Higurashi Q & A

[Guernsey]

Why do the girls get cat like irises when they act ascary in the series?

[y0shi]

Cuase theyre supposed to look scary, their eyes dont change physically

[Guernsey]

It is just aenesthetics? Another question, how can some cahracters die in the questios arcs yet somehow come back to life? I am confused and I am watching the anime so I may not have all the info.

[Dante of the Inferno]

Originally Posted by Guernsey

It is just aenesthetics? Another question, how can some cahracters die in the questios arcs yet somehow come back to life? I am confused and I am watching the anime so I may not have all the info.

First of all, that's aesthetics (anesthetics are completely different).

Second, my responses are based entirely upon how far into the show you are. There are 50 episodes, and trust me, this show is VERY spoiler-sensitive.

[y0shi]

My advice would be to just continue the show, its supposed to be confusing, guessing whats happening is what this show is about, its all the fun. And youll get all the explanations later on, dont worry. For now, just think of the different "arcs" as scenarios that happen although you still dont know why they happen / why the same time frame gets repeated etc.

[y0shi]

A friend of mien showed me this:

http://www.amazon.fr/Le-sanglot-des-.../dp/3000294589

There is a french higurashi translation?

[Klashikari]

It has been nearly a year that pbsaffran has done that.
He is currently working on the kai chapters.

[y0shi]

So this is official? Cause it looks like a fantranslation and you cant sell those, right o_o?
And is there an englisch one as well?

[PBsaffran]

There is an official higurashi translation, done by Manga Gamer (it's all out already).

I am producing an official translation of Higurashi for the french market (with selling rights extended to Luxemburg and Belgium). I signed a contract with 07th Expansion, this is the real deal.

Right now, I am working on Tsumi horoboshi (game number 6). Games 5 and 6 will go on sale later this year, then at the end of the year, I hope to be able to sell the whole of kai (games 5 to 8).

I'm waiting for the end of the comiket to sign another deal for the kai music tracks.

[sona-nyl]

You can't ask that question here it's not legal. I advise you to remove your post before the mods get you.

[Guernsey]

What was Rika plannign to do with the syringe in the Shion's arc (I forgot the name)?

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by Guernsey

What was Rika plannign to do with the syringe in the Shion's arc (I forgot the name)?

Spoiler for Lots of things:

The syringe had the medication for the condition that Satoko had. It would have helped Shion's paranoia. Rika was hoping to save her and prevent further attacks.

[Kerrazy]

This is probably my favorite anime. I watched Higurashi no naku koro ni, kai and rei. However, I never got into the manga. Does it continue on after Rei?

[Dante of the Inferno]

Originally Posted by Kerrazy

This is probably my favorite anime. I watched Higurashi no naku koro ni, kai and rei. However, I never got into the manga. Does it continue on after Rei?

No, as far as the canon anime and the manga are concerned, rei is the end of the line. Of course, there are a million and 5 different independent arcs and anthologies, some of which are actually being translated.

[Guernsey]

Originally Posted by Dante of the Inferno

No, as far as the canon anime and the manga are concerned, rei is the end of the line. Of course, there are a million and 5 different independent arcs and anthologies, some of which are actually being translated.

Dang, how man arcs does it have and how do I know which is the 'ral' one or are all of them real? All the characters keep dying and coming back to life for some reason.

[Dante of the Inferno]

There's a lot of arcs:

Onikakushi-hen
Watanagashi-hen
Tatarigoroshi-hen
Himatsubushi-hen
Onisarashi-hen
Yoigoshi-hen
Meakashi-hen
Tsumihoroboshi-hen
Nekogoroshi-hen
Yakusamashi-hen (anime only)
Minagoroshi-hen
Matsuribayashi-hen
Saikoroshi-hen
Hirukowashi-hen


In that order. (Shame-Exposing Chapter doesn't really count)



Mind you, there are more arcs and variants of the above arcs in the various games and anthologies. Each of them provide more answers to the increasingly complex universe of Higurashi.

[Kerrazy]

Originally Posted by Dante of the Inferno

There's a lot of arcs:

Onikakushi-hen
Watanagashi-hen
Tatarigoroshi-hen
Himatsubushi-hen
Onisarashi-hen
Yoigoshi-hen
Meakashi-hen
Tsumihoroboshi-hen
Nekogoroshi-hen
Yakusamashi-hen (anime only)
Minagoroshi-hen
Matsuribayashi-hen
Saikoroshi-hen
Hirukowashi-hen


In that order. (Shame-Exposing Chapter doesn't really count)



Mind you, there are more arcs and variants of the above arcs in the various games and anthologies. Each of them provide more answers to the increasingly complex universe of Higurashi.

lol yea that is a lot of arcs.

[Guernsey]

How can there be two of the same people roaming around? IF Hanyuu and rika wanted to prevent the bad future from happening, couldn't they had at least stopped takano plan from hatching instead of warping reality all the time?

