Higurashi Episode 6 Discussion / Poll

[Freakman]

Look at the TIPS for episode 6, they have lots of background info on the village.

[Meowshi]

Originally Posted by Matrim

I totally agree with you.

Spoiler:

If I had visited some forbidden temple because someone pratically dragged me there and then two people died probably because of the curse of this temple, well I would have been extremely pissed off at that person too. It might not be the most rational reaction but it's quite a normal one.
For some reason when Takano was telling her rather ghastly lecture about the nice inhabitants of the village and their rituals I was all like "This is Sachiko from Marimite" (because of the seiyuu) and it didn't feel so creepy because of her voice which to me seemed full of irony, quite different from what you'd expect in that situation. So my crazy theory is that she is not dead at all - we saw no body, right? Maybe she actually conducts these rituals and is involved in the killings. Although, wouldn't it be considered blasphemous to get into the temple or whatever it was together with the photographer and Keiichi who appear to be in dark about the whole ritual murders plot?
So Mion's family are yakuza? Interesting.
My head started to hurt when I tried to figure out whether Mion pretended to be Shion in a given situation or vice versa. I think we know too little about their differences to make any reasonable speculations.

Spoiler:

This is the kind of thing in which you would be pissed off, but you wouldn't exactly scream at the person on the other end of the line at about, would you? Screaming at someone isn't very rational, but then again he would be pretty freaked out enabling him to pretty unrational things (Like clubbing his two best friends with a club~)

All I know is, some of the reactions Keichi makes seem totally out of the ordinary to me, and it's as if he suddenly goes to the extremes too easily.

[Crimen Scythe]

Originally Posted by Meowshi

Spoiler:

This is the kind of thing in which you would be pissed off, but you wouldn't exactly scream at the person on the other end of the line at about, would you? Screaming at someone isn't very rational, but then again he would be pretty freaked out enabling him to pretty unrational things (Like clubbing his two best friends with a club~)

All I know is, some of the reactions Keichi makes seem totally out of the ordinary to me, and it's as if he suddenly goes to the extremes too easily.

Spoiler:

well...IMO....i dun think his actions are very extreme considering his situation and how unknowing he is of things going on around him...personally if i was put into his situation...i wouldve screamed at Shion on the phone...and i wouldve clubbed my friends to death in Onikakushi-hen...fear can drive a person to many extents...survival of the fittest for example...i just try to relate myself to the chars' situation...i dun think there is a need for rationality when u're scared shitless...

[Matrim]

Spoiler:

It all depends on how easily one can snap. I don't know if I would yell at that person but I wouldn't rule out this possibilty. If people are being murdered the last thing one would want to be is a suspect or a potential next victim. If Shion had not taken Keiichi to that building he would not be either of these things so I think it's quite normal to blame her. And he seems to get all emotional easily, so he couldn't control himself and started yelling. But I don't think it's such an extreme case, I have seen people yelling at their friends or family members for unbelievably stupid reasons, it's a silly thing to do but it happens all the time.

[choia]

Spoiler:

I'm convinced that was Shion at the end, and the whole conversation was a ruse to get Keiichi to confess. We already know Shion's capable of deceiving, and it wouldn't make sense for Mion to change her hair like that when Keiichi couldn't even see her.

Then that must mean that was Mion dressed as Shion when they broke into the storehouse. Which means Shion was dressed as Mion when Rika and the others showed up, and Shion was actually asking if Keiichi met with Mion.

Crazy theory: Mion ratted out on Takano and Tomitake, but not Keiichi because she likes him. Shion suspects something, and exploits the fact Mion pretended to be Shion to get Keiichi to blurt out a confession. By the end of this episode, she has that confession.

Now Oyashiro-sama's coming to get Keiichi

[Vicke]

Interesting episode, lots of information. So now we know that Mion is the heir to the Sonzaki's and the dark past about the festival. I assume that Tomitake and Takano broke in to the sacred storehouse in Onikakushi-hen also. I wonder if there was a reason behind Shion dragging K1 into the storehouse. She wanted Oyashiro-sama to be angry at him? Also K1 does almost not react when he hears the stories about the murders and about the dark past, unlike in Onikakushi-hen where he freaks out. Right now I suspect that Shion somehow is behind the murders of Tomitake and Takano.

[Tenson]

Originally Posted by choia

Spoiler:

I'm convinced that was Shion at the end, and the whole conversation was a ruse to get Keiichi to confess. We already know Shion's capable of deceiving, and it wouldn't make sense for Mion to change her hair like that when Keiichi couldn't even see her.

Then that must mean that was Mion dressed as Shion when they broke into the storehouse. Which means Shion was dressed as Mion when Rika and the others showed up, and Shion was actually asking if Keiichi met with Mion.

Crazy theory: Mion ratted out on Takano and Tomitake, but not Keiichi because she likes him. Shion suspects something, and exploits the fact Mion pretended to be Shion to get Keiichi to blurt out a confession. By the end of this episode, she has that confession.

