Higurashi (1st Season) General Discussion

[Beyond the Shave]

Well, I've read all the posts here about the first arc, and it definitely gave me a broader view of what happened. While it's too early for me to make a huge assumption, here are some "answers" I have as to what happened during some minor scenes.

Spoiler for Ep4:

When Keiichi meets with Rena on the way home... She says "Oyashiro-sama came to her; that's why she transferred and then returned to Hanamizawa, and that she is the only one that can talk to Keiichi." I don't really understand what she means by this for now, but I think it's a little important. She also says she'll "save Keiichi" and "won't let him transfer away".

Then he gets clobbered by those guys and wakes up in his own room. So what happened there? Did they smack him in the head and then just leave him there? My theory is that this is why Rena was carrying the machete - to protect Keiichi. But what were they going to do to him? Are they the guys that make people "transfer away", hence Rena killing them to save Keiichi?

And one more thing...

Spoiler for Keiichi and Satoshi:

I really think that Keiichi = Satoshi, who was transferred away and then came back and didn't remember anything (what Rena was saying). But there are only a couple of things I can think of to prove this:

1) Comparing the whole baseball bat thing with Satoshi.

2) In the beginning of the first episode, Mion says "it's been a year or so since I've last seen you." So he left for a while and came back? She also says she wanted him to get something, and he says he was at a funeral.

Just a couple of thoughts.

[Shinndou]

Originally Posted by Beyond the Shave

And one more thing...

Spoiler for Keiichi and Satoshi:

I really think that Keiichi = Satoshi, who was transferred away and then came back and didn't remember anything (what Rena was saying). But there are only a couple of things I can think of to prove this:

1) Comparing the whole baseball bat thing with Satoshi.

2) In the beginning of the first episode, Mion says "it's been a year or so since I've last seen you." So he left for a while and came back? She also says she wanted him to get something, and he says he was at a funeral.

Just a couple of thoughts.

I originally considered that option as well but I've ruled it out as excessive thinking. That was probably just a joke from Mion. Reason is that if Keiichi would be Satoshi then not only Mion but the whole village would have most likely let a couple of gossips slip around.

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by Beyond the Shave

And one more thing...

Spoiler for Keiichi and Satoshi:

I really think that Keiichi = Satoshi, who was transferred away and then came back and didn't remember anything (what Rena was saying). But there are only a couple of things I can think of to prove this:

1) Comparing the whole baseball bat thing with Satoshi.

2) In the beginning of the first episode, Mion says "it's been a year or so since I've last seen you." So he left for a while and came back? She also says she wanted him to get something, and he says he was at a funeral.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Well to keep you back on the right track, it is safe to say Keiichi is Keiichi and Satoshi is Satoshi. This shall be made into light more clearly as we go into the next chapter, Tatarigoroshi-hen.

[kinshin]

Thanks a lot to FubaredByAnime and Sushi-Y =) Finally got my doubts cleared.

However I got one last question since I do not know Jap...

Spoiler for end of ep4:

When K1 clawed himself to death, he said the words Go-na-i as stated by WIND sub version. May I know what those words mean?

[rocket]

Originally Posted by FubaredByAnime

I just realized this small detail that no one seemed to have caught on yet and hence should break an assumption I think some of us are working off of.

Tomitake helped Takano break into the shed for Watanagashi, but he couldn't have in the previous story because he was taking pictures of Rika then. So unless he's the Flash, he couldn't have been cursed because of being near the shed. I can't speak for Takano and her whereabouts, but it does seem odd how in the previous arc when we first meet Takano, she doens't mention anything about bloodthirsty demons and disembowelments.

Not sure you can rule it out though, just to be safe in my musings...

Spoiler:

Keiichi started to watch the ritual too before being dragged away by Shion (I'm sure it's Shion!). I assume in Chap1 Tomitake snapped some photos for an alibi, then snuck off to "change his film", met up with Takano and broke into the storehouse.

Then either a demon insulted by sacrilige, a canibbal cult hiding their secret, or the unwitting release of a natural psychotic causing element leads to their demise with or without Keiichi and Shion. Guess a cute little girl murderer is an option too...

