So this first part is my reply before reading the topic, so I’m sorry if I repeat stuff.
So first of all, what do we have confirmed now: Not much, really. The only thing that wasn’t doubted is that Hinamizawa definitely has a dark history. As a corrollary, even though the Review Session doubted the Sonozaki family’s involvement, they do have access to further torture devices.
Now for some of the things that don’t make sense. In the Review they already went over how “Mion” could stab Keiichi even though she’s dead. However, that leaves both Keiichi’s eventual death, if that is how the end of the hospital scene was to be seen, and Takano’s reappearance even though she was supposed to already be dead. I only have an explanation for the latter. Basically, since she burned to death and was only identified through her teeth, I could reasonably assume that not all of the burned remains are actually Takano’s. The former though is way more confusing, especially because I’d assume Keiichi’s mother to reenter the room once Ooishi left.
Now the Review also asked why Keiichi is targeted in both chapters and said that it can’t be because of the storehouse since he never went there in the first chapter. Now, in this chapter it showed even more strongly that the village kind of acts as a whole and is way more close-knit than even other villages. At parts it felt similar to depictions of sects in fiction to me, even. So it could very well be that Keichii crossed a line of sorts in both chapters that basically caused the villagers to deem him “dangerous” or “sinful”. With that approach this line then could have been the storehouse in this chapter. For that matter, one thing that happened in both chapters is Keiichi invariably asking about the incidents before Watanagashi. Another thing I can’t really make heads or tails of yet is Mion’s remark of Satoko being “cursed”. One thing that’s important to note is that we can’t be sure if Mion is Mion and Shion is Shion for most scenes. Only those where both appear can we be sure that they either are indeed themselves or have swapped positions, however such a theoretical swap could not happen during such a scene where both appear. Oh, the existence of Shion and the influence of the Sonozakis explains how Mion knew that Keiichi ate with Ooishi in Onikakushi, since they ate at Angel Mort, as far as I remember.
Now some thoughts on my feelings towards the story in general. Music wise, it’s funny, I like more the sad and scary tracks, but the tracks that play during the SoL scenes are only meh to me. Feeling wise, though, I’m confused. I mean, from what I hear this is supposed to be psychological horror, yet I never felt fear, neither in Onikakushi nor in Watanagashi. I mean, what I do feel is a feeling of sickness or disgust whenever deaths or tortures are described in all their details, but actual fear, no. So, am I weird?
Also, I don’t know where to put this, but I wanna put this somewhere:
Stuff Watanagashi referenced (from what I felt):
- The Game of Life
- Memory
- Soylent Green