#Onikakushi spoilers

[qu33nincrims0n]

My Dumb Thoughts on Higurashi- Onikakushi

The first of my Higurashi Reactions I started on Reddit, now with GIFS! These are basically the notes I put down of my thoughts after each chapter.( I'm not sure if long posts like this are seen as okay, so I may break up the later chapters for readability) [also spoilers for Onikakushi, obviously]

Oh, and before I begin, I read the main five in the following voices:

Rena and Keiichi: higher and lower versions of my own voice

Satoko: heavy enunciation

Mion: Peni Parker's Sonic voice

Rika: Cherami Leigh's voice for Sunako in Shiki

any other voice, I'll say when they show up. With that, let's begin!

Well, that was an uncomfortable opening 

Ch 1-1

Honestly the fact Keiichi’s mom has no sprite way more unnerving than it should be

Keiichi, you’re gross. Stop that

Oh hi Rika, I can’t wait for you to murder me and/or Satoko and for it to be like big sad.

Tip about the uniforms: ah, either Mion’s relatives are part of some sort of criminal underground, or this is a pervert thing.

Ch 1-2

WHY DOES MION HAVE A GUN?!

Hello?

(Zero Escape 999) Rika giving me some *Redacted* vibes with these rabbits

Yes, this is a cute picnic, but Mion still has a gun, and no one has said anything about it.

Tomitake Is voiced by Kyle Herbert (specifically his Kaito voice). No one can tell me otherwise

Oh, shit a Sanders Statue!

When Rena talks like my great grandpa side stepping topics ‘,:(

Why is there no tip about the GUN?!?! - future me here to say I now know why no one talks about the gun. thank you. -

Ch 1-3

Should have believed in the heart of the cards, Keechi.

So Mion is shady about the 79’ murder too, Huh?

Never let go Sanders!

The XX killer be like:

That moment when you completely redress to grab an axe.

Ch 1-4

Zimbo Zamboo Zombie blasto!

Man, Mion had to be really lucky to fake a tagging. Like how did that even happen?

Ayyyy Tomitake!

I’d love for a pic of the guy who died in 79’ to show up and its straight up Colonel Sanders given the parallels

Ch 1-5

I don’t like the one kid who canonically has a gun is the one proposing a “four demon fire-fight”

Oh hey, it’s like me playing pook. Keiichi has learned to believe in the heart of the cards!

Rika: So, you want to die? That can be arranged.

You insinuating somthin’ Rika? I don’t like that tone

Ch 1-6

Festival time!!

+ Tomitake has joined the party+

Me: *suddenly realizes we now have six ppl for parallels*

Spooky time with Tomitake and new lady (I’ll call her Ms. Clover until I get an actual name) - also I realized later I forgot to give her a voice, so she's british-

And then nothing bad happened.

Ch 1-7

Well this is a funky version of clue… I wanna try it.

Rika, stop saying cryptic stuff like that. Stop it. Get some help.

Ooishi, sir, you look constantly high. I think I'll give you a southern drawl.

NO!! Tomitake!! Oh, and Ms. Clover is missing, I guess.

Oh god, that’s deeply upsetting.

Secret~ agent~ Keiichi~!

Tomitake isn’t you’re name ?!?

Ah so Ms. Clover is Miyo, and she’s a nurse from nearby. Neat.

Ch 1-8

Two events masquerading as one event. They’re evolving…

“You got home safely, right?” sus

Secret member Satoshi has entered the chat

Hmmmm so that cat eye thing is not just Miyo. Hmmmmmmmm

I don’t like Rena-x.

double don’t like this door shenanigan thing. You call that officer back right now! Keiichi!

Ch 1-9

I feel that Keiichi +passes out for nine hours+

The staple of mysteries, gossiping grannies!

Ooishi out here to drop some truth bombs. Oh shit, may have been too much.

Huh I wonder why he censors death in his own mind there? Maybe effects of something.

Keiichi you are so lucky they don’t know your family’s away.

So, either A, there’s a spy network, or B, they can do some sort of vision thing. Not fun either way.

Welcome to the “Keiichi digs himself into a bigger hole” hour. I hope the conclusion of this game is him eventually learning to talk around the truth.

Keiichi if you don’t cut open those Mochi to check them I swear to shogoth!

