Ehhhh. I’m not familiar with those kanji.
Well apparently they’re mostly used when you want to be extra clear about that number. Like, 一 , 二, and 三 are nice and simple but there was the worry they could be mistaken for or straight up altered into each other by malicious parties.
In this case my guess is Ryukishi just always went for whichever number-kanji works better as a flame.
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Higabana has such a great soundtrack. My personal favorite is “強く生きて、花はさく”. The piano in this touches my soul.
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So I already had that vibe for some of Umineko’s tracks, and really only few and far between, but for Higanbana, the entire OST so far gives me major Professor Layton vibes. Like, this goes so far that I’d like to see a list of the people involved with the OST of Higanbana just to check if one of these later worked on that series. Does anyone else feel similar?
I’ve really enjoyed the soundtrack so far, especially the one track that is very heavy on the percussion. I forget when it plays and what it’s called, but oh well.
Now that we’re reaching the end of the Bookclub, I’d like to open up a question that I hope many people will attempt to answer.
What does Higanbana mean to you?
Here’s my answer.
For me, Higanbana was a well deserved journey that I’d long since been putting off. Coming off the back of Umineko, I wasn’t quite ready for a trip down Ryukishi’s twisted criminal mind. But what I did, was fail to acknowledge Higanbana for the wonderful potential it had, and instead was turned away at the door by the unsettling content of the first chapter. It starts with a shock to the system, but Higanbana is much more multi-faceted than merely forcing uncomfortable material in our faces.
Being an anthology of short stories, it serves as a huge departure from his other works, and the very format leaves me feeling mixed impressions based on each individual story. But as a collective, I can safely say that Higanbana is one of the most beautiful and poignant stories Ryukishi has ever written. It’s clear that Ryukishi has a mission he’s set out to accomplish. Higanbana presents unsettling tragedy and asks the reader to reflect on them. Bullying happens everywhere, people are struggling just to live day after day. It’s not youkai that are terrifying: it’s a horrible everyday that’s the most terrifying. And, since these stories feel so real, it’s clear that Ryukishi wanted to draw our eyes to these horrible acts in the hopes that we might reflect on our own lives, and do whatever we can to prevent such suffering from happening in our own lives, to those we love, and to those we don’t. It’s been a healthy wakeup call to some important messages I’d taken for granted. Don’t underestimate the power of the majority over the minority, be mindful of how your conduct influences the lives of others around you, and don’t abuse that influence. Live for the moment, and don’t waste time worrying about questions you can’t answer. And when you see someone suffering, don’t stay silent. Listen to them, help them, show them that someone cares. Because if you don’t, you’re hardly any better than the ones causing suffering.
As a community, I feel like many of the values presented in Higanbana are things we can take upon ourselves to create the kind of community we wish to see. I take a small amount of pride in Rokkenjima serving as a sanctuary for wandering souls where the problems of the outside world don’t matter, but I also have an extremely important role of maintaining the balance of power, and making sure that everybody has a voice, even the most meek and passive. It feels I couldn’t have found a better time to read this.
So, to everyone else, I really hope you reflect on the messages Higanbana puts forward. You don’t have to necessarily agree with all of them, but for every tragedy it puts forward, please consider what you can do in your own life to prevent that tragedy occuring for you or someone you love. If Ryukishi’s thoughts can affect people like this, then I’m sure he’d be very happy, and I’d be very happy too. It’s a damn shame this wonderful work of art has often gone so unrecognised by the community, and I’m glad to have been doing my part to change that, even if only slightly.
Thanks, Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni. I won’t be forgetting you any time soon.
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It’s a very thought-provoking piece of work… I find it remarkably hard to actually say something about it. Maybe because its themes hit too close to home, or… iunno, I feel like it can leave one very uncertain. The bullying in particular, although as some have pointed out it is unquestionable exaggerated to a point of potential absurdity here. But the thing is that to a bullied kid, it can feel that way anyway, regardless of what the bullies are actually doing. The feeling of abandonment and helplessness can be worse than any actual physical pain inflicted, no matter what. Which is why I still found it tough to watch, to put it mildly.
Anyway, looking at the narrative aspect:
What impressed me the most was Ryukishi’s switch from his usual tendency of a really long, overarching story. If you’d have forced me to name his weakness, I would have said ‘excess’. (Of course, having too much to say is a better problem than having too little.)
He’s surprised me here by actually writing relatively short stories that still cover so much. I think the format might have actually helped a lot since there was less of an obligation to remain focused on just the main theme(s).
Granted, some of the characters introduced had very minor relevance when it felt like they’d eventually be important, so in that sense his tendency to plan for too much might still have shown… but each of the stories can more or less stand on its own, at least.
Higanbana, in my opinion, poses more questions than it answers, and the answers that are given often aren’t fully satisfactorily or feasible from a human point of view. This feels fully intentional, the work is daring us to think about it, to find better answers, if we can. It want us to keep thinking about how to deal with these things. While also making sure to stay well ourselves even when faced with utter misery. I feel anyone who does read Higanbana in earnest will probably be an ever so slightly better person by the end.
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If I were to comment on one thing…
This is one thing reading Higanbana and discussing it with people here has definitively changed my view on. Bullying really is this bad. Stories like the ones presented in Higanbana have been documented countless times, especially in Japanese contexts. I have @kyuketsukimiyu and Pictoshark to thank for opening my eyes there. These two articles miyu linked are particularly startling: Article 1, Article 2.
It clashed with my worldview a bit at first, but I think it’s good to be aware of these problems. This is how bad ‘group psychology’ can get in such a contained environment as a ‘school’.
