Higurashi Gou - Anime Episode Discussion Thread (OG/Kai spoilers OK)

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by maximilianjenus

about hanyuus horns, therr is this manga where an elf joins a mercenary group, the guys think she is just a crazy american that got ear surgery to look like that.

A demonic set of horns is a far cry from mere pointy ears .

[Marina2]

Classic cover up for the horns is "It's just a head accessory"

Preview for next ep.
https://higurashianime.com/story/005_019.html

[MCAL]

Originally Posted by Marina2

Classic cover up for the horns is "It's just a head accessory"

Preview for next ep.
https://higurashianime.com/story/005_019.html

Too much happiness in those preview images.

[Ayu-ayu]

Oh weird, this reply never posted and was in one of my tabs:

Originally Posted by maximilianjenus

that must have been their first growth spur, that was nice. and damn, i never considered that building to be st lucia, good catch.




ah, she can umineko ep07 SPOILERS

Spoiler for umineko:

she can travel to the world were yasu is brought as leon

Ah, but that's still on the Umineko gameboard with Umineko pieces, as opposed to Rokkenjima (or, say, the world of Ciconia for that matter). The Higurashi gameboard is alluded to in Umineko but never directly interacted with.

All metaverse stuff still has to obey the rules of the gameboard when interacting with it.

---

Regarding the last episode, I am more inclined toward Lambda being behind Satoko after all. There was one exchange Satoko and Rika had that was a direct match to one of LD and Bern's exchanges in Umineko...I just finished rereading the manga and I can't unsee that now.

[MCAL]

If the When they Cry Universe has ever taught me anything, its that St. Lucia's Academy is never a good place to be in.

[FlareKnight]

Honestly a lot of this episode worked nicely. It was good to have some positive vibes going for a while. The show should be more positive and then veering into some darker stuff. I appreciated a lot of what this episode was putting out there. Rika aiming for her dream, Satoko going along with her, and the two of them bonding while pushing themselves forward.

Of course things wouldn't necessarily go smoothly. It's understandable how Satoko got all the way to that school and then ran into issues. But it's also foreseeable that she would. Her motivation was purely to be close to Rika. The where didn't matter so much so long as that remained true. But Rika really wanted to be there. Being with Satoko was a win/win scenario from her point of view. A fresh day to day life, something very distinct from what she had before, and a chance to be more mature. She wouldn't necessarily have to hide her real personality behind the expected identity of Furude Rika. So it wouldn't be an issue for her to keep studying hard. The reward was worth it.

Satoko...unfortunately is hitting the reality that friends can drift a bit (or a lot). Different dorms and different interests are going to do that. Her whole approach to this situation is waiting/hoping for Rika to lose interest and having to face the reality that she hasn't. In a different situation it could just end with her dropping out and going to a less intense school. Not like Irie would be upset and honestly he'd be more positive about Satoko taking good care of her mental health.

So of course we're not going there! The question is what comes next. Does her syndrome simply kick into gear? That seems possible considering the tone of that ending. But there has to be more than that. Otherwise this would be one and done. Thankfully Satoko does have the syndrome to put a lot of blame on. Otherwise she'd just be an incredibly selfish jerk. Getting upset at Rika for fitting in and enjoying herself when Satoko herself refused Rika's invitation to have tea with the other girls. She cornered herself and refused every attempt Rika made to reach out and then stands by herself angry at Rika...for some reason. Thankfully we can just blame her condition coming back for a lot.

I swear, this better still end with Rika getting to go to school out of the village. The most she did wrong was encouraging Satoko to go with her when they all should have realized she wouldn't fit in. But that's a pretty minor thing considering the choice was still for Satoko to make.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Otherwise she'd just be an incredibly selfish jerk.

I think you are being overly harsh and also somewhat unfair to Satoko here. First of all, not quite sure how she is a "selfish jerk". A selfish jerk here would be if Satoko causes problems for Rika at school by trying to show her up or hog her for herself. Satoko realizes just how much Rika wanted to enjoy this school and in this respect completely suppresses her own wishes until she breaks. Her mistake is more that she's holding herself back too much out of consideration for Rika than some selfish behaviour.

Getting upset at Rika for fitting in and enjoying herself when Satoko herself refused Rika's invitation to have tea with the other girls.

This is looking at it quite superficially. You said yourself, Satoko just doesn't fit into that school. What would have happened if she joined that tea party? In the best case, the other girls treat Satoko as non-existent. In the worst case they treat her as some boorish country girl. Regardless, it would have caused an awkwardness which would have been a barrier to Rika truly connecting with the other girls.

