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EP. REVIEW: Higurashi: When They Cry – SOTSU

Having Eua quickly watching the events of Gou Ep 15/16 on crystal fragments next episode would be a saving grace, honestly.

Oniakashi-hen
Total: 71min 30s (1h 11min 30s).
Trimmed to: 59min 27s (-).
Total Trimmed Time: 12min 3s (-).
From Which: 6min (OP/ED), 45s (Logos/Jikai).
Actually Trimmed Content Total: 5min 18s (Aprox. 7,41% of the arc is trimmable).
Trimmed Content List:
- K1 and Rena's conversation going back home and about half of the junkyard scene (partially irrelevant recap).
- Cut most of the pen game scene (only the conclusion is relevant in this recap, as it nets to Rena's infirmary scene).
- Cut most of the zombie tag game scene (only the scene with K1 by the end is relevant).
- Rika's Endless 8 Dance.
*Some transition recap scenes could barely save any seconds, so I left them in, would do more harm than good taking them away*

Wataakashi-hen
Total: 71min 30s (1h 11min 30s).
Trimmed to: 63min 40s (1h 3min 40s).
Total Trimmed Time: 7min 50s (-).
From Which: 6min (OP/ED), 45s (Logos/Jikai).
Actually Trimmed Content Total: 1min 5s (Aprox. 1,51% of the arc is trimmable).
Trimmed Content List:
- Part of the Watanagashi (Rika's Dance & K1/Shion meeting with Takano/Tommy, as it is recapped by them through phone anyway, which was the actually relevant part).
*Considered trimming a bit of the tournament day recap, but it was so short that it would barely save any time and would just make things flow poorly, since the storytelling nets to the scene in which they go get a drink together after winning their match before everyone, not to mention most scenes being new*

Tatariakashi-hen
Total: 118min 58s (1h 58min 58s).
Trimmed to: 98min 6s (1h 38min 6s).
Total Trimmed Time: 20min 52s(-).
From Which: 10min 30s (OP/ED), 1min 3s (Logos/Jikai).
Actually Trimmed Content Total: 9min 19s (Aprox. 7,83% of the arc is trimmable).
Trimmed Content List:
- Cut the entirety of the baseball day and only left the barbecue day in the edit (there was nothing essential in there, despite some new angles and K1 blushing I guess).
- Removed several padding scenes of Rika waiting Satoko, slowly walking to the classroom + recap, thus jumping directly to lunch time (all irrelevant for the narrative).
- Cut most of the club's conversation (reedited the entire Satoko rolling segment without the convo, except for the ending, which is relevant, the rest is just repeated info).
- Cut scene with Ooishi just looking at the junkyard scratching his neck for a few seconds (Oyassan related, but non essential).
- Cut the ending of Tatari 04, since it repeats without credits in the next episode (very convenient to this edit).
- Cut the conversation at the toori up to when Rika starts monologuing about her character arc in the OG (not in Tataridamashi and barely talked about in Nekodamashi, so I'll keep it).
- Cut what I could from the full dance scene (reedited a bunch here too, as, although it's the first time we see all of it, I don't think it's much important outside the aforementioned monologue).
- Cut Nii-Nii conversation even though it nets to K1 getting omochikaeri-ed (since nothing essential is missing as she calls him Nii-Nii once more and tell him that it's his house as well shortly after).
*Considered cutting part of the conversation leading to the night meeting, but it damages the storytelling, so I didn't*
*Could have saved 28 seconds from the recap just before Ooishi appears and begins his slaughter, but it does more harm than good for the presentation, and I also didn't cut (I doubt it's even possible) anything revisited from the much improved Delicious Cloud Massacre scene*

NOTE: The following arcs have been trimmed of all but the first OP and last ED. Tatariakashi is an exception as it doesn't have its first opening, just credits, and thus is lacking one by default.

Conclusion: It isn't possible to remove a full episode from any of the arcs, even if one were to completely omit all of the OPs/EDs "Re:Zero S2 Part2" style, it just isn't possible to edit into 24 mins (the format, it's actually 23min 40s) episodes a proper trimmed version of the arcs, by a long shot.
Most of what is trimmable is basically good old padding to fill the total runtime if anything.
They could have used those to confirm unreliable perspective earlier in Oniakashi-hen (when they should have imo, not as late as they did in Tatariakashi, even because it's a single explicit point of reference) or to give us more Teppei goodness in Tatariakashi.

ADDENDUM:
Just food for thought on how would I personally improve the flow and expand the content episodically ("24min" format).
- EP1 in Oniakashi could end slightly padded at 21:17 of this edit, EP2 could end at 45:21 using the festival with the ED, EP3 would then have more than enough time (around 6min 41s excluding OP/ED, 3:41 including them) to expand on the aftermath properly. Nowhere nearly as good cliffhangers as the anime had, but still.
- Watadamashi cannot be improved, it's padded to a minimum.
- Tatariakashi is impossible to cut in a way that doesn't leave us by the end with extra minutes that can't be spent in anything else from that arc, other than maybe including the full dance, some Eua and Witchtoko moment and/or recapping at full Rena's conversation with K1 for whatever reason.
EP1 in Tatariakashi could end with some baseball padding at 21:34 of this edit, EP2 could end at 40:42 with extra padding not already in the anime, EP3 with a little padding at 1:00:57, EP4 trimming 20 seconds from little portions and messing just a little bit could end at 1:22:06, and finally, EP5 we would have 7min 42s extra (excluding OP/ED) to use somehow, and unlike Oniakashi, none of which could really be put to good use as far as Sotsu thus far is concerned).

Does anyone know if there's somewhere to legally watch the Umineko anime these days?

I'm 3 episodes behind on Sotsu and I'm honestly really dreading catching up.