Higurashi Episode 8 Discussion / Poll

[rogueblade]

Is it just me, or is there a rather sizeable clue in the "Jail cell" scene, that people have glossed over?

Spoiler for for the "huge clue":

Remember when Keiichi is talking to "Shion" in the jail cell, and "Mion" appears behind him? Don't you remember the way in which she appeared behind him? It was as if she teleported behind him - as far as i know, no human can do that. So it seems to me that this means one of two things -
1.)"Mion" is actually the demon disguised in human form.

OR

2.)This is all someone's "dream" / "hallucination", but whose is it? It can't be Keiichi's because he was looking at "Shion" the whole time. So that leaves it down to either "Shion" or "Mion".

Of course, it's possible that Shion imagined that it happened, given her extremely fragile state when Keiichi found her.

[Sushi-Y]

To clear a few things up:

1. Mion knocked Keiichi out with the taser in the original sound novel, not a rock like in the anime. So for those of you who's thinking Keiichi's delusional because he got bonked over the head, you can assume that's not the case (well, unless you have another reason to think he's delusional).

2.

Originally Posted by Menshi

Spoiler:

Alot of people are missing something that seems sort of obvious to me. K1 had to have gone insane noone stabbed him or hammered a nail through his finger in the hospital. My reasoning is because why would the person who stabbed him say I killed everyone they're all dead if Rena is still alive and K1 didn't die. She would have finished him off if she really went there to kill him. Also the hammer through the finger thing it's not like she was hiding under the bed waiting for Oishi to leave.

To be more accurate, Mion didn't "kill everyone", she "killed everyone she wanted to kill".

3.

Originally Posted by rogueblade

Is it just me, or is there a rather sizeable clue in the "Jail cell" scene, that people have glossed over?

Spoiler for for the "huge clue":

Remember when Keiichi is talking to "Shion" in the jail cell, and "Mion" appears behind him? Don't you remember the way in which she appeared behind him? It was as if she teleported behind him - as far as i know, no human can do that. So it seems to me that this means one of two things -
1.)"Mion" is actually the demon disguised in human form.

OR

2.)This is all someone's "dream" / "hallucination", but whose is it? It can't be Keiichi's because he was looking at "Shion" the whole time. So that leaves it down to either "Shion" or "Mion".

Of course, it's possible that Shion imagined that it happened, given her extremely fragile state when Keiichi found her.

Unfortunately, no, that's just a special effect and is unrelated to the mystery.

[Nics]

Spoiler:

One more thing about crazy Mion dillusion at the hospital, why is her head and face all bloody?

[FubaredByAnime]

Originally Posted by kj1980

Spoiler:

Not a quote on quote translation, but something close to it. All the following are said through Mion's words at that scene:

1. Hinamizawa was formerly known as Onigafuchi

2. The residents of Onigafuchi believed strongly that they inherited demons' blood and considered themselves to be more noble than others

3. However, with the opening of Japan by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, the times in Japan changed dramatically. With the new Meiji government's policy of doing away with the old and introducing newer ideas for rapid modernization, Onigafuchi's name was changed to Hinamizawa.

4. As Japan sped through modernization, it extended its military might in the name of "rich country, strong military." Spanning military victories in the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Japan entered into Pacific War (Pacific Front of WWII).

5*. By this time, Onigafuchi's reverence as a sacred village was in ruins. Villagers and residents from this area were frowned upon as hinin. Slanderous and unsubtantiated rumors about Onigafuchi being an isolated hamlet run by criminals and low-lives became the standard.

6*. People were discriminated for just being from Onigafuchi/Hinamizawa. Parents in the outlying areas told their children that residents of Hinamizawa have a disease. Kids who were touched by children of Hinamizawa cried and parents would actually put salt onto the area where he/she were touched.

7*. Adults would tell their children to never go to Hinamizawa as they would disappear as an Onikakushi, chopped up and eaten. They would tell unsubstantiated horror stories that residents of Hinamizawa lived through a famine in the past by eating human corpses.

8*. Such slanderous rumors did not end within childrens' world. Companies refused to hire people from Onigafuchi. Marriages were also broken; when it was found out that they married a person from Onigafuchi, the other family pressed for an immediate divorce.

[*5~8: These are typical of the burakumin problems that Japan faced/faces since the Meiji Restoration. Residents of blacklisted buraku areas faced/faces huge discrimination, ranging from unemployment and marriage for just being from a certain area. As this is a very sensitive issue, it might be one of the reasons why this section was not explained in the anime]

9. Even under the propaganda slogans of "defending this nation as one" during the war, people in Hinamizawa were still discrimated, despite contributing its residents to the war effort.

