hontou ni
21May/066

Higurashi no naku koro ni 07

"But A-ne neko is furious with imouto neko..." - Furude Rika

One of the things I have learnt of mystery-thrillers is that easily divulged critical information often runs contrary as perceived. Thus, the more this ep points to Mion as the evil twin, all the more reason to suspect Shion. Besides, Rika's 'revelation' immediately brought to mind a plot twist in Fatal Frame 2.

/Start spoilers for Fatal Frame II

In FFII, one finds out about a gruesome ritual that requires the elder of the twin to strangle the younger. You play Mio (imouto) and the game skilfully maneuvers one into being fearful of Mayu (ane), supposedly the designated one to kill you. That is until you find out the village's traditional position on delegating seniority in twins birth. It appears that prior to a 1875 Meji's edict (an actual edict that dictates the firstborn of twins to be the elder) the firstborn is seen as the younger of the twins.

/end Spoilers for Fatal Frame II

If Higurashi employs this same trick that would make Shion out to be the de facto elder of the twins, true leader of the Sonozaki clan (which in turn is the dominant power in Hinamizawa). Further extrapolations would then lead one to believe that it was Mion masquerading as Shion in that shed with Keichii on Watanagashi night. As for the ladder-emo scene, personally I thought the voice-acting lacked the intensity of Mion's accompanying facial contorts. More vocal hysteria would have perfected that overwhelming scene.

Moving away from Mion/Shion. While the true identities of Mion/Shion remain shrouded in mystery, this ep clearly shows Keichii's allies to be Rika and Rena. I was very impressed with Rena deduction powress. Surely, armed with a sharp mind and machete, this lolicious bishoujo will go far in the cutthroat corporate world of hostile boardroom takeovers. As for Rika, Keichii's admission probably sealed her grisly fate. I believe Keichii will survive on the sacrifice of Rika who died in place of him.

I'm so looking forward to the last installment of this arc though I'm not too keen on reliving Rika's suicide.

Related posts:

  1. Higurashi no naku koro ni 08
  2. Higurashi no naku koro ni 06
  3. Higurashi no naku koro ni 09-10 ~ An interim answer arc

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  1. Zyl
    May 23rd, 2006 - 04:08

    My guess is that there are actually triplets! Just kidding.

    Maybe the tatoo on Mion’s back will come into play – designating once and for all who is who. Given the importance of tatooes to the yakuza, the mark will also probably designate who is the true Sonozaki leader.

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  2. Stripey
    May 23rd, 2006 - 11:27

    Hey bro you maybe onto something! The 3rd in the triplet….*drum-roll*…. Kyon! Curses on Haruhi, making random dimensional jumps to mess with our minds. :P

    Yeah the tattoo is probably an important plot element. Not sure if they will reveal its significance in the Watanagashi arc or in its corresponding solution arc though.

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  3. JM
    May 27th, 2006 - 11:53

    Alright, I’m REALLY sorry for asking this, and seeming like an idiot, but could someone please explain exactly is the format for this series? Is it based on a game, and each block of four episodes is a route you can take through the game? And also, which came first? The manga, the anime, or the game?

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  4. Stripey
    May 27th, 2006 - 12:26

    Hey no prob JM. :) Higurashi’s format can be confusing. It’s first and foremost a game comprising of 8 story arcs. The anime has since covered 2. The first 4 are mystery arcs and the latter 4 would be solution arcs corresponding to its mystery arcs. Except for the 4th arc, arcs 1-3 occur in same time frame, weeks before the Watanagashi festival. For now, it seems that 4 anime eps = 1 story arc. Each arc is structured such that it would reveal more than the previous and would also steer you to a different end.

    As for sequence, game first. Manga second (I believe) then anime. :)

    Hope it clears the air. :)

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  5. JM
    May 27th, 2006 - 13:25

    Thank you very much, Stripey. I can only hope that one of the endings is a happy one! There’s got to be some relieve from all the blood-letting!

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  6. Stripey
    May 28th, 2006 - 08:44

    You’re welcome. :) There’s supposedly an ending where Keichii survives. I’m not sure if the series will end on that note. I’m actually more concerned about the series’ ability to accomodate all 8 arcs. 4 eps per arc amounts to 32 eps. That’s 6 more than slated. Something’s gotta give. :P

    ( REPLY )

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