Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU
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CTM162
Posts: 8 Location: Michigan, USA |
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It's in the VN. I haven't read the manga and my memory of the anime is scant, but it's in there. I don't remember exactly where but I do know that it comes up whenever the narrative focuses on either Satoko's situation or Rika's past (i.e. Tatarigoroshi, Minagoroshi, Matsuribayashi). It's essentially an agreement that only exists on paper for legal reasons, and I think even was what a character (I forget who) tried to use to argue for Satoko's case at some point in Minagoroshi. It's an arrangement all the adults of the village recognize, with more or less knowledge on what Rika actually gets up to and how she spends her time.
If you mean the shanty Rika and Satoko live in, I do not remember if the present status of that land's ownership is brought up or not. It's on the property of the village shrine, which was owned by Rika's family before they died, and while Rika is the last of the Furude line she's obviously also a minor. I like to think it was in some fashion, though; the VN is usually quite thorough in explaining things that its adaptations ignored or overlooked for brevity. It would not have been a major focus, at any rate; like with the villager elder, such details tend to serve as background information. As for Satoko, in arcs where her uncle doesn't return, her situation is an informal affair tolerated by the locals because of the grudge the Sonozaki family forces on the village at large. So no one apparently bothers to report that she's technically an orphan living without a guardian most of the time (as even when he is not in Hinamizawa he is still recognized as such). |
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Gem-Bug
 Posts: 1241 |
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Episode 18:
spoiler[This was a nice, almost relaxing episode(I really dig the carefree/ordinary day-type tracks in the ost). It looks like we're now going to see what happened after Kai's ending leading up to Gou. I'm honestly glad we're going this direction instead of picking up right where the last episode left off. Of course, new territory means new shitty Irie jokes(blehh), but that passes very quickly. While you can see Rika beginning to revel in this new life of possibilities as each obstacle in the village is overcome, you can already see how each little change is affecting Satoko. This whole episode took place a year later in 1984, and we know Rika made it to around '88 before being pulled into Gou, so I hope we get a couple more episodes like this one focusing on the "after years". The new ending song was very good, too. ] |
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gsilver
Posts: 623 |
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spoiler[I had a somewhat more uncomfortable reading of the episode, given Rika's expressions through most of the episode. She seemed very much concerned that something at any time could occur that would lead Satoko feeling abandoned, and thus snap and drag her back to the beginning of another cycle, especially with Dr. Irie, when he talked about no longer needing to administer the shots, and the implication that he might be leaving.
It was a bold (and necessary) move for her to try to get Satoko to join her at the other school, though taking your abuser with you doesn't exactly seem like a smart move... Though a lot must have changed behind the scene that we didn't see. "Rika asking nicely" for what seems like a waaaaaaaayyyyyyy bigger ask than what we saw Keiichi & company ask for previously and Oryo agreeing after a short off-camera discussion seems unusual. ] I'm still apprehensive of where they're going with this. |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1011 |
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I think you might be reading this episode wrong? This isn't a new loop, this is post-Matsuribayashi. Like, directly after the end of Kai. Satoko hasn't done anything yet and Rika has no reason to be apprehensive of her. Pure backstory to Gou. |
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Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
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Just adding that she probably is trying to avoid Satoko potentially feeling abandoned, just not because she thinks she has spoiler[inexplicable power over space and time.]
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4104 |
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Id call it Kai Plus Prime meaning only "It's looks like Kai, it's not Kai. Maybe." To be honest, I don't think the series knows either. I take it we're going to cover the 1-5 years of Rika's life that should have been covered at the start of Gou only with Rika knowing more... Man, I hate this show. For all those times Rika had to loop because of bad endings, thanks to Gou Rika now has to loop through good ones as well? Rika: "I did nothing wrong, no one did nothing wrong, why is this happening?!" What's three steps beyond beating a dead horse? It can't just be the straight one, that would be weird even for Higurashi. How can I explain this after this series spend 5 episodes rehashing a rehash... I think they're really afraid to do new material straight. |
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Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
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I still think it’s a genuine flashback to the events that lead to Gou (or at most a flashback to spoiler[a loop before Rika gained the ability to fully remember previous loops]), but I admit it’s not proven and technically everyone could just be pretending the events of ep17 never happened for some reason. We’ll find out soon I guess.
