Your Qs for Higurashi Answered

[kj1980]

So before we go on to spilling the truths of everything (i.e.: Who or what is responsible for all the killings and the truth behind the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, does Oyashiro-sama exist or not, etc.), let me start off with given facts:

All the stories are in fact, different worlds that Rika is stuck in. It is her goal to live past the summer of 1983, but she ends up dying all the time. Her fate is stuck in all of the worlds which end her being:

1. Watanagashi'ed by some culprit
2. Tortured to death by Shion
3. Commits suicide rather than facing the torture said above

By some chance, Rika is able to relive (reboot) again with some of her memories of the past world intact. This is the reason why she can show a bit of maturity (which scares some people) at certain times; it is because she has been living in this stuck loop for over hundred years. Unfortunately, this advantage does not seem to be of any help to Rika due to her physical age. She tries to warn people about what is about to happen, she seeks help to strangers (Akasaka), but to no avail.

Frederica Bernkastel's poems (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=31811) are exactly that - they are combined aspects of Furude Rika that exists from all these different worlds. Re-read each of the poem one by one, and you can see her struggles to break through the fate barrier so that she can live and see the days and months ahead of June 1983.


Now we move on to the given facts to what occurred in the seven chapters. It is assumed that Rika has lived more worlds than this seven, but these seven are the worlds that are given to us. Listed below each chapter are some major points to keep in mind:

Onikakushi-hen

Keiichi comes back to Hinamizawa after returning from his relative's place
Kei meets Takano Miyo and Tomitake Jirou who explains to him about Hinamizawa's past
Kei is contacted by Oishi about Takanon and Tommy's mysterious death
Kei begins to doubt his friends, which triggers a psychological effect in him that leads to him beating Rena and Mion to death.
Kei scratches out his throat and dies at the phone booth as he tries to tell Oishi that the Oyashiro-sama does exist
It is assumed that Rika is murdered by someone watanagashi style soon thereafter
And it is assumed that the Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurs in this world.


Watanagashi-hen (see Meakashi-hen as well)

Despite what the anime showed, Rika does not commit suicide in this chapter. Rika is actually tortured to death in Watanagashi-hen by Shion.
Takano semi-approaches both Keiichi and Shion
Oishi approaches Keiichi
In this chapter, the viewer is mislead into believing that it was indeed the Sonozaki family and Mion behind all of this. All of this will be refuted in Meakashi-hen.
Despite Rika's death, the Great Hinamizawa Disaster DOES NOT occur (see Meakashi-hen's ending roll (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=656522&postcount=113))
The bloody Mion/Shion that appeared from Kei's hospital bed was...Kei's delusion. In either case, his mental stability deteriorated rapidly soon after and died of a heart attack a few days later.


Tatarigoroshi-hen

The corpse that you saw was not Satoshi - get over this idea already. If people have paid attention to the TIPS (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=580005&postcount=51), you would've known that it was Mamiya Rina and saved you from wasting time in formulating weird hypotheses.
Since his bitch was dead, Houjou Teppei (Satoko's abusive uncle) had to return to Hinamizawa since he has no social skills whatsoever other than extortion and living off of other people's money. He is technically the guardian of Satoko, so he brings her back in to treat her as his personal slave.
It is assumed that the abuse Satoko endured included some sort of sexual abuse as well
Kei calls Mion telling her to take Satoko out to the festival. Unknown to him, Kei is actually talking to Shion in Mion's disguise. Because she knew that Kei was following in the footsteps of Satoshi right before he killed his aunt, she realized that Kei was about to do the same for Satoko's uncle.
Despite how Shion was portrayed in Watanagashi-hen, she is really a kind and caring person towards Satoko. Unfortunate events happened which triggered her madness and hatred towards Satoko in the previous chapter.
Kei kills Houjou Teppei. This is given.
Kei meets up with Takano in the night. Strangely, Kei noticed that Tomitake is not around, despite seeing his bicycle in her car. She begins to get irritated at Kei's incessant questions. She drops Kei off warning him that "we did not meet - it's better for the both of us that way, no?"
Oishi approaches Kei
The next day, everyone pretended that Kei was at the Watanagashi Festival by making a false alibi. Remember the Hinamizawa credo. Hence the conversation with Mion and Rena afterschool, "Keiichi, do you mind coming over for a while" and "Yes bring the receipt, don't forget that as that is important." They were trying to cover for Kei and they were about to tell him about the plan, but he failed to recognize their body language...
Satoko is in a state of delusion. Due to her abuse, she still believes that her abusive uncle still exists. Kei doesn't know her state of mind so he believes that Satoko's uncle is still alive.
Dr. Irie commited suicide (or was made to look like he committed suicide)
Rika is watanagashi'ed
The Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurs
What ever happened, DID NOT HAPPEN because Kei thought so. it was all just a coincidence.
What happened to Satoko is never known. It is assumed that she was killed by some culprits. Poor Satoko - her brother is missing, she thought that she gained a new nii-nii-, only to have that dream shattered with the entrance of Teppei, she reaches her delusional point, she sees her best friend's dead body (believing that Kei killed her), pushes Kei off the bridge, only to be killed as she is running away.


