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.)
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:
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?
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.
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?
Now then. I already lined out my personal views on Shion’s actions. But I was wondering if it would be interesting how a court would view it, so basically instead of taking my own subjective view, try to get a more objective view on the thing. Now for this inspection, I’m going to use German laws because I’m most familiar with those (since I’m from Germany). I know, to get the best possible view, I would have to use Japanese laws, but I think for the purposes of trying to get a neutral view this should suffice. Now, before I can start, I need to get you all on the same level, and that means both quoting and translating the relevant laws. All those laws can be found in the Strafgesetzbuch (often abbreviated as StGB), if you’re curious. Also, I’ll translate them one by one.
§211 Mord. (1) Der Mörder wird mit lebenslanger Freiheitsstrafe bestraft.
(2) Mörder ist, wer
aus Mordlust, zur Befriedigung des Geschlechtstriebs, aus Habgier oder sonst aus niedrigen Beweggründen,
heimtückisch oder grausam oder mit gemeingefährlichen Mitteln oder um eine andere Straftat zu ermöglichen oder zu verdecken,
einen Menschen tötet.
§211 Murder. (1) The murderer is to be punished with a lifesentence.
(2) A murderer is someone who kills a human
out of a desire to kill, out of a sexual desire, out of greed or any other types of low motives,
in an insidious or cruel way, or using homicidal tools, or to either enable or conceal a different crime.
§212 Totschlag. (1) Wer einen Menschen tötet, ohne Mörder zu sein, wird als Totschläger mit Freiheitsstrafe nicht unter fünf Jahren bestraft.
(2) In besonders schweren Fällen ist auf lebenslange Freiheitsstrafe zu erkennen.
§212 Manslaughter (1) Someone who kills a human without being a murderer is to be sentenced to no less than five years in jail.
(2) In especially severe cases a lifesentence may be considered.
§213 Minder schwerer Fall des Totschlags. War der Totschläger ohne eigene Schuld durch eine ihm oder einem Angehörigen zugefügte Mißhandlung oder schwere Beleidigung von dem getöteten Menschen zum Zorn gereizt und hierdurch auf der Stelle zur Tat hingerissen worden oder liegt sonst ein minder schwerer Fall vor, so ist die Strafe Freiheitsstrafe von einem Jahr bis zu zehn Jahren.
§213 Less severe case of manslaughter. If the person committing manslaughter or someone related to him was abused or heavily insulted by the killed human without their own fault and thus killed that human out of rage on the spot, or if it is otherwise a less severe case, then that person is to be sentenced to 1 to 10 years in jail.
§216 Tötung auf Verlangen. (1) Ist jemand durch das ausdrückliche und ernstliche Verlangen des Getöteten zur Tötung bestimmt worden, so ist auf Freiheitsstrafe von sechs Monaten bis zu fünf Jahren zu erkennen.
(2) Der Versuch ist strafbar.
§216 Killing on demand. (1) If someone kills a human out of the specific demand of the killed person, then that person is to be sentenced to 6 months to 5 years in jail.
(2) The attempt is punishable.
§222 Fahrlässige Tötung. Wer durch Fahrlässigkeit den Tod eines Menschen verursacht, wird mit Freiheitsstrafe bis zu fünf Jahren oder mit Geldstrafe bestraft.
§222 Death out of negligence. If someone causes the death of a human through negligence, he is to be sentenced to up to five years in jail or to a fine.
§227 Körperverletzung mit Todesfolge. (1) Verursacht der Täter durch die Körperverletzung (§§223 bis 226) den Tod der verletzten Person, so ist die Strafe Freiheitsstrafe nicht unter drei Jahren.
(2) In minder schweren Fällen ist auf Freiheitsstrafe von einem bis zu zehn Jahren zu erkennen.
§227 Mayhem causing death. (1) If the culprit causes the death of the victim through the mayhem (§§223 to 226), then he is to be sentenced to no less than three years in jail.
(2) In less severe cases the punishment may be between one and ten years.
§239 Freiheitsberaubung. (1) Wer einen Menschen einsperrt oder auf andere Weise der Freiheit beraubt, wird mit Freiheitsstrafe bis zu fünf Jahren oder mit Geldstrafe bestraft.
(2) Der Versuch ist strafbar.
(3) Auf Freiheitsstrafe von einem Jahr bis zu zehn Jahren ist zu erkennen, wenn der Täter
§239 False imprisonment. (1) A person robbing a human of their freedom is to be sentenced to up to five years in jail or to a fine.
(2) The attempt is punishable.