[Dante of the Inferno]

Originally Posted by Guernsey

How can there be two of the same people roaming around? IF Hanyuu and rika wanted to prevent the bad future from happening, couldn't they had at least stopped takano plan from hatching instead of warping reality all the time?

Spoiler for Discussion:

I am unsure about what you mean by "two of the same people." Please explain.


As it has been established in Minagoroshi-hen, Rika had no idea that Takano had faked her own death, and that she is the real leader of the Yamainu (Rika thought that it was Dr. Irie, since he was the one who approached Rika to learn about Hinamizawa Syndrome). And even after Rika discovers the truth, there are problems with just "stopping Takano." First off, as far as we know, Rika can only travel within her own lifetime (since she needs a body for her consciousness to inhabit). That means that although Rika can only go back to the mid-1970's, she would be a toddler - nope, not going to be stopping the Yamainu like that. Furthermore, even if Rika COULD do something in the 1970's, Miyo has still been on her set path for years - no one is going to deter her. That means that Rika would have to save Miyoko BEFORE the bus crash, at a time that Rika CANNOT go. Therefore, just "stopping Miyo" at the root is a no-go.

Ok, so now Rika is limited to what she can do in her conscious body between around 5 and 12-13 (remember, Miyo has been in Hinamizawa for longer than there has been a Curse). The problem is, Rika can't really DO anything by herself. As such, EVERY YEAR her parents died. In Higurashi Rei - Saikoroshi-hen, Rika recounts that she eventually came to hate her parents because she could never save them - and how could she? Who would believe their 5-year old daughter that a nurse and a doctor are backed up by a secret government paramilitary organization, and THEN be able to stop them? Even if her parents DID believe her, how are they going to fight off the Yamainu? The police (i.e. Oiishi) are already chasing a red herring with the Sonozaki's, and the Yamainu have already proven that they can easily eliminate the patrol officers and frame it on another party.

So now Rika is limited to what she can do in her conscious body between around 5 and 12-13, with all the inherent limitations of being a 5 - 13 year old. And what of Hanyuu, you ask? As we've seen, although Hanyuu has access to the multi-verse, her powers in any given world are limited. As we've seen, she can go where Rika can't, she can provide Rika information, and she apparently stop time and move stuff while time is frozen. Although these are nice abilities in theory, they never seem to be able to do much. For example, say Hanyuu DID help Rika when she was fighting Shion in Watanagashi-hen/Meakashi-hen. Even if Rika DID win and administer the shot, Shion is still going to freak out because Rika had something REALLY supernatural on her side and she still hates Oyashiro-sama and the Sonozaki's for supposedly taking Satoshi. That and she's already killed two village heads and imprisoned her sister, so there's already a "bad end" here. Besides these small skirmishes, Hanyuu's abilities won't allow her to just evade the Yamainu for any significant amount of time, and it's not like she can use Hanyuu's powers to make Miyo back down (recall the little stand-off between Miyo and Hanyuu in Matsuribayashi-hen).

Alright, so Rika needs some help stopping a megalomaniac and her mercenary army, and just having Hanyuu isn't enough. Rika has to go looking for help from her friends, since they're the only ones that stand a chance of actually believing her. However, Rika needs ALL her friends (especially Keiichi) in order to have a chance at winning. Unfortunately, that limits Rika two-fold: Rika has to wait until Keiichi is fully assimilated into Hinamizawa life and likes it (so now she has a 2-3 week deadline), and Rika has to have a team that's clear-headed (so no Hinamizawa Syndrome-related freakouts). Unfortunately, the latter condition seems to be a lot rarer, and even if the situation CAN be salvaged (i.e. Tsumihoroboshi-hen), it's likely too late to even let the gang in on the plot against her life, much less formulate any sort of strategy to stop it.

So now Rika is left to jumping to a world in the multi-verse that has conditions suitable to attempt an offensive against Miyo. Unfortunately, Rika alone can't just see which world that is, so she's left to random chance. Hanyuu had tried steering Rika to a suitable world at the end of Minagoroshi-hen, but in order to do so, Hanyuu apparently needs to assume human form. The catch here is that Hanyuu now ALSO suffers from the same Swiss-Cheese Effect that Rika suffers when she jumps into a new body. As such, even though Rika and Hanyuu both know that there is a threat against Rika's life, neither can remember who is responsible.



tl;dr: no, it's not just a matter of going back and stopping Miyo. Although,

Spoiler for Rei Spoiler:

at the end of Higurashi Kai, you see Frederica "save" Miyoko by having her get on the bus with her parents (we don't know if they all live or die because of it). The results of this action are explored further in the second arc of Higurashi Rei, Saikoroshi-hen.

n

[Guernsey]

I meant in Rena's arc when there was another Rena at a store in the city while the Rena Keiichi confronted in junkyard.