My thought on Rika messsing up the ritual was that (if you believe the demon story, or the cult theory) her screwed up is the cause (or the excuse if a cult targets her) for her grisly death at the end of this chapter. After all we dont know exactly what she did yet!

[FubaredByAnime]

Originally Posted by kinshin

Thanks a lot to FubaredByAnime and Sushi-Y =) Finally got my doubts cleared.

However I got one last question since I do not know Jap...

Spoiler for end of ep4:

When K1 clawed himself to death, he said the words Go-na-i as stated by WIND sub version. May I know what those words mean?

Wow, we and I think alike. I actually asked this question a while ago on the Discussion thread, and here's the only response I got:

http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost...&postcount=287

I myself don't speak Japanese, so I am unable to figure out any phrase closest to that. Best thing to do is wait and see if any future eps shed light on that idea. But don't count out the fact that maybe Oishi interpreted correctly either.

[Guido]

A question that slightly deviates from the discussion norm.

What type of god is oyashiro-sama within the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni universe?

A river god, a mountain god, a heaven god, an earth god, a forest god, etc.?

[Shinndou]

Originally Posted by Guido

A question that slightly deviates from the discussion norm.

What type of god is oyashiro-sama within the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni universe?

A river god, a mountain god, a heaven god, an earth god, a forest god, etc.?

I'm replying under spoiler tag but it shouldn't technically ruin anything

Spoiler:

Hasn't it been mentioned that it's a demon? Which is why the expression 'demoned away' is used when a character disappears during the Watanagashi festival.

[Misuzu]

Originally Posted by rocket

Not sure you can rule it out though, just to be safe in my musings...

Spoiler:

Keiichi started to watch the ritual too before being dragged away by Shion (I'm sure it's Shion!). I assume in Chap1 Tomitake snapped some photos for an alibi, then snuck off to "change his film", met up with Takano and broke into the storehouse.

Then either a demon insulted by sacrilige, a canibbal cult hiding their secret, or the unwitting release of a natural psychotic causing element leads to their demise with or without Keiichi and Shion. Guess a cute little girl murderer is an option too...

My thought on Rika messsing up the ritual was that (if you believe the demon story, or the cult theory) her screwed up is the cause (or the excuse if a cult targets her) for her grisly death at the end of this chapter. After all we dont know exactly what she did yet!

That makes me wonder if

Spoiler:

Keiichi meeting up with Takano and Tomitake when he did in the last section could have something to do with why he went crazy.

I'm really glad to be watching this as it airs- discussing it with people is half the fun of the show for me.

[rocket]

Originally Posted by Misuzu

That makes me wonder if

Spoiler:

Keiichi meeting up with Takano and Tomitake when he did in the last section could have something to do with why he went crazy.

I'm really glad to be watching this as it airs- discussing it with people is half the fun of the show for me.

I had the same thought too! At the time I really wondered, why are they meeting like this? Like very hevy handed story telling to make Keiichi's discovery the next day more shocking.

Spoiler:

Either way, we haven't been shown anything that woudl count as proof. A couple ways it could be linked are: If they were being watched that chance meeting could have made Keiichi a secondary target for retribution by the "canibal cult" or it could have been some spores or something passed ot him.

Even if there's no connection, Chapter 2 reinforces my feeling that it's soemthing natural (hideous but rational). After all Keiichi didn't do anything remotely "sacriligious" in Chapter 1 at all - certainly nothing on the same scale as what Takano and Tomitake did, so I just can't buy the curse idea.

Oh, and I *totally* agree - the theories are half the fun! ^_^

[Cogwheim]

Tch. I doubt that K1 broke into the ritual supply shed during Onikakushi-hen...
He met up with Tomitake and Takano at the riverbed in it, right? Well, that's where the two of them went after they broke into the shed during Watanagashi-hen, not to mention that they broke into it during the performance, which it seems like K1 was present for the entire time during Onikakushi-hen. Tomitake was seen photographing Rika's performance during the beginning of the ritual, but then again, wasn't K1 present for the beginning of the ritual in Watanagashi-hen before he was taken away by either Shion or Mion? Tomitake could've done the same thing K1 did--he photographed the ritual for a while and then snuck off into the forest to assist Takano with the break-in.

