Higanbana 1st Night Ch. 6: One Girl’s Day

07th Discussion
#1

Ch6

General discussion topic for Chapter 6: One Girl’s Day of Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni: The First Night. Please tag any references to later chapters or outside works with the [spoiler] tag, providing adequate context in parenthesis.
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Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni General Discussion
#2

Along with Chapter 3, this is my favorite chapter so far. I sympathized a lot with Yoko at first, because I am a lot like that, energetic, happy, even faced with some bad stuff too. It showed me that thinking the way I do also is in other people. :p. Though I was confused as to lack of the name and portrait of the protag at first, it all clicked at the end and well… Such a tragedy could have been avoided had Yoko apologised like that the first time. It feels really tragic in hindsight.

Plus the MariexHiganbana dynamic was amazing. :stuck_out_tongue:

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#3

Yeah. This chapter was more of an epilogue to The Spirit Camera than anything else. I spent a bunch of time puzzling over why she was so optimistic and why she felt so much attachment to that single day, and well, the answer was a lot more interesting and satisfying than I was expecting. It’s really nice that Yoko managed to pass on, instead of lingering in hell or as a ghost.

Does make me wonder how much it’s embellishing her real life; how much is illusion and how much is real? Was she really so loved by her classmates, was she always such a cheery person? It’s impossible to say, but at least she reached peace in the end.

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#4

This was just a really sweet chapter. I’m happy we got to see the final transition of Yoko’s spirit from corpse to spirit to the afterlife, I didn’t realize how much i missed Ryukishi’s slice-of-life antics. It makes me concerned i’m in for a real trip into hell with the next one, considering the episode pattern so far.

@Aspirety I think this chapter shows us even more about the power of ghost stories (fiction in general really) to teach lessons. I can imagine this chapter being told later down the line between school children of a nameless suicide victim who became a spirit and found their peace after truly experiencing a ‘fun day’ supported by their human friends. Wrongs are righted and the spirit’s urge to haunt is sated (a very typical ghost story). The exact truth here matters less than the lesson learned by the listeners, that it’s important to support people with pain in their hearts so that they can overcome that pain. This is something I see Marie embracing, though she knows Higanbana has done and will continue to do cruel things Marie is starting to understand why:

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Marie is slowly moving to heal Higanbana’s heart and we saw the first real crack in her shell with the release of Yoko’s spirit. Higanbana is constantly telling us how savage she is and lecturing Marie on the nature of a Youkai but i think that the two of them will prove that the ‘nature’ of a Youkai is a mere excuse for bullying, something also justified by previous villains of the series as the nature of the world. Kanamori uses his justification of prey vs predator and Hikaru spoke of irrational evil. I’m sure that with the help of Marie we will see Higanbana avoid such a cruel fate as theirs.

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#5

I’m a bit split on this chapter. First of all, yeah, it’s more of an epilogue to spirit camera. The most important thing this chapter gives in the long run is that we see some hints of character development in both Higanbana and Marie, @MagusVerborum already lined out what that development is. Then there’s also that message of easing pain that he noticed that is certainly there.

Now the problem I have, and I realize that it’s more a personal thing, but basically the teachers using physical punishment doesn’t quite sit right with me. Of course, there’s the argument that this “harmless” kind of punishment is often used in fictional settings, and in other stories I’d probably be more willing to tolerate it, but as Higanbana as a whole seems to be a work focussing on bullying and other dark sides of school life, it kind of leaves a bad taste with me that something that I would consider not okay in real life is portrayed as a positive and goofy thing here.

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#6

What punishment are you talking about?

And is there any indication of when Higanbana is set?

#7

I believe Vyse is referring to when the teacher scolds Yoko and the others for not bringing their homework to class, and they are physically punished by the teacher, something that wouldn’t fly in Western schools.

I did feel a bit uncomfortable that something that could be seen as ‘bullying’ the children by an authority figure was played off as harmless, and even fun. I figured it was indicative of the culture but when your whole story is about the many forms bullying can take in a school setting it does leave a foul taste in the mouth.

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#8

Ehh that? It felt very innocent to me, she was just stretching their cheeks to humiliate them. In modern day western contexts there’s a big taboo surrounding teachers making physical contact with students, but don’t forget that until recent decades students would get the cane for misbehaving.

#9

Just because that was the case doesn’t mean it is okay. And considering that we know from chapter three that anime already exists when these children went to school, we can assume that “getting the cane” for misbehaving was no longer a thing then. Correct me if I’m wrong about that part, though. My first point stands regardless. And I get that this specific instance is supposed to be innocent, those five boys forgot their homework because they were rebellious and Yoko herself certainly doesn’t take issue. However, I was thinking about how I would react in that class, since it seems that teacher always does this if homeworks are forgotten.

So, I myself was pretty shy in my schooltime. So there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have found friends yet. So let’s assume I forget my homework very early on. Now I get humiliated in front of class. At this point, I would probably totally hate school. Since everyone laughed at me, I myself would have even greater difficulty approaching someone else in that class. And you can see how that is quite the slippery slope there.

I was also taking issue with the teacher hitting Yoko for being too late, for that matter, although there I “only” have that whole western background of “hitting children as punishment is bad”, even if it’s probably very light in this case. However, I take greater issue with the whole homework thing because it’s an open humiliation on top of the physical punishment.