God damn it.

Keiichi, you currently have an in with the cops, and actual evidence of an attempt on your life. LEAVE! Find safety, Please!

Ch 1-10

What Keiichi’s brain feels like:

I wonder what they would have said if Keiichi had guessed the mochi?

Keiichi: I just have to act normal

Also Keiichi: No I won’t play games because that would be nice.

*Telling parents about the clock* Ah yes, very subtle Keiichi.

TIP: Hmm… is this implying Satako or Rika aren’t fully in the know? Seems the only reason to play it coy like this.

*Casually looks up how long the game is*

Ch 1-11

White van dude:

IDK why but I imagined Keiichi flying back with a twirl like in a fighting game.

Okay Rika definitely knows as much if not more than everyone else.

Man this sucks Keiichi.

Rena: I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…

Store Tip: huh, does Keiichi have like an eidetic memory or something? Also, hi langolier in my memory.

Ch 1-12

Wait this should be the weekend… *googles* man, tough luck Hinamizawa's a Sunday only town.

Spilling all the beans today, aren’t we Keiichi?

Mion and Keiichi:

(art by @ratt-lord)

Oooo secret past of Mion and Ooishi, sounds interesting.

This cycle? Keiichi do you know something I don’t?

So you’re saying Oyashiro-sama is what, a Cubs fan? God of bats?

That set up with Rena sounds like those guys probably deserved to get beat up.

Wild goons have appeared!

When you monologue so hard you can actually freeze time… HE REALLY IS SHADOW!!!

The Manager? Ryuukishi!?!

Keiichi, Quick! What number was the mochi?

Oh no.

Oh no oh no.

Sorry the most important part was stolen bud. Also, it’s weird they left the white van stuff. Must be pretty confident.

AFTER PARTY

Tomitake!!! You’re Back!

When you are too poor to get a character sprite #Protag-Problems

Love this theory talk. Personally, I’m going with it being people, but the curse is also going on but as an unrelated thing. Also I feel like maybe the girl's astral project or something.

So there's my Reaction for Onikakushi. The later ones have a lot more custom memes, so I hope you like the one I added in here. I'll try uploading Watanagashi some time in the next few days. See You Soon!

[nezumiva]

"AND WHY ARE THEY CRYING? (A When They Cry Podcast)" Episode 1: Oyashiro Certified Forklift Operator

Episode 1 of a new When They Cry podcast I'm making with my housemates and one of our other friends is out!

This episode focuses on the first arc of Higurashi: When They Cry, "Onikakushi-hen", it features full spoilers for that arc. Check the shownotes/YouTube description for content warnings. Spotify Link. Apple Podcasts Link. YouTube Link.

[tequilazaku]

Higurashi Chapters as Movie Posters

Slight spoilers obviously

Onikakushi:

Watanagashi:

Tatarigoroshi:

Himatsubushi:

Meakashi:

Tsumihoroboshi:

Minagoroshi:

Matsuribayashi:

Bonus: Saikoroshi:

[endlessame]

rare ame long post but i wanted to break the news that i've started reading higurashi! yeah, after umineko, don't hate me

i wasn't really interested in higurashi prior to reading Umineko, and now I'm diving in completely spoiler-free aside from the obvious things that Umineko implies or explicitly says anyway i finished onikakushi yesterday and i loved it, the tension was there every single fucking second and i felt the whole times the same vibes i loved from legend of the golden witch, it was really cool

and... well, as i said, i don't know ANYTHING at all about higurashi or its plot. maybe i'm reading too much between lines but this first episode sort of felt like... a metaphor for trust and communication? i KNOW i'm probably overthinking it but the way keiichi constantly doubts between trusting his friends or his guts, and the constant switches we get among Rena and Mion... it really surprised me how the biggest thing i felt reading onikakushi was not tension or fear... it was sadness

sadness because it was so fucking clear how keiichi hated every second of being mean to his friends... and the moments between him and his friends when everything was normal were so... devastating to watch. i've honestly would've succumbed to just asking them, really, hence my point about the theme of trust. i feel like it sort of has some undertone about how things need to be talked and problems shouldn't be ignored

but whatever, i'm probably reading too much into it i'll leave the reading for when i begin episode 2: watanagashi!

