Higurashi (1st Season) General Discussion

[Cogwheim]

Originally Posted by Crimen Scythe

u're theory makes alot of sense...but wut about Rena? Where does she fit into all of this? Is she just one of Mion's accomplices in keeping the secret about the Dam Construction Project...?
According to ur theory, i also think that is y Tomitake-san was eliminated because he was talking too much about the Dam Construction incident...but was Oiishi just a simple investigator or is there more than meets the eye..? He was also probably on the Sonozaki "hit list" since he was also "talkin too much"...maybe...IMO

EDIT:
At one point, i had also considered that Keiichi was drugged by the doctor because he started getting paranoia right after the shot...when it started with the hit and run by the white van...but then my mind went blank and then i didnt kno how to buildup from that conclusion as good as u did...

I'd say that Rena and Mion aren't accomplices in this incident, per se--they're simply being used by the Director to perpetuate the myth of Oyashiro-sama. Furthermore, they were only trying to help Keiichi...

Tch. Now that I've read over this thread a little more, I'm beginning to see this whole mystery revolving around the second usage of a syringe upon Keiichi--and of course, the whole "mystery drug being something that induces the sensation of cicadas burrowing into your neck" thing is beginning to seem a little too farfetched. The idea that the Doctor's shot induced paranoia and hallucinations in Keiichi is far more sound, and the temporal aspects also seem to allign themselves nicely with Keiichi's incidences of abnormal behavior.

"Mii's grandma made them," eh? In reference to the ohagi, of course--and Rena made one of them as well. I speculate that since I haven't seen Mion's grandmother, she doesn't exist--Mion actually lives with the Doctor, and was told by the Doctor to give the ohagi to Keiichi, who was "feeling under the weather," as the Doctor would obviously know since he gave Keiichi "that shot" early that day. As I said earlier--Mion is innocently following the Doctor's orders (no pun intended) , although she has a vague idea of what is going on.

Rena innocently revives Keiichi after finding him passed out in the forest--and she innocently calls the Doctor over to care for him. Mion arrives, and attempts to put Keiichi in good spirits by playing around with him a little--so she plays the Punishment Game, which is actually drawing upon Keiichi with a marker, not injecting him with a vaccine or mystery drug. The Punishment Game is justified by the fact that Keiichi didn't do his "ohagi homework," and neglected to guess which of the ohagi A through E was prepared by Rena. So they whip out a marker and attempt to tag the poor kid....but he's already having hallucinations, so....he mistakes the marker for a syringe and goes berserk upon the two playful girls, beating them into a pulp with Satoshii's baseball bat. Then, coming up with a crazy conspiracy theory, Keiichi links the girls to the Sonozaki Yakuzas, and writes out his farewell note.

The mystery drug that the Doctor is injecting into certain townsfolk is probably just one hell of a hallucinogen, like an extreme dosage of Crystal Meth. Not that I'm giving up on the cicadas quite yet, though--perhaps in a bad acid-trip-esque turn of events, those injected with the mystery drug step outside and the landscape of their hearing is suffused with the sound of chirping cicadas--which is ubquitous during the Cotton Drifting Festival, since it takes place during the Summer. Thus, the predominant hallucination caused by the drug is of cicadas swarming around a victim and then burrowing into the victim's neck--in turn, the victim tries in vain to scratch the imaginary cicadas off, rupturing a major artery and bleeding to death in the process.

IF Oishi is on the Sonozaki hit-list, and it seems as if he would be, then why hasn't he been nicked-off yet? Perhaps the Director enjoys being pursued--many serial killers enjoy having arch-enemies who try to capture them. (Hannibal Lector comes to mind, as well as the BTK Killer)

[Heh...just wanted to point out that in episode 2 when Mion is playing that Clue-like game with the three cards revealing the Scene of the Crime, the Murderer, and the Murder Weapon, the Scene of the Murder she comes up with is "The Medical Office." I just happen to believe this is foreshadowing, that's all. Hell--it even lists the Weapon of Murder as being "Poison," which is probably a fairly accurate description of what the Doctor injected Keiichi with.]

[(o^^)-o*(x_x)*]

Slightly off-topic but I still think Satoko looks like a young Alice

[kj1980]

There are many questions and theories that people have made. Here are some additional thoughts & comments for you to ponder about:

1. It seems that whomever has been doing the fansub translations used the word "The Director" for the Japanese word "kantoku." I would've used the word "The Manager" instead. Why? That way, the wording makes much more sense when we learn which homonym/synonym of the word "kantoku" Rena and Mion were using when we get to Tatarigoroshi-hen.

