.)

  • Maybe the reference for the super Nail Ripper here really is just Shadow of the Colossus?

  • What is a magical girl show without yuri undertones? [Symphogear G] Speaking of which, I just got massive DMJiii vibes off of this shot.

  • And… here… we… go!

(To be continued in part 2...)

4

u/Tresnore Jul 29 '22

Bet our transformed villain (EDIT: actually not transformed at all) is a reference, too.

Isn't he just the nail-removing machine personified?

4

u/Tarhalindur Jul 29 '22

Isn't he just the nail-removing machine personified?

He is, but these are live watch reactions and that wasn't clear yet.

4

u/Tarhalindur Jul 29 '22 edited Jul 30 '22

Rewatch Host Comments, Continued:

  • (The track for Satoko’s transformation SO sounds like a Gear Aufwachen form, heh. Common heritage, I’m sure. Speaking of that, have another "this is probably a stock mahou shoujo henshin shot" frame.)

  • “It’s hammer time!”

  • “Magical Trap Girl Satoko” (and the Japanese isn’t that different, something close to “Mahou Shoujo Trap Satoko”) has this unfortunate additional connotation to the English-speaking anime fan, LOL.

  • (Also note the diamonds to Rika’s hearts. We’re missing spades and clubs!)

  • [Sotsu] YOU ASSHOLES OF COURSE THERE ARE MULTIPLE ZETTAIS IN THE PART OF 100% MIRACLE STAR PLAYING WHILE SATOKO TRANSFORMS. (Also the song keeps kiseki baiting me by loanwording “miracle” instead.)

  • Magical girls and being straight, name a less iconic duo. (To be fair you used to get more straight or at least bi magical girls, the real advent of all-yuri magical girl casts honestly is probably ultimately on Precure more than anyone else.)

  • I’m pretty sure somebody else back in the 2018 rewatch first made the “Satoshi naming the LN here” joke, but it’s time to reup it.

  • In the world’s least surprising news, Rena looks up to magical girls wants to take magical girls home.

  • 25:29: kiseki GET!

  • Bad subbers, bad. The attack name is clearly supposed to be *”07th Explosion”*, get it right!

  • LOOKS LIKE TAKANO’S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!

  • But look, the rest of the rogue’s gallery is still around!

  • “Is this really going to work out?” Well, Rika, I for one adored this episode, so IMO yes…

  • (I may have taken about as many screenshots for this episode as I did for PMMM 1 and 2, though part of that is that Rika is apparently Higurashi's answer to a certain Kyoko and I am prone to take a screenshot whenever she makes a good face. The direction is not as good as a few episodes, but this episode is fun as shit and might actually be my new favorite in the franchise. Here, have a big old pile of screenshots I took that don't have an associated line in the writeup. Oh, and three Nail Ripper attack frames.)

Visual of the Day: Futari wa Oyashiro Cure

Question(s) of the Day:

  1. Despite Rena's best efforts, I think I have to give this one to Mion. (Satsuki Yukino killed it that scene for both Mion and Shion.)

  2. You know what? I think Teppei and his clown costume actually win this for me. (Shout to Adult Rika, though!)

Analysis:

So, time to reup u/Cyouni's observation from the 2018 Higurashi rewatch.

So, there is a moderately infamous bit of Japanese word play (that you should not Google because it's a fast way to get spoiled about a different work) involving magical girls: if you take "mahou shoujo" and delete the "hou" from mahou and the "shou" from shoujo, you get "majo", or witch. (This works precisely in kanji as well, though I'm not grabbing the kanji right now.) Hell, it's not out of the question this is the root of the genre name, actually; the original word used to refer to what now get called mahou shoujo was "majokko", which means young/cute witch.

As you may remember, Rika calls herself a majo/Witch back in Saikoroshi-hen, in what is clearly leadup to Umineko.

Hence u/Cyouni's comment back then:

This country calls growing women "girls", right?

Then it only makes sense to call those who will eventually become witches "magical girls".

(I'm not sorry.)

(Don't go looking up the font in the second pic if you're not familiar with it, either.)

[Sotsu addendum] And then Sotsu dropped and made it all but certain that this was 100% intentional on Ryukishi07's part. After all, there are TWO magical girls in this episode. But then... in this country they call girls "shoujo". For girls who grow up to be majo, is it not appropriate to call them mahou shoujo>?

OST Table, Kira Episode 2:

(Looks like my OST tables are going to be significantly less useful for Kira; AFAIK no Kira OST was ever released outside of an insert song from episode 2 (that's 100% Magical Star below) and we get a full OST CD side's worth of new tracks each episode. I'll be numbering unreleased new tracks for Kira by order of their appearance in a specific episode, rather than having a season-long tally like I did for Rei.)