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2463 |
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Satoko could simply not know that Rika has memories of previous loops now, so there would be no pretending there
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Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
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Wasn’t that proven by the box trap?
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killjoy_the
Posts: 2463 |
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Yeah this definitely seems like it's a past arc. And now I'm just kind of wondering why, on a meta level. Did Ryukishi07 just smoke a fat blunt someday and think to himself "Way too many people like Satoko. I have to fix that"?
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Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
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I’d guess largely just for the “nobody will expect this” factor, but the explanation of how it came about could affect things one way or another. spoiler[(Hinamizawa Syndrome relapse + some malevolent supernatural entity appears out of nowhere to offer manipulative deals, maybe? Or Rika forgot that leaving Hinamizawa eventually caused some major catastrophe?)]
Last edited by Sven Viking on Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:45 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Gem-Bug
Posts: 1241 |
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Episode 19
spoiler[Another good, "quiet" episode, so there's not a whole lot I have to say. No real mystery to speak of here; everything that's happening is obvious and palpable. I feel pretty bad for Satoko to be honest, as this is obviously not the environment for her(or anyone, jesus). Though at the same time, she's just been humoring Rika's dream for years now. If she was offered the chance to keep looping those warm June days with her friends forever(albeit dying at the end), she would definitely choose to, I think. I'm wondering how much more despair we're going to see her go through, and perhaps the intention is to make us feel more-or-less equally bad for each of them by the end. This also marks like the first episode in weeks that I hadn't been holding my breath the whole time waiting for a jump-cut...so that's nice. ] Last edited by Gem-Bug on Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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killjoy_the
Posts: 2463 |
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That first bit would imply that Irie is incompetent and reckless, given he was the one giving her the go. But even aside from what could happen in the future, in this episode alone Satoko was already the worst. spoiler[She constantly belittles Rika's dream as 'something she'll get over' and then again when she's actually at the academy, actively decides to not get help and then resents Rika for... not helping? I'd get if she hated herself for all of that - she seemed prone to blaming herself from earlier arcs - but not this]. Sure, spoiler[Rika could've been more insistent as Satoko has had a past of not letting people help her but that's when she blames herself for stuff]. One point that wasn't all that clear to me was whether spoiler[Satoko actually heard the girls around talking trash about her or if just the 'you're unwelcome' looks were enough to scare her off. It was also a bit off for Rika to not protest that at all, I feel] |
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Sven Viking
Posts: 1039 |
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Ah, forgot 19 was out. Will check back later.
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Posts: 1011 |
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Satoko has a history of bottling up her emotions and pretending everything is okay even when things absolutely aren't okay - that's literally why Tatarigoroshi and Minagoroshi go as bad as they do - so this isn't new. And she's not "belitting" Rika's dream. She's forcing herself to stay at a stifling, study-obsessed school that has a bit of a recurring trend of isolating and ostracizing anyone that doesn't fit in or match up - Umineko had someone exactly like this - and, despite being a very poor fit for someone as maladjusted as Satoko is and being as miserable as she is attending the school, doesn't say a word about it to Rika because she doesn't want to interfere with the life that Rika worked her butt off for about 3 years for. She's only hoping "it's a phase" so that the Rika she's comfortably known for so long doesn't change along with everything else in her life. She hates it here, and is only attending to be with Rika, but up until she winds up being separated from Rika regardless due to the ever-widening social gap and her poor grades due to a lack of motivation, she's able to accept the circumstances as they are. Really, Satoko is still carrying a lot of psychological baggage from the death of her parents, her brother disappearing, the ostracization she had to deal with from the village just by being associated with her parents, and the comfort and safety she had finally acquired after all that trauma is slipping away from her gradually and she's unable to cope. She's being forced to grow up despite not really having a proper childhood (in contrast with Rika who only ever wanted to escape her own childhood). This school experience is pressing down on all her trauma buttons at once. |
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