Higurashi Q & A

[Goat-Kun]

Originally Posted by momobunny

Spoiler for Eriko:

I'm not sure what happened to Miyoko, but I read that in the manga Eriko was fed to the chickens. I don't know the details.

Spoiler for Matsuribayashi-hen:

In the manga Eriko and company were caught, tied up, covered in chicken feed, and brutally eaten by the chickens. Miyoko however, was thrown into a toilet and was told to clean it all up with her tongue. This traumatizing moment caused Miyoko to always feel dirty and vomit repeatedly until Dr. Takano comforted her.

Honestly, I hope the staff at the orphanage were tortured themselves.

[TsundereCake]

I'm currently reading MangaGamer's translation of Watanagashi-hen and I'm curious -

Spoiler for Meakashi-hen:

How easily did people figure out that Shion starts impersonating Mion originally (when the game first came out and people made theories)? After having already watched the anime/read the manga, it seems really obvious

[Heatth]

Originally Posted by TsundereCake

I'm currently reading MangaGamer's translation of Watanagashi-hen and I'm curious -

Spoiler for Meakashi-hen:

How easily did people figure out that Shion starts impersonating Mion originally (when the game first came out and people made theories)? After having already watched the anime/read the manga, it seems really obvious

I hadn't watched the anime nor read the manga before played the game.

Spoiler for Meakashi-Hen:

However, I was spoiled that there were some twin switch at some point. I didn't even know witch chapter, though.

That being said, I did not noticed the switch. I could figure the last switch, as it was pretty obvious, as well as when Mion pretended she was Shion to give Keiichi a lunch, but that is it. At time, I couldn't get it wasn't really 'Mion' doing the killing.

The switch is only obvious if you understand Mion's and Shion's personality well. Knowing then both it is easy to see the hints. However, at time of Watanagashi it is very hard to get it right. The perspective in Onikakushi is completely screwed up. Even if you notice it is mostly delusions it still don't help that much. At Watanagashi we have most of it with the twins changing places at random so it is pretty hard to separate their personalities.

Thinking back, however, and you can see the hints clearly. Actually, I believe it is not hard to understand Watanagashi if you have read Tatarigoroshi, as it gives some insights about Shion relationship with Satoshi. That part at Rika's and Satoko's house in Watanagashi is the only part it don't seem like 'Mion' at all. Even for a first timer.

[TsundereCake]

Originally Posted by Heatth

I hadn't watched the anime nor read the manga before played the game.

Spoiler for Meakashi-Hen:

However, I was spoiled that there were some twin switch at some point. I didn't even know witch chapter, though.

That being said, I did not noticed the switch. I could figure the last switch, as it was pretty obvious, as well as when Mion pretended she was Shion to give Keiichi a lunch, but that is it. At time, I couldn't get it wasn't really 'Mion' doing the killing.

The switch is only obvious if you understand Mion's and Shion's personality well. Knowing then both it is easy to see the hints. However, at time of Watanagashi it is very hard to get it right. The perspective in Onikakushi is completely screwed up. Even if you notice it is mostly delusions it still don't help that much. At Watanagashi we have most of it with the twins changing places at random so it is pretty hard to separate their personalities.

Thinking back, however, and you can see the hints clearly. Actually, I believe it is not hard to understand Watanagashi if you have read Tatarigoroshi, as it gives some insights about Shion relationship with Satoshi. That part at Rika's and Satoko's house in Watanagashi is the only part it don't seem like 'Mion' at all. Even for a first timer.

Thank you for answering my question^^

Spoiler for meakashi:

What I found the most noticable about the switch was that when Shion first starts acting as Mion, Rena immediately asks her if she's sick or something (basically, Rena knew she "wasn't right").

So I thought that might be a reason for people to be suspicious of "Mion" from the get-go, but I guess it really wasn't that obvious without prior knowledge.

[Lishy]

I don't get what happened at the start of the VN. I cleared the entire game, but what exactly is the scene at the start of the game where a guy gets killed?

[Joly]

Which arc are you referring to?

[Lishy]

The very start of Higurashi in arc 1, where it tells the game is fiction etc... and you hear hitting sounds.

[TsundereCake]

Originally Posted by Lishy

The very start of Higurashi in arc 1, where it tells the game is fiction etc... and you hear hitting sounds.

Spoiler:

It's not Keiichi getting killed. It's him killing Mion and Rena from the end of the arc. See: the very beginning of the anime.

[DevaDelta]

Can Hanyuu remember what happens in previous worlds?

She remembers that its Takano that kills Rika in the next-to-last world, so what kept her from making that discovery before?

[Dante of the Inferno]

Originally Posted by DevaDelta

Can Hanyuu remember what happens in previous worlds?

She remembers that its Takano that kills Rika in the next-to-last world, so what kept her from making that discovery before?

Copied from my post (#1496) on page 75:

Spoiler for Explanation:

It's better to think of Rika's world-jumping experience as being similar to Quantum Leap. Core Rika's consciousness jumps into the body of any given world's Rika (the assumption so far is that the previous Rika has been killed by a lesser event, as suggested in Saikoroshi-hen and in Minagoroshi-hen). She initially experiences gaps in her memory as her mind catches up to the reality that she has entered (known in Quantum Leap as "the swiss-cheese effect"). Bernkastel (at least in Higurashi) acts as a hard drive consciousness, whose mentality and personality differ from Core Rika (the Rika who physically experiences each world).