(3) The sentence is one year to ten years if
So first of we have Satoshi most likely killing his aunt. Here, there’s mainly the argument as to how cruel the headbashing really was. His motive doesn’t qualify for the requirements needed for murder, I think, but he might have been too cruel to get away with manslaughter.
Next, we have Shion accidentally killing Oryou. Here, I’m not sure how all the injuries inflicted post mortem would be counted. For the cause of death itself, an argument can be made that it’s mayhem causing death. However the cruelty displayed in the later injuries might push it to murder, I don’t know.
Then, we have her killing Kimiyoshi. Here, the defense would probably argue for this being false imprisonment as described in the fourth paragraph of that law. It could however also be seen as murder, as Shion didn’t care if he’d die. As her motive for it would be revenge, she definitely qualifies for murder.
The next person to die is Rika. Funnily enough, this one is the one that isn’t murder. Depending on the contents of the syringe, it can be argued that it’s either self defense or actually a suicide and thus not really Shion’s fault.
After that, we have Satoko. And here we’re back to murder, and that without a doubt. There’s a great deal of cruelty displayed, her motive is most definitely revenge and hatred, so yeah.
And last but not least, Mion. This one is also murder, again with revenge as her motive and this time the killing occurs in an insidious way.
Oh, and I guess attempted murder in the case of Keiichi.
Now the funny thing is, all the punishments above are for adults. I actually don’t know what punishment Shion would actually get as she’s a youth and thus she would be judged as a youth. Well, that’s that.
Now for the other question Aspi asked:
That’s an interesting thing to say, because if we say that Keiichi appearing before her already causes her to get all murdery then we have to ask why she didn’t do anything in Tatarigoroshi, or alternatively say that she caused the GHD. I personally think that it’s Mion trying to get romantic with Keiichi that ultimately caused Shion to get a bit crazy. And, well, the final switch was only flipped once she overheard Mion and Oryou talking about Tomitake and Takano. However, for the question as to how culpable he is, while he may have set the events in motion, you definitely can’t fault him for his actions. If you would, that’s like faulting the murdered person for giving the murderer the motive for murdering them, and that is a very wrong thing to do.
Yes, I skipped Himatsubushi to catch up with this Tea Party. I’ll finish it right after this.
Meakashi is the Answer arc to Watanagashi, my least favorite of the three Question arcs even though it’s still pretty good. As a story, the first half is perhaps my favorite part, full of characters that I hadn’t met before as well as the return of familiar faces. Shion is a compelling protagonist and I felt invested in her efforts to talk to and save Satoshi. The second half, while still good, feels slower and a little too familiar since it delves into what really went on in Shion’s mind during Watanagashi. I also noticed that the amount of deaths in this chapter rose to Umineko levels of gruesome and disturbing, with Satoko’s death being a particular highlight. You could really feel the pain dished in these chapters, and I feels to me like Ryukishi had perfected his craft in this chapter.
Another thing that surprised me in a good way was that the biggest prediction I made in Watanagashi, where Shion had switched places with Mion at some point to torture Keiichi, was actually true! I think what I was missing with that prediction was the motivation, and forgive me if I’m wrong, but Satoshi was only mentioned in passing during Watanagashi, so it would have been difficult to pick up on it. That being said, this chapter made me review my impressions of all the characters involved (except for Keiichi, because he’s an open book).
My biggest concerns with this chapter are with the people Shion either killed or captured. It’s my belief that Oryou and Kimiyoshi didn’t have much knowledge to offer anyway, but Mion, Rika and Satoko are interesting.
What am I personally inclined to believe? Well, I’m leaning towards sympathy for everyone Shion kidnapped and or murdered. On a related note, Ryukishi asks the player some profound questions in regards to the events of the story, which are as follows:
Is there such a thing as justifiable murder?
What kind of murderer could you sympathize with, if you were to be killed?
To start, what even is murder? The Merriam-Webster definition calls it “the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought.” Perhaps a simpler definition might be, “the deliberate and unjustified taking of human life.” Based on these definitions and my own personal beliefs, malice is what makes murder automatically unjustifiable. However, say that you had to go to war to protect your country, which involves killing people on the other side you don’t know. Or say that one person is in the way of saving many lives. Are these murder? I think it really depends on the motive and the feeling. People can kill for the right reasons and feel guilty about it, simply because human life is worth more than we can imagine. Ryukishi must have understood that there are some justifications for killing, but not so much justification for murder. What he tried to ask us with this story is, are Shion’s actions justified? Were Keiichi’s actions in Tatarigoroshi justified?
My answer, quite simply, is no.
