tsumihoroboshi (atonement arc)

question arc: onikakushi

pov character: keiichi & rena (swapping)

timeframe: june 1983

reading time: 05/09/25 - 15/09/25

• in media res pov keiichi: the club kids are gathered at the dam dump where rena confesses to a grave crime. announces that what follows is "the story of rena ryuugu doing her best"
• unclear some time before, pov keiichi: the class is all joining in for a club activity of watergun fight during pe. arc1's zombie tag is mentioned. culminates in rena and keiichi 1on1 to be continued stalemate tie that they keep wishing "could go on forever"
• tips:
Pleasant Weather
pov rika?; describes the weather being great but unusual (skipped the rainy season, mentioned in several arcs). compares this "lucky" weather to the chances of rolling die, that rolling sixes twice in a row is rare

• rena picks keiichi up to go to okinomiya for their punishment game. shes close with keiichis mom from bumping into eachother at the grocery store, ergo she has dinner knowledge (arc1..?)
• keiichi asks about her parents, and she says theyre lovey dovey (but i swear there was a tip mention that renas mom was out of the picture...). shes cagey on the topic of her mom / keiichi meeting her parents but keeps the conversation lighthearted
• the kids arrive at angel mort for its dessert event (arc2); the punishment game is for mion, satoko and rika to wear creepy costumes on waitress shifts. the dessert pervert (arc3, it sounds like the baseball game happened in this timeline too) and irie are present. this sucks
• they rematch yesterdays club activity with more members as an eating competition
• pov swaps to rena mid-game with pink text; notes that similar to rena's "kyute mode", every time keiichi says to himself "you can do it, keiichi maebara" he speaks to himself aloud very goofy
• rena is very concerned about her happy days like this coming to a definitive close soon
• heading over to the restroom, rena bumps into a woman who calls her reina (arc1 tip); its rina (arc3: teppeis mistress). she buys shortcakes for rena and a man (presumably teppei)
• gives off the impression that rena secretly cannot stand rina
• tips:
Business Card
seems like a business card of rinas that either has a flattering quote of hers, or someone has written upon asking her out on a date. shes the manager of the club the arc4 mahjong party wanted to go to; shes ambiguously either a strip club dancer or a sex worker

• pov keiichi; walking home from the restaurant, the kids bump into shion entering for her shift. mion stayed to help clean up; the gang try to wait for her but she says she's gonna visit shion after their shift and cant join them
• the kids bike home. its revealed makino (arc4) runs a general store. rena invites keiichi to come dig through the trash dump with her, but he cant as he has a stomachache
• pov rena; shes wary of going home and trying hard to remain cheerful. she heads to the trash dump, noting that her classmates all think its haunted by the 1978 murdered/disappeared guy. hidden in the dump theres a tireless car that she has decorated like a room; she likes to hide in here on sundays off from school
• shes stalling from returning home. she considers the dump and abandoned car her castle; it rains heavily, trapping her, and she falls asleep
• inner monologue, renas parents are both fashion designers. her mom is more skilled than her dad and landed a better job in ibaraki, where she climbed the ranks as the dad struggled with misc unrelated jobs and failed at housework
• her mom as time went on visited home less and less engrossed in projects, so rena learned to cook and handle housework. her mom would often take rena for expensive nights out and trips separate from her dad; her mom was cheating on her dad with a work associate akihito who would often be on those nights out rena was brought along to
• on a particular trip where rena was super spoiled, her mom announced her plan to divorce renas dad and instead marry akihito; this made rena extremely upset, feeling as if her mom has betrayed her dad who has done nothing but work very hard to support his successful wife. her mom then reveals the reason for this decision is shes pregnant with renas half-sibling
• her mom never spoke to her dad again, instead having the divorce proceedings happen via lawyer proxy. renas dad hit her for the first and only time when she mentioned she knew akihito and liked him; rena began regreting failing to intercept akihito stealing her mom away (?? shes like 9 during this)
• rena chose to stay with her dad, realizing her mom was also an "enemy" the way akihito was; she cut her mom out of her life
• depressed and in pain, she threw out all her moms belongings after the split was finalized; she was prescribed antipsychotics(?) that disoriented her
• when she reached suicidality, "oyashirosama came to her" and told her to return to hinamizawa, claiming all her misfortune was due to the family leaving hinamizawa. she has blocked her breaking point incident from her memory
• she considers that her feeling of oyashirosama speaking to her may have been a delusion, but feels too strongly about it being real. shes desperately trying to convince herself shes happy, that returning to hinamizawa as oyashirosama had said would fix her; it seems like her dad is dating someone she cant stand, and she has no where to go; its rina
• similar to arc4's satoshi-shion-satoko kinda faux love triangle, rena is jealous that rina uplifts her dad vs rena cannot; she wont let herself admit something is wrong
• tips:
My Summer Vacation Picture Diary
rena pov; on a beach trip, a very young rena was instructed to call akihito her dad
Premonition Of Rainy Days
rika pov??; someone is haunting her with her voice when shes trying to sit alone... her responses are said in the same intonation... the rainy weather is considered an omen of a terrible disaster, like when deep-sea animals wind up in shallow waters or wash up on the shore dead

