Higurashi Episode 25 Discussion / Poll

[kj1980]

Welcome to the discussion thread for Higurashi no Naku Koroni, Episode 25.

Thread Guidelines

• No telling or asking for RAWs.
• Try to keep spoilers from the Game or Manga out of the anime thread. If you need to in reply to someone with a reference to the Game / Manga, either PM them or use Spoiler tags (see example below).
• Discuss your expectations of the episode if not aired.
• Be polite to your fellow forum members.
• Try to keep the discussion on topic and future episode spoilers out of the thread whenever possible.

Spoiler Tag Usage

Using Spoiler Tags is easy. Using this...

[spoiler=title]Don't forget to use the spoiler title[/spoiler]

....will get you this...

Spoiler for title:

Don't forget to use the spoiler title

ADDITIONAL RULES FOR Higurashi no Naku Koroni

• Make sure you read the English wikipedia article for Higurashi no Naku Koroni before you ask questions!!!
  
• Feel free to utilize the info on the TIPS section as a complement to this series.
  
• Feel free to share your theories and speculations. In fact, I encourage you to do so as this is what makes this series interesting.
  
• I am designating Sushi-Y and Freakman to lead the discussion in the correct path without spoilers as they have played the game in advance. I put confidence in them that they will recognize a member has spilled the beans too far if any other members has begun to play the game.
  
• SPOILERS FAR ADVANCED THAN THE CURRENT AIRED ANIME EPISODE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. THIS INCLUDES THOSE IN SPOILER TAGS!!!. People tend to peek at spoiler tags; especially when they do not know such tag is meant for the episode, only to find it spilling the beans too far advanced in the game storyline.

[paTKany]

I should give a twelve out of ten on this episode's vote.

Keiichi's monologue in the school yard make me chill for over a minute.

This was a helluva great episode!

[MarthX]

One episode left. I'm sad to see it end.

[LuckyCat]

Ok it all makes sense now:

Spoiler for Plot Twist:

That whole thing with K1 suddenly remembering everything then hugging Mion;

I think I shed a tear or two.

[ShadowRift]

Wow, everything's coming together...

It's a shame it won't be explained why K1 can recall Onikakushi though.

I have to say though... while understandable, K1 breaks down into tears a lot in this ep...

[Sushi-Y]

Wow... I'm shocked.

For once, they got everything right. Sure, a pile of details are missing, but this epsiode actually managed to make itself look like a proper adaptation of the game story.

For many people, this episode should be the most revealing yet, and full of impacts.

They did skip 3 big events from the story, one of which would've helped clear up the whole thing better, the other is a foreshadowing of the next scenario, and the last one is past talk. But none of them are really necessary.

Spoiler for :

- Keiichi's talk with Mion behind the school the day after the phone talk with Rena. This helped save Keiichi from becoming just like Rena. But I guess there's already more than enough contents in this episode that proved Takano's scrapbooks to be "a joke".

- Rika's visit at Rena's hideout after the 2 cops left the junkyard. It's pretty much all a huge foreshadowing to Minagoroshi-hen, so I guess it's not really needed here.

- Keiichi's recount of his, er, criminal past(?). There already no room for the current story to begin with, so I guess you can't blame them for skipping it. The "bite-sized" heart-to-heart talk between Keiichi, Mion, Rika, and Satoko in the episode was nice. But it sure makes you wonder just how great it would've been if they did the whole thing...

Best scene in the episode? Obviously:

Spoiler:

"Fueh!?"

Satoko walking off with a "kya..." was brilliant.

Too bad the music's all wrong... as usual.

I gotta say though, Keiichi's "gutsy" talk was really approaching the cheesy level in this episode. It all sounded fine in text form, but when spoken out loud so emotionally like that (good job, Hoshi-), it's just comical. Combined with Yukari-chan suddenly going into "dark" mode just like that, もうわけわからん

Oh, and good job restoring Akane-san's youth, Deen.

And finally, it looks like they had to give up Rena's last visit @ Keiichi's house (no time left for that in the end)... Too bad, I almost felt like crying when they did this.