Himatsubushi-hen

This is basically the beginning of one of the worlds a little after Rika was rebooted into another world.
Akasaka usually dies when he comes to Hinamizawa.
Rika tries to warn Akasaka that he must go back to Tokyo before he dies and to save his pregnant wife from falling down the stairs.
Rika also tells Akasaka that people will start to die in the coming years, ending with her own death in June (or just a bit after) of 1983.
Since Rika is the one who retains memories of past worlds, it is obvious that she knows what is going to happen. Others around her however do not know this, so they see Rika as being some sort of prophet.
As luck would have it, Akasaka lives in this world. However, his wife still dies.
Fast fowards several years, Akasaka is alive and is talking to Oishi in Hokkaido.
Here we learn that Rika was indeed watanagashi'ed in this world as well
And that the Great Hinamizawa Disaster did in fact occur here as well.


Meakashi-hen

By showing Watanagashi-hen through Shion's eyes, we see that it was Shion all along
As in Watanagashi, Takano semi-approaches both Shion and Kei
Takano gives her scrapbooks to Shion
Shion does in fact hear footsteps in the shrine. What was it?
Shion gradually degrades herself into insanity and she begins her descent into madness as she begins to doubt everyone and everything
Rika tries once more to save Shion before it is all too late. Unfortunately, her limited physical age and size is no match for Shion and she injected with the substance she was holding instead. The substance does not give the intended effect to Rika however. Rather than facing Shion's wrath like she did in Watanagashi, she commits suicide here in Meakashi-hen
All in all, we learn that the Sonozaki family and the gosanke had no involvement in the murders or the disappearance of Satoshi.
Despite Rika's death, the Great Hinamizawa Disaster DOES NOT occur in this chapter


Tsumihoroboshi-hen

Mamiya Rina and Houjou Teppei were in cohoots to extort money from Rena's father. She kills them in retaliation to protect her family.
Takano gives her scrapbook to Rena
Oishi contacts Rena about Takano and Tommy's death
Rena dives deeper and deeper into insanity as she doubts her friends
Kei has a sudden recollection of his wrongdoing in the Onikakushi world.
Rika sees this as a light that she has been waiting for. All this time, she was alone, but miraculously Kei was able to remember!
Rena holds the school as hostage and fights Kei on top of the school rooftop.
Rena regains her sanity. Rika is in tears as she finds that there might be a way to break through this endless loop after all.
Unfortunately, Rika is watanagashi'ed soon thereafter
The Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurs.

