Totally agree. The Higurashi manga is incredible in general and I adore Yutori Houjou’s execution of Watanagashi and Meakashi. I also daresay I prefer the manga version of the final scenes.
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Wow. I just finished reading meakashi for the first time. This chapter instead of making me sympathize with Shion just made me feel sorry for Keiichi. He had no clue what happened to his friends. All his anxieties seem artificial in retrospect.
I understand the her loss and given the isolation it’s understandable to latch onto Satoshi. It was a tragic life story, but the murders in this chapter were so unreasonable. I can understand the previous killings of the abusive aunt/uncle but the crimes of this chapter were so selfish. I loved this character in watanagashi, but now I feel that was completely misplaced. 
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Upon reread I realized this chapter’s poem is so important. I missed the little things like the poems upon my first read, but upon reread I understood the meaning behind the poem. It really captures Shion perfectly, and her feelings towards Satoshi. For her, it was an eternity waiting for him to come home (this applies to Satoko too).
Shion’s such a good character. And the poem of Meakashi perfectly captures her struggles with her feelings, and her inner demons.
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So there was the idea to kind of do live impressions and reactions as posts for a change, and since I was doing notes and PMing such reactions to @Karifean already, I thought “Why not do that in this topic?” As such, I haven’t finished Meakashi yet and thus won’t read the topic yet, so I might repeat stuff others have said. But before I start with my reactions, let me quickly point out where my current thoughts about the truth stand.
Current Thoughts:
For the murders that only happened in Watanagashi, I am more siding with the “Shion did it” theory, points for both sides were already argued in detail in the Watanagashi topic and it’s podcast, so refer to those if you have forgotten what those were. My reason for believing in the Shion theory is mainly that I can see a motive for all the murders that happened (except Tomitake, but that was neither Mion nor Shion, so doesn’t matter).
Furthermore, I currently subscribe to pictoshark’s idea of a timeloop existing in Higurashi.
Live Reactions:
So once I started, it became immediately aware that the music got way better. It’s now on the level that I can see myself listening to the OST.
Next reaction is when Shion was explaining the meaning of the names Mion and Shion. This one actually gives an alternate explanation for why Mion might refer to Shion as ‘Mion’ at the end of Watanagashi, one that doesn’t require her to be broken. Namely, Mion considering her sister as cruel enough to deserve the demon character in her name, thus calling her Mion. Basically a hidden insult.
For the next one, I’m introducing the Five Second Prediction. Basically me predicting an event that’s going to happen in the next few sentences. For this first one, Shion just had an idea for how to earn money for herself and wanted to call Mion. I predicted that Mion started helping her uncles so that Shion can pose as Mion to earn money for herself. And a few sentences later, I was right!
Hmm. Shion doesn’t like canned food because of a horror story that Kasai told her. Might that be the history lesson of human meat we heard near the end in Watanagashi? If so, another point for the “Shion did it” bracket.
Five Second Prediction: Shion’s gonna enrage some thugs and is going to be saved by a bunch of people from Hinamizawa.
Guess I was kinda right with this one. Nice subversion of expectations there, and a good introduction to Satoshi. Also, since those guys weren’t arrested, I wonder if they’re actually the same thugs that Keiichi angers a year later.
Next, a minor complaint: Satoshi’s diary really isn’t written like a diary. Basically the same problem that some games do with letters or some such.
Next thought came when Rena talked about Satoshi hearing an extra footstep behind him. This basically disproves picto’s idea of that being a symptom of the suicide drug, as he put it. So are we going back to assume that this is a fantasy element? Or do we have a differennt satisfying explanation?
Also, as an addendum, if we can answer the following lime (if it doesn’t get answered later anyway), we might be able to get some more knowledge on those footsteps: What is common between Ch1 Keiichi, Ch3 Keiichi, Rena, Ch2/5 Shion, Ch2 Tomitake and Ch5 Satoshi?
Next one is when we get a glimpse at the Watanagashi in 1982, when Rika assures Satoko with certainty that her aunt is going to be gone for good. This is basically another strong point for the timeloop theory, especially as it is strongly hinted that Satoshi indeed killed his aunt, and he couldn’t have planned that in 1978 already.