In my opinion, K1 became insane during Onikakushi-hen when the "crazy eyes" made their first appearence during it, when Tomitake said "It was a horrible crime. I hear they still haven't found one of the arms."

[rocket]

Originally Posted by Cogwheim

He met up with Tomitake and Takano at the riverbed in it, right? Well, that's where the two of them went after they broke into the shed during Watanagashi-hen, not to mention that they broke into it during the performance, which it seems like K1 was present for the entire time during Onikakushi-hen. Tomitake was seen photographing Rika's performance during the beginning of the ritual, but then again, wasn't K1 present for the beginning of the ritual in Watanagashi-hen before he was taken away by either Shion or Mion? Tomitake could've done the same thing K1 did--he photographed the ritual for a while and then snuck off into the forest to assist Takano with the break-in.

That's what I said like 6 posts up the thread! ^_^

Spoiler:

I figure Tomikate snuck off after taking early pics of Rika - and he took them as an alibi because *he* thinks it's a cult in charge of the town.

I was thinking more like if someone had seen Tomikate and Takano break in, they might have followed them to the river and seen that they met with Keiichi. Then that might have made Keiichi a target. Or Keiichi might have become 'infected' at that time (though I doubt it).

[Adigard]

While it's rather off-topic, I'm finding myself more and more curious who's writing the entries from the scrapbook in the TIPS for these episodes ^^ I'm sorta waffling atm ^^:;

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by Adigard

While it's rather off-topic, I'm finding myself more and more curious who's writing the entries from the scrapbook in the TIPS for these episodes ^^ I'm sorta waffling atm ^^:;

It's pretty obvious. Who do you think is writing them? It's probably who you think it is.

[BrokenWingz]

Just wondering, does this thread contain spoilers??

I reckon that there is something rational to explain these event, but im curious about who were the (other) people involved in the murders of the past festivals, since one of the eps say that these event have been occuring for quite some years now.

[Thewanderer]

I just realized something possibly very important.

Spoiler:

The thing about the demon's blood... I'm positive it's not true. Why? Well... doncha think that an important piece of information like that would be in one of those so-called "answer arcs" instead of this early on in the show? Hmmm...

And BTW, I watched the raw of ep7... could anyone tell me what's up w/Mion? *can't understand Japanese*

[kj1980]

Originally Posted by BrokenWingz

Just wondering, does this thread contain spoilers??

I reckon that there is something rational to explain these event, but im curious about who were the (other) people involved in the murders of the past festivals, since one of the eps say that these event have been occuring for quite some years now.

It might, if you haven't seen all the episodes (currently aired up to Ep. 07). Otherwise, feel free to discuss on the relavant episode thread as you go along.

[Misuzu]

Originally Posted by Cogwheim

Tch. I doubt that K1 broke into the ritual supply shed during Onikakushi-hen...
He met up with Tomitake and Takano at the riverbed in it, right? Well, that's where the two of them went after they broke into the shed during Watanagashi-hen, not to mention that they broke into it during the performance, which it seems like K1 was present for the entire time during Onikakushi-hen. Tomitake was seen photographing Rika's performance during the beginning of the ritual, but then again, wasn't K1 present for the beginning of the ritual in Watanagashi-hen before he was taken away by either Shion or Mion? Tomitake could've done the same thing K1 did--he photographed the ritual for a while and then snuck off into the forest to assist Takano with the break-in.

In my opinion, K1 became insane during Onikakushi-hen when the "crazy eyes" made their first appearence during it, when Tomitake said "It was a horrible crime. I hear they still haven't found one of the arms."

I meant when he met up by them at the water.

[Mei Hikari]

New guy here, so forgive me if this has been posted before.

I was lurking around, and I saw SvenTheSweeper's sig:


For some reason my brain was telling me this picture was important but I couldn't see how. I barely remembered the scene, so I rewatched it. Then it hit me.

(ep4 spoilers)

Spoiler:

IT'S THE SAME AS THIS



She even takes off the top like with a marker. Keiichi is definitely delusional.

[DingoEnderZOE2]

Or it could just be a case of Deja-vu with deadly intentions behind it.