10. However, the war finally ended in 1945. Men who went off to war returned, but many did not. However, a bright future for Hinamizawa seemed to lie ahead as General MacArthur's GHQ began to implement a new constitution to get rid of social discrimination once and for all (under the Meiji constitution, discrimination was illegal de jure). Residents of Hinamizawa began to work hard to bring back the rich nature of their beloved homeland.

11. One of the persons who contributed much to redeveloping Hinamizawa and amassing immense wealth was Mion's grandfather, Sonozaki Souhei.

12. Souhei was a food and supplies warehouse manager in Harbin during the war. When the end of the war was announced, Souhei schemes with his fellow members and superiors to smuggle canned military food rations back to Japan. Once back in Japan, he made a fortune selling the smuggled canned foods.

13. But Souhei did not use his new found wealth to his own good. He gave all the money that he amassed to his wife, the head of the Sonozaki family.

14. "Let us rebuild Hinamizawa. All the villagers are family. This fortune shall be shared amongst everyone." said Mion's grandmother, Sonozaki Oryou. This is the main reason why Hinamizawa exists as today and why the Sonozaki family has great influence in this area.

15. Using the money, the villagers helped rebuild the stagnating economy of Hinamizawa. Those that succeeded in turn helped others with their new found wealth. The strong bond of Hinamizawa's residents were reinforced through this process.

16. But by the mid 1950s, a change in the wind took place once again. Suspicions and rumors of the "human canned meat" began to spread. Souhei's former superior officer broke out the shocking news that the canned meat that he sold were in fact, human meat. Because of this, the unfounded discrimination of residents of Hinamizawa as demons that devour on human flesh started to flare again.

17. Why would human meat be in canned foods? Wasn't Souhei just a manager of the supplies warehouse? According to his former superior, Souhei was really just a meager private who exterminated mice and got rid of human corpses - a job fit for a lowly social status coming from his residential records.

18. Souhei would later be transferred as a corpse handler to a certain medical unit of the military. But that unit was a dark area of the military whose staff were doing things that were more inhumane that the unfounded rumors of Onigafuchi.

19. People would know this military unit as Unit 731 - the inhumane medical experimentations on human test subjects to create biological weapons. How obnoxious these military people are - they look down upon a resident of Onigafuchi/Hinamizawa just on baseless rumors and bottom-out-of-sight social economic status when they themselves are doing things that are far worse and horrific.

20. Souhei was transferred to a division within that unit where they were studying how to obtain much needed food for its militarymen. Japan was facing a huge problem during the war in providing its servicemen food in their frontlines. Malnutrition lead to loss of concentration and body mechanisms to fight off diseases. The morale to keep on fighting was also in danger. Hence, this division was given the order to find a way to obtain food in the battlefield. At first they studied stealing from locals and creating survival kits on plants and animals of that region. However, they soon lost sight and opened the door of the unthinkable.

21. What is the most readily available source of protein in the battlefield? Yes, you thought right - human corpses. Bodies of the enemy or our own servicemen, it didn't matter. They believed that its servicemen should eat whatever that is available to live out this war. Mion's grandfather would despise them. These men frowned upon him with baseless slanders of coming from a village that ate human corpses. Yet, these men were the ones that went further. "So what if they call me a corpse-eating demon? These men were the real demons. I don't feel subjugated on no matter what they say." said Mion's grandfather.

22. Several samples were made. But these scientists dared not to try out themselves. So they sent some to the front under the name of "alternative meat." The scientists stamped a logo "circle-alt" on these cans so they don't mistakenly eat them themselves. But the servicemen at the fronts loved it.

23. Did Souhei really sell canned foods that were made by human meat? No one knows precisely. Souhei himself denied it firmly to the end. But there were many who were jealous of Hinamizawa's road to rebuilding it's economy. They called us people who were living off of the wealth made by selling human corpses. Once again, Hinamizawa was back to where it was - being discriminated by everyone.

24. Kids of Hinamizawa were once again thrown stones by other children. That's when Mion' grandmother stepped in. She told the children, "if one child throws a stone at you, throw back with two. If two kids throw stones at you, get back at them with four. If eight kids come after you with sticks, you thwart them off with sixteen. If slandered by thirty, you yell back with sixty. And if a thousand tries to get us, we all come out as residents of Hinamizawa." Sonozaki Oryou stepped up as a leader of Hinamizawa.