• keiichi pov; the next day walking home from school, keiichi is informed of watanagashi. without fully explaining the context (lol) mion lets him know the sonozakis think hes assimilating very well into hinamizawa; some uncles want to offer him a festival stall job (auctioneer)
• rena pov; club activities are cancelled after mion received a call. hanging out with keiichi soothes her but she internally monologues about how much she hates rina, without any real reason to; shes basically afraid she will turn out the same as akihito
• rena is particularly bothered by rinas perfume; its clear to her her dad wants to remarry but not until rena moves out. rena is really beating herself up continuously for her parents divorce (kinda obsessed with family/marriage's supposed sanctity)
• its revealed renas catchphrases are mostly her desperately trying to cheer herself up. she feels immature for still wanting her dads attention and that rina is "stealing" it, but she really doesnt have anyone else to lean on
• she dropped the "i" in "reina" to try and get rid of "icky" things... (like wanting attention from her parents. hello)

• rena pov; after school, she arrives home to find her dad has renovated their living room to look very modern. she thinks rina was definitely involved in the process; she thinks she may be in danger of her dad throwing her out as a remainder of his past relationship, similar to him now throwing out the furniture he chose with her mom. she notices hes also thrown out some of her dumpster diving items
• eager to step out of the house, rena goes to pick up her dad's clothes order in okinomiya. instructed to wait as it's not ready yet, she goes to a coffee shop; (suddenly third person pov) rina and teppei are in the coffee shop together, where rina receives a shady loan repayment. teppei insists they pay more; the couple argue
• teppei and rina kiss "vulgarly" (??) as she intimidates the loan repayers. they repaid 2mil yen but still owe 500k in interest. rina takes them alone and makes a deal for a new loan to cover their previous loans interest rate; they arent in a position to refuse
• the couple discuss that rena's dad has 50mil of alimony/settlement money. theyre planning to scam him via a story of teppei being rinas scary ex. kasai enters; hes called the "general manager", scaring even the coffee shop's owner. hes here to get a dessert for shion, who trails after him ignoring the tenseness
• shion spots rena: exchanging greetings, rena asks about teppei and rina; kasai explains teppei is her pimp. rena presses for further info; kasai and shion explain the couple is a pair of gambling blackmailers that routinely set up affair-based extortion schemes. rena dashes out, ditching shion
• rena pov; at home her dad has without warning left to go to dinner with rina. she mulls over what she witnessed of rina and determines she's definitely a scammer; she goes to hide her dads banknotes and such, but finds rina's loan money is in the same drawer
• sifting through, she realizes her dad has paid for rina's apartment's down payment. she realizes hes frivolous with the alimony money due to thinking its "cursed" for being associated with his ex wife
• rena resolves to deal with rina herself, seeking to meet with kasai
• tips:
Property Estimate
apartment cost inquiry report; rina's luxury apartment down payment cost 50mil yen (managed by kawabata)