But still, they managed to set themselves up nicely for the finale. The final episode next week should be a thrill to watch. (・ω・)

[Sinless Idiot]

I have one lingering problem:

Spoiler:

Is is me or is the size of Rena's billhook/machete/whatever jump from half the size of her body, to about the size of her forearm in this ep and in general? I wish Deen or ANYONE would finally make up their minds on how big the damn thing is.

[Rasuberi]

魅音!今度はかあいすスギなのです!ウヒャ~　

This episode was so touching, really. First I was thinking, wow, Rena, calm down! I worry for her. Then Keiichi's "past" was ! But then all the scenes after that were just heart warming. Keiichi remembering Onikakushi, Rika realizing this... and then going up to Mion and hugging her~

This episode is making me depressed it ends next week. Damn you Deen, dissapoint me, and then get me excited at the last minute!

At least I'm finally reading the sound novels! (Though at a snail pace, can't wait till school work slows down...) Aaah, happiness. I am so tempted to just skip the question chapters to the answer chapters, but I'll keep myself from doing that...

[Ayu-ayu]

Yah, nice episode...Keiichi's "memory" of his Onikakushi life was pretty sweet as was the hugging scene and Satoko's reaction.

Spoiler:

Revealing the syringe was a marker pen was an interesting point--what DID he tape to the back of the clock and why was that part ripped out?--as was that sad scene of Rena trying to still reach through to him before he struck her with the bat in his madness.

Heh, so that's what the "zombie" quote was....ah well, still could be foreshadowing AFAIK... lol

In terms of where the anime will cut out, I am hoping someone will do scanslations of the manga that cover the remaining arcs as they become available...certainly any compassionate help at all from those who are in the know about the remaining arcs will be greatly appreciated. As it is, I can't thank kj1980, Sushi-Y, and Lost Blue enough for all their patient work on the TIPS thread as well as answering questions, etc. Excellent work guys!

It really is a crime that Studio Dean has dropped the ball so hard after Onikakushi...it's like watching a series of mostly Yashigani episodes...orz. If they had delivered the rest of the series at the same level, this could have become my favorite anime series. As it is, though, I think it's one of the best stories to get attempted as an anime, at least (if not very successfully handled). The DVDs could still redeem them, but to do so, the amount of work that needs to be redone is monumental, so I doubt it will be enough.

Here's hoping episode 26 ends on a strong production note, at least...

[sagematt]

Superb. After last week's episode I almost dropped this series (because I didn't approve of Deen's treatment on the first place), but I'm glad I watched this episode. I hope they end this the right way (and HEAVEN OR HELL has to be epic!!!).

8 out of 10. Now we can only hope...

(Yeah, I'm the guy who always deviates from the mean :P)

[RiXeD]

Originally Posted by Sushi-Y

Best scene in the episode? Obviously:

Spoiler:

"Fueh!?"

Satoko walking off with a "kya..." was brilliant.

Too bad the music's all wrong... as usual.

NO! As a whole-hearted KeiichixRena-ist, I am disgusted! I DEMAND SATISFACTION! >x|

O` hail Queen Rena!

[Thisguy]

Originally Posted by RiXeD

NO! As a whole-hearted KeiichixRena-ist, I am disgusted! I DEMAND SATISFACTION! >x|

O` hail Queen Rena!

Your wish shall probably be granted, I suppose

I've yet to watch the ep, but from what I hear from some specific place, Deen again messed up with BGM...

Spoiler:

I just watched a MAD that combined the moment of K's awakening with Birth & death for BGM... Man, that was freakin good.

I suppose there'd be issue with Anime using original BGM, weather legal problem, professional composer's pride or whatever I don't know.
However, I think these who played original would all agree that Anime's BGM sucks up to this point.
I wonder why they can't just compose some arranges, or at least something that has similer atmosphere, rather than what we have now...

Edit: some wording and grammer

[Sushi-Y]

Originally Posted by RiXeD

NO! As a whole-hearted KeiichixRena-ist, I am disgusted! I DEMAND SATISFACTION! >x|

O` hail Queen Rena!

If Deen doesn't mess up the final episode, you will get your satisfaction (well, maybe).

Actually, I think Tsumihoroboshi-hen was the only chapter where Keiichi and Rena got _________ in the end? Game players who were too distracted by the final TIP probably didn't notice that.