25. Residents of Hinamizawa formed a strong bond to look after each other. If a child was bullied, they went to the bully's house. If an adult was discriminated, everyone, young and old, went out to voice their opinion. "Piss off a member of Hinamizawa, you're gonna get into deep shit." That was the thought process behind it. That is the exact reason why Kei was saved by the residents of Hinamizawa who ganged up on those three delinquents.

26 onward: as you saw in the anime




This explanation itselves are quite long (as well as touching several sensitive issues). Hence, the Mion's explanation of Hinamizawa's past was rather shortened to demons of Onigafuchi being bullied by others.

Since I asked and you went through all the trouble to answer, Thanks! Puts a lot of perspective into the responsibility held by the Sonozaki family.

[Paranoia833]

Originally Posted by rogueblade

Is it just me, or is there a rather sizeable clue in the "Jail cell" scene, that people have glossed over?

Spoiler for for the "huge clue":

Remember when Keiichi is talking to "Shion" in the jail cell, and "Mion" appears behind him? Don't you remember the way in which she appeared behind him? It was as if she teleported behind him - as far as i know, no human can do that. So it seems to me that this means one of two things -
1.)"Mion" is actually the demon disguised in human form.

OR

2.)This is all someone's "dream" / "hallucination", but whose is it? It can't be Keiichi's because he was looking at "Shion" the whole time. So that leaves it down to either "Shion" or "Mion".

Of course, it's possible that Shion imagined that it happened, given her extremely fragile state when Keiichi found her.

As Sushi said, that's a common technique in anime for someone acting quickly but stealthily. Doesn't neccesarily mean anything. Heck, even if it did, Higurashi doesn't seem to be the kind of anime where it's wise to rely soley on visual clues.

Anyway, now that I've seen the episode in question and am not to damn tired to phrase my thoughts intelligably...

Spoiler:

I have to say it seems obvious to me that the final Mion is a hallucination. Discounting blatent supernatural involvment there's no way Mion could get into the hospital and hide on K1s bed for an extended period of time, all without anyone noticing and while bleeding heavily from the head. My theory, as it has been for ages, is that Oishi's cigarettes are the stimulus. Still kind of cheesy as it relies on Oishi having both a motive to off K1 and having access to some wonder-drug that has somehow eluded scientific analysis. Not the sort of thing that really seems feasable for a cop to just have.

I've concucted a somewhat shaky theory that it may come from the swamp near Hinamizawa: the tips put a lot of emphasis on the swamps, an area we've never seen in the show, and considering that was where the bloodiest ceremonies took place in Onigafuchi's past and the leader of the lynch mob dissapeared there, it's not impossible that Oishi could have discovered the swamp's murderous properties while investigating the original murder. Of course if that were the case, Oishi could just turn the drug in and 'solve' the secret of Hinamizawa or sell it off for big bucks or whatever, rather than keeping it a secret for so long, so it's not really a great theory. Still it may end up having a grain of truth in it somewhere so I'm keeping it in mind.

The Mion/Shion identity issue seems too complex for me to even touch at this stage, although I have to admit the 'fatal frame' theory looks attractive.

That's all I can think of for now, I'll write more if I think of it.

[aliensporebomb]

Wait a second:

Spoiler:

Oishi says a lot of things at the conclusion of episode 8 that we just have to
take his word on.

The reappearance of "Mion/Shion" at the conclusion would seem to indicate
he may be having just as much fun as the allegedly demon possessed.

Mion dead at the bottom of a well yet seemingly alive and insane at the conclusion?

Mion's grumbling about him in the first four episodes "I should have killed
him" seems to indicate he was working for her or her family.

Hmmm...Could his little things he says be just to push K1 over the edge?

K1 = hallucination? Insanity? Brought on by Oishi's smoke or hypnotic suggestion?

Or maybe it's just what she said:

Spoiler:

"If you had given mion the doll, things might have been all right."

Sad.

[Matrim]

Originally Posted by aliensporebomb

Wait a second:

Spoiler:

Oishi says a lot of things at the conclusion of episode 8 that we just have to
take his word on.

The reappearance of "Mion/Shion" at the conclusion would seem to indicate
he may be having just as much fun as the allegedly demon possessed.

Mion at the bottom of a well yet seemingly alive and insane at the conclusion?

