Discussion topic for Hanyuu. Feel free to discuss the entirety of Higurashi without [spoiler] tags, but please tag references to outside works, providing adequate context in parenthesis. This topic will contain massive spoilers, so if you have not finished reading Higurashi yourself proceed with caution.
So Hanyuu is easily the most mysterious character in Higurashi, even after you finish the series. Do you personally prefer to see her as like an alien, or an actual supernatural being?
Waitā¦ Whatās the difference between those two??
Well, to put it simply, an alien would be sci-fi, a ghost or god or whatever would be fantasy. Assuming sheās an alien, thereās probably a scientific explanation for the things she can do, even if we donāt know what that is. But if sheās a ghost/god, thereās no explanation because itās just āmagic.ā
ā¦Well, thatās how I see it, anyway. 
I mean theyāre both still supernatural, so I donāt think that distinction matters that much, she is a being that exists outside the natural. But Iāve never heard the interpretation that Hanyuu is an alien beforeā¦
It was heavily implied in the Kaku OVA, and I think in the God Shaming Chapter of Hou. I canāt verify the bit about Hou, though, because I havenāt read the fan translation.
Personally, Iām of the opinion that magic definitely exists in the When They Cry-verse, so the alien theory isnāt my cup of tea.
I canāt keep track of all the extra arcs, Iām still only familiar with the main eight, ahaha.
The Basic Eight are definitely the best arcs, but I think the Die Killing Arc is basically mandatory, especially if you plan on reading Umineko after Higurashi. From what Iāve heard, the God Shaming Arc is as good, and is the main draw of Hou.
Funnily enough, both of them feature a more extensive look at Hanyuu, although Iām not sure that God Shaming Arc is canon.
Anyway, Iāve always considered Gods, Witches, and Yokai to be essentially the same type of being in Ryukishiās works, considering their similar powers and similar reliance on human belief. It makes more sense to me than Hanyuu being an alien within a fictitious story within Umineko.
Yeah, it is heavily implied in the God Shaming Arc that Hanyuu is an alien.
Iām not sure whether itās canon or not, either, but Iām inclined to think that it isnāt. For one thing, (spoilers for God Shaming Arc) if I remember right, it turns out that Hifumi Takano was basically right about all the religions and ideologies in the world being caused by parasites in the brain, which I think is dumb.
Yeah, that sounds kind of silly, and really ruins the potency of Takanoāsā¦ Well, everything, really. The idea that everything she was fighting for was actually true would ruin the finale, in my opinion.
Yeah God Shaming was odd with Hanyuu. Talking about planting āseedsā in the planet
Calling out Hanyuuās existance.
It seems really stupid to try to imply Hanyuu as an alien (ROKKENJIMA MASSACRE DONE BY ALIENS, X FILES THEME). Especially when in some of the extra arcs (http://whentheycry.wikia.com/wiki/Kotohogushi-hen), they state that Hanyuu was one of the demons (for lack of a better word) that Onigafuchi was infamous for long ago, and became divine when her daughter ended her life to protect the village. She didnāt seem to have any of her powers before she died, so maybe being worshipped (albeit not in a way she would approve of until they changed the Wata in Watanagashi to cotton) gave her divine powers?
Okay, I have a new question for you guys. In your mind, what is Hanyuuās relation to the Hinamizawa syndrome? There are multiple times when Hanyuu refers to herself and the virus as āus,ā and Hanyuuās descendant Rika is the so-called āQueen Carrier.ā (Although Hifumi turned out to be wrong about the villagers all going crazy if she died, Irie says that the parasite in Rika differs from the ones in everyone else, and also the āantidoteā to the syndrome was created from her, so thereās obviously something to the Queen Carrier theory.)
But the syndrome being caused by an actual, physical virus would seem to be incompatible with Hanyuu being a god/ghost/whatever, wouldnāt it?
Hanyuuu~!
This will be long, but I will prove that Ryukishi07 is a genius decades ahead of his time.
Let me start by saying the entire Higurashi series can be fully explained without the use of any supernatural aspects or magic. Instead, Iāll explain it with bleeding-edge science. I donāt have anything against the supernatural existing in Higurashi or in real life, but the fact is, as illustrated in Umineko, what is supernatural to primitive human tribes in 2016 is not magic at all to people using the internet in 2016.