• rena pov; mid class, rena is envious that keiichi has never had his life upended. after school, she tells mion she wants to return a dropped item to kasai; she pretenses it as a crush situation
• rena internally thinks shes going through the same thing satoshi did last year. she regrets not being there for him more before he was disappeared. shes afraid of oyashirosama and struggles to remember her encounters with him, citing "psychoactive drugs"
• she calls that struggle to remember a flicker of lights in her head that makes her dizzy. at home, rina tries to sit rena down for an important conversation involving her dad, but rena scurries out to go treasure hunting
• rina comes and visits rena in her dump hideout. rena tries to act polite, but suddenly starts to run away from her; rina follows, and rena accidentally lures her to her car hideout. rena starts to feel unnerved and sick; rina thinks she showed her the hideout out of trust vs rena is completely dizzy, trying not to vomit
• rina goes to tell rena that her father wants to marry her, which reminds rena of when her mom broke the news of her remarriage. rena suddenly coldly proclaims she wont let her father remarry; rina declares she hates kids
• the two state their mutual hatred; rina goes mask off cruel to rena, then declares that shes pregnant but is against abortion (unclear if true; it's her scheme with teppei). rena loses it, declaring that she overheard her coffee shop affairs: rina begins choking rena (screen gets darker red)
• rena is surprisingly unphased by the attack (mention of arc4 river wildfire tips); in the struggle, with incredible calm and resolve that she shouldve just done this from the start, rena immediately gets the upper hand and brutally kills rina with a lead pipe
• rena feels an almost supernatural level of strength supporting her. she cuts up rinas corpse and stuffs her in a fridge at the dump. it rains, aiding her (similar to arc3 the rain aiding keiichi when he killed teppei... if he killed teppei)
• immediately upon getting home, rena explains rinas scheme to her dad who doesnt believe her. the next day, at midnight, teppei breaks into their house as continuation of the scheme; he doesnt seem to have noticed rinas missing
• rena waits for teppei to "knock sense" into her dad then meets him outside: she tells him rina is waiting for him in secret (planting doubt that rina may have been two-timing him as well), then lures him to the dump and kills him via hatchet
• keiichi pov; the next day, hes surprised to see rena dozing off in class. mion had told him about renas home life a bit (arc1 tips?); comparing all his friends' home lives to his own, he feels a bit guilty
• he muses how important his friends are to him and to eachother
• tips:
My Favorite Wine
rika pov; while home alone she drinks very diluted wine (still gets her drunk because shes like. 10). she goes to drink but "the annoying one" (voiced) chastizes her for drinking, so she throws her glass out the window; states the reason shes depressed is because the way still will die has already been decided: the other voice informs her itll be on june 25th. rika is sure she'll "roll sixes" again consistently. she resolves to spend the last 10 days of her life well