[batbeato]

I see a lot of interesting discussion on Sayo's gender identity on your blog, but may I ask: can we talk about how Sayo's identity is intrisincly related to DID (dissociative identity disorder)? And an outdated vision of DID?

(Disclaimer: I don't have DID, I try to learn about this this and to be considerate to plural people, but I may be clumsy so my apologies)

Indeed, Ryukishi claims that DID manifests in people who experienced trauma when they were children. Which seems to be true. But Ryukishi thinks that the creation of alters is a conscious choice. Sayo consciously created Shanon and Kanon. It seems that this theory is wrong, the apparition of alters is not a conscious choice. DID people can spend years before accepting that they have multiple alters. They can't create alters, they mostly discover existing alters. (From what I've understood)

Ryukishi talks about multiple personnality in a clue in Onikakushi, and Sayo is the textbook definition of this. Sayo was created to carry the grief of being left alone by Battler, and Kannon was created to bring company to Shanon.

And multiplicity is central in Sayo's identity crisis. It's not just a gender crisis: it's also a tension between their alters.

So it seems strange to me to only talk about Sayo with the view of transidentity and intersexuality while ignoring multiplicity/plurality. Don't get me wrong: Sayo does struggle with intersexuality issues and gender indentity crises, I'm not dismissing that, but it seems to be that ignoring multiplicity misses a lot of core of the character. (And we also need to address the fact that his view of DID is outdated)

I guess we need to start with the fact that DID isn't the only way to be "more than one". There are other disorders, such as some presentations of OSDD, that are associated with someone being "more than one"/multiplicity, and there are also people who intentionally create their systems, and/or their system arises from a source that is not trauma and/or disorder (for example, spiritual beliefs). Though DID is a trauma-based disorder, multiplicity/plurality itself isn't caused by any one thing in specific, it's moreso an identity framework.

There are also many system structures and ways for a system to come about and for splitting to occur. Some systems (DID or otherwise) can split intentionally or engage in parogenic methods to create different system members. Everyone with DID and every system look different: there's a massive variety amongst systems.

To be honest, with regards to Sayo, I really prefer Ryukishi's portrayal of them to a lot of other more intentional DID portrayals in anime and manga. There are other Japanese visual novels (unnamed for spoilers) which fiercely resist medicalization and portray headspace as some almost magical thing. Oh, and murder alters. It's laughably bad. Meanwhile, Ryukishi gives Sayo the ability to be seen through the lens of multiplicity, but never gives her a specific diagnosis. And, Beatrice acting as the culprit isn't portrayed as some supernatural possession of poor innocent Sayo, but as Sayo's own decision as a whole.

With Sayo and multiplicity, I'm not quite sure what you're interested in. I (and others) often talk about both Sayo as a collective whole and as their distinct personas, synthesizing the two together in discussing their identity and gender crises as well as their trauma. I think that works well for general multiplicity, and explicitly saying "Sayo is multiple" does not add much to those analyses. So I'll instead discuss Sayo as a DID system here, specifically through the lens of the theory of structural dissociation.

The theory of structural dissociation (ToSD), a framework for trauma-related dissociation, talks about the idea that we develop different ego states for getting our needs met, and how typically these states integrate naturally as we grow older to form a cohesive sense of self. When those states are not in sync due to trauma fragmenting our identities, they develop barriers between each other and these separated parts take on their own identities (with more elaborated identities generally relating to higher levels of dissociation). This is an abbreviated explanation, but in the end Ryukishi expresses something along these lines when he is talking about multiple personalities.

As a note, from here on I will be using "parts" both to refer to "parts of self" and to refer to what you call alters for the rest of this post.

The ToSD also talks about Apparently Normal Parts of the Personality (ANP) and Emotional Parts of the Personality (EP), as well as combinations of the two (mixed parts). These are parts of self (not necessarily alters, but can develop into such with more complex dissociation such as DID) which are separated due to trauma. ANPs are oriented towards daily life, such as socializing, eating, caretaking, sleeping, and so on. ANPs are often avoidant of traumatic memories and of EPs, often are very distanced and/or in denial of trauma, and may even have some level of amnesia for traumatic events. While ANPs tend to be dissociated more heavily from trauma, ANPs are still traumatized. EPs are "stuck in trauma time" and hold unprocessed traumatic material (including memories, emotions, somatic feelings/pain, trauma responses, perspectives, and so on). EPs may also present as being literally stuck at the age the trauma occurred. Despite the name, EPs are not necessarily outwardly emotional.