Next one, Re:It would be bad to make up an alibi (for Satoshi) on the spot: In Tatarigoroshi, Mion fixed her error and prepared an alibi for Keiichi. This is why there are so many people confirming Keiichi being at the festival. If one subscribes to the timeloop theory, the following addendum can be made: Rika gave the main idea for the story they’d tell, using her memories of an earlier loop, this is why the description of Keiichi enjoying himself is suspiciously similar to what happened in Onikakushi.
How does Ooishi know of Shion’s “payment” (the fingernail cutting), you ask? Remember, he has a contact (seen in Himatsubushi).
Re: Someone else might have bought the teady bear: Might the teady bear that Keiichi wins in Onikakushi and gifts to Rena be that same teady bear that Satoshi planned to buy?
And the last one for now, Shion is currently contemplating if someone might have planned the incidents long ago and only recently gave Satoshi the idea to kill his aunt. Definitely another possibility, and the one one would have to come up with if one sees Rika’s prediction as meaning everything was already planned in 1978.
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Am I the only one who genuinely likes the Question Arcs OST? I mean, yeah, the music definitely got more memorable starting at Kai with tracks like Solitude and You, but there are a few Question Arc songs that stood out…
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I will admit that Questions did have some memorable tracks, it simply has a high percentage of songs that I would probably skip when listening to the OST as well, though.
I finished reading Meakashi on Steam for the first time a couple weeks ago, and I have several mostly independent (I think, though some could turn out to be tied together) thoughts on this arc.
First, out of the core Higurashi installments, this one—Meakashi-hen, the Eye Opening Chapter—seems to be the first whose name’s meaning remains a bit ambiguous after reading. One could of course interpret it as meaning the opening of the audience’s eyes to many of the answers of the Watanagashi arc, but while reading it I gradually came to also interpret it as the opening of a second eye, meaning the indirect revelation of those secrets by providing a second perspective with which to gain a sort of “mystery depth perception”. Were one to read Meakashi without having first read Watanagashi, one would be left with an incomplete viewpoint from seeing these particular events through only one character, much like after Watanagashi alone (though some relevant keys are concealed in at least Watanagashi, as this chapter makes clear.)
Also, only some of the mysteries of the second chapter were actually solved explicitly in this one. A couple, especially the mystery of Rika’s syringe, were actually expanded upon—that one in particular seemed to go from odd and intriguing to completely bizarre and essentially screaming challenges to make sense of it.
The mystery of the noise heard at the storehouse remains as cryptic as ever, which I probably should have expected to some degree given that Shion is the one who was confused and worried about it in the first place back in Watanagashi.
One thing I did notice that’s stuck out to me—let me dig through my (“only” 3,171) screenshots here…
This fever is just odd to me, and doesn’t seem to be evidently connected to anything. My memories of it are vague, but I think someone noticed Satoko in Tatarigoroshi was rather warm. I can’t seem to find it, though, so I might be misremembering. Actually, come to think of it, Keiichi died of a sudden high fever in Tatarigoroshi, and both he and Shion had been hearing an extra footstep around those times.
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Live Reaction time! (Now with more screenshots)
Don’t tell me Shion is going to throw over another bike…
(One line later)
Figures.
I’m guessing this is Keiichi. Also, this is either different from Watanagashi or we’re seeing a scene we never saw in that chapter. If it’s different, then this is actually a new timeline that’s just very similar to Watanagashi, if it’s a scene we never saw, then everything could still work. Depends on wether Shion is about to introduce herself as herself or not, really.
Now that is a sick burn 
While one were inclined to see this as another point for the “Shion did it” theory, it really could be both, as Mion could just as well have disarmed Shion later on and got her hands on the stun gun that way.
(After Keiichi was done lecturing the thugs on fetishes):
Nice first impression there, Keiichi. I bet the ladies are going to fall for you. /s
Okay, Mion just told about Keiichi not giving her the doll, so we’re back on track for this to be the timeline from Watanagashi.
I guess I’ll edit my earlier lime in accordance to this.
Huh, so I guess we are in a different timeline…
After all, in Watanagashi, Keiichi met both Shion and Takano one day earlier, so saying “It’s been forever!” wouldn’t make much sense. Or am I just dumb and seriously misremembering things?
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Yea I think it’s definitely a different timeline. Since if i recall correctly, in Watanagashi, Keiichi was the one that kicked the bikes down and was saved by Shion and not the other way around?
