Higurashi Episode 4 Discussion / Poll

[FubaredByAnime]

Sushi-Y, it really sounds like you're dying to tell everyone what's really going on. lol

[Sushi-Y]

Originally Posted by FubaredByAnime

Sushi-Y, it really sounds like you're dying to tell everyone what's really going on. lol

Really? No kidding?

I guess it's time to shut up then.

[BrokenWingz]

I watched this ep with my bro at around 1am, don't think i wanna do that again xD

Spoiler:

During the part of where he 'clawed his neck' i didnt see anything but my bro insisted that there was a glimps of yellow before it blacked out and the only person i can think of with yellow 'hair' was the other little girl(and im not exactly sure if i were to classify Rena and Mion as loli, but the fansubber did state during the title of the ep, beware of the killer lolis)

So how did Rena and Mion get the sterynge, either it was his imagination or they got it from the 'doctor'.

I did find it intriging that the middle part of his letter dissapeared when they found it(which supposedly contained the part of him having evidence with the 'missing syringe') mainly because it was suppose to be hidden in a spot where very little people would search of for someone to do a very thorough search. That being said i'd assume that either 1- the girls actually could tell what he was doing inside his house(ie Rena knew what he was having for dinner) thus being able to tell their 'group where it was'.
2- Someone who did the search was involve and removed it carefully since it was a clean cut out and not just a rip.
3-he imagined the whole thing and most of the incidents.

Things to stand out to me
I dont think that they actually tried to attack him with the syringe because if they were really that murderous or followers of Oyashiro-sama, then how would he be able to overpower the two who had him in a grip in which he was struggle though that whole scene got blacked out.

After being attacked by the people in green he woke up with Rena and Mion beside him, i forgot if it was daytime but the after-incident it was night and that Rena was the only one following him.

Why would the two even think of bringing the bat inside his house if they told him the same day to stop practising with the bat.

Alot of this is jumble uped and seem to contridict each other so guess im more confused then before i typed this @@.

Time to read the tips thread

[DaFool]

This is the first time a harem anime went from 0 to 1000X crazy insanity in only 4 episodes. And to think there are more intense ways of doing it for the next episodes. I was looking for the thread after coming back from Labor Day weekend, and then bam! it's got its own forum. Quality speaks for itself. Though of course as far as rewatchable, I'd say episodes 2 and 3. But the clues in ep 4 gets you thinking.

[aliensporebomb]

What I found very surprising was the juxtaposition of disturbing insanity
and then light-hearted fun anime goodtimes all within seconds of one
another.

Can you imagine if this was aired on american television?

There's absolutely nothing like it so I could see some surprising and
shocked reactions.

[Pellissier]

Heh, no shortcuts. As a total ignorant of the game/novels etc etc. I find this anime to be simply marvellous.

Basically because it belongs to one of my favourite branches, meaning the calm pace and narration hiding something deep and mysterious behind. And even more, I like how the most innocent-looking people can go suddenly insane.
I find very amazing to see the sweet and lovely Rena, and Mion, to go into Psycho mode, or even into Berserk mode. I like this kind of horror, more based on suspence and thrilling than on pure splatter (well, a bit of splatter was shown when Keichi devastated Rena and Mion's bodies in episode 4, but that was pretty much left at the imagination, we're far away from Elfen Lied brutal (and more disturbing) mode).

The construction:

It's good to see how the story was settled and built throughout just this 4 episodes. A very calm beginning, and then - little by little - the clues. Pieces of puzzles went together slowly, mysterious narrations, happenings and characters took place.
I loved how the tension increased, how Keichi's insanity went overboard, but also how the girls' teasing went overboard as well. That was just constructed plain nicely, and I loved it.
Not knowing anything, I didn't expect a sort of "end of round 1" at episode 4. Nor I would have expected to see Keichi escape from a sure death. The "monster" were supposed to be Rena and Mion, instead from executioners, they became victims.

But still, so many unsolved question. I'll keep them for myself, it will be tasty to (hopefully) get answers for them on next episodes.

The realization:

Props to Studio Deen which made so far an excellent work. The character design is kind of unique, very peculiar and unusual. But the details are great, and the psycho/crazy modes of the characters are depicted magnificently. You actually may happen to fall from your chair if you're very concentrated (sort of Shining alike , ^_^). If this happens, it's a great success, of the director, of the animation team, of all nevertheless.
Rena dubbed by one my favourite seiyuus (Nakahara Mai) is then a great plus for the series.
I also absolutely adore the musics. Especially the OP theme, which I find very fitting and intriguing. A tv sized version of it has already gone on my Ipod. I couldn't help it, May 24th (single release) is still too far

Enough for now, I have probably said cheap things for those living in Japan, or already knowing all that's behind this wonderful series. But that's all I could put together in four episodes, and now looking forward to the fifth to see how the story is gonna to restart, I really have no clues as for now, and I'm really glad of it, even though the wait is hard to bear ^^

As for single episode ratings I have given:

Episode 1: 8 - Introductory, a bit slow but showing the potentialities.
Episode 2: 9 - More pieces of puzzles to put together. And the pace from calm to scary is really short
Episode 3: 9 - The series becomes officially scary, and that great final, full of tension, with Rena at the door, is one of the best anime moments of this year.
Episode 4: 9 - Because it was unexpected and it took me by surprise. I'd liked to give 10 to it, but first I'd liked to understand what was going on. Ok, perfect rendering. But why? When I cannot understand something, because not enough clues have been sown, I don't feel like giving a "perfect" judgement.

