Higurashi (1st Season) General Discussion

[Nvis]

Originally Posted by kj1980

To me, when I first listened to the dramaCD, it sounded like Kira Yamato (GundamSEED) getting freaked out by a psychotic Miyafuji Miina (Onegai Twins) and Chidori Kaname (Full Metal Panic!).

The great Kira Yamato! He definitely suits the role as Keiichi. And so damn funny in episode 1 & 5.

[panzerfan]

A Gundam SEED spoof of Higurashi, I can see that coming. (Time to hit the drawing board again in the meantime...)

[MoMoe]

A Gundam SEED spoof of Higurashi, I can see that coming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boFUFSuWOsw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1XNIi1Vj6k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw31Wnw-GOc

....Or pretty much anything submitted by that guy

[Lemonhead]

So i was at work reading the TenTen manga when i came to a really interesting part that made me think about Higurashi. The bad dudes were attacking this shrine and the shrine chicks were using these crazy demons to fight them off, then the main bad dude started talking about how he knows the demons are just haullcinations caused by mixing opium insence, with moth (scales?).

Now for how that relates to Higurashi, dosen't some of the flowers in the opening look alittle bit like poppys and i know there's butterflys, moths, circadas all over the opening too. And since the characters seem to like to hallucinate all over the place, these might be alittle related. Maybe oishi is smoking alittle more then just tabacco.

[ApathyEcstasy]

Originally Posted by Lemonhead

So i was at work reading the TenTen manga when i came to a really interesting part that made me think about Higurashi. The bad dudes were attacking this shrine and the shrine chicks were using these crazy demons to fight them off, then the main bad dude started talking about how he knows the demons are just haullcinations caused by mixing opium insence, with moth (scales?).

Now for how that relates to Higurashi, dosen't some of the flowers in the opening look alittle bit like poppys and i know there's butterflys, moths, circadas all over the opening too. And since the characters seem to like to hallucinate all over the place, these might be alittle related. Maybe oishi is smoking alittle more then just tabacco.

that sounds like some very good info....i rewatched the intro to look for this..and i've noticed a huge emphasis on poppy-like flowers...as well as butterflies, moths, etc....it could very well be a vital clue

[Siulayhumga]

I think I finally fig this all out .......
oyashiro sama is ....... Haruhi Suzumiya.... ;-)
So everyone in the village is Haruhiism followers.... Now it all make sense....

Sorry ..... but IMHO both Animes are really black horse in 06 anime line up. It has been a while since I check Animesuki in a weekly bases to make sure I can get the fansub ASAP.

[choia]

Spoiler:

Maybe Rena getting the doll was what triggered Mion to break into the storehouse with Keiichi. This might be what Shion really meant.

[Thewanderer]

Originally Posted by choia

Spoiler:

Maybe Rena getting the doll was what triggered Mion to break into the storehouse with Keiichi. This might be what Shion really meant.

That's dissappointing if true. I like my boyish Mion

[Darkside]

Just recently picked this anime up and finished ep 4. This show creeps me the hell out watching it late at night lol

Edit: Lmao, I hadn't read the posts above in this thread. I wanted to show this show to my friend and he brought up the fact that Keiichi looks and sounds like Kira Yamato. We then look it up and are like "Holy shit it is Kira Yamato!!!"

[dKiWi]

Spoiler for Watanagashi-hen Shion:

Ok this is greatly aided from reading TIPs. I know its the Tatarogashi-hen tips but wth the arcs are linked anyway.

Satoshi must have been a good baseball player, and Shion MUST have liked him. That's why she joined as an assistant manager.

Shion must have suffered alot of pain when Satoshi was "demoned-away". She probably knew Mion had a hand in it as well and can't very well protest since it was probably necessary.

When Keichii came along, Shion must have noticed the similarities between him and Satoshi. She had some f**ked up look after meeting him at Angel Mort in ep5 (looks EXACTLY like MADLAX!) But I doubted Shion likes Keichii at all. She behaved like a total slut anyway.

When she realises Mion likes Keichii, she must have made up her mind to take the ultimate revenge: Make Mion kill Keichii, her first love.

She achieved this by forcing Keichii into the festival warehouse.