[kj1980]

Now let us dissect the clues a bit further. We can analyze what happened to Rika in each of the chapters:

Onikakushi-hen
Rika watanagashi'ed (assumed), The Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurred

Watanagashi-hen
Rika murdered by Shion, The Great Hinamizawa Disaster DID NOT occur

Tatarigoroshi-hen
Rika watanagashi'ed, The Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurred

Himatsubushi-hen
Rika watanagashi'ed, The Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurred

Meakashi-hen
Rika committed suicide, The Great Hinamizawa Disaster DID NOT occur

Tsumihoroboshi-hen
Rika watanagashi'ed, The Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurred

By looking at this, we see that while Rika does die everytime, there are times where the Great Hinamizawa Disaster occur and does not occur. So we can scratch out the possibility that Rika's death automatically triggers the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. However, upon further analysis, we can also see that the Great Hinamizawa Disaster happens whenever Rika is watanagashi'ed. Hence, it is safe to say that if Rika is watanagashi'ed then the Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurs. Based on this, we can somewhat deduce that a watanagashi'ed Rika is somehow tied to the Great Hinamizawa Disaster.

Now this is a bit strange don't you think? If Rika is indeed the Oyashiro-sama and if her death does cause the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, then the disaster should occur everytime she is killed. But this is not the case.

Now let us ask the question - who watanagashi'ed Rika? This is not known as of yet until Minagoroshi-hen. The two parts where the disaster did not occur, we knew who killed Rika. It was Shion in Watanagashi and Rika commited her own suicide in Meakashi. But who watanagashi'ed poor Rika? (And before you ask; No, Keiichi DID NOT kill Rika in Tatarigoroshi-hen.)


Rules X, Y, and Z
There are several "Rules" that bind Rika and her friends in a dead-end loop preventing their escape from June 1983 happily.

Rule X: Somebody goes insane which leads to murders of others.
Rule Y: _____________ kills Tomitake and Takano, and when this happens, it is the turning point of the story. Their deaths signal the upcoming death of Rika, with the exception when the culprit of Rule X overwrites Rule Y.
Rule Z: The fear will be instigated by suspecting the Sonozaki's bluff that they are behind everything.

Klashikari managed to sum this up pretty well, it should be noted to listed here (w/ grammar corrections):
To be short, the Rule Z is feeding the paranoia of Rule X. Rule Y has something to do with Rule X, and can be interfered by Rule X.

If you cannot break the three rules altogether, then fate cannot be stopped. Even if you prevent Rule X to happen, Rule Z will feed it, and it will replay again. At the same time, Rule Z is covering Rule X; everyone thinks that the Sonozaki family is behind the bizarre events around Hinamizawa.

[kj1980]

What are the supernatural elements in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni?

Let's get rid of these first so we can see what is doable and what cannot be doable in this story.


Rika can reboot her life when she dies.
She somehow retains the memories of her previous lives except for the details on who or what is killing her everytime. And since she is already dead after she is watanagashi'ed, she does not know about the Great Hinamizawa Disaster either.
Miracles sometimes will happen where some of the other bukatsu members will recall their memories from another world for their own self-awareness.

That's about it. There's nothing else. No supernatual ESP powers to teleport, move objects, kill people with thoughts, UFOs and aliens, and what not.


With that set aside, we can go on to ask the correct questions:

1. Who watanagashi'ed Rika?
2. Who or what causes the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, and why?

[kj1980]

And to get one incessant question out of the way:

Q: "Does the Oyashiro-sama exist?"
A: Yes. You want to know how it looks? I must warn you, you'd better be prepared for it since it is rather shocking...

You can still turn back right now you know?Last chance. I warned you...This is the Oyashiro-sama
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/kj1980/hanyu1.jpghttp://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/kj1980/hanyu2.jpg
Hanyuu, the useless spirit that can only be seen by Rika. She is rather shy and is a bit of a crybaby. She loves sweet stuffs such as candy, but dislikes hot and salty foods. Whenever she gets upset, she mutters "au au au~." Her uber-moe ness is indeed quite scary as I can only imagine what Rena would do if she could see her.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/kj1980/hanyu3.jpg

Scary no? You must be pissing in your pants right now one way or the other. Now go back and watch Ep. 20 where Rika explains to Shion about the Oyashiro-sama, TIPS #120 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=663290&postcount=120), TIPS #123 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=668620&postcount=123), TIPS #132 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=681917&postcount=132) and Poem #10 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=619582&postcount=10).

edit: By the way, if you haven't noticed, I'm being sarcastic.

[kj1980]

And so, I open up the board to any questions FOR ONE WEEK. This means, October 5th, at the same time of this post, will be the deadline for your submitted questions.