That's it

[Azn_GooWakJai]

Originally Posted by aliensporebomb

What I found very surprising was the juxtaposition of disturbing insanity
and then light-hearted fun anime goodtimes all within seconds of one
another.

Can you imagine if this was aired on american television?

There's absolutely nothing like it so I could see some surprising and
shocked reactions.

See this would be sumthing good to be put on in American TV shows and hopefully not cable cuz I dont have cable --_--" And sum TV shows that mystery series such as 24, Bone, and Prison Break are pretty good. Fox series has good action/mystery shows but compare to anime like Higurashi, they can't win.

[FubaredByAnime]

And the goal of the story is not "figuring out who Oyashisama is", nor is it even about "finding the true culprit" or "finding out the truth". The real goal is XXXXXXXXXXX (but to do that, you'd need to find out the truth anyway, so it's not that different I guess, at least for you lucky anime watchers who won't have to worry about Matsuribayashi ^^; )

[editted by kj1980: blanked out the real goal. I think it's better for the viewer's to find out what the real goal is as they struggle to put it all together. Besides, that's what made it interesting to us when we first played the game, right?]

Hahaha. Reading this made me laugh. I guess I'm one of the few who got to read the unedited version. Seriously, Sushi-Y, you did sound like you were dying to tell us.

Anyway, with all the hints flying around in the QA, speculation and Ep 4 threads, I think I have an idea of what's going on. For now, I'll be in the minority and say that something supernatural is going on.

[Pellissier]

Originally Posted by FubaredByAnime

Hahaha. Reading this made me laugh. I guess I'm one of the few who got to read the unedited version.

Shoot! I did read the "uncensored" version too, my bad . But it's my fault, I know I mustn't read anything about discussions etc. etc. on these kinds of boards, because spoilers are always the fee to pay to read them.

By the way, in defence of Sushi-Y, I don't consider that as an high voltage spoiler, I mean, what he said, if the anime will follow the speculation I'm doing, should be guessable quite soon anyways

And as for the anime itself; yes, I too belong to the "oh, something must be wrong here" minority

[Blue_Mercy]

I just got into this series, and I have to say it is quickly turning into one of my favorites. I never knew little girls could at any moment turn into raging psychopaths who abuse drugs. I've got a few questions though.

Spoiler:

1.Why wouldn't Keiichi have told Rena about the Oishi-san in episode 2 since he only said don't mention it to Mion?

2.Why was Rena spying on Keiichi when he was first visited by Oishi-san?

Spoiler:

Spoiler for Shuffle!
3.Doesn't Keiichi's attitude in episode 4 when Rena shows up remind you of Kaede when she snapped in Shuffle?

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by Blue_Mercy

Spoiler:

Spoiler for Shuffle!
3.Doesn't Keiichi's attitude in episode 4 when Rena shows up remind you of Kaede when she snapped in Shuffle?

Technically, it's the other way around. Since the Higurashi no Naku Koroni doujin game came before SHUFFLE!, many otakus here were on 2ch boards that time saying that it was Kaede that went oyashiro-mode. Besides, that was what the anime staff for SHUFFLE! was exactly aiming for - bringing out the eerieness in Kaede just like Rena.

[Blue_Mercy]

Either way I almost wish Keiichi had just given in and become one of them.

Spoiler:

He took down two of my new favorite anime characters. How exactly did he break Rena's hold and where did the bat appear from?

[Thewanderer]

Originally Posted by Blue_Mercy

Either way I almost wish Keiichi had just given in and become one of them.

That'd actually have been far better, IMO. Why go aginst a group of cute widdle murderers instead of join them?

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by aliensporebomb

What I found very surprising was the juxtaposition of disturbing insanity
and then light-hearted fun anime goodtimes all within seconds of one
another.

Can you imagine if this was aired on american television?

There's absolutely nothing like it so I could see some surprising and
shocked reactions.

You could put something like this on american tv but the age of the characters would be older and it wouldn't be animated, it would be completely live action.

[Thewanderer]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

You could put something like this on american tv but the age of the characters would be older and it wouldn't be animated, it would be completely live action.

Exactly. And show this to the standard american and it'd probably disgust them, and not because of the actual disgusting parts too, mind you. Americans don't have the concept of young kids being main characters in anything besides shows made for kids. They're so superficial.

(and I should know, as I'm american myself)

[Xellos-_^]

btw. anyone who is the first pyscho loli? I think school day came before Higurash which came before shuffle/fate. Was there any character like thses before School Days?

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

btw. anyone who is the first pyscho loli? I think school day came before Higurash which came before shuffle/fate. Was there any character like thses before School Days?

School Days is rather new, the game was released last year.
Both SHUFFLE! and Fate were released in January of 2004.
Higurashi no Naku Koroni, Onikakushi-hen was released back in Summer Comike 2002

Besides, Kaede wasn't that psychotic in the original ero-game.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

btw. anyone who is the first pyscho loli? I think school day came before Higurash which came before shuffle/fate. Was there any character like thses before School Days?

And what makes you say Shuffle?

And don't even say Keade is a loli - and i wouldn't say Illya is pysho.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by kj1980

School Days is rather new, the game was released last year.
Both SHUFFLE! and Fate were released in January of 2004.
Higurashi no Naku Koroni, Onikakushi-hen was released back in Summer Comike 2002

I stand corrected.


AngelSama, how about pyscho girls. And i was thinking more of Sajura then Illya.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

AngelSama, how about pyscho girls. And i was thinking more of Sajura then Illya.

If you said that instead of Loli, then it would make perfect sense.