• pov rena; some days later, deals with the corpses more definitively; she considers dealing with the corpses akin to dealing with meat when cooking. she wound up with 12 trash bags between the two corpses; she decides to bury them deep in the mountains later
• flashback to the night teppei broke in; renas dad profusely apologized to her. the reason he met rina was she waited on him at a bar one night. the day after, he resolves to try and get a job to at least settle into a normal routine to support rena
• at school, satoko and keiichi decide to play an additional punishment game depending on which does worse during club. for two days in a row rena has been skipping club to bury the corpses
• the kids offer to help her but she refuses jovially; they decide to play mahjong
• keiichi pov; arc1 card game is mentioned. the mahjong set is missing some tiles as mion has hid them around the classroom. they decide to go to rena's dam dump instead looking for the 1978 corpse and/or things rena would like to keep. rika is resistant to go, citing that as a miko she can see ghosts and the dump is haunted
• keiichi pov; the story picks up where it had begun in ch1, with rena completing her confession (seems like satoko found the fridge body while playing). he asks rena why she never came to her friends for help, instead of killing those two; rena declared this is her best possible outcome, to which he screams shes lying
• rena explains that satoshi went through the same things shes going through right now, that the club could not have helped satoshi if he had expressed his home life problems to them. mion interjects on the claim that the sonozakis couldnt interfere, which makes rena yell at her (eyes glaze over)
• she then points the finger at rika, who somberly agrees she doesnt know how to save anyone; she points to satoko as well, who lifelessly accepts her "immaturity" as a nail in satoshis coffin, and that he will never return
• she resolves that friends couldnt possibly be there when you need them most and begins crying (unique cg) over how she failed satoshi. keiichi declares he wishes he couldve met satoshi and helped him; internally he resolves there probably is an alternate world where he killed someone for his friends' sake
• keiichi resolves that rena is guilty of her and her friends mutually failing eachother, rather than of murder; asks the others to help keep the murder secret. they all join hands mutually apologizing and forgiving eachother, agreeing to function as a friends-based family
• they all cry together then bury the bodies together in the mountains (emphasis on mion's extensive knowledge on the subject). rena is relieved but still a bit shaky; says she mightve gone crazy if she didnt have her friends to bear the burden with her. after she splits off on the way home, the rest of the gang resolves to never mention the incident again so rena can live carefree
• rena pov; shes overwhelmed and dizzy, unsure if this was the right choice despite her elation. she comes home to her dad having found a job and having made dinner
• rena experiences recurring vertigo, and possibly is overall a bit physically sick; she considers that shes stepped into a "new world" (positive one rather than crazy one)
• tips:
Letter From The Forestry Office
flyer from the forestry office; announces they will perform a wood sculpting event at watanagashi using wood from the forest where the corpses are buried, that will be felled as part of regular forest maintenance

• opens with poem; ooishi pov during watanagashi; the town council, particularly oryou, are pressuring kumagai to bring ooishi back to the headquarters tent on the festival grounds instead of patrolling. on his way back, he spots the club members making a ruckus at the shooting gallery stall (arc2)
• ooishi notes the scene as rena not blending in with her friends very well. hours later, he calls irie in to examine tomitake's corpse. ooishi theorizes he was attacked on his way home from the festival, drugged, then killed himself
• kumagai interrupts with the news tomitakes bike was found nearby (arc3...?). irie is shocked, but its unclear at what; he suddenly asks where miyo is. the cops are unable to get her on the phone; ooishi theorizes she may have had access to weird drugs at the clinic, which irie denies
• its revealed ooishi will retire in march 1984. the pov unclearly swaps to someone trying to get "out of this maze", lamenting that no matter how things are changed, the outcome is always tomitake being killed on watanagashi night
• the next day at school, keiichi pov; rena has been too sick for club activities since they buried the corpses together but decides to tough it out and participate anyways. the kids play a cluedo-like card game where the club members' names are murder suspects (arc1)
• the game is interrupted by rena being called out to speak to a visitor; its ooishi
• rena pov; ooishi invites her into his car to ask about tomitake and miyo
• keiichi pov; rena returns very troubled, then leaves. the kids continue club without her
• rena's pov (salmon pink instead of purple pink ...?); recalls that she met with miyo at the library at some point between burying the corpses and watanagashi. miyo bought her a drink; they hung out discussing the curse. miyo shows rena her research and strongly suggests to her that the three families are behind it all
• rena inquires about oyashirosama: miyo explains oyashirosama is likely a god that "drifted" from the divine realm into the human realm via washing up from the ocean/river. rena chimes in that in many cases of such folklore, its simply a foreign human being revered
• miyo explains she thinks oyashirosama isnt a drifted god (/foreigner) as onigafuchi is a swamp unconnected to the ocean. rena briefly tries to recall her supposed encounter with oyashirosama, which dizzies her. miyo explains the myth supposedly is that oyashirosama saved the onigafuchi villagers from demons that attacked from the swamp, exiling them, but the humans felt bad for the demons and allowed them to live in the village; oyashirosama then gave the demons human forms, then demon and human blood mingled as the two groups lived together
• miyo loans her notebook to rena, excited to hear her theories; she notes that tomitake isnt very interested in her folklore studies. rena musters the courage to confide in her in her experience being haunted by oyashirosama; she first began experiencing such during a delusional parasitosis incident: she felt as if she found bugs in the blood in her throat, and tried to claw them out
• in describing all this she remembers it all far too vividly and begins wailing for help; she was put on harsh antipsychotics that numbed her senses entirely. one day at home when she skipped her dose, in her bathroom she slit her wrist to find the bugs in her blood; she went to drain out her blood to cleanse it then experienced oyashirosamas visit, where he touched her hand and temporarily cured her blood
• oyashirosama then explained to her that as a hinamizawan she has a demons blood, meaning it will curl and rot with bugs if she moves away. if she were to return home, the curse would dissipate. she begins hearing oyashirosama following her and apologizing to her for having cursed her; shes sedated by doctors frequently now
• rena was put through a treatment plan that immensely helped and then returned to hinamizawa. she kept going to the local clinic for medication; miyo reassures her without trying to contradict or react negatively to her story
• rena off-handedly monologues that some villagers think miyo is crazy(?!) but is immensely relieved by her kindness. miyo then hands her even more of her notebooks, claiming rena is the first and only person she could trust with this (hmm...)
• in the present day, rena realizes she wont be able to give miyo her notes back and that tomitake died of the same delusion that caught her a year ago. rena accepts that he mustve been cursed for violating oyashirosama in some way; she did not disclose any of this to ooishi
• she realizes miyo may have been disappeared for her research and suddenly gets paranoid that miyo's notebooks are now in her possession. she resolves to read them before burning them
• tips:
Lunch Takeout List
notes on rena's condition from a psych ward; describes her as having severe ptsd and inclinations of schizophrenia as part of a culture-bound syndrome with instructions that she will likely not be able to cope with her dad remarrying in the future. includes instructions on explaining that to her dad, and that the best course of action for her is relocating to hinamizawa
concludes saying theres a research clinic near hinamizawa that should have more information on the culture-bound syndrome, and thus would be better equipped to help her than they are
has a takeout list on the back of the folder