I dun think Mion was possessed by a demon, she was just trying to hold down her anger with Keichii until she really couldn't take it anymore. Keichii pissed her off at first by giving the doll to Rena, then he did not admit to her that he entered the storehouse even though he had a clean chance. Poor Mion, she has to deal with her crushes and the weight of being a Sonozaki heavy weight.

Mion must have known Shion was behind all this and thus punished her the worst (psychological and physical torture instead of simply killing her like Tomitake and Tanako). Musn't have been anything Shion expected! In order not to make it seem she only wanted to pwn Shion, she also had to kill Tomitake and Tanako (who she obviously did not care about).

Mion must really have loved Keichii. But she knows the reality of life and her job as the eventual heiress of the Sonozaki family must come first. But she still tried to spare Keichii until she absolutely could not anymore.

But this still doesnt explain how the "dead are walking" unless Oishii is lieing to Keichii AGAIN like in Onikakushi, but he really does not have any damned reason to do so in Watanagashi-hen.

Spoiler for Watanagashi-hen Rika:

Since Rika and the Shrine Priest were solely responsible for the security of the Fuurude Shrine, it makes complete sense that the Sonozakis, being the policing house of the Three Great Houses, had to kill both Rika and the Shrine Priest for not fulfilling their duty.

Rika was probably given 2 choices. Either she was tortured then killed, or she did it herself. But the suicide had to be rather painful as well, thus that explains the scene at the beginning of ep 5.

If it was the Sonozakis that replaced the lock with a lousy one (most likely theory) it could be because the Sonozakis wanted to find an excuse to eradicate the Fuurude House (power struggle).

My other theory is that Rika could not handle the more secure device used to lock the house and thus requested for a lighter lock. She probably thought no one would like to look at what was inside the stupid house and did not plan that this would happen. The Sonozakis took advantage of this to eradicate Fuurude House.

The Sonozakis needed someone to replace the lock. Thus Shion volunteered as she wanted to get Keichii into trouble. After Shion ran off (probably gleefully as she knew she got her sister into her trap), MION, hu probably should have been born more intelligent, realised wtf is happening and asked Keichii whether he saw Shion. Well too late my girl. You're gonna have to kill the one you love.

[Shuin4]

Theory Version 2.0

I have a theory about those 2 openings to Watanagashi-hen and Tatarigoroshi-hen

Spoiler for Watanagashi-hen:

I think Rika stabbing herself in the head is how Shion/Mion got her to die. Maybe she murdered Satoko in front of her and Rika just went insane and killed herself. We also didn't see this from K1's point of view, so does this mean Rika really DID kill herself? Uh oh, maybe this really isn't just happening in K1's mind

Spoiler for Tatarigoroshi-hen(also possible game spoiler):

I think the opening scene of the blonde-haired person was from the past. If I remember correctly, Satoshi apparently killed his aunt, but what if that wasn't the case? I heard somewhere that it was the uncle's mistress(I really don't remember where I heard it so I'm not sure if it's from the game or just a theory) so maybe the aunt found out the uncle was getting it on with someone else and she killed herself(also remember hearing from arc 1 that the aunt was found at home dead). Satoshi found out she killed herself over the mistress and went and killed her, whom we see flouting down a river. It also looked like a team-effort killing (Rena sliced her stomach open, Mion/Shion put nails into her hands, Satoshi beat her legs with a bat. And, uhh, Rika sliced her nose off with the butcher knife?) and maybe since Satoshi isn't insane like the girls, he skipped town.

Spoiler for The whole town of Hinamizawa:

Either it's a total loony bin or they just believe in Oyashiro-sama too much.

The Sonozaki family has a lot of power. I'm betting those guys in green clothes work for her. In fact, I'm wondering if everyone in the town are so scared that Shion'll sick Oyashiro on them that they're willing to do whatever she wants. Back in episode 5 when those biker punks were picking on the K1 gang, basically the whole town rounded up to give them dirty looks. It's possible they're just all great friends and have the impression that anyone who tries to hurt one of their own or don't believe in Oyashiro-sama deserve to die.

From what I can tell, Rika isn't mentally unstable. She reminds me of Ruby from The Hills Have Eyes and that little boy from Texas Chainsaw Massacre Remake. She understands that what's going on isn't right and she's willing to help K1 (she told him to hold on to the bat "just in case" and explained what happened to Satoko's family.)