2. Surpringly, the doctor will become a major character as the story progresses. One person just said that why would he inject something for the common cold. Remember that this is 1983. Although I don't know how it was in other countries, but back then if you had a cold, the doctor would give you a vitamin shot for the common cold. But then again, that does not rule out the possibility that he may have used a different shot there. But why would he? Out of all the other patients that go there, why did he choose Keiichi? Moreso, why did he chose Keiichi with one that had an almost immediate effect?

3. The gun in Mion's holster has no meaning. You can definitely count on that. In fact, I never thought of it that way - I thought it was just a water pistol or a model gun which defines Mion's character. Besides, owning a firearm is practically illegal in Japan (only police officers, the SDF, and licensed hunters have legal means to own a gun). Yakuzas are known to own guns, but they are breaking the law - and showing it off makes a good reason for the police to land them in jail. Think about it.

[Jellyfish Marine]

Originally Posted by kj1980

2. Surpringly, the doctor will become a major character as the story progresses. One person just said that why would he inject something for the common cold. Remember that this is 1983. Although I don't know how it was in other countries, but back then if you had a cold, the doctor would give you a vitamin shot for the common cold. But then again, that does not rule out the possibility that he may have used a different shot there. But why would he? Out of all the other patients that go there, why did he choose Keiichi? Moreso, why did he chose Keiichi with one that had an almost immediate effect?

Well, this is my own experience. Two years ago, I had a severe cold to the point that I couldn't sit straight up or else I would immediately fall asleep without knowing it (it's not passing out, just a sudden asleep) Still, there was going to be a big exam that week, so my mom who is a nurse suggested we go to a hospital to receive a shot. I received a shot from a doctor there and another shot next day by mom. Thanks to that shot, I recovered in just a day. However, this kind of shot is reserved for a serious case like mine, not for a mild cold which your immunity system can make its solo.
My mom also told me that, in the old days, sometimes cold patients were given shot to boost the recovery. But thanks to the development of antibiotic, this method has become rare.

[Cogwheim]

My thoughts on Rena:

Spoiler:

"Please do not deplore yourself.
Even if the world does not forgive, I will forgive you.

Please do not deplore yourself.
Even if you do not forgive the world, I will forgive you.

So please tell me.
What will it take for you, to forgive me?"

That's the poem for Onikakushi-hen, by Frederica Bernkastel.

Now--looking back to Episode 4, Rena is seen outside Keiichi's window repeatedly chanting "Gomen Nasai." Sorry, huh? For what?

My guess is that she has realized the similarities to Keiichi's behavior and Satoshii's behavior before he fell victim to an Onikakushi--and, although she has identified with the fact that Oyashiro-sama seems to be angry with Keiichi, she makes the decision that she likes Keiichi and will try to save him.

The poem by Frederica Bernkastel, in this case, is supposed to be told in Rena's voice--Rena doesn't want Keiichi to "deplore himself" and wind up being spirited away like Satoshii, and even if Keiichi has earned the wrath of Oyashiro-sama, she'll forgive him for misbehaving in a like manner to Satoshii. Even if Keiichi has become insane and is forming ridiculous conspiracy theories concerning people who are after his life, Rena still forgives Keiichi's folly. When Keiichi finds out that Rena has been closely observing his behavior, even trailing him to the Seventh Mart, he snaps and slams her fingers in his front door. Rena is shocked by this--and she even brought him a nicer dinner than the Cup of Noodles he was about to eat! She stands out in the rain, chanting "Gomen Nasai," and wonders "So please tell me. What will it take for you, to forgive me?"

When Rena encounters Keiichi in the woods, she mentions regretting it when Satoshii was "transferred," and how she had not talked to him about his problems before it was too late. She then says that the murderer is not human--that everything is decided by Oyashiro-sama--whom she genuinely believes in. She states that Oyashiro exists, and then asks in an ethereal tone "Keichii-kun...has someone apologized to you? And for a long, LONG time..." This was when she was "forgiving" Keiichi--even though the "world does not forgive."