Originally Posted by Thisguy

I've yet to watch the ep, but from what I hear from some specific place, Deen again messed up with BGM...

Unfortunately, that's not the end of it. I can predict that the lack of 彷徨いの言葉は天に導かれ and ZERO from the finale is going to at least cut the last episode's impact by half.

[kj1980]

For once I am quite satisfied. Too bad they left out Keiichi's confession of his past deeds, but that can be arranged (See TIPS #130).

But I still get the feeling that DEEN could've done better to show Rena's descent into madness (she still looked a bit normal from me up until the half point). The game did a good job at this by gradually changing Rena's text color from white, to pink, then into blood-shot red. It sent chills down my spine at the time when I first realized that effect when they made the red text stand out over a dark background picture...

As people have mentioned, yes the anime music pales in comparison to the original soundtrack used from the game. It's like: game = dramatic and at times, frightful >>>> anime = just plain cheesy. With that in mind, I am rather disappointed in Kawai Kenji at this point.


I'm glad to see Sonozaki's ane-san (seiyuu pun intended of course) back being a MILF!! Now if only they would do the same fountain-of-youth thing for Kuma-chan as well www

We're now left with the final episode...all I wish is that they don't screw up the best scene ever and the final plot twist at the end.

[LuckyCat]

Why does K1 get so much pleasure from shooting kids with BB guns?

[Sinless Idiot]

Originally Posted by kj1980

We're now left with the final episode...all I wish is that they don't screw up the best scene ever and the final plot twist at the end.

Can we expect the post-end plot twist in the anime? I can imagine it being used a trick to lure people into buying the games to learn what happens I guess.

[USCPharmacist]

Originally Posted by Shiosai

Why does K1 get so much pleasure from shooting kids with BB guns?

Why do 4 chaners cheer when Shion stabbed the living shit out of Sadoko. ehehe j/k

[Thisguy]

Finally got to watch the ep...
Surely it was quite a jet-speed, but I could feel their desperate attempt to fit (too) many events into merely 25 minutes of an episode and not ruining it.

I had voted 7 out of 10 , but as I write this I actually think I should've put a better score.

Spoiler:

I lol'ed when I saw this in preview... 赤字と青字とかやりすぎｗｗｗ

Well, I guess it shows that staffs DO know how important the scene is, so I'm slightly relieved.
For now, I'll trust in them for doing their very very best for climax, which I know many of us looking forward to.
(*cough*maybe except bgm*cough*)

[Paracelsus]

The thing that impressed me the most is that Keiichi was not scared when talking with Super OyashiRena of the second level (you know, a la Gohan <.<). And yeah, K1 hugging True Shion was moving. Hope she does not get killed >_>

[Eleutheria]

Finally watched episode 25, and I actually got most of the dialogue! Hurray!

This was the best episode in a long while, the hug was great, the awakening cheesy but sad... Loved it when the cop panned Takano's notebooks as bullshit occult fiction. "What? This one blames it on aliens/demons/enchanted lunatics on motorcycles?" Harsh.

In Onikakushi-hen, Rena didn't have memories of past lives, and could only hold out her bloodied hands imploringly.
This time, Keiichi is armed with foreknowledge. How will it be different...? Maybe he'll beat some sense into Rena with his trademark bat.

And the last TIP for this episode is stunning. Perhaps for the bulk of the TIP Rika is talking to "Oyashiro". Then at the end she's talking to "Satoko". Or Satoko=Oyashiro.

Sushi-Y:
Is there any hint in the TIP itself (text color, pagination, etc) that provides a clue as to whether Satoko is also who Rika is talking to from the beginning? Or is it again all white text on a black background?

Originally Posted by rasuberi

At least I'm finally reading the sound novels! (Though at a snail pace, can't wait till school work slows down...) Aaah, happiness. I am so tempted to just skip the question chapters to the answer chapters, but I'll keep myself from doing that...

I know! I'm at "just after Watanagashi" in Watanagashi-hen, and I'm itching to just skip ahead to Meakashi-hen.

Good to know someone is having the same pains as me. Fighto...

(This also means I won't be spoiling myself with Minagoroshi-hen and Matsuribayashi-hen information. Hopefully these threads will still be archived in the event that I actually finish those final chapters)