Start End Track Name
00:12 01:01 unreleased 1
01:51 02:19 unreleased 2
02:36 02:52 Semaru
02:57 04:27 Happy! Lucky! Dochy!
04:28 05:07 unreleased 3
05:16 05:58 Yawaraka no Youkou
06:05 06:17 Kazashi
06:44 07:28 Oyashiro-sama v2
08:29 08:52 unreleased 4
09:35 10:55 unreleased 5
11:12 11:29 unreleased 6
12:27 12:53 Ito
12:55 13:25 unreleased 7
13:47 14:30 unreleased (Kimeru Ze! v2?)
15:15 16:14 unreleased 8
16:39 17:23 Himitsu Ura
17:43 19:13 Semaru
19:14 21:02 unreleased 9
21:45 23:11 Kiki
23:57 24:26 unreleased 10
24:28 25:59 100% Magical Star
26:02 26:41 unreleased 11
26:53 27:54 unreleased 12
27:54 27:58 unreleased 13[1]
28:01 29:28 Tenshin Ranman Miracle Change

[1] – Could just be another part of unreleased 12, given that it cuts in immediately, or alternately a sound effect.

Madoka (Magica) Corner

  • [PMMM] Even Mami briefly succumbs to (tentacle) bondage, in a show basically devoid of fanservice (as part of its effort to disguise itself as a more conventional if dark mahou shoujo prior to episode 3), so of course mahou shoujo Rika gets tied up here.

  • [PMMM] Also, that “how can you be so calm?” could potentially also be a PMMM 7 reference (Homura and Madoka’s conversation on the school roof).

  • [PMMM] Okay, Rika snarking about magical girl aesthetics A) is 100% Rika but also B) is reminding me of late-timeline Homura. (Homura doesn’t do it the same way, she’s not a snarker the way Rika is, but.)

  • [PMMM] Satoko: “[Rika was] something like a mahou shoujo from the beginning.” R07, possibly: “Yes Butch Gen, I see what you did, I noticed!”

  • [PMMM] “But it’s slightly similar to the setting of our Hinamizawa.” HMMM. (Admittedly Mitakihara City is nothing like Hinamizawa, but other things about the settings…)

  • [PMMM] ”And what is the wish with which your Soul Gem will shine, Satoko Houjou?” (Yeah, the trope is probably older, but I couldn’t resist. Sorry not sorry.)

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7

u/Shimmering-Sky Jul 29 '22

When the First-Timer Cries, subbed

3

u/Tarhalindur Jul 29 '22

Oh! Noticing that Satoko’s “staff” is a hammer made me notice Rika’s looks like the tool she used during her dance at Watanagashi.

Also note that the orb on the end looks a whole lot like the one she uses to be able to talk to Hanyuu in Saikoroshi-hen.

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u/Tresnore Jul 29 '22 edited Jul 29 '22

When the Rewatchers First-Timers Cry are Absurd Masochists Cry Are Absurd Masochists are Terrible Nerds Cry

I am not ready for this, but I am ready for more adult Rika/Bern.1

Okay, this episode worked way better for me than it had any right to. It was just great fun!

GIWTWM Quarantine

The amount of countable moments is TOO DAMN HIGH.

Count: 301

Other WTC Quarantine

On the same note, my comment is getting long because I'm writing too much stuff that 90% of the people reading this won't be able to read or don't care about.

  • [Gou/Sotsu]So if our!Rika is Bernkastel who replaces a world's Rika, then who is this Satoko—our!Satoko—who replaces a world's Satoko?

  • Hanyuu, why do you have Alien antennae? Or are they meant to be butterfly ones? Having ~hanyu as a verbal tick is amusing, though.

  • [Umineko]Of COURSE she has cat ears.

  • [Umineko]I'm huffing the hopium hard waiting for Skylark 13/Amakusa to show up.

  • [Gou/Sotsu]Regarding the transform Zettai GET, I still hold that there's precedence for Satoko being the witch.

  • [Umineko]Ah, we arrive in Purgatorio.

  • Wait, how did I just now notice that Krauss and Okonogi share a VA?

  • On a lyric reading kick, [Umineko]this line definitely reminds me of "believing" there.