Anyway, if we want to read Sayo through the lens of the ToSD... in my opinion, Shannon is an ANP, Kanon is a mix of ANP and EP, and Beatrice is an EP. Yasu is also an EP, and seems to act as an internal gatekeeper who also manages splits and how each part functions. Yasu seems to have split very young, perhaps holding onto the trauma of their upbringing/isolation at Fukuin while Shannon, Kanon, and Beatrice all are associated with newer traumas.

Ronove and Virgilia seem to be primarily slapping fantasy over reality, but characters like Gaap seem a lot closer to system members. Maybe a primarily internal member who was allowed to front once or twice? Probably holds onto what Yasu went through as a young servant and before the Shannon split, considering how she originally represented Yasu's clumsiness.

Yasu seems to clearly delineate roles, where parts like Shannon and Kanon, who are 'human', are needed to handle daily life, while parts like Gaap and Beatrice can 'possess' the body (Gaap possessing Yasu, Beatrice possessing Shannon/Kanon) but do not own it.

In this reading, I imagine that besides carrying the specific emotions - maybe with some bleedover now and then - Sayo's parts also hold specific memories, or at least are primarily aware of or vividly recall only specific memories. It probably helps them to deal with a lot of the revelations... Beatrice went from holding a crush and some pent up frustration to holding an entire avalanche of horrors. And then the well-oiled machine comes apart, where Beatrice goes from Shannon's old friend to Shannon's enemy, because the trauma of the reveal clashes against the need to conform and stay normal and obey their masters and love for George.

And we have, of course, how the ANPs who don't know the deeper trauma (Shannon, Kanon) are horrified and reject the EPs with deeper trauma and terrible coping mechanisms (Beatrice). Classic story, to be honest. Happens to a lot of people, because this kind of structure where the ANPs know less about the truth to function and find out later is common.

Shannon and Kanon probably know about systemhood for the sake of being able to keep each other company, but... Probably are vague on things about Beatrice or their past beyond "raised at Fukuin". It's easier to believe a pleasant false history, though I feel like Shannon is the type to accept and Kanon is the type to push until a trauma revelation socks him in the jaw.

And then the Golden Land is where all of Sayo's parts can coexist and find happiness. There is no need to be a "normal" single person or to destroy/suppress parts of themselves to fit a certain person, or to attempt forced fusions. They can stop killing themselves (each other) in order to get someone to finally notice them.

They think of it as some beautiful place to rest, without true happiness but with peace. Because they are always being further traumatized, always having to deal with abuse, always struggling between which of them should be arbitrarily called 'the real Sayo' and should be allowed to live. The only way for them to escape is for them to become one person and stop struggling and enter a relationship with someone who will protect them, right? They'll be one normal person then, right? Or, that's what they believe, at least.

(I love Kanon. Man who insists that he and Shannon can still exist together if they date Jessica. I think she could date both of them. I think she would love them. I think she would guess who was fronting based on voice alone without even opening her eyes.)

So there's Sayo, local system with every disease. They really need a therapist and to take some system responsibility.

(...I do want to mention that I'm not sure framing me not talking about Sayo with regards to multiplicity is me ignoring that lens was the kindest or most respectful way to go about asking me to talk about it. Especially since there isn't much talk about intersex Sayo, which has made it a big focus for me over multiplicity, in part because Sayo is so explicit about multiplicity that everyone has at least made the joke at least once.)

[whentheycry-problems]

Sideblog for liveblogging Higurashi: When They Cry(hopefully I'll get to Umineko eventually too) Main at @jessica-problems

no spoilers please! all my questions are rhetorical! I'm just thinking out loud!

finished ch 1.) Onikakushi ch 2.) Watanagashi currently reading

ch 3.) Tatarigoroshi

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 2 Watanagashi

Let's theorize. Spoilers for chapter two of Higurashi and Umineko spoilers in general. Just a couple though honestly.

