Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU
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gsilver
Posts: 618 |
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One other interesting takeaway from the episode
(Higurashi Kai spoilers) spoiler[Rika talks about wanting to return to her life in University, and we've seen glimpses of an older Rika, so the implication is that she's seen a successful route (like the ending of Kai) that lasted a number of years, and something allowed her to leave Hinamizawa entirely (which from what we know about her, shouldn't be possible due to the nature of the parasites) but some other cause of death knocked her right back to earlier times back in Hinamizawa. This also means that she should know all about the machinations of the forces that we see in Kai (to be indirect and not totally spoil things for people who click this without having seen Kai), and... isn't particularly concerned with them? We haven't even had mention of them in this series, unless I fell asleep at my screen. Which is likely, since I don't sleep right 
They were also deliberate in each of the episodes failures that the person who snapped was someone who we've never seen snap before, except for Keiichi, who like I mentioned in my previous post, snapped earlier than any previous loop we've seen, making *all* of them unusual.] They *could* be going somewhere with this, though the chances are still 50% in my book that this may end up like a fanfiction of the original series. |
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
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Now, I do agree with this, but the more I'm thinking on this episode, the more if I'm wondering if that's the point. This cycle of loops feels a lot more actively malevolent than the original loops did. In those loops, there was always one killer that killed Rika in the exact same way. Here, the culprit almost seems random every time, but all of them just so happen to target Rika specifically. Their motivations vary, but all of them seem convinced that killing Rika is something they absolutely have to do. And unlike the original culprit, all of these killers are people that Rika would naturally trust or depend on, people that she would go to for help. Akasaka especially. This makes it seem less like her suffering is just the natural byproduct of the loops, and more like her suffering is the point. Whoever is behind this, is doing it at least partly out of spite towards Rika specifically, because that sense of trust and unity that got her through the original series is what's being attacked, to completely demoralize Rika. And it's working. As a bit of an aside, whenever things go to hell also seems to be completely random. Sometimes Rika will die a week after a loop starts, sometimes things will completely go to hell less than a *day* after she wakes up in a new world. |
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Negafox
Posts: 9 |
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My suspicion since the second episode is that there's a second looper inferring with events, too. I've kind of wondered from early on if spoiler[Takano has somehow gained control of Hanyu and is a second looper now. Back when I watched Rei, I wondered if leaving Takano alive and knowing about Hanyu's existence would be a problem.] It feels like Gou's events are deliberately different than the original series and Rei as if somebody is trying to alter events as well. My guess is the sword will be needed to perma-kill the second looper.
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Benriya
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I'm actually assuming that these 9 episodes won't just be the last timeline depending on how Rika will kill herself. I''m assuming the next timeline will just be 1 to 3 episodes. If she decides to kill herself at the end of the 5th timeline, she probably will go and retrieve the sword shard at the very beginning of the timeline and just end it there when she believes it's game over. She can also just play out the 5th timeline without retrieving the shard first and then beeline to the sword right after the reset. Either way, I think when she heads off to get the shard, she'll find that it is gone.
If I was the antagonist and I find out that Rika's going to use the shard to permanently exit the stage, I'd outright destroy that shard every loop and truly watch her crack when she's realized that she cannot escape no more. In that sense, every loop becomes a mad rush from both sides in securing that shard. |
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Tanteikingdomkey
 Posts: 2346 |
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Personally I don't like the concept of fast forwarding through arcs like has happened in this series. I feel like failed arcs in the original series of content where there to teach us stuff that we could then use to solve the mystery of what was going on in the village.