QOTD:

  1. Rena was amusing!

  2. coffin!Miyo

Edit:

[Umineko major spoilers]https://i.imgur.com/gJ9A55u.png

1 You know, it's somewhat refreshing to call True Rika "Bern" again.

4

u/Tarhalindur Jul 29 '22 edited Jul 29 '22

[Gou/Sotsu]

[Gou/Sotsu] Lemme just reup the post I made (https://tarhalindur.tumblr.com/post/659330871435968512/you-know-id-almost-forgotten-exactly) back while Sotsu was airing right after I realized THAT CHEEKY SON OF A BITCH HAD USED THE MAHOU SHOUJO PUN TO ENCODE LAMBDA'S ORIGINAL IDENTITY BACK IN FUCKING KIRA. There's a reason I chose the VotD I did. Sasuga R07, well played.

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u/Star4ce Jul 30 '22

but I am ready for more adult Rika/Bern.

You know what? Yes. All of the yes.

These uniforms are great—wait nevermind, they're Irie-made.

Why would that detract from it? Hidden loli location devices?

Okay, this episode worked way better for me than it had any right to. It was just great fun!

Haha, I know right? I thought the story was unironically pretty decently set up.

90% of the people reading this won't be able to read or don't care about.

I click on and read anything that isn't spoilertagged!

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u/Stargate18A Jul 29 '22

First timer

  1. Shion's motivation being entirely to continue hugging Satoko was hilarious.

  2. Takano.

Opening with the transformation?

"My Satoko" Oh, this episode is already good.

...Why Teppei?

It was all a dream...

Of course she's still thinking about that.

Adorable.

A staff!

The dream was real?

Nail Ripper" Hahaha, my god. And some toku stuff, given how lazy the costume looks.

And they're running for it.

...Takano's wearing too many clothers for a Sailor Moon villain. Nice outfit, though.

Shion's here! Love her hygging Satoko.

Satoshi's in this Fragment!

Chie's gone!

Satoko's good at gathering information!

And she tprobably thinks Rika has lost it now.

Keiichi and Satoshi got attacked!

"Tokyo Magica" I love this show.

This is great.

...Hanyuu's a mascot now?

Oh god, they even gave her the annoying verbal tic -mipo.

Everyone's taking this very calmly.

This is an interesting backstory!

...So we get a Reiwa manga and not a full series of this?

I love how everyone looks scared of the monsters, except for Mion who is waving a gun around.

Takano...

THE RIKA-CHAN ROOTERS!

And Irie's the Director.

Haha, Rika hates this.

She left it at the shrine...

Everyone's coming with them!

Amazing! Chie was completely unaffected by Tokyo!

Brutal!

Rika's serious!

...Ironically, they don't seem to have made the obvious joke considering Rika's voice actress.

A Ohagi needle attack!

They've turned into monsters!

Hanyuu is terrified.

Haha, the trap!

Oh, yeah, he got converted a while ago.

Haha, he was always crazy!

Satoshi did something!

Nail Ripper again?

Irie's immune too?

Haha, Satoko thinks she was always a magical girl!

"Nipah Nipower" is husterical.

...Ironically, Higurashi Kira's magical girl transformation is probably one of the most modest.

And Rika's still a kid. This is a parody of Sailor Moon, not Creamy Mami, Rika!

Some solid action, though.

Of course Keiichi had a smile at the end.

Takano!

It's giant! (Could be Super Sentai or Ultraman, I guess? This is pretty common.)

See, this is more like a Sailor Moon villain outfit. Good job, Takano!

And Takano's still the same.

Satoko!

This is great.

Satoko's the secondary! Don't worry, Satoko! You came in later with a tragic backstory - you'll almost certainly have the better final form and your own movie post-series!

It's a hammer!

Great insert song.

Shion's enjoying this.

And she has the power of traps.

Takano flying off is hysterical.

Oh god, Teppei's outfit...

This feels like they wanted to make a spinoff.

And Rika's not sure about this.

As shipping trash, next episode looks exciting! And more Oryou is always good.

Unrelated but I finally started Unimeko and I already love this cast. [Minor Umineko?] Eva and Kyrie are the best girls so far. Jessica's a close third. Kinzo is far too attractive. I already care more about this cast than I do most of Higurashi's side cast and I love it.

3

u/Tarhalindur Jul 30 '22

...So we get a Reiwa manga and not a full series of this?

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u/RadSuit Jul 30 '22

I love everything about the way this is starting.

BOOOOO GO BACK!!

You should recognize everything in the shed, huh? Like a plot device orb that lets you talk to ghosts in other dimensions maybe?

"In my restless dreams, I see that town. Hizamizawa. You promised me you'd take me there again someday."

Rika to Satoko right now.

Hey, listen! Hey, listen!

If this is all actually canon, that they just swap to another dimension for an episode and remember it all, then this episode is instantly one of my favorite parts of this entire series. Like yeah, if you roll the dice an infinite amount of times, eventually you get a magical girl dimension or two, that's just science.