Has more impact this way by Keiichi mirroring Satoshi (sort of) though. Not sure what this means.
Good catch on Shion not going to help out with festival preparations this time too so not meeting Takano recently.
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More Live Reactions! Now sometimes as tweets!
I also wonder on how many lists I’m going to end up because I’m tweeting about torture.
Hmm, I wonder if it’s possible for Mion and Shion to switch places right before the end, so that it actually is Mion that dies in the Sonozaki residence. Well, I’ll soon see. (Also a bit too long for a tweet, and not really a reaction, so only on the forum here.)
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I’ll have to tip my hat and congratulate several members later on.
So this is the end of live reactions and the start of actual discussion. First off, let me start to address some of your points.
That was Keiichi right after she was bathing in way too hot water, so we can’t really take any real conclusions from that, sadly.
Second, addressing the main question of wether I can sympathise with Shion or not; and I guess also wether I can sympathise with Satoshi or not, because it still seems most likely that he actually killed his aunt. I’ll get into these inconsistencies in a later post (this does mean you’ll only get more from me once someone else has posted again). First, Satoshi murdering his aunt. This one is the most understandable, to be honest. So I guess I sympathise with this one. Well, and then, all the murders committed by Shion. Here, I can’t sympathise, and that for all of them. I can understand where Shion comes from, but I don’t think this means I sympathise with her. Ironically enough, though, I am still willing to forgive her. That notion mostly comes from my religious background and that I base quite a lot of my morals on that (I’m christian). That moral background also causes me to disagree with suicide and death as a valid punishment. But I don’t want to drag this into a discussion of how murder should ne handled in our world and wether suicide is ok or not. In regards to the whole sympathy question, allow me to ask a very evil question, and to the person I’m asking this, you are free to refuse to answer, if it’s too uncomfortable for you.
@kyuketsukimiyu Did you enjoy Satoko getting tortured?
Well, that’s it for now! You can look forward to the following things in my next post:
- Congratulating certain forum members
- Looking back at the Watanagashi topic
- Tackling the mysterious things that happened in this chapter
- trying to answer my own lime
- looking into how much our most recent theories are still holding up
Oh yeah, one more thing, I’d like to ask the veterans a question that I feel is supposed to be clear by now but I’m just too dumb to see it: Is Meakashi supposed to have the exact same chain of events as Watanagashi or are there actually slight differences?
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Hmmm… Was the term “Onigafuchi Guardians” ever used before this chapter? I’m worried it might be a retranslation.
It’s similar to Watanagashi but there are slight differences, for example the fact that in this episode Shion was saved from the bikers by Keiichi whereas in Watanagashi it was Keiichi who had to be saved.
It sounds familiar so I think it has been used before, Himatsubishi maybe? Though I might just be remembering the manga as I think it was used there.
I’ll need to review both chapters because I feel I’m losing my grasp on what the questions were in this mystery.
That said, the timeloop theory is supported by Rika’s death perhaps- If the drug just induces a state of mania, then Rika could have cut open her neck due to her memories of Onikakushi.
I think you’re right. The term used in Himatsubushi was “Onigafuchi Defense Alliance”.
Okay, time for the main course. So let me work through that list I made last post. And first on that list is this:
A big round of applause for EisenKoubu for figuring out that it was Shion all along back in Watanagashi!
Also like I said on one of my tweets, a round of applause for pictoshark for getting the idea that Mion and Shion might have switched their position at an early point in their lives and never reverted that switch.
There’s actually not that much to look back on in the Watanagashi topic. At least nothing that springs to my mind. It is enjoyable to read after knowing most of the answers, at the very least. Well, one thing:
Oh how wrong I was, considering that such a switch in a scene actually did happen. It’s easy to forget that Kei-chan was hit with the stun gun again near the end.
Okay, next up on the list, open mysteries in this chapter. Actually, let me do this differently. Lemme pull up a quote from another topic:
Remember this one? Let’s go over them one by one:
What really is the meaning behind the opening poem in each chapter?
Well, we have made the assumption that Frederica Bernkastel might be a pseudonym for Rika. Thus, all the verses are from Rika’s perspective. And it seems like she has a good sense of Shion’s character, as this chapter’s poem describes Shion pretty nicely. In fact, Watanagashi’s poem might refer to Shion as well. Let me refresh your memory:
I will not quench your thirst.