I estimate that I am maybe about halfway through Higurashi chapter two: Watanagashi. I assume they aspire to have a similar chapter length between entries, and Okinakushi was about twelve chapters, or so I remember. At any rate I would like to take this time to hypothesize about where I think the story overall is going. Storywise chapter two has reintroduced us to Jirou Tomitake and his friend Miyo Takano. The game has given a recap about the curse of Oyashiro, and how it happens every time around the Watanagashi festival.

I think the series is in a Groundhogs Day time loop. Perhaps because of the influence of Oyashiro-sama the region around Hinamizawa (including the town Okinomiya) has been condemned to repeat the events of June 1983 repeatedly. There is some extremely circumstancial evidence to support the theory. When Tomitake is introduced to Keiichi he asks Keiichi "you remember me, don't you?" Or something along those lines, Takano similarly acts like she and Keiichi have met before, but when he admits he doesn't remember their names they act like this is the most natural thing in the world and continue as if the interaction has never happened.

The notion that they're in a time loop makes Mion and Rena's cageyness regarding telling Keiichi about the Hinamizawa Dam murder, and the Wataganagashi deaths/disappearances take on a new light. They could be aware of the fact this situation has repeated before, and know that Keiichi learning about the murders sets them on the path to dying and restarting the loop. But something changes on each loop that very slightly alters events. The contest at the game store for instance was a new wrinkle in the timeline, thus this time around Shion enters the narrative. This also makes the notion that Keiichi has a crap poker-face take on a new light. The central cast has lived these events over and over and as such they've learned every one of Keiichi's tells.

An alternate version of this theory is that most of the cast don't know necessarily, they're more or less just as clueless as Keiichi is. The only ones who are aware of the loop are those who aren't necessarily tied to Hinamizawa, Tomitake, Takano, and maybe Ooishi. I think Ooishi might be aware of the time loop and that's why he's so dedicated to the idea of catching the conspiracy, because this might break the cycle. It would explain what I perceived as a lack of caring on his part when Keiichi tore out his throat at the end of Onikakushi. He's lived these events over and over, and he's getting tired of reliving the same events and failures.

The only other character I'm certain is aware of the time loop is Rika. She gives me the impression that she knows a lot more than what she lets on, I got the feeling that she knew exactly what Keiichi was going through in the first chapter, and was more than content to just let events play out the way they did. Because she's aware of what's happening, and isn't troubling herself with trying to stop or alter events because in the end it will just reset to June 1983, roughly a week before Watanagashi. This might be a bit meta, and well outside of the realms of plausibility with what the narrative has said has happened, but I think she's aware that Oyashiro keeps resetting the timeline for whatever reason. In the post game cast review (I forget the exact name) for chapter one she mentions that she doesn't think she worships an evil god, thus implying that she knows what's going on, and views it as a test put forward by Oyashiro.

Also I'm not sure I want to reveal a thought that I've had for a while, because I don't want to have to face the eventuality that it's probably correct. But, since I played Umineko first I'm pretty certain that Rika is Frederica Bernkastel, the witch of miracles. I recall in Umineko Bernkastel taunts Lambdadelta with the spoiler of who's behind it all in Higurashi. There's also a line from the fourth episode of Umineko where Lambadelta tells Ange that she thinks it's cruel the situation Bern is putting Ange through since Bern went through a similar situation herself.

Hell, maybe I'm way off, and this was just an excuse to show you pictures of Lamdbadelta again.

Although I don't think I am.

THE MEEP!

It would appear in the remake art styles they took Mion's gun and gave em to Tomitake. Also, look at Takano with her shifty expression.

[gae-blog]

I finished Higurashi recently :) Scattered thoughts below the break (spoilers, obviously)

-If I were to rank the arcs, I think it would probably go something like 7 -> 8, 3, 2 -> 4, 6, 5, 1. Onikakushi (1) felt like a pretty slow start at the time (though ironically, I now feel like there could have been even more build up), and, despite having some of the best individual moments from the entire story and Rena being my favorite, I felt like the pacing of Tsumihoroboshi (6) dragged it down a bit.

-This is the first time a mystery story has ever made me want to actually pull out a pen and paper and start taking notes, and I'll probably end up doing that when I (eventually) read Umineko

-I know everyone and their mothers have already said this, but the voice acting was incredible the whole way through and really elevated the story. Chafurin as Ooishi completely stole every scene he was in.