She cornered herself and refused every attempt Rika made to reach out and then stands by herself angry at Rika...for some reason.

Rika's attempts at reaching out were half-hearted at best. And don't forget what Rika's selling point to Satoko was, that she wanted them to enjoy this school life together. In the end, from Satoko's point of view, Rika didn't fit in as much as she got assimilated into that type of atmosphere and life while leaving her behind. The shift from here at first almost using "boku" at the beginning to in the end using "watashi" quite naturally when offering Satoko help in her studies (with all the others looking on) has quite a meaning in just how far Rika had moved on. From what we have seen, Rika hasn't really made an attempt to specifically spend some time with Satoko while being with Rika was the primary reason Satoko spent all that energy to get into St. Lucia in the first place.

But that's a pretty minor thing considering the choice was still for Satoko to make.

You make it sound so easy, but in the end the choice in Satoko's mind wasn't attending school yes/no, but rather be with Rika yes/no. In the end, the main mistake Satoko's made here is that she's bottled herself up until she broke, out of a somewhat misguided sense of holding herself back for Rika's sake.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by Kakurin

I think you are being overly harsh and also somewhat unfair to Satoko here. First of all, not quite sure how she is a "selfish jerk". A selfish jerk here would be if Satoko causes problems for Rika at school by trying to show her up or hog her for herself.

I think Flareknight is referring to the fact that we already know that Satoko will end up putting Rika through hell, killing her multiple times, torturing her, making her despair, almost bringing her to the point of suicide (real suicide) and then ripping her stomach open and cutting her in half while squeezing her entrails to make her suffer.

Yeah, if all that she has to justify her actions is that Rika has been less than a good friend and left her to her own devices, then indeed Satoko is a criminally selfish jerk.

I really don't think we can use Hinamizawa syndrome to justify her actions. Even assuming that she wasn't cured, which I don't think it's true, at one point she will die and go back in time to a point where she is not suffering from the syndrome, and yet everything suggests that she will lucidly come up with several elaborated plans to trick Rika and cause things to go the wrong way for her.

Perhaps there's some other explanation, but right now it really seems that Satoko went down to the yandere path for petty reasons. Hope I'm wrong though.

[tokinokanatae]

I'm more surprised that people think Satoko being "a little sad and hating to study" is going to be the justification for what she does. Do you really think next episode Satoko turns around in the woods and "Oyashiro-sama" is just waiting for take her on a time travel adventure? Of course, there's more to it. Ryukishi has never, ever had justifications for people doing guts-ripping-out levels of horrible things be "I felt like we were growing apart" or "I didn't like my extra study sessions."

[Jaden]

I'd say Rika screwed up by dragging Satoko along. In the end, Satoko is totally out of place, and also a major impediment for starting a new life, distancing yourself from the village. If she just left by herself, they would forever remember one another as old friends. Satoko would have Keiichi and Rena looking after her.

Satoko could still get out, cutting her losses - then it would be a bittersweet ending. But Rika was killed after five years, and it's only been three years so far. That means this is going to drag on, and their beautiful friendship gradually turns frigid. Probably it's Rika that is going to reject Satoko first, after realizing that she is a liability.

"If you don't like it here, why don't you just quit then?"

Interestingly, we haven't heard anything about Satoshi. But I guess if he still isn't up and about after three years, it's a lost cause, and further explains why Satoko keeps clinging to her friend.

[Kanon]

I can't say I'm feeling a lot of sympathy for Satoko. Starting the very first day, she was slacking off, and refused to join Rika to socialize with the other girls. She mainly has herself to blame for her current situation. She's the one who is actually a shitty friend, as it seems she expected, maybe even wanted, Rika to get bored and drop out. And now seeing Rika enjoy herself is making her seethe.

Of course, Rika is not without fault either. She probably pressured Satoko a bit too much into going with her. And when she noticed Satoko was having trouble, she could have reached out to her in private instead of calling her out in front of her clique.

I really hope there will be a lot more to it than this to justify the horrible things Satoko has done/will do, because this is nowhere near enough. And no, I don't trust the writer after Umineko.

Now to be superficial a little bit, Satoko grew up to be pretty hot. Not quite Shmion level but she's got some nice boobs on her. Rika of course remained flat (one of her dreams that won't come true)

[MCAL]

Think people need to remember the initial reaction to episode 16 and not jump to conclusions to what Ryukishi is saying here just yet. Not to mention there's still 2 more years until Rika is killed.