For you seek the truth and could not accept that.
I will not quench your thirst.
For the truth you desire does not exist.
But I still want to quench your thirst.
For I am the one who cast you into the desert.
Think about it: Shion is searching for the truth of Satoshi’s disappearance, but already believes that it’s the Sonozakis’ fault. She can’t accept the truth that the Sonozakis haven’t caused Satoshi’s disappearance. She desires the truth that it’s the Sonozakis’ fault, a truth that doesn’t exist. This actually shows us something very interesting. Because if we follow this interpretation, then the last sentence would mean that Rika caused Satoshi’s disappearance, as this metaphorical desert and thirst we’re talking about would be Shion longing for Satoshi in our interpretation. I’ll get back to this interpretation when tackling a later lime, so keep this in mind for now.
Who is the mastermind behind Oyashiro-sama’s curse and what is the motive for it?
We don’t have much more information on this one, the only thing we know by now is that it is not the Sonozaki family (and even that was said in Tatarigoroshi before). Otherwise, the theories made in Himatsubushi still stand.
What really are those sounds that shouldn’t exist (extra step behind Keiichi, that sound in the toolshed in Watanagashi, etc.)?
I’ll combine this with What is common between Ch1 Keiichi, Ch3 Keiichi, Rena, Ch2/5 Shion, Ch2 Tomitake and Ch5 Satoshi?
Okay, the best I can come up with here is that every single one of these seems to have a reason to be paranoid or at least afraid for one reason or another once they do hear footsteps. Admittedly, Satoshi is the biggest stretch for this one. However, that extra footstep is only perceived by the one affected, and is not something actually happening. If we go full curse, this means we have some sort of ghost or otherwise supernatural entity doing spooky stuff. If we’re trying to go full human, then this is a delusion that seems to frequently affect people. Since it’s something that is actually given to us in Tatarigoroshi, one might be able to put forward a case saying this extra step is one of the symptoms of the so-called Hinamizawa Syndrome.
Now lately I was thinking if it’s possible to tie the footsteps into the timeloop theory. Basically my idea was if it’s either different timelines kind of bleeding into each other and those affected actually hear their own footsteps from a different timeline, or alternatively if it’s some kind of deja vu. For the former, why it does only affect certain people, I can only say because we’re dealing with wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey… stuff. So basically, I don’t really have a clue.
What is Tomitake’s true identity?
No clue, no information. Next!
In Onikakushi, what caused Keiichi’s suicide?
We have the suspicious syringe confirmed by now (although I’m going to put doubt on that later), so maybe that?
Why did someone almost run over Keiichi in Onikakushi?
Why was part of Keiichi’s note destroyed, why was the syringe taken away?
If Keiichi is crazy at any parts of the story, at which parts is he crazy?
There’s no new info on these, so I’m skipping them.
In Watanagashi, which scene is with Mion, which is with Shion?
Well this one’s confirmed now. Before Watanagashi, most are probably with Mion (basically all-you-can-eat is with Shion), after Watanagashi all of them are with Shion. Watanagashi itself, Mion is indeed Mion and Shion is indeed Shion.
At the end of Watanagashi, who stabbed Keiichi?
It was Shion. She had access to a motorbike, that way she was able to make the distance pretty quickly.
Why did Shion commit suicide?
She lost Satoshi and realized all her murders were pointless.
In Watanagashi, why did Rika have a syringe on her?
This one’s going to take a bit longer. Now, the more obvious answer that most are probably siding with by now. Rika tried to kill Shion (did she think it was Mion?). She did that because Shion strongly hinted at her being behind the curse. In the full human theory, Rika would now assume that it’s Shion who’s trying to kill her. Before then she might not have known who exactly plans to kill her, only that someone does. In the timeloop theory, the line of thinking is similar, it’s only easier to explain why Rika actually doesn’t know who’s behind the curse. Furthermore, especially in the timeloop theory, we could assume that the clawing out itself might not have been caused by the substance in the syringe and was, like I said, Rika choosing between killing herself and dying somewhat quickly or getting tortured by Shion and as a result dying very slowly. In the timeloop interpretation, we could assume that back in Watanagashi, Rika actually didn’t have pepper spray and thus got tortured instead. This is backed up by Shion saying that she tested the torturing device she uses on Keiichi on both brats in Watanagashi. This time, she was better prepared, although not good enough. Furthermore, in the timeloop theory I would say that the Meakashi and Watanagashi timelines happen after each other. Otherwise, there would not be much reason for Rika to assume that Shion’s behind everything.