She goes on by saying "It came to Rena as well...Oyashiro-sama...that's why Rena transferred...and returned to Hinamizawa...I'm the only one that can talk to Keiichi-kun. I won't let Keiichi-kun get trasnferred away..." Oyashiro-sama--can "he" simply be interpreted as insanity? And, furthermore, does Oyashiro-sama "visiting" Rena, Keiichi, and Satoshi mean that he has something to do with a baseball bat, as random as that may sound?

I'd hate to change my stance now, but...is Oyashiro-sama a demon spirit of retribution that invades the body of a victim, and then leads the vicitim onto a baseball bat killing spree? But...would that mean that Satoshii also had also partaken in some murders?

Also--the men in green--when one of them knocked Keiichi in the head, he used a blunt piece of wood similar to a baseball bat--perhaps they're all agents of Oyashiro-sama, who just loves making his hosts knock people around with bats?

[SvenTheSweeper]

Originally Posted by Cogwheim

I was watching Episode 3, and all of a sudden I was like "Uhh...there is no cure for the common cold. Why did the doctor give Keiichi a shot when all he had was a cold?"

The no-cure for the common cold is an attitude that is not as easily shared in asian countries like China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia; this is due to the influence of traditionally-based treatments like herbal medicine, acupuncture, hydrotherapy, hot-cold therapy, cupping, moxibustion, sweating therapy, GuaSha, and folk medicine. Whether these cure or not is beyond the scope of this thread. The point is that they do something about it, as evidenced by the many centuries that these arts have been around.

My hypothesis (there’s probably more reasons, but I want to cover what I can speak best to):

If any of what I am going to say about Japan and the Japanese is wrong, please chime in.

These approaches exist in Japan, whether a Japanese person uses these approaches or not, I suspect they have influenced the Japanese culture over the centuries. By instilling a sense that something can be done about a cold, whether they believe it can cure a cold or only offer symptomatic relief until the body recovers. Not to imply all Japanese use traditional remedies.

A modern day Japanese can chose traditional-based treatments, antibiotics (which is inappropriate), over the counter drugs, vitamins, or what ever else. The point being is that they too like other asian cultures intervene in colds; because the process of creating traditional-based treatments have fostered a cold-is-treatable attitude.

There are other complex medical-societal things going on that I missed. Again, I want to cover what I can speak to the best.
------------------------------------------------


Interestingly, the common word for cold in Japanese (Kaze) and Chinese Mandarin (Feng), both mean wind. I thought it would be a cool trivia to know (for non-Japanese speakers), that when you are watching anime characters talking about catching a cold in subtitles, they are talking about catching wind.

-------------------------------------------------

When Keiichi visited the doctor for, what did he get injected with assuming there’s no drugging conspiracy?

Most Possible choices:
1) Antibiotics-Which is inappropriate, even though some doctors may do it to prevent treat or secondary bacterial infections. I know antibiotics are widely misused in China, and Southeast Asia. Don’t know about Japan, could it be the same there?
2) Vitamins and Minerals
3) Pain-killers
4) Injectable version of over-the-counter cold medicine.
5) Electrolytes

or

It maybe just another plot device to add to the mystery.

[rocket]

I’m surprised by how many folks are assuming the girls are a part of the cause. Do I feel too sorry for Rena? Am I charmed too much by Mion’s soft side? (*^_^*)

Scribble, FubaredByAnime,
I think we’re all on the exact same page.

Spoiler:

The dump incident is not the cause, but it was a precondition, and might be the common link to the photographer. For the naysayers who think it’s pretty obvious now that Keiichi went bonkers and that the TIPS is too obvious for the cause, remember that in the game I think it would have been more subtle - and we’re not supposed to have the TIPS when watching the anime anyways!

As for the rest, wow, there’s so many good ideas, and so much detail in the stories makes it really easy to get caught up!

I also realized I’m making a bunch of assumptions about the whole thing...

Spoiler:

Forgetting about the story details for a moment – the biggest assumption is that there’s a (gruesome) serial murder mystery to be solved across the various chapters. Just from the first five episodes we know there’s been a sequence of murders in the past and (in one timeline) a mysterious suicide followed by a double murder/suicide. Something is going on! If the goal wasn’t figure out the murders (in some way, even if it’s a supernatural explenation) then it would be so much of a cop-out that I’ll ignore it! (^_^)

Now for some specific assumptions/guesses:
1. Each chapter ends with (and probably starts with) a gruesome murder/suicide.
2. The victims will be Keiichi or some/all of his friends.
3. There will be a death(s) mid chapter to heighten the tension and involve the police before the climactic ending we see at the beginning.
4. Each time the victims and perpetrators will be different, based on some subtle change in the timeline. That’s important because it means the story is not about Keiichi (who has a paranoid-schizo tendency) but about the setting and characters that in one scenario make Keiichi crazy, but in another might leave him perfectly sane. (I’m guessing he’ll only go crazy in one or two of the timelines at most).