This is how this is gonna work:


We'll let the answers tally up until the same time this post was made on October 5th. So start posting away any questions you might have that you want to know about. (i.e.: Was the ohagi really spiked with a needle?) etc. etc.
Stupid questions that can be easily be answered by looking at the TIPS will be deleted. There's a reason why we worked hard in making those TIPS - if you are too lazy to read all of them, too bad. You should've thought of that when you were able to read them as each episode progressed in order to save you from having to read several pages of text later.
Those who have played the game will confer a week later to discuss which answers are worthy of being answered and who will explain which questions (so questions like "So who killed Rika? What is the Hinamizawa Gas Disaster? Will be set aside since it spoils too much)
Any questions posted after the one week deadline will be deleted without discretion.
Blatant questions like: "I'm too lazy, just tell me who did it!" will be disregarded.
Similar sounding questions are also disregarded

Let the questions roll in.

[kj1980]

Answers Pt. 1

Is there some sort of disease Keiichi in Onikakushi-hen, Rena in Tsumihoroboshi-hen, Shion in Watanagashi-hen Meakashi-hen and possibly others suffered? If so, is the "extra footstep" a symptom of it, or is it Hamyu?

Yes, there is a disease called the Hinamizawa Syndrome which causes Kei, Rena, and Shion to spiral into insanity. While it is an unfortunate occurrence, these CAN be averted. You can somewhat say that the "extra footstep" that they hear is a partial symptom of their level of insanity. Their senses become sensitive enough which lets them hear (but not see) Hanyu. And correction, it is not Hamyu. It is Hanyu(u).



1. What was the murderer's intent?

2. Who is this "Hanyuu" person and what is her relation to Rika?

3. Is there a reason to why Keiichi was the only one who survived the Gas Disaster in Tatarigoroshi-hen?

4. Will there ever be a "good" ending for Rika?

1. To become god.

2. Hanyu is Hanyu. She's basically a supernatural entity who hangs around with Rika, trying to help her avert her death everytime. Unfortunately, she's weak and doesn't have much powers other than rebooting the world to try again, so she's not much of a help. She is a spiritual being who lived in Hinamizawa for a very long time all along...until she finally met someone (Rika) who was able to see her.

3. Counter question: Did the Gas Disaster really occur in the first place?

4. Yes. It's called Matsuribayashi-hen, which you won't get to see unless you play the game.




1. How exactly is Rika able to retain her memories and what is the exact cause of the World rebooting?

3. In Himatsubushi what change happened to prevent Akasaka from dying?


1. Persistence to right to exist.

3. Numerous factors, including luck. It isn't clearly stated, except that Rika was able to save him from dying by leading him away from the hospital, and that his chances of survival was very low to begin with.



1) From the latest TIP, I have a feeling that the Great Hinamizawa Disaster isn't a natural disaster, but one that is caused by humans (either the government or some other organization). If that is true, my question is are they the same people as the ones who watanagashi'd Rika?

3) Does the trigger for the disaster as well as the time loop relate deeply to the fact that Rika is the last surviving member of the Furude family?

4) Are the real "Oyashiro-sama" and the entity feared by Rena the same? Is there in fact another entity that causes fear and paranoia in Hinamizawa?

1. Yes. I'm not saying anymore though.

3. No, but close. It's not moreso that Rika's being watanagashi'ed triggers the Gas Disaster, but it's more like the culprit has its own reasons in wanting Rika and everyone else in the village dead. All that person needs is an excuse to do so.

4. Oyashiro-sama is feared...because they don't know her. It's kinda like that bunny in Monty Python and the Holy Grail - people assume it is cute until it turns deadly. it's the other way around. People assume Oyashiro-sama is a fearful god with vengeance...until they see that she's just an useless moe~ entity who says "auauau~" whenever she gets upset.



Does Rika have to live her whole life over again? Or does she just start over in the middle, like right around the first murder?