-One thing I did not expect starting out was to end up really liking Keiichi as a protagonist. He feels 'mature' in a very real way (something I also love about Rena in particular) that I think a lot of stories fail to capture. I also greatly appreciate that the story is willing to let him step out of the spotlight when it's someone else's turn to be in focus (in hindsight, Keiichi's really only ends up 'the protagonist' for half the story).

-I absolutely adore that the 'secret' to getting a good ending and breaking the endless cycle of fate essentially boils down to everybody talking to, and being nice to, each other. That emotional and thematic core of the series was absolutely the strongest aspect to me; Ryushiki07's experience as a social worker definitely shined both inside and outside of the story.

I have lots of Thoughts and Feelings about stories and could probably continue to ramble at length, but I'm stopping here. Absolutely loved my time spent with the story :)

[100cat]

JUST finished Higurashi Chapter 3: Tatarigoroshi

Spoilers below 030

WTFFFF??? HUH

GGJHJGJG BECOME THE CURSE MY GUY

Ok ok so more coherent thoughts:

Coach has grown on me a bit but I still won’t stan him you don’t talk to (or about) kids like that sir 😤👎

I really liked the scary moments, like the one Tip where it read off child abuse statistics and it just had a b/w Satoko looking dead inside at the corner like ACK

And the prevalence of the extra footsteps… creepy and cool and I like how it’s mentioned at the very end. But I. I’m still not sure what it meannsss XD

At first I assumed it was alternate Keiichi (guy who went to festival)’s steps, but idk if him and his happy life would have been at places like the bridge.

OK and the freaking…. Cursing people to die?! Was Ooyashiro-sama like “nooo you CANT kill Teppei Houjou but you can kill everyone else with curses 👍” (OBSESSED it makes me think of an OC I have HKGKF-)

Or is that really the punishment for murder… legit everyone dying GJGJF

Oh and poor Satoko!! She was the same as Keiichi near the end- wanting to kill the demon possessing her friend… reminds me of Onikakushi where Keiichi kills both Rena and Mion, both in self defense and to kill The Demons ya know. I loooove parallels like this 030

I might need to re-read the beginning tho, cuz I’m not sure what body they discovered at the beginning. I’m probably missing something obvious HKGKG-

But yeah. Scary. Pretty cool- it feels like the plot could work as a stand alone horror story, but definitely works best here, to progress the lore!!

Dead people need to start staying dead I swear FHFJG

But that’s interesting- in Watanagashi they mention the corpses of people who people saw after the date of their death- but the uncle had no body at all, so I’m trying to guess what is happening

I guess it is possible for Keiichi to have done something he shouldn’t have, and ended up in a parallel world- who knows XD

I’d still say I liked the other two more but I still really enjoyed this one 030

[rogueandmage]

I really hope they animate the forest scene at the end of the onikakushi arc

[fanbun]

You ever think about how Mion’s strict rule that the loser be punished in their club games relates to her own family’s tradition of punishment and intimidation. Like that’s just baked into her from how she grew up, even if she doesn’t believe in outright cruelty and does stand up to her grandma for going too far.

Also the rule that each club member has to do whatever it takes to win mirrors the Sonozakis’ tactics during the dam conflict (including scapegoating the Houjous to unify the rest of the village...).

Honestly you can analyze the club scenes in a lot of ways. And that’s why I disagree when people say they’re just pointless fluff. The zombie tag scene in Onikakushi-hen for example shows the club members ganging up on Keiichi, foreshadowing the ‘everyone-is-against-me’ mentality he develops later in the chapter.