Mion's grumbling about him in the first four episodes "I should have killed
him" seems to indicate he was working for her or her family.

Hmmm...Could his little things he says be just to push K1 over the edge?

Spoiler:

Why should Oishi has to have been working for her family in order for Mion to want to kill him? She is the heir of an yakuza family, he is a cop who would love to destroy this yakuza family - that in itself is more than good enough reason, not to mention all the murders in which she is a suspect.
But not trusting everything Oishi (or anyone else in that series for that matter) says is a good approach. Him lying about Takano and Mion being "walking dead" is probably the easiest explanation.

Tatarigoroshi-hen is also the most confusing (complex?) chapter of them all. Watanagashi-hen's ending was confusing, but it's nothing compared to Tatarigoroshi-hen, which will have more twists and turns than a rollercoaster.

I can't wait! It seems that I will have to take notes while watching it in order to come up with a theory that makes any sense.

Spoiler:

As for K1 not getting stabbed..... then why would he be in the hospital? SOMEONE stabbed him. Whether that someone was Mion, or Oyashiro-sama, or something else remains to be seen.

He could have stabbed himself, you know. If we assuem that he was crazy enough to see Mion trying to kill him once (end of the episodes), it's possible that it happened twice.

[Cyz]

Now that I think about it, only Mion went psycho for this chapter.

[MarmoO]

Now that I think about it, only Mion went psycho for this chapter.

It may not necessarily be "psycho", but:

Photographer clawed out his throat.
Rika repeatedly stabbed her own head with butcher's knife.
Shion (?) jumped out of the window after she got into a quarrel with herself.
Keichi saw Mion/Shion attacking him after she died.

[Cyz]

Originally Posted by MarmoO

It may not necessarily be "psycho", but:

Photographer clawed out his throat.
Rika repeatedly stabbed her own head with butcher's knife.
Shion (?) jumped out of the window after she got into a quarrel with herself.
Keichi saw Mion/Shion attacking him after she died.

I mean really really crazy.

[Akuryou]

Originally Posted by MarmoO

It may not necessarily be "psycho", but:

Photographer clawed out his throat.
Rika repeatedly stabbed her own head with butcher's knife.
Shion (?) jumped out of the window after she got into a quarrel with herself.
Keichi saw Mion/Shion attacking him after she died.

Yes, indeed. Everyone had a kind of psycho moment in Watanagashi-hen.
Except, maybe, Satoko-chan. Poor little girl, got killed because Mion (Shion/Demon/Whatev) wanted to have fun. D:

Even Rena had psycho moments if you think for a moment... She acted like a profissional detective, and she even owned Oishi. How can not this be psycho? ;P

[Cyz]

So basically, everyone went psycho

[chrno_the_sinner]

So um... this epilouge-ish thing with Rena's fate.... what else does it say??? Care to enlighten us Sushi-Y?

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by chrno_the_sinner

So um... this epilouge-ish thing with Rena's fate.... what else does it say??? Care to enlighten us Sushi-Y?

That one was not in Watanagashi-hen persay. It was in it's respective answer chapter, Meakashi-hen. So, until we get there, we can't say for sure if the anime will do it or not. Let's wait and see.

[Circular Logic]

My thoughts on the matter:

Spoiler:

19. People would know this military unit as Unit 731 - the inhumane medical experimentations on human test subjects to create biological weapons. How obnoxious these military people are - they look down upon a resident of Onigafuchi/Hinamizawa just on baseless rumors and bottom-out-of-sight social economic status when they themselves are doing things that are far worse and horrific

Why do I somehow feel this is related to the 'necromancy' which we've seen? I still don't believe that there's anything supernatural going on.

One other thing I noticed - Mion's eyes only turned cat-like when she met Keiichi outside his house. The whole of the time before that, she was normal - was one the demon, the other...plain craziness? Who knows?

The events of this episode were actually pretty clear - there wwasn't much ambiguity about them, unlike Onikakushi-hen, which I preferred; it opened up many more mysteries.

So, in the end, we have a lot of unanswered questions...

1. Who are those people in the white van?
2. What's the significance of the syringe?
3. What's the significance of whatever was in the storehouse, if any?
4. Why are the dead walking?
5. What are Ooishi's intentions?
6. Why do the girls turn psychotic?
7. Why do Mion's eyes change?
8. What happened to Rika & Satoko?
9. Was Mion REALLY the one responsible for all the Hinamizawa murders?
10. Who are Tomitake & Takano, and what was their purpose?