With respect to Hanyuu:

Hanyuu has been won over by The Crew's speech in the multi-verse after Minagoroshi-hen, and so she decides to assume her human form in Hinamizawa during Matsuribayashi-hen. By doing so (i.e. entering another world from the multi-verse), Hanyuu also falls victim to "the swiss-cheese effect." As all events in Higurashi start after a specific trigger occurs, Hanyuu did not remember that Miyo is the culprit until she met her face-to-face.

[Kishin]

Not sure if this's bin posted before but I just finished reading watanagashi-hen and it said,

Spoiler for Watanagashi-hen Spoilers:

that pieces of hair blood and skin were found of Rika, Kimiyoshi, and Onibaba, wouldnt detecting this only be possible by dna tests? I'm lazy so I havnt looked up the date dna testing was discovered but Takano's burned corpse is only discovered by the dental records, also

Spoiler for Minagoroshi - Truth:

if there WERE dna tests, this would shatter the mystery because Takano's corpse would be revealed to be a fake, or is this something like "cant find a hairbrush or sumthing to get dna to compare it to"?

[Dante of the Inferno]

Originally Posted by Kishin

Not sure if this's bin posted before but I just finished reading watanagashi-hen and it said,

Spoiler for Watanagashi-hen Spoilers:

that pieces of hair blood and skin were found of Rika, Kimiyoshi, and Onibaba, wouldnt detecting this only be possible by dna tests? I'm lazy so I havnt looked up the date dna testing was discovered but Takano's burned corpse is only discovered by the dental records, also

Spoiler for Minagoroshi - Truth:

if there WERE dna tests, this would shatter the mystery because Takano's corpse would be revealed to be a fake, or is this something like "cant find a hairbrush or sumthing to get dna to compare it to"?

Sorry to burst your bubble:

Spoiler for Bubble Bursting:

Almighty Wikipedia states that DNA profiling was first reported in 1984 at the University of Leicester in England, and the process was not commercially available until 1987 (also in England).

As such, there is no historical possibility of using DNA evidence to unravel the mystery. Contemporary forensic science could identify individuals based on their hair, skin, nail, and blood samples using microscopes and forensic chemistry (provided that samples are already available for comparison). The reason why identifying completely burned victims has historically been so difficult is that all the aforementioned samples have been destroyed (or irreversibly chemically altered). Dental records are therefore the only remaining way to identify the body, but those records can be tampered with and duplicated.

And on a personal note:

Spoiler for Preferrence:

I would rather the mystery not be so easily solved. For example, one of my friends had walked in when I was watching an episode, and he asked why no one simply used their cell phone. I told him that this story was set in the early 1980's, before common folk possessed cell phones, which apparently annoyed him.

My point is, the vast majority of fans are drawn to this story because there ISN'T a simple action that can be taken, no shortcut, no easy win (unless you count half of Matsuribayashi-hen). Cell phones, DNA evidence, and the internet are all modern conveniences that would make the story feel unconvincing and uncompelling.

[Kishin]

well I was just curious, glad to see Ryukishi didnt make a mistake like that, and I agree, if everything was based in present day, forensic science would make things too easy for the police and the setting would need to change to something similar to umineko where police couldnt reach

[Joly]

Just something I'd like to add on, from an interview with Ryukishi07.

Spoiler for INTERVIEW. YenPress: Why is the story set in 1983? This seems like an unusual detail.:

YenPress: Why is the story set in 1983? This seems like an unusual detail.

Ryukishi07: 1983 is a little more than 20 years ago. I think most Higurashi readers are young people, around college age. So it becomes a kind of ambiguous time, when the reader may or may not have been born.

Now, for example, if a story was set more than a hundred years ago, it might enter the realm of fantasy, because no one who's alive was present at the time--not the author, not the readers, not anybody. No matter how carefully they may have studied books on the subject, it won't change the fact that they are depicting their imaginary vision of something they've never seen or heard.

But if it takes place just barely around the time you were born, it's not fantasy. And yet it might be a time when you could believe in the fairy tales your parents told you when you were small. I think this puts it on the boundary where reality and illusions blend together. That's why I chose the ambiguous date of 1983 as a setting. I think it's because it takes place in that time that there's a delicate balance between murder cases and curses.

[Dante of the Inferno]

Does anyone know if a RAW of any of the series OP's (Ni, Kai, Rei) has ever been released? If so, please PM me ASAP, I need it to be of the highest quality possible.

[xavior686]

Quick Q here: In some of the arcs, Dr. Irie died due to sleeping pill overdosing. Did he legitimately kill himself or was he covertly assasinated by Yamainu?

If he did kill himself, what do you think the reason was?

[cereal_killerxx]

Question. What are all the differences between mangagamer's and the japanese version of the games? I heard that it's a poor translation. Is this true? Did I make a mistake buying this and should I just wait for a fan translation?

[Daisu]

It has different music, still a few translation mistakes XD Some censorship. French copy is better, mangagamer should put in more effort.

[Goat-Kun]

Originally Posted by Daisu

It has different music, still a few translation mistakes XD Some censorship. French copy is better, mangagamer should put in more effort.

I understand the music and grammar bit. But I didn't see any signs of censorship through my reading of MangaGamer's version. In fact, Shion swore every 2 minutes when she was pissed in Meakashi-hen, and the murders were detailed graphically. But I personally don't like the removal of the music box or extra games.

[~Pyro~]

Originally Posted by Goat-Kun

I understand the music and grammar bit. But I didn't see any signs of censorship through my reading of MangaGamer's version. In fact, Shion swore every 2 minutes when she was pissed in Meakashi-hen, and the murders were detailed graphically. But I personally don't like the removal of the music box or extra games.

Mangagamer did try to make some attempts at censoring words, but it seemed like they either sucked at it or had to drop it by Kai.
I believe that they even had some other music, but didn't even have it play...