The amount of time Rika can go back gradually reduces due to Hanyu's dwindling power and the exhaustion of her mind. By the time of Minagoroshi-hen, Rika has can only go back two weeks to change things. So at one time, she was still able to be rebooted back when she first met Akasaka, or perhaps even before. But as the "years" past with no avail in her struggle to survive, the years became months, and by the end, only weeks.


While Shion was torturing Rika, did she (Rika) saw herself commiting suicide in Meakashi-hen as she was passing away?

No.


What's an example of a world in which Rika survives and does not end up "resetting" her life again in? What exactly needs to play out in order for Rika and her friends to survive the tragedy of Hinamizawa?

It's called Matsuribayashi-hen. In that world, Rika and her friends (including everyone's unity) is able to smash down the fate and finally live happily beyond June 1983. What needs to play out? Basically, a miracle. I suggest that you start to read the Putting the Pieces Together (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=36807) thread... but only IF you want to be spoiled.


Is Rika physically unable to leave Hinamizawa or the surrounding area? It seems like,if she keeps dieing in Hinamizawa, the logical solution woud be to leave, and try to get past her death date hiding away from the people who are killing her. She seems to have a pretty good idea when her death is coming, so she wouldn't even need to be gone long. If she is unable to leave, why not?

Think about it. While Rika may have the mentality of a person who has lived over a hundred of years...she is physically just a kid. Although her physical age is never given, it is assumed that she's not much older that the age of ten. How can a ten year old, live without the support of a grown up, live on her own? Why do you think she pleaded to Akasaka to help her? She can only live in Hinamizawa...because despite being parentless, the villagers (i.e: Kimiyoshi) takes care of her. Besides, her own survival is not her wish. She wants everyone - her best friends Satoko, Mion, Rena, and Keiichi to be happy and alive as well. She doesn't want to live in a world where she escapes death but without her friends.



Q1. What triggered the baseball bat incident in Rena's past?

Q2. From the Anime+TIPS, half of the Onikakushi'ed people were murderers (1st year dam worker and 4th year, Satoshi) and their victims were pointed as victims of Oyashiro-sama's curse. The other half is kind of obscure. It's like only murderers are Onikakushed, is it true?

Q4. Dr. Irie "suicided" on Tatarigoroshi and he was intendind to give Keiichi some kind of medicine. Was this medicine the same Rika was walking around with on Tsumihoboroshi and Meakashi? Was Dr. Irie "suicided" lika Rika on Meakashi?

Q7. What relation Kasai and Akane have in fact?

1. It is implied (and apparently assumed) that several boys at her previous school tried to take advantage of her. Added with her stress where her family was in shambles, she basically snapped. And why the boys didn't want to press charges? Duh, they tried to rape her. Do you think they are gonna implicate themselves by saying "oh yeah, we were trying to gang-bang her, but she suddenly went berserk and started beating the shit out of us." ?

Like I said before, people tend to assume things with one-sided detail. You automatically assume a person is evil because of that person's past actions. But you never think about if the person might've had a good reason to snap or not. People like to label the characteristics of that person on the basis of another person's word. This leads to mistrust and misunderstanding. How many of the people here just assumed that Rena was plain psychotic because she had this past? Now how many of you feel ashamed at yourself once you now know that she basically did that in self-defense from being raped?

2. Hmm...I'd say wait a few more posts to be made on the Putting the Pieces Together (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=36807) as you'll find the answer there.

4. This is two question in one. With regards to the medicine, yes perhaps so. Unfortunately, he came a bit too late... With regards to his suicide, it is more than likely that he was a murdered to look like a suicide so that the culprit can carry out the plan.

7. Kasai used to have a crush on Akane.



Q: Is Satoshi in Canada?

Q: The way Rika dies determines whether the Great Hinamizawa Disaster occurs. Does the way she dies influence anything in the next world?

Q: Why is Takano so obsessed with Oyashiro-sama's curse?

1. No, and he's not in Honduras either.

2. No. It just reboots so that she can try again.

3. It's part of her life


Q4. Is it possible that the master murderer is also trapped inside the endless time loop just like Rika?

No



3. If Rika can't remember who killed her in other arcs apart Watanagashi/Meakashi, then how did she remember that Shion (will) torture her in Watanagashi and Meakashi? Is it because she was Watanagashied that she can't recalled her murderer in the other scenarios?