With Keiichi, malice was definitely part of the equation, even if the intention was good. Removing someone from the equation to help another sounds reasonable on paper, but the feeling was not. Keiichi did not regret killing Satoko’s uncle, nor did he feel inclined to stop after killing one man. He would have killed another if given the chance.
With Shion, the intention from the beginning was revenge, and it threw her into a spiraling massacre of maddening proportions. Like Keiichi, she also did not regret killing her victims, and her thirst for blood drove her insane. Murder became her solution to everything, rather than a means to a seemingly noble end. The issue was that the murder(s) only caused more problems than it solved, and especially in this chapter’s case, making a different choice earlier would have led to a much better outcome.
If Mion’s confession at the end is true (and I’m hoping it is), then the only means by which I am sympathetic for Shion is for the path she could have chosen… 
One thing’s for sure, I am definitely looking forward to Tsumihoroboshi when that comes out. I am very eager to learn what happens in another perspective. 
That is true. I personally only really opened up to your idea after reading Tatarigoroshi, which did give us hints that Shion and Satoshi might have been a couple.
On a completely unrelated note, @Aspirety if it’s not too much trouble, could you make playlists for the “new” tracks for each chapter for Higurashi, kind of like you did with Umineko? Maybe I’m the only person using your playlists, but I found those lists very helpful in preventing musical spoilers (sine the playlists already on Youtube are the entire Question Arc OST and the entire Answer Arc OST in the case of Higurashi and I think just the entire OST in the case of Umineko)
No. I know I hate Satoko, but I really hate torture - it is kind of surprising I like horror as a genre as much as I do I suppose. I have almost passed out during torture scenes in movies before. She didn’t deserve that, and from what I remember (haven’t hit that scene in the VN yet) she has one of her better character moments then.
Though, I suppose I am happy that when I get to that scene I wont be playing with a voice patch.
It’s okay, she doesn’t scream much 
At least Satoko was super brave. Her Nii-nii would be proud. Poor thing.
I used to not like Satoko because she was just annoying, but ever since Chapter 3, she started to grow on me.
I mean, I guess the only thing we have is that Akasaka used a similar alias, so there is the possibility that the guy is some sort of criminal investigator. But at the very least, I don’t think Meakashi gave us new info on Tomitake.
Tamae*
The biggest foreshadowing at the time would’ve been when “Mion” was shaking the ladder Keichi was on.
Also, as requested, here’s the Meakashi playlist!
I’m just gonna quote a bunch of great stuff posted in the spoilers topic, spoilers removed of course~ Don’t click on the dropdowns, or you’ll get the full spoilers!
[quote=“rika, post:4, topic:49”]
I just finished Meakashi last night. I don’t have many articulate thoughts, but one thing I did notice was the theme of “without love, it cannot be seen” being quite heavily present in this chapter, which was a nice surprise as I feel like that aspect of things was kind of omitted in the anime with the lack of internal monologue. We get far more of an insight into the thoughts behind Shion’s actions, and most blantantly, she decides in the end she won’t kill Keiichi if he realises who she is. Of course, as she says herself, Keiichi hardly knew Shion that well to figure out this was her, though he did succeed in so far as protecting both Mion and Shion in his heart and seeing the person before him as a demon instead. Then, in the end, she does spare him, amongst realisations that there’s much more to him than she’d thought, and an achieved understanding of why Mion fell in love with him. Then there’s the heartbreaking tip at the very end seemingly depicting a conversation between Akane and “Shion” - probably the twin we know as Mion - about why Akane was ex-communicated. The twin in this scene thinks Akane and Oryou have a bad relationship due to the way they behave in public, but Akane explains they don’t at all. She surrendered her status, married the man she loved, and went through the same nail-peeling torture as Shion does later to atone, but was fully satisfied with her decisions, and she points out Oryou ended up peeling off her own nails as a kind of punishment towards herself. I feel like this scene really brought home how tragic the whole arc is - if Shion had known his much or remembered it, she might not’ve become so suspicious of her family and been able to trust they didn’t do anything to Satoshi however they acted on the surface. However, she was raised at a kind of distance and clearly felt unloved and unneeded to some extent. On both sides, here, the lack of love lead to a series of tragic misunderstandings - right until the end, where Mion tries to explain to Shion the Sonozakis didn’t do anything, and she can’t believe her, probably at this point because it would be unbearable to after everything she’s done. Without enough love between Shion and her family, she wasn’t able to see the truth, and nobody fully understood her feelings, either. What the tip at the end really brings home is how much even a single conversation