However, that interpretation I did of the poem earlier leads us to a third possible theory. And that theory is Rika “still quenching Shion’s thirst”. Let me build my case from the beginning. First of, I’m saying Rika caused Satoshi’s disappearance. Here, I’m thinking that Rika figured out that Satoshi killed his aunt and suggested him to skip town until it’s safe to come back. I’m also thinking that Rika actually got the teady bear. We know that the owner of the toy shop is both very old and a Sonozaki, and we know from Himatsubushi that Rika is sometimes allowed to just get stuff from stores without paying, so maybe she was able to get that bear by friendly and cutely asking for it. She might have even planned to relay the bear to Satoko, both her and Satoko try to get that big plushie in Onikakushi, and earlier I have brought up the possibility of that being the same bear. Now, unrelated to this, Oryou approves of Shion’s and Satoshi’s relationship behind the scenes and Shion’s parents most likely approve as well, so Shion’s father might be the one to produce that false culprit of the murder of Akane Houjou. Rika now realizes that it wasn’t needed to make Satoshi disappear and feels bad for that. She cast Shion into the desert. And she wants to make up for it in her own way, by pretending to try to kill Shion, thereby supporting Shion’s theory and quenching her thirst. Thus, I’m basically saying that the contents of the syringe are actually harmless in this third theory.
There are several characters who we could assume to have Dissociative Identity Disorder. Who, if any of those, actually has that disorder?
This chapter makes it very possible to claim that Rika has DID.
Now that we know more, who are the cats and the dogs in Keiichi’s confession to Rika and her reassurance to him?
First of, Keiichi talked with Rika after Shion talked with her. And wow, just rereading that, Rika figured out a lot. First, we start with Rika talking about cats sneaking into the ritual store house and that that really wasn’t that bad. The cats here refer to Takano, Tomitake, Shion, and Keiichi. Then Keiichi says that the dog saw them. Rika reassures him and say she’ll do something about it and that the dogs (plural!) are misunderstanding. I think here she refers to all the committee members. She further says that if she doesn’t do anything, something bad is going to happen to the dogs as well. From that I think Rika might have actually figured out that Shion is actually doing a lot of murdering lately, although she thinks it was Mion, since she goes on to say that the big sister cat (so Mion) is angry. Well, or she is really good and actually even knows that it’s actually Shion that’s living in Hinamizawa.
Why did Teppei not die?
Why did Irie die?
How was the Great Hinamizawa Disaster caused?
How did Keiichi survive the GHD?
These four also have no new info, so there’s nothing new I can say.
Now for the current theories and how they hold up, I’ve already brought up new supportive points for the timeloop theory, and as Meakashi doesn’t tell us much about the chain of freak deaths, the Takano culprit theory also still holds up.
On the topic of the timeloop theory, I think we have shown at several points that there’s a good amount of backing for that theory that would be foreshadowing if it’s true and a wonderfully crafted red herring if it’s false. As such, I don’t want to see any bold assertions disproving it in the case it’s wrong, as I as a new reader should be allowed to fall for that red herring (in the case it’s wrong, remember. If it’s right, that’s foreshadowing).
Next time, as I’m really sleepy right now, I’ll try to look into how severe or not severe a court might view the crimes Shion committed. I haven’t studied jura though, so it’s not going to be an expert opinion.
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I determined that Onigafuchi Guardians is the final translation of the alliance. Chances are they’ll be patching Himatsubushi to say Onigafuchi Guardians instead sometime in the future.
Some points of discussion I’d like to hone in on… How much do we empathise with the actions of shion, or mion? Are there actions we’re willing to accept? Is there a point where we stop connecting with their actions?
And another interesting thing this chapter brought attention to is that it seems Keiichi appearing caused the change in Shion’s state of mind which lead to her committing the murders. How culpable is Keiichi in this chapter, and others?