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So it’s really like that. I guess it speaks for itself when we would rather view it as an exaggeration than actually checking how bad things are there…
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Yeeeeeeeeeep…
Higanbana presents to us, in the most absolute cynical way, the worst humanity has to offer. We are selfish, greedy, prideful and mean; we use others as stepping stones and devour our prey like lesser animals incapable of thought or reflection. We do all this to fit in and feel good. The youkai, who hunt and devour the souls of people, manage to look good by comparison. The world, no matter what time of day, is merely different shades of gray and black. This is what I believe Ryukishi wants us to remember and think about as we read Higanbana.
This is where I refuse to fail Ryukishi’s test. Higanbana chanced upon me at the perfect moment, as I sit upon a freshly written chapter of my life, and has now reaffirmed everything I now believe in. I will never again see humanity as vile animals who sharpen their blades on the stones of vice and false virtue. I refuse to lose hope in this world and the people in it, no matter what dark and disturbing things surface from our primal selves. Not when I remember (First Night Chapters 1 and 7 spoilers) Marie or Yukari, pure and innocent beings who seek to challenge the bleak world before them, or (First Night Chapter 2 spoilers) Takeshi and Yoko, demonstrating the best of humanity through the power of forgiveness and understanding. Not when I remember (Second Night Chapter 2 spoilers) Aya, who swam up from the depths of nothingness and discovered the value of life as I have. As I form the base for my new idealistic outlook on life and humanity, Higanbana reinforces it with a thick layer of beautiful white concrete. Never again will I fall into the pits of cynicism and nihilism, no matter what Ryukishi shows me. This is what he told me through Higanbana. The worst of humanity will never dim the best of it, not in my eyes, ever again.
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Higanbana is a neat collection of short stories surrounding the mysteries of a particular school building, the way that the characters are framed and the leitmotif of the Higanbanas ‘blooming’ are central to the themes of the story. As I’ve layered throughout my forum posts I’ve realized that this work is a depiction of the worst that humanity has to offer, but also the best. As we watch the characters struggle we come to realize the importance of living, the cruelty of the human world, and the hope that one can find even in the darkest of places.
The journey from beginning to end was a bumpy one, I don’t think the story is perfect and i don’t think it has to be. I enjoyed getting a chance to understand Ryukishi’s approach to art in a more direct way, without the cryptic puzzles of his previous work. I feel that Higanbana is his most straightforward story of the three of them and I much appreciated this peek into the heart of the author that I hold so dearly. This story that Ryukishi wanted to tell is coated in emotion from his own heart and it shines through, to me this was a call out to all that would listen to stop the injustices of the world, to preach appreciation of others and as a whole is an excellent attempt at tackling the complicated topic of abuse in schools.
In the end I take all of his arguments, all of the discussion on the forums and I bundle it up into a ball, and I process it. Everything anyone has ever said to me about this story condensed into ‘my opinion’, something I don’t think I can entirely express with the words I type. I’m very happy to have had the experience of travelling through this shadowy valley of night with everyone else who joined along the way, whether you were on the podcast, joined in on the forum discussion, or just made a passing comment about the outrageous emojis on Discord. To me all of this is a part of Higanbana, and even though I have put the story down I will still remember all of the arguments I’ve had over the meaning of the chapters, the bonding with others over the soundtrack, and the individual experiences others have told me about which are echoed through the tale. To me all of this is important, all of this creates my own unique perspective and it shapes me to become a different, better person.
Heh, have I managed to become an old softie… just from this? It’s ‘only natural’ I suppose. 
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Higanbana strongly reminded me of contemporary fiction of ages past in my country that were also critisizing problems in society that existed at the time. As such, while it is certainly nice to discuss it in our international community, and I can recommend it to others, it is even more important to me that more Japanese people read this story, and contemplate on the points raised in it. Because in the end, this is first and foremost critisizing Japanese schools, and only Japanese can truly bring about a change there.
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Is that what it means to you though Vyse?
Basically. It made me think as to how the situation is right now, and it made me want change, so I thought “Okay, how can I change this?” And, well, I reached the conclusion that I can’t change the situation in Japan, simply because I’m just some foreigner who grew up with different values. Well, I guess it also reinforced my stance to try to prevent bullying and similar things around me, in my own way, but as that was “only” a reinforcing of ideals I already held, it wasn’t that prevalent for me.
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So you don’t think this work is applicable to cultures outside of Japan?
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Not as much. I wouldn’t go so far and say it’s not applicable at all, but it loses some of its oomph. We both felt a disconnect at first at how awful the bullying was depicted, and I believe the same would happen for anyone from cultures where bullying isn’t as much ingrained as a concept in society.
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But does that mean it doesn’t happen? We could just be fortunate enough to have had decent schooling. There’s a lot of baaad schools out there, especially when you start getting into places with lower socioeconomic standing.
That’s not what I’m saying. If you’re asking if I believe that it’s not as big of a problem in my country, then I’ll say yes to that. Remember that I talked to my mom, a teacher, about the topic. This gave me the impression that teachers in my country are educated on how to deal with bullying. Thus it already is a problem that is widely recognized. What Higanbana mainly critisizes are places where adults don’t even realize that it’s a problem.
Exactly, if you get to places with lower socioeconomic standing. But what can we do to change the situation in those places?
Okay, let me revise my earlier statement. For me it is more important that people in places where bullying is still a bigger problem read Higanbana. Japan would then simply serve as an example for such a place.
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Okay, well let’s switch it around. Are you saying bullying doesn’t happen anywhere around you?