Before, I didn't really think it could be Shion that was the insane killer. But now that I look at it, it has to be Shion.
Shion had a fling with Satoshi. I didn't really realize it until I saw Mion act normal while Shion was in psycho-mode when Keichii brought it up. Rena also went a little insane and it's obvious she liked him as well.

Plus, when Keichii asked Mion if she could kill Satoko's uncle, she looked genuinely shocked and I think she was sincere when she said she wasn't the heir and had no power to kill him. Plus we all know she would've done it if she could have, so Shion must be the heir.

And we can tell Keichii is a lot like Satoshi by the way both Shion and Rena like him and how Satoko thinks of him as his new brother. So it was actually Shion doing all the mean things in Watanagashi-hen and Mion was the poor girl in the cage.

But then there's that whole thing about Shion holding herself back when she went to pound some nails. Could Oyashiro-sama REALLY have possessed her in that scene? Maybe he's able to possess the villagers whenever they're feeling intense emotions (Rena= love or K1 reminding her of Satoshi brought back memories from when she loved him), Shion= rejection, K1= depression from killing the girls), or something. That doesn't explain Rena going insane since K1 still spent all his time with her. Plus she was crazy before then, back at her old school.

tl;dr: Everyone's too religious and don't think it's weird to kill people or the girls can't handle their emotions and go crazy

[Implosion]

It's late (or rather early) for me so I'm not going to bother finding and quoting what I'm talking about right now.

Basically though, in both the theme song and the poems there are some pretty touching lines about being 'trapped in a maze' or something similar. Although most deaths occured in the town, Satoko's parents died outside of it right? Is there something that traps people in the town? To many possiblites with this anime!

[Morgri]

Spoiler:

Personally I think you both are wrong. I wouldn't just go and kill the person I love just because he gave a doll to another person. I think all of watanagashi-hen is misleading, like it was ment to make the oyashiro-sama theory the right one. As the series has gone on, I've become more and more a fan of the oyashiro-sama theory, but as far as the girls, especially mion, being the culpirt, I don't think that's right. And I think Shion's like for the Keichi in the 2nd arc was genuine, maybe not to the extent that it was for Satoshi, cause she clearly has something for her, but I don't think she faked liking Keichi.

I think it's interesting that the yellow haired nurse person, Takano I think, has played the role that has made everything go wacko. Keichi seems to have gone crazy at some point after meeting her and after she has told her the different theories about Oyashiro-sama's curse. I'm keeping an eye on her, I don't think the girls or kei-ichi is the blame of the whole crime... I'm probably far off though :/

[I<3killerloli's]

O.K., I think adressing the Cicada Theme and where they fit in has not been looked in depth as it should. The show wasn't just named after them for a reason. After discussing it with my Japanese teacher and general knowledge of etymology, I've come to notice their symbolism runs deeper through this series than just acting like what I like to call the "Japanese Sound Cue of Doom", a motif used in the rasping croaking ghost in Grudge, and the sirens in both Silent Hill and Siren. Basically, when this sound occurs, **** hits the fan so to speak.
Their cry is mournful and sad. The Japanese associate their arrival as harbingers of the end of the seasons. They represent the end. When they cry, a day of play for these children has ended and they realize that summer is coming to a close. As well, their lives are gearing towards a sad future. "Play time is over" would be a rather cliche yet appropriate way to discribe it. Simply put: It's a loss of innocence. While the daytime is full of Keiichi and the girl's playing and innocent fun, the cicadas announce evening, when dark mysteries and truths come to light and nobody's lives in Hinamizawa are the same again. When the cicadas cry, the good times end for everyone.
But we are also presented with a positive aspect to this, though that too may become sinister. In Japan, cicadas represent rebirth as well. They bury themselves in the ground, lay their eggs, and die. Those eggs hatch and return. Death is followed by a resetting of life, much how the story resets itself each time in the show but ultimately ending on that same meloncholic tone.
Though my knowledge of the show ends where fansubbing does, I believe that a "Good Ending" is still plausable at this point. The cicada casts off its shell, but what does that represent in the show? Is it only another rebirth motif? Or is it the casting off of tragedy and showing that the changing of the characters may be good afterall (and by accepting these traits, not turning into a killer maniac)?
The show in and of itself, represents the life cycle of the higurashi. Sorry for ranting, I just thought it might help everybodies theories out. It's also neat to point out that many other anime shows follow this Higurashi motif, such as Evangelion.