[SpaceDrake]

Originally Posted by Akuryou

Even Rena had psycho moments if you think for a moment... She acted like a profissional detective, and she even owned Oishi. How can not this be psycho? ;P

Actually, I suspect Rena was quite sane in this one - piercingly so.

[npal]

Originally Posted by SpaceDrake

Actually, I suspect Rena was quite sane in this one - piercingly so.

Second that. My sweet Rena is a genius in this arc (hmm... genius from madness is not far away... )

Eh, is Keiichi a total moron or what? I mean, come on, Mion just confessed everything You have a serial killer before you, a crime lord, a mafia boss, and you stroll around and talk idly? Even if we assume that Rena and Mion were really close friends so Rena wants to support her if she turns herself in, Keiichi (based on his reaction pattern) should have run off to get a bat ready. He got nuts for lesser reasons in the previous arc

Oh well... Keiichi is probably like Kenny in Southpark. He has to be killed in every arc in a different way

[rocket]

WOW. Nice episode. The animation quality was a little low during someof the tensest momments and the backgrounds felt a little too bright and cheerful for what should have been really creepy locations (but maybe I'm playing too much Resident Evil), but the overall impact of the episode was up there with episode 4! Big surprises, multiple climaxes, and a seeming hard left into the territory of the supernatural - all very very good.

I'm really glad the show is mixing it up this way, I was afraid it would start to form too much of predictable cycle. The mystery would keep me hooked, but the stories would get stale.

Spoiler:

This episode threw a bunch of my hunches out the window. I figured it would, but it really surprised me that the opening murder didn't match up with the climax murder. I think KJ hinted that the opening murder happens in the next chapter, but in any case I think it's a shame that the murders don't match. I hope there is some logic to what murders get shown at the beginning of the chapter... :-(

Though what really broke my heart is Mion's history. Even if she *is* crazy/possesed at the end of the show, she's confessed to torturing people for he familly multiple times before! Say it ain't so Mion! I was so sympathetic to her with her tomboyish attitude and unexpressed attraction to Keiichi. ( ;_; )

A few concrete thoughts:
I definately suspect Keiichi of imagining Mion at the end, both in the yard and at the hospital. How he got delusional... not sure. Same thing for Shion's death, and likely for Mion's suicide in the well. What ever is causing them I think the crazy odd "suicides" are triggered by halllucinations.

Oishi seems to be honestly trying to get to the bottom of things based on the TIPs we see. I think his odd attitude is some kind of weird tough cop character, but his actions are clearly mudling too much into the leading famillies affairs. If he was in on "it" (whatever it is) it would be much easier for him to go along with the dropping of teh various investigations...

New stoopid theory : homocidal insanity from water is trigggered not by a blow to the head but by strong romantic emotion. Love Demon Town!

[Implosion]

Spoiler for title:

18. Souhei would later be transferred as a corpse handler to a certain medical unit of the military. But that unit was a dark area of the military whose staff were doing things that were more inhumane that the unfounded rumors of Onigafuchi.

19. People would know this military unit as Unit 731 - the inhumane medical experimentations on human test subjects to create biological weapons. How obnoxious these military people are - they look down upon a resident of Onigafuchi/Hinamizawa just on baseless rumors and bottom-out-of-sight social economic status when they themselves are doing things that are far worse and horrific.

Err, didn't the photographer have dog tags? Could his connection not be going into the warehouse, but instead being part of Unit 731?

Also, first post! Another person who joined just cause of this awesome anime~

[Boukenxha]

Interesting, with a history like that. Why would the Sonozaki want to revive the old Watanagashi tradition again? It makes outsider's perception on the Hinamizawa residents worse. Or do they feel that it can't get any better and they are using it to write fear into their enemies like the tips say.

I must say Watanagashi is way more confusing and intriguing than Onikakushi with the twin business and the old traditions coming into light... wait Tatarigoroshi tops it? I can't wait. Regarding the Mion/Shion zombies and duplicates, I feel like I should give up and say something supernatural is happening, though I'm still stubbornly hoping otherwise.

Anyway after thinking for a few days and still without any big theory in mind, I think I'll just present my thoughts on some of the smaller questions first. To help my own writing, I'll use onee whenever I'm refering to the same person that is the evil Mion in episode 8.