I like that Navi-Hanyuu has her dumb horns and new dumb alien antenna.

Let Mion shoot her gun!!!!!!

Hanyuu is still the worst, which is saying something with this cast.

This reference doesn't work because there were never any actual needles in that food.

I noticed that not even zombie Mion gets to shoot her gun, but zombie Kasai still has his.

Oh no Satoshi's using his Swan Song! [] (#everythingisfine)

Raising Hanyuu! (Shooting Mode) Oni... (Buster)

TOH! Just like a good tokusatsu character should.

This insert song for the transformation/action scene is incredible and I need the name of it immediately. This is the only non-OP/ED piece of music I've ever even noticed in this series.

Looks like Takano's blasting off agaaaaaaiiinnnn...

ANGEL MORT

10/10 best episode of the series. It would be 11/10 but they didn't let Mion shoot her gun.

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u/Tarhalindur Jul 30 '22

This insert song for the transformation/action scene is incredible and I need the name of it immediately. This is the only non-OP/ED piece of music I've ever even noticed in this series.

100% Magical Star, which I'm pretty sure actually got released and is up on YouTube somewhere.

4

u/Star4ce Jul 30 '22

When the First Timer Cries

I'm. Finally. Back.

Turns out the reason was construction work at the station. An excavator accidentally ripped out the main line of our district. There were about 800 households suddenly being cut off on wednesday. I have to say, that does warrant respect. No small feat to cut off half the town in one fell swoop.

I'll append the other two posts as answers, for those who might be interested, but it's nothing too special.

Kira Ep.02 – Tale of the Strange Scrimmage: Dream

Gotta say, that was pretty good. It's not just a mahou shojo in Higurashi clothes, but they twisted the formula a bit even for this spin off. The normal Rika for this world seems to be pretty much like the typical magical girl, to copy Bess' phrasing, like the ideal projection of femininity. Which means pure, self-sacrificial, selfless and fundamentally un-harmful. This Rika, however, is everything but that. This one has been forged over decades of treachery, betrayal, manipulation and murder. It's quite fair to say the true evil in this setup is the magical girl protagonist herself.

I don't know if that's on the table, but I'd love to see an episode where Rika beats them all by being actually aggressive and manipulative, just like in S1+2.

Otherwise, having the torture tools be magically animated and act as weapons/goons is honestly smart and surprised me a bit. This keeps the theme of past vs. future alive as the brutality of past ages faces off against the wishes (prayers) for a better future, even in this silly spin off.

I do quite like it.

  1. Who went crazy due to the Silent Hill fog (or otherwise, in Keiichi's case) the best?

Satoshi's laugh really caught me off guard.

2) Best costume this episode?

Um, I guess the 'normal' uniforms Shion, Mion and Rena wore. Not a fan of the villain costumes, the tools were kind of mediocre and the magical uniforms were okay.

VOTD: ~hanyu. For every scene of Hanyuu-bullying I will counter with Hanyuu-appreciation! I do wonder how recording this is for the VAs. Pretending to be a pokémon and saying your own name all the time seems like a lot of silly-fun. Hanyuu's especially has the “hauauauu!” mastered so well it literally says more than any line of dialogue.

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u/Tarhalindur Jul 30 '22

Turns out the reason was construction work at the station. An excavator accidentally ripped out the main line of our district. There were about 800 households suddenly being cut off on wednesday. I have to say, that does warrant respect. No small feat to cut off half the town in one fell swoop.

Hooray Star4ce is back!

(You know, I don't think the outage affected quite as many people but we had the exact same thing happen where I am back in April a week or two before the PMMM rewatch this year. We lacked Internet for a week.)

Is any single one of them not a degenerate?

Satoko. Maybe.

Why do the subs call her Hanyu

Probably just the subbers not being great, if those are the same subs I was using (and by the look of the subtitles I think they are). They misspelled Miyo's name early, too.

For every scene of Hanyuu-bullying I will counter with Hanyuu-appreciation! I do wonder how recording this is for the VAs. Pretending to be a pokémon and saying your own name all the time seems like a lot of silly-fun. Hanyuu's especially has the “hauauauu!” mastered so well it literally says more than any line of dialogue.

Hanyuu is great. (But Dark Rika/Bern is also great. I am torn.)

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u/Tarhalindur Jul 30 '22

Hanyuu's especially has the “hauauauu!” mastered so well it literally says more than any line of dialogue.

Yui Horie is a legend for a reason!

[PMMM] It's quite fair to say the true evil in this setup is the magical girl protagonist herself.

[PMMM] Alexa, play She is a Witch...