could’ve affected everything - which of course leads perfectly into Tsumihoroboshi’s themes. I guess Meakashi is a kind of unique, bridging arc - we’re presented with the usual tragedies, but not the salvation of a solution or any kind of happy ending. The clues to the mystery begin to form quite blantantly, but the characters themselves still haven’t quite taken the steps they need to to reach the future they desire. There’s also Satoko’s torture scene, where Shion realises the crucial difference between the two of them - Satoko had love, had the belief the other characters end up fighting so hard for - and always trusted Satoshi would one day come home. Others might have seen that as weak or childish, yet even in spite of that, Satoko held on. It’s not a side to her we really see before this point, and just brings home why Satoko is one of the strongest members of the club from the get-go. You have to wonder if it’s part of the reason she’s so dear to Rika - this is the very belief she fights so hard for so long to gain within herself. It also reminds me of the messages behind Umineko, and Ange’s struggle to come to terms with the death of her family. In fact, it’s shockingly similar, when you consider Ange and Satoko are both fighting particularly with the grief of losing their older brothers. Satoko, at her young age, has already found a way through life for herself, a way to cope with the circumstances.[/quote]
[quote=“sii_kei, post:6, topic:49”]
Speaking of Ooishi, I am starting to like more and more the adults of Higurashi. I never really cared for Ooishi in the anime or manga, but the VN made him so flawed and human-like that he has become one of my favorite characters overall. Kasai also got quite the spotlight this episode and I feel like he was more of a parent towards Shion than her own dad was (who’s very rarely mentioned).[/quote]
I’d be interested in hearing who you guys’ favorite characters are as of this chapter~
So I’ve decided to take notes while reading, though unfortunately I was already three chapters in when I made that decision. Maybe I’ll go back and reread Chapters 1 and 2 after finishing, but for now this’ll have to do.
I’ll be keeping these notes spoiler-free in that no references to anything past Meakashi will be made - there may however be references to things happening later on in Meakashi.
[details=Chapter 3 Notes]-I’d be interested in seeing Mion’s perspective on this whole switching to give Shion time to shop and work business. While I’m sure she gladly does it for reasons already alluded to, man has it got to be a wrench in her own plans, doesn’t it? According to Watanagashi Rena apparently doesn’t know of Shion’s existence, generally speaking, which is interesting since that makes me wonder what Mion was even doing while “disappearing”.
-Good old motorcycle callback. Though really Shion, you see three motorcycles falling down and your first thought is that it’s a beautiful sight?
-“This is an accident, but it must also be God’s will. But God… you can use me to punish these guys, but how will you compensate me later…?” Shion’s stance on spirituality is pretty interesting, isn’t it. Perhaps with what happened to her it’s easier for her to imagine there being some sort of ‘fate’, and that all the bad experiences she makes will only lead to more good experiences in the future.
-She’s damn good at keeping her cool though isn’t she.
-And then there’s how she just wants to see these guys suffer, so she goes full-on manipulation mode. Kind of scary, ngl ^^;
-Satoshi~ what a cute sprite.
-Man, from the very beginning Shion is constantly narrating things in the most positive manner for him. Gotta say, Ryukishi is pretty damn skilled at making characters narrate in a way that tells you, the reader, something about the character that they don’t even realize (yet) themselves. You can really feel the disappointment as Shion narrates that, oh, right, he’s planning on leaving now.
-Haha I didn’t even remember Satoshi being this cheeky. Getting one up on ‘Mion’ must be quite an experience. They get along well, but the difference in status is one the village is not about to let them forget.
-Interesting choice, having the ‘Notebook’ cut in right there. As if we needed any more confirmation it does tell us that Shion did indeed fall for Satoshi.
-I can so imagine pieces clicking together in Mion’s head as Shion points out that Satoshi must be exhausted, though Shion introspectively criticizes that insensitivity.
-And Shion can’t deny her own feelings anymore.
-Figured that it would be suffocating to constantly have to match schedules with your twin. With the Sonozaki house aware of her escape any single wrong move could have severe consequences. And yet that doesn’t leave Shion with much to do at all. From that, even beyond just her crush on him, it’s easy to see how these rare meetings with Satoshi are such a heavenly break.
-The whole scene where Shion and Satoshi shop together is really cute~ not much to say on this front.
-“A Crumpled Diary” shows just how stressful Satoshi’s everyday life actually is. His feelings towards Satoko are complicated for sure. More on that later.[/details]
Hmm, that’s an interesting thought, I like your theory. Can you elaborate more on your theory of the timelines overlapping? Like, you know, if they are overlapping, what’s the purpose of that or well, their purpose in itself, really?