Gou however I feel has not been doing that like the original series would, especially with the fast forwarding though arcs has cared way more about telling us how the characters especially rika feel about the situation rather then giving us new info to use. spoiler[Now I really do like the theory that there is a force that is actively trying to break down and screw with rika in this new timeline that she is not familiar with. the only point (mystery wise) that I noticed from the speed run episode is that all 4 people acted like rika either had info or was a necessary sacrifice on how to stop the paranoia that they were feeling. this does leave me to think that all 4 were pushed into it and lead into targeting rika specifically. The only thing we have seen about tomitaka that has been that different is that at one point he stole a van to take (probably) to the mountains from the festival The new addition that has stuck out to me the most is that they keep bringing up the festival planning group, and showing the cast getting involved with them. Personally I find hanyus actions to be really strange. If she wanted to give rika an out with the sword then why would she use up all her power to make rika feel worse after every failed attempt versus some other way to use her power that wouldn't burden rika so much. But if she thinks there is a second looper and that rika might need to kill that person, then why not out right say that? Add in the memories that rika really shouldn't be able to have, and the question of how she was dragged away from the time line that those memories happened in.... It just doesn't line up So here is my theory, Hanyu for some reason didn't actually let rika leave the loop at the end of the original series. We already know there is actually someone who might be rika in umineko, who went through a situation very similar to rikas, but turned out that she only escaped after someone who seemed similar to hanyuu died. what we could be seeing here is the creation of a more direct bridge between umineko and higurashi, and an actual tying together of all three when they cry series into one more interconnected universe. ]spoiler[] |
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Negafox
Posts: 9 |
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I suspect that spoiler[a certain villain who was defeated at the end of Rei is controlling Hanyu to be able to loop now but Hanyu can't directly tell Rika everything as a result. This latest episode felt like a way to speed us up to the big twist of Rika attempting to commit suicide via the shard only to still return to life in 1983... realizing there's a second looper.] |
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Tanteikingdomkey
Posts: 2346 |
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Yay I am sorry but the way they explained how that item works just doesn't line up with that explanation to me. honestly I would expect the item disappears when they go looking for it, and then it re appears in the final episode with someone else. |
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2866 |
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well this is currently my favorite higurashi meme , very 2020 ish.
It's a good thing I did not manage to post earlier, someone had made a pretty nice manga edit showing the culprit and I fell for it,e xpected it to eb a post credit scenes. I am pretty much in agreement with the previous posters, again, my biggest clue is that this rika has only been looping for 100 years yet the one that actually gets free has been looping for 10 thousand. I am just wondering if we can still get a hanyu curve ball, because everything points out to 34 telling the culprits that rika is dangerous, then accelerating the process with the injection. |
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Gem-Bug
 Posts: 1213 |
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Shouldn't you put that whole post in spoiler tags? |
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casenumber00
Posts: 156 |
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spoiler[Satako is probably the second looper. I first came to idea thinking off why would someone want Rika and themselves back. We know Rika left to St Lucia so she left the town behind and that probably left some people easy. At this point it could be anybody so I thought you would lose the most out of this. It's her best friend and roommate. Satako has lost her parents, a dead beat uncle whos here only family, and Satoshi might still be left in a coma since we haven't gotten anything he is well when Rika left. Out of everyone Satako is the worse is the worse off from the limited information. I dont know how but she is starting up the events again since they might be better days than when Rika left. Also, here might be some other clues. In episode 15 we dont see Satakos face at all or her demise while we see most everyone except either Shion or Mion when their mom killed them. Lastly, there is a segment in the OP of what appears Satako undressing herself after we see an ornate bathroom sink you might see in a wealthy persons home or a high price hotel. Maybe after Rika left she lost means to support herself, Rika snd Satako seem to have gotten by due to donations and offers to Rika the Priestess, and Satako turned to prostitution. Most women wouldnt like that so it leads to the going back to better times idea again. These are some of my thoughts now, I am leading toward Satako. ]
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kyokun47
 Posts: 231 |
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spoiler[I am also suspicious of Satoko, since the show has been going out of its way to put her in situations we know she'd react horribly to (and possibly hit L5 to), but isn't showing anything after the fact. I will say, though, I always thought that clip of the short-haired woman loosening her shirt in the OP was Takano? At least, the way the hair looked reminded me of her when we saw her backstory, and it would be a callback to us knowing her past and why she was the villain of the last set of loops before Gou.] |
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Negafox
Posts: 9 |
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spoiler[I can't see why Satoko would become a second looper to pull all this. I like to imagine her brother eventually recovered in the good timeline of Rei. I wouldn't be surprised if Takano was getting to Rika and her friends by using Satoko as a means since she sees the coach at the clinic. Maybe manipulating her by revealing her brother is still alive?] |
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kyokun47
Posts: 231 |
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spoiler[See, I'm still suspicious. There has to be some reason why Gou is going out of it's way to cast suspicion on Satoko, she's been acting weird since as early as arc 2 when she questioned Keiichi about Rika in front of the class. I think it's because the show is purposely obfuscating her reactions to Rika's deaths that I'm thinking she's the bad guy here. Either that, or she's somehow looping too. I guess we'll just have to find out more on Thursday though! Very excited~] |
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Calsolum
 Posts: 898 |
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hmn you know I didn't really consider the possibility of spoiler[satoko] being the culprit this time around or perhaps monkey pawing spoiler[(wanting to have her back with her but not necessarily wanting to cause her suffering)] Rika back to this loop.