[Shuin4]

Originally Posted by Morgri

Spoiler:

Personally I think you both are wrong. I wouldn't just go and kill the person I love just because he gave a doll to another person.

Well are you a psychotic 15 year old girl who digs the only guy around her age in her class? Yeah, didn't think so

Originally Posted by Morgri

Spoiler:

And I think Shion's like for the Keichi in the 2nd arc was genuine, maybe not to the extent that it was for Satoshi, cause she clearly has something for her, but I don't think she faked liking Keichi.

Spoiler:

Wait, Shion liked Satoshi? When was this explained?

[Morgri]

It seems aparent as she always get really interested/mad when anyone talks about Satoshi "transfering".

[MarmoO]

Originally Posted by Shuin4

a psychotic 15 year old girl

If I'm not mistaken Mion is supposed to be 18 year old.

[LostBlue]

nope, Mion is 1X years old just like Rena and K1 XD

Assuming that Mion is a senior (Rena & K1 are a year below, but K1 and Mion are the same age right now - Mion is only a few months older), since summer is still technically early in a Japanese school year and the possibility Mion might be young for her class, she should be around: 16 ~ 18 most likely (probably 16 since K1 is born late in the school year and being the "genius" he is, it's unlikely he'll be 17 as a beginning Jr - but the game likes to defy logic at times, lol).

But it's also highly likely Mion a Jr as well which will make her 15~18 or simply 1X.

[MarmoO]

Looks like I must have overheard it somewhere.

My theory after watching Tatarigoroshi

Spoiler:

If there is no supernatural power involved, then there is one thing about interview with Keichi which is “smelly”.

Keichi didn't have a chance to survive this incident.

If what is an official version of “Hinamizawa’s disaster” is false then the only one who could have faked it on national scale is government, what is a need for an official version – that indicate that in this incident were involved powers and events which shouldn’t be known by the public. Then Hinamizawa’s fate might have been a calculated losses – I’m almost sure there were government agents. Most suspicious were Takano, Tomitake, Irie and “men in green”. Government dispatching its top troops (with means and rights to take a decision of killing tens of people) to such a small place as Hinamizawa is a strange thing and probably isn't a reaction to only few people going missing. We know, the region of Hinamizawa had some connections with Unit 731, army and government knew something about this and were alarmed by dam accident, maybe there were also other events which we don’t know of.

What we know happens now: Tomitake commits suicide in a very strange way, Irie also commits suicide, we don’t know how, if we assume in similar way as Tomitake then IMO it would explain few things. We know that Keichi in Onikakushi also killed himself in exactly same way, right before Irie and men in green were looking for him. Irie, Tomitake and Keichi were outsiders. We know also that Satoko, Mion and Rena who are inhabitants of Hinamizawa have “sometimes” huge problems with their sanity, we don’t know anything about other inhabitants, what if they also aren’t perfectly healthy? I want to say that there are two groups who suffer from Oyashiro’s curse – inhabitants and outsiders, inhabitants were born in Hinamizawa and they might have developed ability to live with “something what is in the air” thus they reacts differently, outsiders are affected much more, what leads them to this “unnatural” suicide.


Next thing, if we assume there are no major mistakes in this kind of reasoning, then there must be some conditions acquired:

1. The disease must be placed in Hinamizawa’s inhabitants themselves.
2. The disease must be infectious, enough to justify decision of killing of whole village.
3. There must be something what triggers this disease (what makes Tamitake kill himself in every arc, Keichi in first arc and Irie in last arc), probably first symptoms of “it” awakening was dam incident, this year events, especially Tomitake and Irie’s deaths made Takano to take a rough decision, what resulted in this “incident”.

My biggest question are:
1. Why Rika was killed in such a way. (third party involved?)
2. Why Takano faked her death in before Irie died. (She was planning killing of everyone after Tamitake’s death and Irie wanted to be sure, that’s why he showed himself in Onikakushi?).
3. What were the triggers for each, individual incidents (Keichi – mistrust?, Mion – sadness?, Satoko – fear?, Irie - ?, Tamitake - ?- from Onikakushi we know that he was attacked, maybe by infected Hinamizawa’s inhabitants… still, what made him “trigger”?).
4. Why Oishi and his team went missing? (third party involved?).

[Toxic]

I definately think there's something supernatural. How could everyone otherwise see and hear EVERYTHING that happens in the village?