If you look at the above assumptions, this makes the show’s structure basically a visual novel! You make a choice (or a change) then see what happens. Basically it’s like watching someone play a game trying out the different options.

If that’s the case, maybe there’s even a “right” solution, where Keiichi and gang figure out what’s really going before any of them get murdered (which would kinda assume point#3 ‘cause otherwise they wouldn’t be trying to figure things out).

In any case (even if all endings are tragic and gruesome) I still think it’s important. Going back to my semi-serious “head-bonk’ theory - there’s something about the town that makes it very likely that murders and suicides will happen! If so, then there must be a common cause. For Keiichi I still think the trigger was bonking his head after being exposed to *something* that makes it likely that he’ll go nuts.

Kj1980 has hinted (or pretty much said?) that identifying the changed element in each timeline will give us a clue as to the underlying cause. If the triggers are all related or the same (head bonk, or injection or what have you) then I think we have a good case for a natural explanation (though, I’m not holding out for govt conspiracy anymore because they would have never tried to flood the area in the first place if that was going on...). If the triggers are all related to some offense of the town’s god, then we have a case for supernatural.

Right now with only one chapter I don’t think you can guess either way. Keiichi wasn’t shown to do anything offensive to the town god (though you could claim the photographer was by being nosy), and there’s nothing conclusively tying the photographer and Keiichi together... yet.

[Sushi-Y]

Originally Posted by Cogwheim

My thoughts on Rena:

Spoiler:

"Please do not deplore yourself.
Even if the world does not forgive, I will forgive you.

Please do not deplore yourself.
Even if you do not forgive the world, I will forgive you.

So please tell me.
What will it take for you, to forgive me?"

That's the poem for Onikakushi-hen, by Frederica Bernkastel.

Now--looking back to Episode 4, Rena is seen outside Keiichi's window repeatedly chanting "Gomen Nasai." Sorry, huh? For what?

My guess is that she has realized the similarities to Keiichi's behavior and Satoshii's behavior before he fell victim to an Onikakushi--and, although she has identified with the fact that Oyashiro-sama seems to be angry with Keiichi, she makes the decision that she likes Keiichi and will try to save him.

The poem by Frederica Bernkastel, in this case, is supposed to be told in Rena's voice--Rena doesn't want Keiichi to "deplore himself" and wind up being spirited away like Satoshii, and even if Keiichi has earned the wrath of Oyashiro-sama, she'll forgive him for misbehaving in a like manner to Satoshii. Even if Keiichi has become insane and is forming ridiculous conspiracy theories concerning people who are after his life, Rena still forgives Keiichi's folly. When Keiichi finds out that Rena has been closely observing his behavior, even trailing him to the Seventh Mart, he snaps and slams her fingers in his front door. Rena is shocked by this--and she even brought him a nicer dinner than the Cup of Noodles he was about to eat! She stands out in the rain, chanting "Gomen Nasai," and wonders "So please tell me. What will it take for you, to forgive me?"

When Rena encounters Keiichi in the woods, she mentions regretting it when Satoshii was "transferred," and how she had not talked to him about his problems before it was too late. She then says that the murderer is not human--that everything is decided by Oyashiro-sama--whom she genuinely believes in. She states that Oyashiro exists, and then asks in an ethereal tone "Keichii-kun...has someone apologized to you? And for a long, LONG time..." This was when she was "forgiving" Keiichi--even though the "world does not forgive."

She goes on by saying "It came to Rena as well...Oyashiro-sama...that's why Rena transferred...and returned to Hinamizawa...I'm the only one that can talk to Keiichi-kun. I won't let Keiichi-kun get trasnferred away..." Oyashiro-sama--can "he" simply be interpreted as insanity? And, furthermore, does Oyashiro-sama "visiting" Rena, Keiichi, and Satoshi mean that he has something to do with a baseball bat, as random as that may sound?