Now Oyashiro-sama's coming to get Keiichi

Oh my! That would actually make sense too! Very nice theory! *head's spinning*

[DingoEnderZOE2]

But then again why would Mion have to pretend to be Shion just so Keichi would go with her to the storage area and what reason would Shion have to pretend to be Mion to go to the festival with Rena and the others?

[SvenTheSweeper]

Some thoughts after seeing episode 6.

This episode was dialogue heavy and not as suspenseful, funny, and gut-wrenching (no pun intended) as the others, but I guess it was necessary. It provided important clues as to what’s going on.

Just when you thought it could get any intriguing, in episode 6-

Spoiler:

We find out Mion is a yakuza mafia princess, the local residents satisfy their cannibalistic impulse by eating human tripe and later disguised it as a festival ritual involving cotton pulling, and nurse Takano investigating the festival.

What else can they possibly add to top it? It’s wonderfully whacked out and disturbingly good already.

Now we know the Watanagashi custom of pulling the cotton out of the futon and floating down the river is symbolism for cannibalistic ritual of pulling out the intestine. If you recall in episode 2 Rena told Keiichi that, “The cotton sucks up the bad things from your body. Then, you float the cotton down the down the river.” So in some way the intestinal disembowelment is a perverse purification ritual. I’ll never look at a cotton futon in same way anymore.

My episode 6 Speculation is there's a power struggle within the local Yakuza between Shion and Mion. Keiichi seems to be a pawn caught in the middle of the sisters’ battle.

Finally, for gosh sakes, Oishi and Keiichi don’t know how to hold a private conversation away from witnesses. First they were talking in a in the car near the school, next Angel Mort Restaurant, and in this episode they were at a library with people nearby. It’s no wonder that people find out. Oishi speaking with Keiichi in the library when Shion is there seems like a foolish thing to do.

[SvenTheSweeper]

Originally Posted by DingoEnderZOE2

But then again why would Mion have to pretend to be Shion just so Keichi would go with her to the storage area and what reason would Shion have to pretend to be Mion to go to the festival with Rena and the others?

I agree.

It's risky for both sisters to pretend to be one another when they are in the same vincinity. They could easily be discovered by one another.

[Amaranthine]

Wow... I found that episode very unsettling, and even more so after reading choia's post, which nicely fleshed out the general direction my own thoughts were turning. Something about the uncertainty of which twin it is at any given time is just extremely creepy... and of course, that's enhanced so much by everything else in this series.

I guessed at what was revealed in the storage area in the last arc, but it was just that... an idle guess, random speculation. I don't think I really thought it would be true. o_o

But it instantly makes me wonder if that whole thing is being used as cover in some way, maybe by one of the groups speculated at in other threads, maybe by a different one entirely. There's so much uncertainty surrounding everything, I definitely wouldn't be able to put forward anything like even a semi-complete conclusion yet. And I'm happy to sit back and let everything unfold right now... but I know this series is going to be in the corner of my mind, and it's going to keep nagging at me when I'm not doing anything else. I think before too long I'm going to have to sit down and think about this as hard as I can for a while.

Semi off topic: I was going to make a sig with the twins in it, but I think I'm too creeped out by them to do it after watching this episode.

[Blue_Mercy]

Spoiler:

Well it definitely sucks to be Tomitake or Takano in any one of these it seems. I wish Oyashiro would go after Oishi for making all of his idiotic comments getting Keiichi targeted. Yeah Keiichi's reactions are not out of the ordinary in either Onikakushi or Watanagashi. He just needs to stop lying, he is terrible at it.

Speculation: I think that it was Shion testing Keiichi at school seeing if he was keeping the secret, since there is no reason for her to ask it twice. I do think it was Shion that led him into the storage house since why would Mion risk getting cursed if she is gonna inherit the Yakuza. Mion was able to figure out that Keiichi didn't watch the performance because he said that Rika didn't screw up, so she knew he was probably out with Shion. Also Mion didn't ask about Takano or Tomitake the 1st time she asked. Which means that Shion must have told Oishi that Keiichi was there with her and the 2 reporters, and really didn't plan to talk to him at the library but instead have Keiichi talk to the police. Unfortunately this theory is forcing me to figure out a motive for Shion and I still havent found one. She took un-needed risks then is going through a lot of effort to cover it up.

[Newprimus]

Spoiler:

I too subscribe to the theory that Mion and Shion were playing switcheroo during the festival. The two parts that really drove it in for me were one when "Mion" first asks if Keiichi had been with Shion. She looked and sounded very vengeful, which doesn't jive with what we already know of Mion's personality. She got a little pissed at Shion when the latter was with Keiichi but nothing to the point of really deep-seated hatred. Perhaps there's some bits of personality that Mion hasn't shown yet, but I don't think it would go so far as diverging from her base personality, which is being impulsive, but not crafty and manipulative.

The second is when Mion asks Keiichi if he's been with Shion last night. But Shion asked Keiichi that and when he asks Mion 'didn't you already ask me that?' Mion responds with such a canned and obviously fake answer that it pretty much convinced me that the Mion during the festival after Keiichi came out from the storehouse was actually Shion. Though you have to praise Mion for replying so quickly, even if it did suck. ^^

And then afterwards, Shion uses that fact to work a confession out of Keiichi.