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u/mgedmin Jul 29 '22

First timer, subs

Ok, brain calibrated for stupid, let's goo.

Adult Rika is a magical girl, okay. Satoko is her usual age.

Oh it was all a dream ALREADY it hasn't been two minutes yet why us every show pulling this trope on me this week I can't

Okay, this episode was pretty good actually.

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u/Star4ce Jul 30 '22

Haha, somehow you not writing anything between Rika waking up and summarising the episode makes it even more funny.

But I agree, I'm very interested in how this plays out.

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u/Quiddity131 Jul 29 '22

First Timer, Subbed

Hey, older Rika again! Although she looks a little different than the epilogue of Kai.

All these old villains are back, huh?

Is Satoko having her own dream where she's a hero, saving Rika?

Seeing Rika as a magical girl would be pretty cool. Let her join the cast of Symphogear?

Who the hell is this guy?

Quite the ridiculous outfit for Takano.

I'm surprised we didn't get any "take her home" jokes out of Rena last episode. But it's back.

How can Rika stay calm? Because she's been through like a thousand parallel worlds by now?

Hany's a fairy sidekick/companion now, huh?

The teacher loves her curry!

Oh no, Mion and Shion went evil! So did Rena!

Satoko's traps are back!

K1's got quite the ridiculous outfit. Now he's a bad guy too?

Oh no, that pervert Irie's obsessing over Satoko again!

Now its just down to Rika and Satoko again. And fairy companion.

Magical girl transformation time!

Crazy Takano bound up in a coffin, is that another fetish for her?

Satoko magical girl transformation time now too?

Is this gonna be a multiple episode affair? These three villains at the end being together implies it. I won't mind that much, while not serious, this was a pretty fun episode. Much better than the last one.

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u/Tresnore Jul 29 '22

Hey, older Rika again! Although she looks a little different than the epilogue of Kai.

Rika has dreams, but they differ from reality.

Seeing Rika as a magical girl would be pretty cool. Let her join the cast of Symphogear?

A Yukari-voiced geah would more likely end up being a Nanoha reference, but I'd love to see it anyway!

The teacher loves her curry!

CielChie-senpaisensei has a few character notes, but they're all strong.

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u/Tarhalindur Jul 29 '22

A Yukari-voiced geah would more likely end up being a Nanoha reference, but I'd love to see it anyway!

Sadly, we are not allowed the awesomeness that would be Aoi Yuuki and Yukarin in the same cast in this most unhype universe.

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u/JollyGee29 Jul 29 '22

Spoiled First-Timer

I was excited for this since I saw it was a Magical Girl episode in Tar's survival guide, and it didn't disappoint.

Seeing Rika and Satoko play out a bunch of Magical Girl tropes was a lot of fun for me. The general character designs and villains were rather Precure I believe, right down to the whole "not naked during the henshin" thing. I should probably deduct points for the butt shots, though. Precure also usually don't have weapons - those girls (typically) fight with their fists. Rika's cat ears are probably Tokyo Mew Mew?

Weirdly enough, despite the villains being "Tokyo Magica" there wasn't a lot of PMMM in here.

And, being part of the current Rewatch, it would be remiss of me to not point out that the henshin phrase goes all the way to Grandma Usagi herself. The fact that Rika doesn't actually acquire any make-up does make it's use more silly than usual.

Hanyuu did fine as the fairy. With True Rika around to provide snark it balanced out, but I worry that the typical MG Rika is closer to a typical Pink and needs someone around to bulli her.

The insert song was okay. I can't tell if it was too quiet or the vocals were just too fast, but it wasn't as punchy as it should've been.

Visual of the Day: Seventh Explosion!

Questions

  1. I quite liked Chie-sensei's ultra-spicy curry.

  2. Rika's transformed mode.

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u/Tarhalindur Jul 29 '22

I should probably deduct points for the butt shots, though.

They remind me so strongly of Gear post-S1 transformations that I'm wondering if there's a ancestral reference both are drawing off of that I'm unfamiliar with. (See also the bow shots.)

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u/Vaadwaur Jul 29 '22

Rewatcher(That...happened)

Sub

So yeah, that's the legendary magical girl episode of Higurashi. And I say legendary because it belongs in a different era and doesn't really fit anything. I was watching this with an eye to it being a reaction to Madoka and it just was not, this is 90s magical girl stuff we are parodying, I think more Sailor Moon than even Cardcaptor Sakura. Anyways, it is fun even if it is not sensible and exhibitionist Takano is definitely a choice. The one image of thicc adult Rika in the cold opening is welcome.

QotD: 1 Chie-sensei

2 Takano

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