[fragmentwitch]

i cant believe it's taken me the amount of time it did to realize the "oni" in Onikakushi isn't solely referencing the legends of Oyashiro-sama but Keiichi himself. He literally becomes the oni that "demons away" Mion and Rena. I just made the connection when I saw imagery depicting Japanese oni

just think about it!

insanely strong/durable

expertly wields a metal bat, not unlike the spiked iron clubs oni may use

it's implied K1 eats Rika's brains, just like the man-eating ogres of Onigafuchi's legend

he SOUNDS fucking feral when unhinged

extremely terrifying when murderous

[opalosprey]

Higurashi/Umineko Thoughts Pt. 1: Onikakushi

I read through both Higurashi and Umineko over the past few months, and I wanted to write about my thoughts on both of them; things that I enjoyed, things I didn’t enjoy, and things one did better than the other. Originally I was going to just have everything in one big post, but as I was writing, it became apparent that I’m probably going to need to do separate posts for each chapter (or maybe 2 chapters per post for some?). This is the first time I’ve really done anything like this, so it might be a bit all over the place. Don’t expect anything too insightful, lol. Hopefully I’ll be able to improve and better articulate my thoughts as I go through each chapter.

I used the 07th Expansion mod for both Higurashi and Umineko, so I had the PS3 sprites and voice acting, which I felt definitely enhanced the experience (don’t settle for the awful steam version sprites). Major spoilers for both stories will be included in these posts, so don’t read them if you ever plan on reading/watching either story and haven’t done so yet. I definitely recommend reading the VNs, even if you’ve watched the anime adaptations already.

As a disclaimer, I did watch the anime adaptations of both Higurashi and Umineko about a decade ago, back when I was in early high school (that sucks to type out). As a result, I knew about a decent number of the twists that happen in Higurashi and a couple in the first half of Umineko. The main things I remembered were that the timeline resets after things go badly for everyone, Rika and Hanyuu remember what happened, and Takano is the Big Bad at the end. While this seems like it would kind of ruin the experience, the fact is that I thoroughly enjoyed my read through Higurashi. I knew a lot of the twists, but I forgot nearly all the context surrounding those twists, along with the specific stories that happen within each chapter, and the very important details of what was actually causing all of these tragedies. I knew Takano was the main antagonist, but forgot how and why she did what she did, along with not remembering the existence of Hinamizawa Syndrome. As for Umineko, my remembered knowledge was significantly less, and barely affected how I felt about the story as I read it.

Now that all the disclaimer stuff is out of the way, on to my thoughts for:

-Onikakushi-

Onikakushi is probably my favorite chapter out of both Higurashi and Umineko. Part of this might stem from the nostalgia of having watched the anime back in high school, but I think the biggest reason is that this chapter is the most horror-aligned of the Higurashi chapters. While other chapters have some horrific things happen in them, this one has some scenes that still give me the chills, even on repeat readings. The lighthearted first half of the chapter might seem a bit long to some, but I think it’s an important section of the story that really endeared me to the main cast (again, nostalgia might have helped). Plus, the smattering of hints at the darker side of Hinamizawa that I didn’t remember really hooked me in. 

This is one area I feel Higurashi did a better job than Umineko. Both stories start out with a lighthearted, exposition heavy introduction in their first chapter, but I felt like Higurashi did a much better job of getting me attached to the characters and the setting than Umineko did. Umineko did have the disadvantage of having 18 characters to introduce in the first chapter, but even by then end of Umineko there were still characters I was less attached to than any of the characters in Higurashi after reading Onikakushi alone. The scene at the Watanagashi festival where everyone writes messages on Tomitake’s shirt for his punishment game was so heartwarming to me that I teared up while I was reading it. Hinamizawa as a setting also has the benefit of being a place that can feel both warm and friendly, but also isolated and creepy when things start to go south. It’s the type of place where you really could expect to run into some sort of supernatural entity, and you’d have very limited ways of calling for help if it wanted to harm you (especially since the story takes place in 1983, so people having cell phones wasn’t really a thing yet).

When it comes to the parts I enjoyed the most in Onikakushi, the scene with Rena at the door to Keiichi’s house is definitely iconic, but I think my favorite parts are the “chase” scene where Keiichi is running away from Rena and ends up wandering into the forest, and the phone booth scene at the very end of the chapter. Despite knowing the entire story and how Rena wasn’t actually trying to kill Keiichi, these two scenes still creep me out even now. During the “chase” scene, Rena’s voice actress’ delivery of the line “It’s not about believing or not… Oyashiro-sama ‘exists’, period.”, mixed with the close-up of her face and the background suddenly turning dark red, really hits all the right notes for me. Similarly, Keiichi’s voice actor gurgling and choking out his lines about something following him and that he believes in the curse now during the phone booth scene, combined with being placed in Ooishi’s perspective, also sends a chill up my spine whenever I hear it. Other highlights for me included the aforementioned scene with everyone writing on Tomitake’s shirt and the scene where Takano and Tomitake first tell Keiichi about the Curse of Oyashiro-sama.