I'd hate to change my stance now, but...is Oyashiro-sama a demon spirit of retribution that invades the body of a victim, and then leads the vicitim onto a baseball bat killing spree? But...would that mean that Satoshii also had also partaken in some murders?

Also--the men in green--when one of them knocked Keiichi in the head, he used a blunt piece of wood similar to a baseball bat--perhaps they're all agents of Oyashiro-sama, who just loves making his hosts knock people around with bats?

Yes, that's one way to interpret the poem, you explained it very well and captured Rena's thought process spot on.

As for the identity of Oyashirosama (or if it even exists or not), that will probably remain one of the biggest mysteries throughout the story. In fact, figuring out the truth behind Oyashirosama is probably going to be the bottleneck for most people trying to solve the puzzle.

Originally Posted by rocket

and we’re not supposed to have the TIPS when watching the anime anyways!

Actually, as far as the anime is right now with the way it's being told, I'm pretty sure it'll be impossible to solve the mystery just by watching it. To have any chance of getting close to the hidden truth (as opposed to just watching the anime and getting the answer fed to you eventually), you'll need as much information as you can get.

As of now, the anime is more of a suspense horror rather than a mystery. That is, there aren't enough clues "as is" for you to "solve" for the truth (which will be revealed in the answer chapters) by yourself.

Even with the game, I'm betting less than 1% of all the game players could've predicted the truth revealed in Meakashi or Tsumihoroboshi (actually, Tsumihoroboshi probably doesn't even count anymore). And by Minagoroshi, forget prediction, you'd need to be a mind reader to foresee that kind of development (good thing(?) it won't be covered in the anime).

Originally Posted by rocket

Spoiler:

Now for some specific assumptions/guesses:
1. Each chapter ends with (and probably starts with) a gruesome murder/suicide.
2. The victims will be Keiichi or some/all of his friends.
3. There will be a death(s) mid chapter to heighten the tension and involve the police before the climactic ending we see at the beginning.
4. Each time the victims and perpetrators will be different, based on some subtle change in the timeline. That’s important because it means the story is not about Keiichi (who has a paranoid-schizo tendency) but about the setting and characters that in one scenario make Keiichi crazy, but in another might leave him perfectly sane. (I’m guessing he’ll only go crazy in one or two of the timelines at most).

If you look at the above assumptions, this makes the show’s structure basically a visual novel! You make a choice (or a change) then see what happens. Basically it’s like watching someone play a game trying out the different options.

If that’s the case, maybe there’s even a “right” solution, where Keiichi and gang figure out what’s really going before any of them get murdered (which would kinda assume point#3 ‘cause otherwise they wouldn’t be trying to figure things out).

In any case (even if all endings are tragic and gruesome) I still think it’s important. Going back to my semi-serious “head-bonk’ theory - there’s something about the town that makes it very likely that murders and suicides will happen! If so, then there must be a common cause. For Keiichi I still think the trigger was bonking his head after being exposed to *something* that makes it likely that he’ll go nuts.

Kj1980 has hinted (or pretty much said?) that identifying the changed element in each timeline will give us a clue as to the underlying cause. If the triggers are all related or the same (head bonk, or injection or what have you) then I think we have a good case for a natural explanation (though, I’m not holding out for govt conspiracy anymore because they would have never tried to flood the area in the first place if that was going on...). If the triggers are all related to some offense of the town’s god, then we have a case for supernatural.

Right now with only one chapter I don’t think you can guess either way. Keiichi wasn’t shown to do anything offensive to the town god (though you could claim the photographer was by being nosy), and there’s nothing conclusively tying the photographer and Keiichi together... yet.

Very good, now, since I can't spoil the fun by saying "you're on the right track about _____" to guide you, I'll just say that you got some things nailed right on the head, but some misses as well. Remember those 4 things you listed, and see how they get played out in each chapter.

[Judas]

I'm one of the many people who registered here only to discuss about this great, mysterious, thrilling series ^-^ I agree to many theories that support a rational explanation since I thought about them as well, for example...

Spoiler:

...Keiichi's (at least partial) paranoia which makes him imaginate things and interpret events in a totally different way.