Spoiler:

01. Who brought Keiichi into the equipments store? Shion or Mion?

It seems to me Mion never like talking about the vile happenings in Hinamizawa so I don't think she did it. Whether she would do it as Shion I'm not sure. However I'm not convinced that they switched during the festival. Mion was Mion at the tea scene and if the group were near the shrine all day, I don't think the two would have the chance to switch. More so when you think if one of them was not agreeable to the switch, there was the risk of two Mion/Shion appearing at the place same time.

02. So why did Mion asked Keiichi if she had seen Shion that night?

We know from ep 8 that everything started from the doll incident, between that and the Watanagashi festival, there was some time for oneesan to plan her punishment to Keiichi. Perhaps Mion got wind of it or she had expected something to happen?

03. The phone calls, which was Mion, which was Shion?

I think the library event was Mion dressed up as Shion wanting to hear the truth from Keiichi, but Oishi thwarted her plan and that call was the follow-up. Well the anime shows the same room which Shion jumped off from in ep 8, but I have my reservations to trust the anime again. Everything is supposed to be in Keichi's first person view yes?

The next phone call when Shion claimed she confessed to the village chief, that's probably oneesan. Her response to Keiichi's apology seems flawless, but she didn't have to know what was said in the previous phone call to answer that. The last phone call obviously was oneesan too.

04. Who was involved in the Watanagashi incidents?

Since I believe Shion is onee, I point my finger to her. That part of her confession could possibly be Shion's confession not Mion's. And remember when onee apologized for dirtying Mion? If Shion is really Mion, it would be strange of her to apologize if she was just returning to her original identity. Though I guess she might meant dirtying Keiichi's impression of Mion. But now I think of it, in Onikakushi-hen when Keiichi told Mion that he knew of her quarrel with the kantoku, Mion cried. Now what if she had felt sad that Keiichi whom she thought of as a good friend would insinuate her involement in the death of the kantoku, that it wasn't her but she didn't have a way to deny it without telling Keiichi too much. Wouldn't the tears make sense that way?

05. What did onee meant with being possessed by the Oni?

What if the torture and killing had developed into her a perverse addiction where per one year cycle during the Watanagashi period, there will be this demon of an urge in her to kill someone?

06. When did Shion go missing.

I know the game stated that Oishi said the library was when anyone last saw Shion, but as mentioned in (03) I think that Shion was actually Mion in disguise and even if people saw Shion on the outside, who can be sure she wasn't Mion on the inside. Well anyway, my theory goes that Mion was still Mion that morning when everyone was talking about the missing village chief in school. Maybe she went to confront Shion/onee after that morning and got put into the dungeon cell instead.

07. So the Mion in the ladder scene is onee?

Yeah I think so. Look at the Watanagashi incidents, a good number of victims were related to Satoko. By pushing the blame to Satoko being cursed, maybe onee felt less guilty?

08. Who has the tattoo? Shion or Mion?

Hey I know it's anime where realism can takes a step back, but I still find this interesting. The uniform which Shion wears at Angel Mort had a portion of the upper back exposed and judging from the size of the tattoo from the OP, Shion's hair might not be able to cover it all the time. Would she take on the job if she had the tattoo and there was a risk of it being seen? I don't think she would though so I'm guessing that Sonozaki is probably not the heiress.

09. But onee was going to show it to Rena and Keiichi!

Who knows maybe she was going to come up with an excuse if Rena hadn't broken her off. Y'know, something like "but it's the Sonozaki tradition that outsiders who saw the tatto must die. Do you still want to see it?" Well I thought she sound a bit relieved when Rena spoke up, she said "thank you"

10. So Mion the imouto is the heiress?

I'm thinking so, though it's strange that Shion and not Mion was behind the Watanagashi incidents. I'm thinking perhaps Shion, like her mother had her rights taken from her because she did something wrong. Knowing when Mion got her tattoo might shed more light on this. Might be Sonozaki Akane, their mother played a big role in all of these too, maybe she was the one who objected to the killing of the twins or maybe she lost her child bearing ability after the twins. The Sonozaki are afterall the enforcer of traditions and ceremonies within the gosanke, breaking traditions when they are protecting it would be deem disgraceful and hypocritical. If they are willing to break one tradition, it might be to save another one ie. the bloodline of the successor passing from mother to daughter(?)

Main points, I think:

Shion - onee
Shion - not heiress
Shion - involved in all Watanagashi killings
Shion - took Keiichi into the equiptments chamber
Mion - did not want Keiichi dead

As usual, I have no way to piece my conclusions together, I wonder how many of them are wrong. There are alot more I'm still wondering, the reappearance of the syringe for example...