Higanbana 1st Night Ch. 5: Hameln's Castanets

That was a satisfying conclusion. I initially expected the rabbits to eat Hikaru in some way, but being raped continuously…is just on a whole another level. Wow, Ryukishi, wow. :sweating:

There’s no doubt in my mind that Hikaru was simply born this way. Even if we sideline the horrific animal abuse (which Hikaru somehow considered quite acceptable because they were just rabbits), we learn that prior to being bullied by his class, Hikaru committed acts that were perfectly rational from his viewpoint, but lacked empathy and were disliked by other people. Even if Hikaru thought he was being helpful to his class, it is evident that he held no remorse for his actions nor did he have any understanding for the feelings of his classmates. I’m no expert at identifying a sociopath/psychopath, but Hikaru most certainly struck me as one.

One thing I’m left wondering is this: assuming Hikaru is a human being with ‘irrational evil intent’, is it possible that in the right circumstances he wouldn’t have harmed any living creature, not human nor animal? Or was Hikaru destined to go down this path of malice and destruction since the day he was born? And that one day, he would have eventually found an excuse to do something horrific again? I guess what I’m asking is: is it possible for these kinds of people to show restraint and live a normal human life without hurting anyone? And how much does it depend on the society around them?

Either way, I enjoyed this chapter. I already said it in the Discord chat, but I am truly loving the brevity of these chapters. They’re condensed and to the point. I’m very impressed.

5 Likes

I’m no psychologist, but I believe there are scenarios where Hikaru lives a normal life without hurting anyone. He’s obviously mentally ill; it takes a certain kind of wiring to be as sadistic and psychopathic as he is. However, if something like this is properly treated and he isn’t bullied constantly, I think he would be able to live a normal life. He harms the rabbits in secret and doesn’t want to be caught, so he knows he’s doing something worthy of punishment. Behavior like that, I think, can be treated.

3 Likes

I think he can be recovered, he just refused to be. Higanbana adverted him about his actions, it was his choice to turn a blind eye to that and deny that what he was doing was okay because they were just rabbits, and even if he knew that hurting rabbits was wrong, he went and killed them, so he also must have known killing the rabbits is even worse, he simply justified that it shouldn’t have the same weight as killing a human being, and that’s his actual mental issue, he thinks he’s superior.

Like Kanamori, Hikaru also thinks of the world as a food chain, and he views himself as being above the others, and therefore in a position to “prey” on them, he treats his classmates as useless and shows off how he’s superior, maybe if he talked to a psychologist he could be able to understand that what he was doing was being seen as being a show-off instead of trying to help him, so maybe he never got the chance to understand how he made the others feel and victimised himself. Either way, he seemed pretty conscious he didn’t have to go as far as to kill them so he really chose his own path.

2 Likes

Yeah. I can see him being taught how to live within the rules of the society, but I doubt his mental state as it is can be fixed. :confused:

Ah, Kanamori. Yes, that is an interesting comparison. Perhaps we can view Kanamori as an adult Hikaru? Because even if we compare them in terms of the food chain comparison, it is evident that Kanamori had no problems simply abusing and killing a human being. Hikaru vented his stress on animals, and even when he killed humans, he viewed it okay because they were turned into rabbits.

So maybe, just maybe, a person like Kanamori is what we get if a child like Hikaru is left untreated and unsupervised? I wonder…

2 Likes

Haven’t quite finished this chapter yet, but I wanted to put down my impressions now before they’re inevitably changed.

The more I read through Higanbana, the more I find that it’s a tale not of justice - I hate that pretentious word with every fibre of my being - but rather, of retribution. It seems to be a very deliberate underlying theme encompassing every chapter. Retribution, an act that doesn’t inherently claim to be justified or not, it just is the way it is, is very well reflected in Higanbana’s character. It really seems that the story and the character having the same name was truly fitting indeed. Given my personal philosophy, the way the stories are carried out, allowing people to make their own mistakes, having them pay the inherent price for those mistakes, giving people the chance to settle things between themselves, it all appeals to me immensely.
That’s not to say that I think everything done in Higanbana is justified, indeed, I would never use that word. However, as much as I hate the concept myself, even I admit that people can throw around that word however they like. But, in a situation where things just are the way they are, being justified or not, from whoever’s perspective isn’t going to do you any good. Tragedies happen, and it’s easy to judge, but sometimes things just are the way they are, and no matter how hard you may try to understand them, you’ll never become the person in question.

Just wanted to put that out there and say that Shizuru-β is best girl.

1 Like

Oh this chapter brings me a lot of memories, im a vet student and rabbits are one of my favourite animals so i hated this kid so much, but i think kids like him are lonely and need help to be more empathic with people and animals too.