• rena reading miyo's notes:
defines homing instinct as the innate animal desire to rest/sleep/eat in a safe spot, the home; has varying degrees of strength per culture / depending on if the home is an actually safe environment
denotes that homesickness is just the homing instinct taken to the extreme that can manifest physical and psychological symptoms; takes it much more seriously than just melancholy
theorizes onigafuchi village's "transcendants" (half humans, half demons) have exceptional homing instinct born out of culturally not being allowed to leave onigafuchi (to preserve blood purity)
theorizes the curse is just the homing instinct at extreme strength; appears to be a loop between whether the homesick feeling or the "oyashirosama rules" that prevent homesickness were created first
that the concept of the maggot delusion may have been invented by rika's dad and intentionally spread; the shrine started producing talismans that hinamizawans would take with them when leaving the village (rena interjects that she experienced it without having heard of it beforehand)
notes that she really wants to study someone under the curse to see if the maggots are actually real
theorizes separate from the maggot delusion that the curse may be a parasitic disease that forces hinamizawans to stay in the village; as if its a communal blood parasite that triggers the homesickness
theorizes that the myth of "demons" coming out of the swamp may have been metaphor for villagers being initially infected with a parasite
• renas very on board as she feels all this really explains that the three families are behind everything, as their blood is more "purely demon"; her theorizing is interrupted by ooishi calling her
• keiichi pov; the next day at school, rena is absent. mion compares what shes going through to a kind of homesickness and that what she really needs is to be left alone. keiichi is a bit sad he cant really support or cheer up rena
• after school, keiichi heads out for grocery errands and bumps into rena hiding in the forest clearing. she beckons him close; she says she feels as if someone is following her. she tells him miyo is dead and the police are likely after her scrapbooks
• rena says she feels as if a white van is following her around; she initially refuses to fully explain miyo's notes as she fears thatll paint keiichi as a target as well, but he insists: she thinks the sonozakis are behind the murders, using the curse to resurrect the watanagashi / oyashirosamas cult. she thinks miyo was killed for coming close to discovering the ultimate truth, but isnt sure enough on it to explain to keiichi yet
• alone, keiichi muses on if he succeeded in retaining renas trust despite not fully believing her, thinking shes just paranoid after the murders; he suddenly spots a white van parked on the side of the forest hes walking on
• the van driver suddenly stops him and asks him where rena is; he freaks out but plays it off and they leave
• tips:
Lunch Takeout List 2
more of the notes on renas condition; notes that clinic staff need to be extremely careful handling both rena and her dad, as he could become "infected" and experience similar delusions as her out of sympathy.
basically spells out that keiichi is in danger of sharing renas paranoia right now
ch9