Hint: If a person suddenly becomes unconscious before their death...does the person know how he or she died? It's kind of like someone shooting a bullet into your head while you were sleeping. From the your point of view (if you can think to begin with of course, since you are already dead) how would that you know that you died because someone capped a round into your head?



Q1. Is Rika through each arc able to see or catch a glimpse of events happening in the outside world that lies beyond Hinamizawa?

No. She knows about the death of Akasaka's wife because...if you've paid attention she said "Akasaka won't be sad right now" as she went around cutting the phone lines across the village. From this, you can deduce that she lived through several lives where she learns of Akasaka learning about his wife's demise while in Hinamizawa.


Does Hanyuu travel with Rika whenever she's reincarnated? And if she does, wouldn't she know who's killing Rika?
Hanyu is a scaredy-cat, she has also become very pessimistic of being able to live past June 1983 with Rika, so she gave up trying. But that was until she finally finds the courage to remember who the culprit was so she can beat fate in one last try to live a happy life along with Rika and the gang. That world is...Matsuribayashi-hen.


Even though Rika dies and time gets reset for her, has she left countless "alternate universes" behind her that continue to go on, and if/when she finally escapes this time warp thing, if ever, will all those universes cease to exist?

It is never addressed, but I assume that those futures will continue to exist on their own.


1) Did the Sonozaki's watanagashi'ed Rina in Tatarigoshi-hen? [yes/no] (I doubt so, since the chat between K1 and Mion in Tsumihoroboshi-hen it's pretty obvious that the Sonozaki's are not as bad as they make people belive)
2) Was she watanagashi'ed in the underground chamber Shion tortured Satoko in meakashi-hen? [yes/no]
3) Was Rika watanagashi'ed in the same chamber as question 2? [yes/no]

That's all, I dont want to know who did it or why, just to resolve some doubts.
Thanks.

1. No
2. No
3. No


Two questions really:

1): Does the killer survive the Great Disaster? Just something to try and eliminate suspects between my friend and I.

2): Does the scene between Shion and the pervert in Angel Mort that appeared in the manga also appear in the game? Man that was all kinds of wrong when I read that.

1. In many ways, that can be taken with a "yes and no" answer
2. Yes. Frankly, the manga is written much better than the anime in terms of following closely to the original game. Like I've said before"

original game≧drama cds≧manga>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>[unscalable wall]>>>>>>>>>>>anime


From Rika's standpoint (as she experiences and realizes everything), which ones of the six animated arcs are the best/worst case scenario, and why?

None of them. Her wish is to survive June 1983, along with all her friends

[kj1980]

Answers Pt. II

A few question about Takano. How much truth is there in her notes? And why exactly are the Sonozakis interested in obtaining it if their motive was not to surpress the speculation that Oyashiro isn't a god.

And I don't know if this is relevant but, how long has Takano been living in Hinamizawa?

You can dismiss Takano's notes as a bunch of bullshit.

As for Sonozakis interest...they have none. All they are doing is to help Rena. Everything that you've let to believe about the Sonozakis...YOU'VE THOUGHT WRONG. They are just a yakuza family run by Sonozaki Oryou who bluffs everything capitalizing on everyone being scared of the Sonozakis. That's all there is to it. In fact, you can even consider Sonozaki Oryou to be somewhat of a tsundere (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=499318&postcount=1) www


Tsumihoroboshi-hen

One of the grey-suit men delivered an envelope to Chie-sensei. Rena eavesdropped their conversation, and after both left she dialed the number written on the envelope.
Q1. What's the point for those men to deliver an envelope from a company which phone number is dead or not exists?

This was taken from a Post made by LostBlue ( POST #72 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=687931&postcount=72) ) in the Episode 25 Discussion Thread.
Click on the link to view the full Post.

Then it goes off with Keiichi seeing the white van again at the school yard with Chie-sensei talking to the man named Okonogi. Keiichi sees the Principal and asks him who these men were. The Principal replies they are Landscapers hired by the school. They got lost yesterday taking a shortcut to the school which is relatively easy to get lost here in Hinamizawa if you're not familiar with all the small roads.

