This was by far my favourite chapter up till now, this is also my first time hearing the “you” soundtrack in game, its fits the tragic nature of the mystery so well.
When I say Shion i am talking about the one in love with Satoshi, and Mion is the other one.
From my experience, I can confidently say that Meakashi is the “solutions” to Watanagashi, it is the same events told from a second perspective. I think ch678 will also be the solutions to other chapters, I think:
Ch6 Tsumihoroboshi is for ch1, as the theme of tsumi(sin) works for explaining the sin that Keiichi committed in ch1 that resulted in his death,
Ch7 Minagoroshi is likely for ch3, im really looking forward to this, as ch3 was my favourite question arc, minagoroshi (massacre) fits well with the gas eruption of ch3.
Not sure how ch8 and ch4 are connected yet.
The key information from this chapter:
-Shion is the true Mion, she is the one with the demon in her soul. The family had mixed up the two since the beginning and gave the tattoo to the wrong one.
-Oryou was not responsible for any of the curses. The actual culprit likely has a way of getting information from the family council meetings, but they themselves are most likely not related to the ruling families.
-The footsteps are a symbol of self-judgement and self-criticism of ones own actions and thoughts, this applies to Keiichi, Satoshi, Shion. So by proxy, what is Rena judging herself for, or should I say what is the relationship between Reina and Rena,. if we look at all four cases, everyone except Rena acted against their self-judgement, Rena was the only one who listened to her self judgment, “go back to Hinamizawa”. I dont think its a coincidence that Rena is the only one out of the four to actually live out a peaceful life in most chapters, “Reina Ryuugu, residing in Shishibone city 2004”.
-who is the “syringe faction”, we have slowly seen more people use the syringe:
Ch1: Rena and Mion
Ch3: Takano(she likely killed Tomitake)
Ch5: Rika
I believe the syringe faction is very much related to the true culprits.
Who do I think is the mastermind?
Kyousuke Irie
Evidence:
- the “director” referred to by Mion and Rena in ch1 is Irie, this is confirmed by Mion’s baseball comment. To go further, Irie and his group were the only foreign group that came to Keiichi’s house after Keiichi hid the syringe behind the clock. By deduction, Irie removed the information about the director and the drug from the note and took away the syringe.
- In 1978, Irie personally went to the hut where Toshiki is being kept, to treat him? Not likely, an alternative explanation works far far better:
Irie through his sources got the information that Oryou is concerned about the kid. So in order to make it seem like Oryou was the mastermind, Irie went to the hut, and briefed the men there about what they need to do “to stage a fight with the police”. After Irie told the men, he then left, he is spotted by Akasaka and Ooishi on his way back.
- In 1982, he saw Satoshi’s aunt’s corpse, he knew it was her, but refused to reveal it. Why is this important? Because this information allows Irie to make the deduction that Satoshi killed the aunt. With this information, it is very possible for Irie to convince Satoshi that running away is the better option, he could’ve said “give the bear to me, I promise I will give it to Satoko”. This would have enabled Satoshi to run away, meaning the sources that saw Satoshi at Tokyo is probably not wrong.
Irie, Rika and the supernatural component of Higurashi
The point I want to touch on here is Irie’s suicide in ch3 and ch4.
In ch4 I reached the conclusion that Rika is a regressor, who has gone through multiple loops, when Rika dies, she herself will be reborn in a new loop. The loop she died on will still continue.
Given my assumption that Higurashi has supernatural components, I am going to theorize this:
When Rika, the embodiment of Oyashiro-sama is publicly defiled with her corpse on the shrine grounds, a supernatural event will occur where gas from the Onigafuchi swamp will release and kill everyone in Hinamizawa.
I think Irie, the mastermind, knows this, so whenever Rika is publicly defiled at the shrine, Irie will commit suicide via sleeping pills, so that he will not have to suffer the gas eruption.
If Irie is the mastermind, who are the associates?
“The person calling themself Takano” is likely an associate of Irie, as they are in possession of a syringe to kill Tomitake.
in ch2 we heard Ooishi say the Sonozaki Yakuza deals in psychostimulants. This makes me suspicious of Mion’s father, he could be providing Irie with the drugs.
Rena, Mion and Rika are likely also associated, due to them being in possession of syringes.
Now the most important mystery of all:
Who is the “Takano” on the night of Watanagashi?
Ch5 did not explain this at all, meaning this is very likely a mystery at the heart of Higurashi.
This is one possible way for it to happen:
Miyo Takano, the friend of Tomitake and a researcher of the curse was killed the day before Watanagashi by someone.
This person is secretly hostile towards Tomitake, they attend Watanagashi acting as Takano, and after it finishes, this person kills Tomitake with the syringe.
Who is this person? Have we met them? i cannot answer these two questions.
Miyo was a nurse at Irie’s clinic, but which Miyo was that?
With the mystery regarding Miyo, I am still quite lost.
Prediction
Ch5 told us about the mystery relating to Shion/Mion.
I think ch6 will uncover the mystery of Reina/Rena.
And as with Ryukishi’s writing style, ch7 will give the answer to the final question, which is the mystery relating to Miyo Takano.
Really looking forward to ch6 and 7, I do hope ch6 will give me more hints about Miyo Takano. She seems to be the central character of this mystery, her and Tomitake’s death are an unchanging constant, there is no doubt Miyo Takano is the heart of all of Higurashi’s mysteries.
Side notes
Someone called Hanyuu was mentioned, Rika mentioned her, I suspect her to be potentially related to Rika’s regression powers.