Concerning Higu Outbreak: Hanyuu is, in fact, literally, a virus.
First of all, you need to remove your brainwashing when it comes to viruses. The goal of a virus is to maintain health and balance within ecosystems and to enhance whatever it infects - not to sicken or kill. A virus that kills, sickens or paralyzes its host is an evolutionary failure, and this is why viruses always become less deadly and more contagious within a specific host population over time. Over 99% of all viruses are either totally harmless to you, or benefit you by making you live longer, enhancing you immune system, fighting off diseases, and so on. Infectious disease is the main engine of evolution.
Humans have both a biome (diverse array of parasites and bacteria, or anything that is alive, living on and inside them) and a virome (a diverse array of viruses living on and inside them). Countless elements of your own biome and virome are always in direct competition. In fact, the biome and virome in your body sends chemicals to your brain which make you eat food, or make you do whatever will benefit them. In other words, they can control your actions. Many humans are too closed-minded to accept any of this, and I stand with Takano because humans really need a wake-up call. In addition, mind-viruses are the same exact thing, except based on memes (pure information) instead of genes (nucleic acid-based information aka DNA).
Let us be perfectly honest here: reality is based on information, so whether it is a catchy commercial song in your head, or a a famous phrase you use all the time, or your our DNA, or an internet meme, or the DNA of a parasite, or the information structure that makes āyouā you, or the universe the universe, or a chair a chair, it is all just information at base. As such, all elements of existence, on every scale, are contagious and influence each other to one degree or another. Viruses such as beliefs, culture, customs, religions, and bigotry literally do divide the world.
By numbers, biological viruses account for over 90% of everything that exists on Earth. Large portions of human DNA we think of as ājunk DNAā are actually segments viral DNA that protect us from cancers, keep us healthy, and enhance the immune system. There is not a single form of life on Earth that isnāt infected with viruses.
Long ago, there was an ancient virus which formed a symbiotic relationship with other very simple forms of pre-life. Today, we call this ancient virus the cell nucleus, and it is in every cell your body, and in every cell of every animal. This is the theory of viral eukaryogenesis, which explains how life emerged. Chances are you havenāt heard of this for the same reason Takano was isolated from the scientific community and mocked for her theories: it makes humans, especially humans who claim to be rational-minded, very uncomfortable.
Instead of thinking of Hanyuu as some supernatural being, it is better to think of her as a possible step in the future of human evolution.
Hinamizawa Syndrome has countless parallels with schizophrenia (the only difference being schizophrenics generally donāt kill other humans), which itself is best explained with infection theory. Babies conceived during viral outbreak always have a much higher risk of mental illnesses than the rest of the population. If you donāt think infectious disease plays a major role in the human brain and human behavior, take a look at what is going on right now with the Zika virus. Even though a lot of Zika babies with obvious deformities will be aborted, the humans born seemingly healthy are going to be at a much higher risk for autism, schizophrenia, and other such illnesses.
In Higurashi Outbreak, Hanyuu saysā¦ [spoiler] it would have taken much longer for her and her tribe to āacceptā Earth. She says that Hinamizawa was supposed to be an egg shell to protect the growth of something (a virus which would benefit humanity without harming it) until it was ready to hatch. Rika says this shell was broken. If I had to guess, I would say that Hanyuu is an evolved alien virus from another universe who intentionally picked Hinamizawa as a beachhead to adapt to Earth and eventually propagate itself all over the universe. I think when she says she canāt stop her brethren, she is talking about humans who ābecame one,ā or formed a beneficial relationship with her, the mother/progenitor virus. These humans are no longer bound to Earth or the universe because they took on abilities and knowledge similar to that of Hanyuu, whereas the vast majority of humanity had genetics which hindered the instant or speedy development of such a symbiotic relationship.
As for all of Hanyuuās āgodā powers, they only appear to be fantasy or supernatural to those who donāt understand that existence itself is just a 2-dimensional information construct as suggested by concepts like string theory and the fact that reality is pixelated. In other words, as long as you know how to manipulate the base information structure of reality (like a video game programmer manipulates the code of a game to allow a character to stop a bullet, teleport between worlds, be invisible, fly, or phase through walls), anything goes. A highly evolved being could have all of these abilities and more without defying the laws of nature. If you want me to explain how worship or belief in her enhances her powers, you have to remember that even beliefs, opinions and thoughts are information structures that can have an impact on the real world because reality is made out of the same thing as thoughts: information.[/spoiler]
This level of reasoning is possible for Furudo Erika.