Personally my working theory is that the one who pulled her back into this loop(assuming there's a connection to Umineko) is spoiler[Bernkastel]. If I recall correctly spoiler[Bernkastel was a 'witch' created from her 100 years or so of despair.] (I know someone said something about Rika looping for much much longer would love if you could remind me where that was said or in what medium as I may not have read it) And spoiler[Bernkastel] might seem like a cute anime girl especially at the beginning but she’s incredibly twisted, cruel and sadistic. Makes sense given her ‘origins’ that said, I can see her sending Rika her original persona back to Hinamizawa for several reasons. 1: Jealously: Rika manages to find a way out of the loop while spoiler[Bernkastel is quite literally made of despair can’t stomach her ‘parent’ finding happiness] so she wants to throw her back into that loop. 2: Necessity: Being made of spoiler[her despair it's possible that ] she needs Rika to be unhappy spoiler[ to continue existing.] Rika living on in a timeline where she grows up happily may mean that spoiler[ Bernkastel is a contradiction and would cease to exist(as rika’s memories and despair fade with time) eventually, so before Bernkastel fades entirely] she pulls Rika back into the loop. To the people who think spoiler[Satoko] is the culprit there’s another spoiler[blonde-haired witch with a penchant for traps and similar laugh. Yeah Lambdadelta, I’ve never really thought she and Satoko shared any similarities other than character design (I certainly didn’t think she was an alter ego to Satoko until now)] but who knows maybe that might be the case. Finally the Danganronpa V3 culprit. It’s quite possible that this entire series is spoiler[‘our’ (the viewer) fault. I’m sure there's a lot of people who want to see more of Higurashi, how would this season be greenlit in the first place when the original novels concluded long ago. Though there were some minor unresolved questions all the big mysteries were solved and the ones that remain aren’t that important. The creators could go with the idea that we pulled Rika back into Higurashi when she was happy in her perfect timeline and that once she finds happiness we have to accept that and stop beating a dead horse. This feels like the most meta theory but also the most contradictory one since there’s A LOT of spin-offs but could be a way of telling fans to leave the ‘main’ series alone or that they don’t intend to mess with it beyond this point.] As for how Rika uses that looper killing shard I’m guessing she can use it on spoiler[Satoko if she’s the culprit or Lambdadelta.] She could try to use it on herself after loop 5 only to find it lost have to find it back again and ultimately use it to kill spoiler[Bernkastel/]Herself? Finally, I welcome any contradictions or corrections. I decided to go with a crazier theory than normal since most people already called out the normal ones and after Umineko's true end. I can confidently say nothing is off the table, it's all about how it's executed. |
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Gem-Bug
Posts: 1213 |
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Episode 16 is spoiler[pretty graphic for 3/4s of it's run time if that bothers anyone]
Not sure if that's really spoiler-tag-worthy but thought I'd use them anyway |
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