Favourite Higurashi scenes (Spoilers)

[Sapphire]

There is an Umineko thread regarding this, so here is another, Higurashi one. Higurashi is my favourite 07th Expansion work thus far, so there are quite a few scenes that I like, mostly Meakashi and Minagoroshi ones, as they’re my two favourite arcs. Anyway, here are some that I like, I may or may not add more later:

Shion escaping from St. Lucia and moving to Okinomiya and meeting Satoshi
Shion and Mion’s switch, so that Shion can go to Mion’s school and get to know Satoshi better, so the whole school scenes regarding that
Shion becoming interested more in Hinamizawa’s history and reading Takano’s notebooks
The background of Shion meeting Keiichi, in which she has mixed feelings about him and thinks of Satoshi
The whole Mion and Shion switch in Meakashi, with Shion starting to learn more about the village and going to the village meetings and everything
All the scenes in the torture chamber with Shion and all her victims, except the parts where they’re killed, of course
Rika hanging out with Akasaka in Himatsubushi, and later predicting the ominous deaths that will take place
All of the scenes of Rena in Tsumihoroboshi, her being alone in the old bus at the dump, and her paranoia and suspicions starting to get the better of her, and all her theories she comes up with
The reveal of Rika’s true nature in Minagoroshi
Rika explaining the details of Hinamizawa Syndrome to her friends
The revelations made about The Irie Clinic and Takano
The whole struggle in Minagoroshi, in which Takano chases after Rika and her friends, killing them one by one and even so, Rika doesn’t give up hope
In Matsuribayashi, all the meticulous planning that goes in Rika and her friends’ plan
The carrying out of the plan and all the obstacles and overcoming of them that come with it
Shion learning the truth about Satoshi from Irie
Takano and Hanyuu’s discourse near the end of Matsuribayashi
Rika’s scenes talking with Hanyuu about the new world she has found herself in, in Saikoroshi

[U4ea]

My favorite Higurashi moment? It’s easily that moment towards the end of Matsuribayashi when Takano is cornered. However she still has one bullet left, and she threats to kill one of Rika’s friends. Mion stands up to be the one killed (since she’s the leader and all). Everyone tries to talk Takano out of murder, but then Takano explains that she is like the Old Maid in life, always thrown out.

But then Hanyuu stands up to be the one killed instead, as she was never really meant to be in this world in the first place. She will take the place of the Old Maid, and be the one to be discarded. Hanyuu talks about how much fun she had in this world, and then the gun fires. But then Rika stops time and moves the bullet before it hits Hanyuu. And then time goes back, and the shot misses. Rika then explains that her friends don’t play Old Maid. Instead, they play Old Geezer. In Old Geezer, a card must be added in order to win. It turns out that Hanyuu was that card Rika needed in order to win.

It’s when everyone comes together that Rika is finally able to create her miracle.

[Wonderlander]

The rooftop fight. It just gave me hope and for a second I truly believed there was a happy ending, even though it is the 6th arc and I should have known better. Keiichi’s determination and faith in Rena… Kinda the main reason I ship Keiichi with Rena instead of Mion…

[rika]

I’m still playing through for the first time (seen the anime), but the four that come immediately to mind are the torture chamber scenes in Watanagashi and Meakashi with Keiichi and Shion, the junkyard scene in Tsumihoroboshi after the club find Rena dismembering the corpses and the rooftop fight scene in Tsumihoroboshi. Actually also basically everything leading up to that, especially from Rika stopping Rena killing Keiichi. The music used in those scenes too is just wonderful. I shed many a tear during that arc.

[Sapphire]

I was watching some parts of Meakashi’s anime adaptation yesterday, and remembered one scene I forgot about. The one in which Mion visites Shion at her home in Okinomiya after she has gone through the nail ripping thing. The scene starts out with them being awkward to one another and making small talk, and then when Mion says she wonders about where Satoshi disappeared too, Shion says the demon within her awakened. You can see Shion at the beginning, trying to stifle her own words and thoughts about the torture she went through, and it is very sad to see her doing that and then she has this moment of raw emotion when she starts fighting with Mion and you can see how understaning and compassionate Mion is towards all her sister’s anger, which is very heartwarming. Then, when Shion sees that Mion has done the same thing to her nails she also forgives her and decides to believe in her, which makes you think how things would have went in Meakashi if only Shion had believed in Mion and everybody.

[AMF]

I have a lot, but the first three I thought of were:

• The “epilogue” in Meakashi-hen where it shows Shion getting along with the club members and teasing Satoko about pumpkin. It sorta puts it into perspective that, if she’d only had that kind of support and opportunity all the time, fragments like Meakashi-hen might not even exist.

• The scene in the end where Takano fails to defeat Rika’s group and completely breaks down with all her guilt and pain, but then Tomitake steps in and forgives her. Tomitake is the loving, selfless person that Takano really needed during the times of her struggles, and even though she never seemed to notice that much, he never abandoned her. And in this scene, he’s able to finally save her.

• Irie’s grand “Maid In Heaven!” scene. His maid antics and honest nature just force me to smile no matter how bad of a mood I’m in, so I was glad when he finally got to do something cool and unique! And the scene after that when he promises to save Satoshi is A+ as well.

[Zosonte]

My favorite part of Higurashi, bar none, is Akasaka saving Rika from the Mountain Hounds in Matsuribayashi-hen. I knew it was coming, I knew it was cliched, but it didn’t lessen its impact at all. The way the visual novel presents it is flawless, from the screen flashing “…I made it…” and “Rika-chan, I came to help you!” to Dear You - Destructive playing. Just goes to show a scene doesn’t have to be innovative to be good.

After that, can all of Minagoroshi-hen be a scene? I love every part of it. From the very beginning, when Keiichi gives the doll to Mion, to Rena talking to Mion and her father instead of dealing with Rina herself, to Shion remembering Satoshi’s request, every piece of the puzzle falls into place so beautifully as everyone avoids the tragedies of the other chapters. It is such a catharsis after everything the reader has been through, and I personally love alternate timelines in general. Then comes the arc proper, where instead of killing Teppei, the club decides to fight the correct and true way, solving the village’s prejudice toward Satoko and most importantly having Satoko realize her way of thinking is wrong and true strength is acknowledging your problems and asking for help, reinforcing the main message of the arc. Finally, the ending was both epic and heartbreaking for me. Keiichi and the club comes and saves Rika and Satoko in a very pumped moment, only to have it snatched away by Takano in a cruel and merciless way. The children then stand together in the afterlife, swearing to fight fate with Hanyuu and make the next world the best. A hopeful note on a beautiful chapter.