Very interesting! The only thing I would take issue with at the moment, though, is that the parts from Higurashi Outbreak that you referenced are only in the anime version, I believe, and therefore of dubious canonicity.
But this makes me want to read Kamikanshi again and see how well it matches up.
Edit: Hmm, it looks like what Rika and Hanyuu said in the anime version of Outbreak fits with Kamikanshi, although not quite in the same way you were saying.
(Kamikanshi spoilers) [spoiler] According to Kamikanshi, there are many āgodsā like Hanyuu all over the earth who parasitize humans, but most of them are harmless. Hanyuuās people, however, can cause negative side-effects in mentally unstable people. So Hanyuu and her people shut themselves up in Hinamizawa until they could develop the ability to live with humans without any negative side-effects. Hanyuu doesnāt really seem like she aims to colonize the whole earth, but I could be wrong.
But in Outbreak and Kamikanshi, Takano alters the Hinamizawa virus so that it spreads like wildfire. I think this is what Hanyuu is referring to when she says she canāt control her brethren. [/spoiler]
Isae, thanks for the information. I would like to ask you about what happens in the VN chapter about Hnayuuās past, but I have been avoiding reading anything related to it because I am hoping it will be fully translated one day.
Outbreak/Rei spoilers:
[spoiler]Any parasitic being would seek to propagate itself everywhere, so chances are she is aware of it, or is doing it subconsciously. I believe she knows what sheās doing. If I recall correctly, it is also implied that Hanyuu knew pretty much everything from the start, but withheld or skewed all information for the sake of helping everyone, especially Rika, evolve without a āsafe zoneā because people who isolate themselves from the harshness of reality will never mature and become successful.
All of this was clearly suggested in one of the Higurashi OVAs, and is also hinted at by Mariaās obsession with the damaged rose. Hanyuu explained that a rose that grew up in a greenhouse, isolated from bad weather and bad parasites, would never be fruitful and would lack a soul, whereas a a rose that grew up in the harshness of the wild can easily become very damaged, like Mariaās rose, but the unspoiled and damaged rose will always be vastly superior to the greenhouse rose because it endured what it was designed to endure and produces superior offspring. In other words, people who endure severe trauma and overcome it are vastly superior beings than those who never go through real pain and trauma.
This explains why Hanyuu put everyone through hell even though it could have all been easily avoided with her abilities. I get the feeling she wants everyone to be on a level equal to her, and helping them by making all their problems and trauma go away puts them on an even lower level than they already are.[/spoiler]
No problem. When you say āthe VN chapter about Hanyuuās pastā, do you mean the console arc Kotohogushi?
But in that case, Hanyuu shouldnāt have helped them in Matsuribayashi either, right? Or, assuming they had passed some sort of test and āgainedā Hanyuuās help, then she should have helped them at the end of Minagoroshi, right?
But anyway, whether Hanyuu actually is the virus or whether itās her people, she seems strangely fine with the fact that Irie is working to eradicate that virus. I mean, sure, people have moved out of Hinamizawa, so he probably wonāt be able to completely eliminate the virus, but I got the impression that the virus couldnāt thrive outside of Hinamizawa yet.
Speaking of the console arc, Iām really curious about how Hanyuu speaks in it. Iāve read your summary and well, she is my favorite character in the series, and I love the backstory this gives her, so naturally Iām dying to know- what sort of voice does Yui Horie use for her? The older-sounding one, from when sheās talking to Takano in Matsuribayashi, or something like that? Does she use a different sentence structure, or pronouns?
Itās so interesting to have an arc set so long ago, so getting an idea of what kind of person she was puts in perspective more of her journey, I feel.
Kotohogushi was one of the summaries I worked the hardest on, so Iām really glad you liked it! Yes, Yui Horie uses Hanyuuās more adult sounding voice from Matsuribayashi. In Kotohogushi, Hanyuu uses the pronoun āwatashiā instead of the cute (for a girl) āboku,ā and her sentence structure is rather blunt and almost masculine-sounding (at least, until Riku teaches her a more polite way to talk).