As to why Mion disguised as Shion to bring Keiichi to the storehouse, I think she wanted him to know more about the truth of Hinamizawa (especially after Keiichi started showing interest before the festival), but did her switcheroo because,

1. As a safety measure. If people find out about the break-in, they'll point fingers at Shion first instead of herself.

2. Because she may feel (especially after episode 5) that Keiichi might be more cooperative with a feminine girl instead of a brash semi-tomboy like Mion.

Of course, all that backfires when the real Shion works that confession out of Keiichi. I think that last look Keiichi had on his face after Shion hung up the phone was him coming to the realization that he had just been had.

I started this series late, but now I'm totally hooked!

[rocket]

Wow! Okay, Chapter 2 got off to a slow start - yes, apart from the opening ^_^;; - but this episode picks up the pace and leaves us far more tense than the second episode of chapter 1.

I nearly fell of my chair when Takano revealed her job (all sort of theories could derive from that), but that was merely the prelude to the big shockers!


So, my take...

Spoiler:

Nice sleeply little town they got there - scary backwoods town in America just don't have that thousands of year old cannibalism tradition thing going for them! Oh well, it adds a lot of background - totally see the cotton festival as a symbol of the disembowling rite - but so far only opens up options, no answers. On the other hand...

Shion is sneaky, coniving, manipulative, overbearing and everything that Mion appears to be in the surface. Or at least the image I had of her from chapter 1. Now after chapter2 ep1 and ep2 I'm convinced Mion actually is quite soft hearted and only puts up a front, which Keiichi tragically misinterpreted in chapter1. I felt really sorry for her chugging down that tea, and being so easilly manipulated into it by Shion!

I don't understand why everybody assumes the girls are behind it all. So far, Mion looks like the big victim, and after the opening foreshadowing I expect she may end up like Keiichi. So I just can't believe she's somehow plotting to get Shion and Keiichi killed.

I also can't believe they were swapping places at the festival, seems too convinient after the switcheroos of the last episode *and* too hard to pull off. Though I'll admit it appeals due to the nature of the show, I think the real twin factor - I'm the real Kirk, no I'm the real Kirk! - will play out more in episodes 2.3 and 2.4.

Boy! A whole lot of info in that episode, and not just talking and explanations. What happened (and didn't) seems to me as much of a clue as to the rest of the show as any of the details revealed.

In the end it bugged me how everybody just shows up and are introduced so quickly, with just enough "oh, pleased to meet you, I'm so and so whom you already know from last chapter," but I guess I can forgive them given how completely hooked I am.

I'm gonna go post some specific ideas in the general theory thread!

[Newprimus]

Does anyone else feel really creeped out everytime Takano-san opens her mouth and speaks?

[rocket]

Originally Posted by Shinova

Does anyone else feel really creeped out everytime Takano-san opens her mouth and speaks?

It's thoose sad eyes! But why was she soooo happy about everything she was finding?

[Newprimus]

Originally Posted by rocket

It's thoose sad eyes! But why was she soooo happy about everything she was finding?

She was so sad that she was happy. She was so happy to be sad. Meh, whatever.



On what day does Higurashi air?

[Misuzu]

Originally Posted by Shinova

Does anyone else feel really creeped out everytime Takano-san opens her mouth and speaks?

It scares the crap out of me too.

She didn't come across as scary or creepy to me at all back in the last chapter.

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by rocket

It's thoose sad eyes! But why was she soooo happy about everything she was finding?

Because her favorite hobby is to research on history and the occult. Obviously, being able to take a sneak peek into one of the village's most strictly kept secrets would be very exciting for her.

Originally Posted by Shinova

On what day does Higurashi air?

Read the wikipedia article as written on the first post of this thread. Basically, the very first TV station that airs Higurashi in the week is Kansai TV on Tuesdays at 25:55.

[monir]

Originally Posted by Sushi-Y

Don't be so quick to pass judgement on the whole series just because you saw an undesirable reaction from Keiichi. It's common for people to become agitated or angered easily when they're in a state of anxiety or panic. People always say "I would've been calm instead of freaking out like that" when they're on the sidelines, but the truth is, most people placed under a sudden stressful situation will fail in maintaining a calm conscious mind. The important thing is how fast they can regain their calmness and begin to think and act logically again.

I believe if I read this part of the story I would have been absolutely excited by the prospect of guessing what's about to come and would have been able to sympathize with Keiichi because I wouldn't be hearing him yell or see him deranged, wide eyed. The seiyuu or the voice for Keiichi just makes it too damn difficult to be sympathetic. This kind of voice acting that is so much common in a mecha-show, keeps me away from most of the mecha genre. The voice acting seems over the top and not always seems appropriate. What makes Keiichi's reaction in his panicky state so annoying is that he is so curious and has fits because he is excluded from the loop. So why are you panicking now you pansy ass bastard. Sorry. There are so many ways to show ones fear when one has just considered self to be one of the sacrifice other than telling the girl it's okay for you to be the sacrifice by having the prospect of facing a gruesome death as long as I am not one of these sacrifice... sort of.

Yeap, I don't see at this very moment how Keiichi has gotten to be one of the popular character.