[Sushi-Y]

I read an after-play comment of Minagoroshi written by Shun-san over at ろくでなしの詩. He took it off now because it was a rather negative review bordering on being extreme, which probably pissed off a few people. But overall, I think he raised some good points.

Spoiler for Minagoroshi comments:

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General complaints include the overuse of the words "miracle" and "comrades". When a word is used over and over so many times, the meaning cheapens. I agree with Shun-san here, but I have to say it didn't particular bother me because that's just the way the characters were like. An unpassionate Keiichi isn't really Keiichi at all.

Next, about Rika's ability to "resurrect" in the past. I mentioned that Ryukishi07-san would have a lot of grounds to cover here. Because as Shun-san pointed out, "the ability to go back to the past while retaining your memory is a HUGE advantage point". And with her influence among the village elders, Rika had plenty of resources available to her.

I agree with Shun-san in that Rika being able to resurrect while retaining her memory is an advantage. But with the critical moments leading up to her death always missing, it's a fact that Rika doesn't know who the killer is, nor does she know when and how she'll be killed. As a result, the number of precautions she can take is limited.

We know that the assassination squad isn't afraid to kill anyone who gets in their way, so we need to seperate "those who WANT to help Rika" from "those who CAN help Rika". The local police and the Sonozaki group are the only two with enough powers to protect Rika from her attackers. From her previous experiences, Rika knows that these two groups aren't her enemies, yet by the end of Minagoroshi, she has only received a token number of police protection because her request for assistance came too late. And Rika didn't bother asking for the help of the Sonozaki family at all (in fact, Shun-san noted that when Rika and Satoko were attacked, they escaped their shed house to head for the Sonozaki main house. If that was the case, then they should've just stayed over there in the first place)

The next was probably a personal complaint by Shun-san: the lousiness of the assassination squad. Of course, as cool as Keiichi's last second rescue was, there was no reason that a professionally trained military squad should have any trouble at all against a bunch of kids. Yet we see Keiichi and the gang successfully fending them off with ease, and if Takano hadn't showed up with her gun, the kids probably could've actually escaped. ("If the death squad was getting beaten by a bunch of kids, they probably would've been instant kills against the Sonozaki's yakuzas")

Well, all of the above can be easily ignored if you had a willing suspension of disbelief (which I had), but among his complaints, Shun-san raised one very important and valid point: Why didn't Rika take advantage of Hanyuu's ability?

If you think about it, Hanyuu is a spiritual entity who is able to move freely on her own, and nobody is able see or hear her except Rika... Doesn't that sound like something somewhere along the lines of a "perfect spy"? If Rika wanted to know who was responsible for Tomitake and Takano's death, all she had to do was get Hanyuu to follow them, and then report back what she saw after. If Rika wasn't sure about whether Takano's squad was her ally or enemy, she could have sent Hanyuu to monitor that squad captain guy and see what he was doing behind Rika's back... Really, though Hanyuu keeps saying she's powerless and that she's nothing but an observer, she's really actually the most powerful tool in Rika's possession.

Either way, I think that point ↑ will make it's appearance in Matsuribayashi as part of the whole "EVERYONE must help in order for a miracle to happen" thing. Although Shun-san's comments were a little harsh in some places, I still think it was very informative, which is why I'm sharing it here. (That and his webmanga are funny as hell)