Onikakushi isn’t without flaws though, and there are two that stick out most to me. The first is something that pops up a few times throughout the first couple chapters, that being the perverted conversations and situations that sometimes happen. For Onikakushi, it’s mostly limited to Mion’s comments about Keiichi that were censored in the PS3 version, along with the club activity punishment games that happen right before the Watanagashi festival (which I would have disliked much more if Keiichi had been the one to put those punishments in the drawing). It’s nothing too awful, but I don’t like perverted things, so it did bug me a bit. 

The second issue I had with Onikakushi in particular was, ironically, something that happened during one of my favorite scenes. During the “chase” scene, shortly after Rena delivers her line about Oyashiro-sama's existence, Keiichi has a flashback to the conversation he had with Ooishi the previous night on the phone. I wouldn’t mind an abbreviated flashback to highlight a specific important thing Ooishi said, but instead, the flashback plays the entire conversation out, and lasts for nearly 15 minutes. It really sucked the intensity out of the scene, and I feel like that particular section would be greatly improved by cutting out most or all of the flashback. This is probably one of the worst instances of a problem that happens throughout Higurashi, and why I feel that Umineko has a higher quality of writing overall (though I much prefer Higurashi’s story). There are a lot of times in Higurashi where characters will repeat themselves multiple times or talk themselves in circles, usually when someone is trying to think through something. To be fair, I’m guilty of doing that myself when I’m trying to think through something in my head, but it does lead to times where the writing feels a little repetitive, or in this case, breaks the flow of a scene.

All in all, despite it’s flaws, Onikakushi hits the sweet spot for me of being endearing, intriguing, mysterious, and creepy all at the same time. It has the type of horror I enjoy most, that being something that you can’t really tell if the cause it supernatural or not. I’m fine with a human or supernatural explanation to a horror story, but the uncertainty of which one is the truth really helps to pique my interest and keep me hooked. Umineko plays with this idea too in its own way, but I’ll get to that when I talk about Legend of the Golden Witch probably.

[klug]

[tmma1869]

Onikakushi-hen, what Keiichi is seeing:

Onikakushi-hen/Tsumihoroboshi-hen, what is actually happening:

[agathathetransmechapilot]

Congrats to all Silent Hill fans!

Your franchise was dead for ages and now its back! Now,with all that said, who is Ryukishi07? I'm glad you ask imaginary reader! Ryukishi07 is mostly known as one of the biggest visual novel writers ever mainly known for his when they cry series, specially Higurashi no naku Koro ni(chapter 1,onikakushi is free on steam go check it out if it is for you and there is a mod with console sprites and voice acting).

Higurashi and Umineko(the second one in the wtc series) are mysteries mainly and then have horror elements, they have a heavy emphasis on relationships, their sins and how it affects them related to the mistery and the horror aspect(sound familiar?). Now,why I think Ryukishi might be a fit writer for silent hill(vague spoilers for some of his works): -Ryukishi has a background as a social worker and has seen some stuff when it comes to traumatic experiences specially children(see Higurashi and umineko for domestic violence and Higanbana for bullying and suicide ideation) which I think his perspective might work for different arcs in a SH game. -Representation,probably most of Higurashi and Umineko readers will confirm that both Maria and Rena are somewhere in the autism spectrum and he has a background or writing lgbtq characters(most popular a couple of evil lesbians in umineko) -He doesn't spoon feed his readers,Umineko episode 8 was a bit controversial in the Japanese fandom for how vague it was in some of his answers(source is people on discord told me,sorry) but thats what made umineko a really great experience, how he played with mystery tropes and inviting the readers to solve the puzzle for themselves. -He doesn't hold back, the representation of cycle of abuse in umineko,the mental downfall of Higurashi characters, the aspect of bullying in higanbana can get pretty hard for readers to stomach, I personally have to stop my reading of Higurashi chapter 3 for how it represented domestic abuse and how no is being able to help. Overall,i think writing wise you are in good hands for Silent Hill F and hope this post doesn't age badly.