However when I read one of the TIPS something crazy came to my mind:

Spoiler:

What if the 'manager' the girls talked about at the end of Onikakushi-hen is actually the construction manager who was 'murdered' in the important incident? ^-^° OK it could be any other kind of manager that might somehow be involved in the whole thing with the people in green (if the theory about them bein involved in some influential conspiracy group is true)... but it would be so obvious and hilarious XD Maybe too obvious to be true... But everyone says the following arcs might crush some theories the viewers have and if the construction manager was still be alive it would surely crush theories XD For example it would most likely support the supernatural theories and maybe crush the theory that the doctor is the manager and actually injected Keiichi something during his visit that leaded to the final events of Onikakushi-hen.

On the other hand users who know the game said that the other users unraveled like 80-90% of Onikashi-hen's mysteries and it wouldn't really fit the other theories if the construction manager was still alive so I guess it's not really possible... ^-^°

[Morgri]

I was watching the intro of the show, and I noticed that Mion seems to have some kind of tatoo on her back... is that thing relevent to anything?

[Thewanderer]

Originally Posted by Morgri

I was watching the intro of the show, and I noticed that Mion seems to have some kind of tatoo on her back... is that thing relevent to anything?

Probably...

[Paranoia833]

Originally Posted by Morgri

I was watching the intro of the show, and I noticed that Mion seems to have some kind of tatoo on her back... is that thing relevent to anything?

Thinking about it, have we ever actually seen Mion's back? Wonder if she actually has that tatoo if it's some kind of metaphor?

Spoiler for not so much a spoiler as a hunch based on the TIPS thread:

Say, this is just a wild notion based on the hints/TIPS the game-players have been dropping, but aren't tatoos often associated with the yakuza in Japanese culture? Can't remember where I heard that so it could be complete nonsense, just something that flashed in my head.

[rocket]

Originally Posted by Paranoia833

Spoiler for not so much a spoiler as a hunch based on the TIPS thread:

Say, this is just a wild notion based on the hints/TIPS the game-players have been dropping, but aren't tatoos often associated with the yakuza in Japanese culture? Can't remember where I heard that so it could be complete nonsense, just something that flashed in my head.

Doh' when I saw that I just assumed...

Spoiler:

Shion was the one with the tattoo. For that same reason too. Wikipedia gives us the charming toidbit, "Extensive body tattoos ('body suits') are commonly worn by Yakuza members. These traditional tattoos are known as irezumi in Japanese. Their size and elaborate nature show not only the wearer's affiliation, but also his ability to endure pain." Where did we get the idea that Mion/Shion is associated with the mob again... i forget... (P_P)?

'Course for some reason I also assumed Mion was packing an Airsoft gun in her holster as a sign of how tomboyish she was, but if her sister does have mob affiliations it seems kinda silly...

[Judas]

New crazy thing that came to my mind:

Spoiler:

What if Keiichi only imagined his bat to be Satoshi's because everyone told him about the similarities between Satoshi's and his behaviour? Because then Satoshi coud have taken his bat with him when he left the village and maybe he was involved in the bat-murders that occured when something happened with Rena in her other school when she wasn't living in Hinamizawa... I mean, Satoshi seems to return or at least somehow reappear in the Meakashi-hen if not earlier... so he might not be that unimportant after all...

I know this is some strange unevidenced stuff I thought of but... this is a strange, mysterious series after all... ^-^°

[(o^^)-o*(x_x)*]

Originally Posted by rocket

Doh' when I saw that I just assumed...

Spoiler:

Shion was the one with the tattoo. For that same reason too. Wikipedia gives us the charming toidbit, "Extensive body tattoos ('body suits') are commonly worn by Yakuza members. These traditional tattoos are known as irezumi in Japanese. Their size and elaborate nature show not only the wearer's affiliation, but also his ability to endure pain." Where did we get the idea that Mion/Shion is associated with the mob again... i forget... (P_P)?

'Course for some reason I also assumed Mion was packing an Airsoft gun in her holster as a sign of how tomboyish she was, but if her sister does have mob affiliations it seems kinda silly...

Spoiler:

But who's Really Shion and really Mion, I ask this because their personailties changed completely from the first half and the second half of episode 5. Also near the end both Mion and Shion looks on at Keiichi with a sad expression which makes me wonder if each day the two switches around identities with each other.

Kinda stupid theory but just something I noticed

Sorry if someone already posted something like this... Too lazy to read.

[Meowshi]

Originally Posted by Judas

New crazy thing that came to my mind:

Spoiler:

What if Keiichi only imagined his bat to be Satoshi's because everyone told him about the similarities between Satoshi's and his behaviour? Because then Satoshi coud have taken his bat with him when he left the village and maybe he was involved in the bat-murders that occured when something happened with Rena in her other school when she wasn't living in Hinamizawa... I mean, Satoshi seems to return or at least somehow reappear in the Meakashi-hen if not earlier... so he might not be that unimportant after all...