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#10

Ehh, I see your point. But I still think that kind of thing would be pretty innocent; it feels more like the class is laughing with you rather than at you, because it’s a punishment most students will have to endure at least once. I definitely didn’t take it in a malicious way. It would be embarrassing, but I wouldn’t call that bullying.

But well, a lot of this is helped by the fact that Yoko is able to put such a positive spin on things. Even here, she was able to laugh at herself.

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#11

I almost cried.

aww

aww2

aww3

This girl, who had such a difficult day, remained optimistic and still managed to think everything was fun. I only wish that I could be that positive. I hope someday… I can learn to appreciate life as much as Yoko.

Yoko Numata best girl.

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#12

This chapter makes me…intrigued. Is chapter 7 something so grotesque and twisted that this chapter was completely happy and uneventful? Yes, it brings up the fact people don’t usually value their lives as they should and all that, but I don’t think this sweet sweet atmosphere was quite what I was looking for so early.

Not a bad chapter and still not a praiseworthy one. Just average, like a black tea with too much honey on it.

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#13

Yeah, at this point this is about all I could think. He wants us to relax. He wants us to relax, and something big is coming.

I had a long and tough day yesterday, so when I was reading this last night the lack of tension combined with finally getting to sit down and be still made it so I kept falling asleep while reading. I felt like the scene where Yoko was sleeping in the infirmary probably had more significance than I was able to focus on - like I wondered if some of Higanbana’s feelings were bleeding onto her. I guess I should re-read it if I am actually concerned about it though :stuck_out_tongue:

Higanbana and Marie’s relationship was the highlight for me. Higanbana’s tsuntsun at the end with her affection for Marie is really cute, and I like that it gives us a steady relationship to be invested in between these stories. Since this format keeps changing out a lot of the significant characters it helps with keeping my emotional investment moving forward.

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#14

I really liked this chapter. It’s essentially the epitome example of Rena’s quote in Higurashi.
This also again made me reflect on how each ordinary day could have been special if we set out to make it so.

But in practice, unless something or some event is ‘time-limited’ we usually don’t try to make the best out of a situation. Instead, we just implicitly think that ‘there’s always a next time’, so we have an excuse to not do our best or set out to enjoy the situation.

Alternatively, sometimes I would think that because something is time-limited, there’s no point to enjoy it, because on the understanding that you cannot enjoy it again, it would be more devastating for your future when you return to your ordinary days. You would feel that your life is ‘missing something’.

6 Likes
#15

This chapter was so uplifting and inspiring. A very simple story of a girl who experienced a fun day at school for one last time, and yet an important message to all the readers: you can find happiness in your everyday life, so do not take it for granted. Live each moment to its fullest. I admit that I am not one of those people, not always, but this chapter makes me want to try harder so I can grasp that fragment of happiness.

There is such a stark contrast between the last chapter and this one, I am shocked. I kept waiting for something bad to happen, but it never did. It was simply a happy conclusion for Yoko and we even got to see more of Higanbana’s sweeter side (she’s such a fun character).

I feel joyful after this reading this, and that is enough for me. :slight_smile:

Now, how dark will next chapter be? I’m terrified.

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#16

The way this girl, Yoko, was seeing this day as being wonderful in the beginning made me wonder if she wanted to have that mindset for a reason, as if she knew it was her last day and that she should try to enjoy it and have as much fun as she could. I wasn’t sure if it’s because she had to change schools and move away soon, she was actually very ill, or if she had a feeling her life would abruptly end because of an accident that would happen. Then it revealed who she really was and what was going. There’s something bittersweet about it, this girl reliving a school day one last time as happily as she can before passing on. It’s hard for me to tell if Higanbana’s antics in this is her actually playfully teasing her prey for her own amusement or if she’s actually helping Yoko by giving her experiences that she wants. Yoko mentioned wanting to be in the infirmary’s bed, and her classmates showed concern for her when she showed up.

This also showed a little more about Marie and Higanbana, which is what I ended up having more interest and curiosity for. I’ve been feeling mixed about Marie, and this chapter has made me feel even more ambivalent.
On one hand, the youkai are shown to hunt after and feed off of humans. So Marie trying to be nice and scolding Higanbana for her nature as a youkai seems like Marie isn’t that fit to be a youkai herself and that she’s still clinging to her humanity. What will that mean for her? Does she eventually have to starve if she doesn’t feed as well, or could she end up being forced to change her attitude at some point?
However, the fact that Higanbana and Marie still put up with each other and stay as friends is interesting. It seems like Higanbana’s loneliness and envy as a youkai was hinted at, so perhaps being with Marie is helping her with that? Did Higanbana decide against feeding on Yoko’s soul show how far she’s willing to change to stay friends with Marie, or is this showing me that youkai don’t have to be monsters and that even Higanbana can change if given a chance? I would even wonder if this is a peek at Higanbana’s true self and that she’s only being cruel as part of an act, but the brutal way chapter 5 ended makes me doubt that.
In the beginning, I’ve been seeing humans and youkai as separate beings that shouldn’t be compared when I started, but the more I read this the more it seems like there’s more that overlaps than I initially though. Even Higanbana’s craftiness and cruelness I can understand as her simply being a non-human and that her thoughts and actions are naturally going to be unusual to my human mind. However, if all youkai don’t have to start off like monsters and it’s not necessarily how they are at heart… did something happen to Higanbana to make her this way? Or is Marie really the exception, and for how long will that remain the case?

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