Quote:
The fact that it makes sense without the youkai also has to do with it.
Youkai lure their prey with some sort of temptation, and those who fall victim lose their souls. In other words, the weak-willed's souls are irreversibly corrupted.
I definitely agree that the ending was a downer , but if you think Of it this way it's a bit better.
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Reminds me of that quote by the late Satoshi Kon "The true horrors of the universe lie within humanity itself"
Spoiler for Chp 7 ending:
Indeed, that ending reminded me that this is, in more than one way, a "dark" story, not just by discussing child violence, but in terms of statements it makes about humans and their ways. If this was higurashi, perhaps Yukari or Marie could've defeated Sumire, ie: breaking the system of bullying and hatred in the class, and a better class community would be formed, just like the hinamizawa community got over their demons and obtained their "miracle".
Alas, Sumire's drugged class was too much for Yukari, if she got back there she might've eventually killed herself to rest eternally in higanbana's stomache, and this is what's dark: the human values of courage and righteous fury couldn't save that class, they lost to the non-human side, may it be Sumire or Higanbana.
Kinda like how people, for the sake of the status quo and a relative peace, might turn a blind eye to injustice and corruption, but let it be for too long, and such a society or government might implode and self-destruct, ie: The class's souls devoured by higanbana, from Sumire's utopia to higanbana's hell.
And yet, there is still a glimmer of redemption: the true message was delivered at the very end by Yukari: to actively stop such a corrupt community from forming in the first place is the solution (which nicely parallel's Marie's own anti-higanbana philosophy), a solution that protects both the bullied and bullies from the jaws of youkai.
Only by the end of the game I got this feeling: pity. For all the humans falling for the youkai, even Hikaru or Sumire's bullies, because although I am aware youkai are not all powerful and humans have the final say of "listening" to them, I am also aware what suffering and feeling worthless can do to people.
The only negative about the final chapter to me was the slow pacing, it felt prolonged simply to increase length as the final story, but once "Reiko" got introduced, it got interesting. Many times I thought "Please don't let x happen..." and, indeed, it avoided many traps and was sufficiently satisfying.
Yup, higanbana reminded me that ryu is pretty good when it comes to plot twists. The setting of the human/non-human world, its implications and the way their inhabitants affect each other was very effective in treating many issues like suicide, bullying, addiction, power abuse and social conformity in imaginative and interesting ways.
No flowers bloom in death. Beautiful. For a third time, thanks for the translation and I look forward to the second night!