I know this is some strange unevidenced stuff I thought of but... this is a strange, mysterious series after all... ^-^°

Spoiler:

I don't think it's possible
For one, Keichi didn't even know Satoshi that much, How would he know that the baseball bat belonged to him?

Also, how did Rena and Mion know about the bat belonging to Satoshi, if Keichi was just imagining that it belonged to him?

Originally Posted by (o^^)-o*(x_x)*

Spoiler:

But who's Really Shion and really Mion, I ask this because their personailties changed completely from the first half and the second half of episode 5. Also near the end both Mion and Shion looks on at Keiichi with a sad expression which makes me wonder if each day the two switches around identities with each other.

Kinda stupid theory but just something I noticed

Sorry if someone already posted something like this... Too lazy to read.

Spoiler:

It was said earlier in this thread that Shion wasn't in the first 'chapter', however the weird mood change in the Shoulda-Killed-Oishi scene seems kind of odd. It was pointed out that in some places Mion had a holster on her, etc., but I think that was ruled out as "Thinking too much".

[Jellyfish Marine]

Spoiler for About Mion-Shion:

Judging from her reaction at the "Rozen Maiden" event ^^, I think Mion is actually girlish inside; but she has to hide that and acts tomboy-ish because, if I recall correctly, she is a candidate for the next Sonozaki's head.

And, I'm very interesting in Frederica's poem, especially the last verse. Can we interprete that the 'desert' is 'confusion', where Keiichi is the one who is put into the 'desert'? Maybe, Shion-Mion's question of identity is the start of that confusion; or you can say they are the one who cause all the mess. That's probably why it says "Because I am the one the that put you into the desert."

[HMMaster]

hm....is it me or the clothes that they are wearing is a bit too modern for 1983?

btw, anyone know what is this pic? saw it at several higurashi site:

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by HMMaster

hm....is it me or the clothes that they are wearing is a bit too modern for 1983?

btw, anyone know what is this pic? saw it at several higurashi site:

That is a QRcode. QRcodes are a popular 2-dimensional barcode used predominately in Japan so that people can use with their camera-phones to look up info from their internet capable mobile phones. What you do is take a picture of that barcode with your camera-phone, and the phone recognizes the info stored in that barcode and does its thing (access a website, etc. etc.) It surely beats the hell out of punching in website address on the dialpad. If it doesn't work for you, then it's probably because QRcodes are a feature that is only found in our phones and is only used in Japan (then again, I wouldn't know so can someone outside of Japan confirm?).

The QRcode that you used in your post is the one that will make your mobile phone access the mobile phone version of the oyashirosama.com website.

Another cool feature for QRcodes is that because it is a matrix code, it is able to store vast amounts of data. So if you get a business card with a QRcode on it and take a picture of that with your camera-phone, you can store the info on that business card into your mobile phone without the tedious task of typing it in and storing it. Or if you have a QRcode reader, you can store it in your PDA (if your PDA has a camera, even better!), your Outlook address book, etc. etc.

So if you happen to come across Japanese magazines with that kind of picture, it is a QRcode. If you want tickets to L'Arc~en~Ciel, you can take a picture of that if it is written on the poster and it will redirect your phone to access the website to buy the tickets. If you find a magazine with an interesting article and if there is a QRcode next to it, it will take you to a website with more info. If you need to send a letter, you can take a picture of that QRcode and print it out and use that as a shipping label. Etc, etc.

Obviously, you can find more info about QRcodes on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

And if you are interested, you can create your own QRcode here! http://www.qrcodemake.com/bookmark.php
The English one doesn't seem to be working, but the Japanese page is made alongside with the English one so it's fairly simple to figure it out.

[FubaredByAnime]

I just love it when I go to a website that has info about a particular movie/show and they reveal some major plot point I shouldn't know yet. My eyes can read faster than my mind is able to digest the work SPOILER. First time was The Sixth Sense. Second time is this show. SUCKAGE! Fansubs have trained me too well.

Of course, I still don't know what's going on for 75% of the show, so I still can guess all that stuff. But it'll be like watching the Sixth Sense for the first time even though it feels like the second time.