The day before, also, Keiichi overhears the Principal and Chie-sensei talking about the envelop the Okonogi Landscapers gave them. The Principal was asking why the number on the envelop won't work which Chie-sensei responds that the envelop is from their old office and they just mistakenly to put it in the wrong envelop.


1. If the being dubbed Oyashiro-Sama is NOT a God and not a human, what IS the being dubbed Oyashiro-sama?

People's own perceptions.

Let me give you an example. Who is to say that the Devil (Lucifer, Price of Darkness, or whatever you call it in the Christian world) is an evil being who is red all over with menacing horns? How do you know? Have you met him in person? What if the thing commonly known as "the devil"...was a being that was really just a cute and harmless creature like a cherub?

People perceive things that they don't know with ballooned imaginations on what it is like. Such perceptions can become skewed into making you believe that the Oyashirosama is a frightful being who causes curses. In reality, there's just no basis for that.

So what is the frightful being called the Oyashiro-sama? A figment of your own imagination because you chose to believe that it was. In reality, she's just Hanyu.


One more question before the deadline.

In Meakashi, we saw a bit of what happened in the past. Does the past we've seen bits and pieces of happen in every arc? Meaning, in every arc, does Rena always have that conflict with her mother? Does Keiichi always do "that"(him being a little trigger happy) before he moves to Hinamizawa?

Yes, the past is the past

In the later TIPs, who exactly is being referred to as Mion or Shion? I thought I recalled someone (kj I think?) saying in some post that the names shouldnt be changed again, so just call whoever has been known as Mion as Mion, and vice versa. However in the later epilogues, they say Shion is the one who died and loved Keiichi and Mion is the one who stabbed Keiichi and loved Satoshi. So let me get this clear about the TIPs.... Mion is the "real" Mion *without* the tatoo right? And Shion is the one who loves Keiichi?

Shion forces Mion to switch names. Shion takes back her name as Mion (as she really born was Mion - at least if we were to trust her memory), thus forces Shion (formally Mion) to call her Onee as "Mion" is the superior one.

Shion was actually born as Mion, and Mion was born as Shion.

Spoiler: True Identity of the Twins

Since "Mion" (that is, the Shion that we know) is the rightful heir to the Sonozaki family, she was favored over "Shion" (the Mion that we know) ever since they were little.

"Mion" and "Shion" disliked the different treatments they got: they're the same person, so why should one be treated different from the other? That's why they began swapping identities so they could both enjoy the privileges that "Mion" has. Sometimes Mion would become Shion, and Shion would become Mion. In a way, both of them are Mion, and both of them are Shion. However, one day, while "Shion" was pretending to be Mion, she was taken away and was given the demon tattoo which marked her as the next head of the Sonozaki family.

... Starting from that day, "Shion" lost her identity as Shion, and became Mion. "Mion" lost her identity as Mion, and became Shion. That's why Mion has always felt bad towards Shion for stealing her identity, because it was Shion (the original Mion) who should've been chosen as the next head of the Sonozaki family, not her.

When Shion locked Mion up inside the underground jail cell, they finally reverted back to their original identities, hence the "onee" from Mion. You can also see Shion referring to Mion as "Shion" in the TIPS for Ep. 21 as well.

Now you know the true meanings behind Mion and Shion's coversation inside the library!

Although Shion in her demented state accused Mion of purposely knowing the tattoo will be given on that day (b/c the day "Mion" was invited to a banquet, strangely "Shion" was invited to go to an amusement park - a rare treat). One of the famous lines here is "Give me back my Mion."

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8395/givemebackmymionyp4.jpg

Also see the last few tips for this chapter.
The 2nd to last TIP Notebook of Happiness (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=656704&postcount=115) is where Oishi figures out the name switch.



Q.12 Since Keiichi recalled his memories from Onikakushi-hen in Tsumihoroboshi-hen, is it possible that the other characters may be able to do so in other Higurashi worlds?

It's a possibility, ain't it? And that in itself is a miracle, don't you think?