[blitz1/2]

Even if Satoko eventually snaps, the loop hell she is putting Rika AND their MUTUAL friends kills any form of sympathy from me.

[Marina2]

While Satoko only has herself to blame for the situation she found herself in, we have to remember that Satoko doesn't really share the same dream and interest as Rika - which was why Satoko refused to join Rika in her social group. Satoko honestly can't fit in with the lifestyle and society there. It doesn't help that Satoko likes to keep problem to herself and pretend that everything in fine.

Hanyu won't suddenly help Satoko and gives her the power to loop. - Are there some unknown gods (or demons) in that school??

In, Utsutsukowashi-hen, it is hinted that there are some mysterious things going on in St.Lucia but we've never gotten the answer since it was axed/canceled after 3 chapters.

[Von Himmel]

I'm still thinking that in the end Satoko will end up smarter and have a couple of friend in St. Lucia circle before she takes revenge of Rika. If she's the sole culprit that torture Rika in previous arcs, I think she needs to be actually competent or smart enough to solve Hinamizawa mystery and use it to trap Rika in the loop.

Also in meta world Lambda is the one who had many friends instead of Bern so... that made me think in the end Satoko will form her own circle and bully Rika instead.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by tokinokanatae

Ryukishi has never, ever had justifications for people doing guts-ripping-out levels of horrible things be "I felt like we were growing apart" or "I didn't like my extra study sessions."

Oh, I dunno about that.

Exterminating a whole village because you really love your adoptive grandfather and you want him to be recognized as being right, even if he is undoubtedly wrong.

Ryuukishi is pretty good when it comes to describe how the state of mind of his characters deteriorates to the point they end committing awful crimes, but that doesn't make their reasons any more valid.

[Kanon]

I'm pretty sure Rika is eventually going to reveal she only chose this school because she thought it would make Satoko happy, since the latter always tried to act like an oujo-sama.

[Klashikari]

Not particularly surprised, although I think the issue is much more nuanced than what people would think.
Satoko is mostly at fault for the following reasons:
-Blindly followed Rika without questioning that dream for 3 long years of working their ass off. At some point, you'd expect Satoko to realize that it wasn't going to be a cake walk once they are enrolled and both girls should have understood the requirements to stay, not just for the admission
-Never really discussed with Rika about her actual expectations and impressions thorough the first days and never came clean with her struggle
-Outright refused to get along with other girls
-Declining Rika's help

Meanwhile, Rika wasn't really innocent:
-While definitely not on purpose, she somewhat pushed her dream on Satoko who would have hard time to refuse
-Didn't really have a talk with Satoko and potentially Shion to make sure if it was the good decision
-Neglected a bit Satoko and didn't really insist.

But yeah, I also believe that the main problem was coming from Satoko who was generally dismissive of basically everything tied to St Lucia and just tagged along because of her promise with Rika.
It isn't really surprising though since she has no relative left aside of Satoshi still in a comatose state (?), so the closest person to her was Rika. So I still don't think all that drama was enough to push her to the edge for the suffering hell. What I expect is that a major incident will make her regret leaving Hinamizawa and it is probably what the true culprit used to manipulate her. I just can't imagine Satoko doing all of that crap on her free will considering what happened in the past, the OG series and even in that timeskip until St Lucia. Her resentment was definitely a catalyst, but if it is the sole motive, there is a glaring leap.

Originally Posted by Von Himmel

I'm still thinking that in the end Satoko will end up smarter and have a couple of friend in St. Lucia circle before she takes revenge of Rika. If she's the sole culprit that torture Rika in previous arcs, I think she needs to be actually competent or smart enough to solve Hinamizawa mystery and use it to trap Rika in the loop.

I don't see it at all, especially because the "mystery" of Hinamizawa was definitely solved and explained to her considering what Irie told her and Rika about her condition. But regardless if she has prior knowledge or not, deduction/wisedom doesn't really have anything to do with grades.

[maximilianjenus]

i saw satoko getting into the school just to suffer as typical lambda delta powers acting like a monkey paw. which means that 34s powers are already working.

[Liddo-kun]

Higurashi style of Maria-sama ga Miteru. Satoko is a bomb waiting to explode. Being trapped with other low score girls in the study room looks like torture.

Satoko, why even go to a school when you don't want to study?? Just drop and go back to Hinamizawa. Stop wasting Irie's money.

Rika finally got her dream life of getting high quality education + leave Hinamizawa. Using her long life experience, the other girls are amazed how mature she is.