• keiichi pov; on the phone with rena. she explains a bit more of miyos findings in brief:
the sonozakis kidnapped the ministry of constructions grandson which involved a special death squad unit
the sonozakis sent a special unit intended for dam related assassinations to the united states for specialized training (is it the mountain dogs? are jirou/miyo part of this taskforce?)
the guardians were prepared to stay behind and drown in the flooded village as protest
oyashirosama is pretextually a god of marriage and domestic prosperity (?!) (!!!!)
the idea that he doesnt want villagers to leave is likely an invention of the villagers, smearing his name
the "demon" from onigafuchi swamp was likely a parasite that infected half the village
oyashirosama was likely based on a foreign doctor that helped with but could not fully cure the disease
oyashirosama deciding to "give the demons human form" was likely the doctor being touched by the uninfected villagers refusal to run away or kill the infected, thus deciding to stay beside them and help as best he can
the doctor may have made rules to contain the parasite within the village by discouraging travel and not allowing outsiders
the parasite is best acclimated to the hinamizawa climate and causes severe symptom outbreaks when displaced
"demoning away" secretly meant keeping infected outsiders inside the village
keiichi notes "nobody has had symptoms from moving away"; rena agrees and says thats a sign of the parasites having been weakened over time per oyashirosamas plan
the strongest variants of the parasite were killed off via the villager hosts being driven crazy (so now only weaker "strains" remain in circulation)
watanagashi's previous name "harawata (guts) nagashi (spilling)" was a ritual of creating vaccines out of hyper-infected villagers; it didnt involve actual cannibalism, thats just mythologization
rena concludes this theory obstructs the oyashirosama cult (ruling families) as it posits their god as a mortal with explainable by science abilities rather than all powerful
• rena pov: she thinks miyo was killed for being very close to identifying the parasite pathogen. hinamizawans indeed have abnormally high immunoglobulin E (IgE) in their blood as well as a total lack of allergies, suggesting parasitic infection
• her theory is that irie's clinic is trying to revive the primitive version of the parasite that caused more frequent and total annihilation of those infected rather than the present-day evolved harmless form; notes that the clinic is too big and high-tech for its location, concluding its sonozaki-funded
• posits that the five years of the "curse" have been yearly test drives of a compound that replicates the original parasite, driving victims towards severe aggression and suicidal delirium; suggests tomitake as an outsider's maggot delusion, aligning with the furude talisman citation, is the first successful test run where the distilled pathogen has been perfected (as a bioweapon?)
• rena concludes her own brushup with the curse was that her distance with hinamizawa strengthened the parasite; coupled with the timing of her parents divorce, she was just very mentally unstable at the perfect time for the delirium parasite to strike
• she thinks her vision of oyashirosama beckoning her to return was likely part of the disease's terminal phase
• surmises this research group is likely planning a final phase of research of "oyashirosama's revival" faux ceremony to test bioterrorist style terminal infection; this is definitely rikas death
• keiichi grows panicked and wants to head to the police; rena explains for all they know ooishi is working in cooperation with the clinic
• the kids agree to keep this information secret and hang up
• keiichi pov; the next day at school, rena attends as normal. while alone, keiichi immediately tries to tell mion thinking theres no way shes more loyal to the conspiracy than to the club
• keiichi keeps pressing further bit by bit (almost hyperventilating) gauging her reaction but mion is bewildered. she notes mayor kimiyoshi as deeply religious but not on a fanatical/fundamentalist/cultist level
• she notes that this sounds like a story of miyo's, whos considered an occult maniac and not fully trustworthy in the villagers' eyes. keiichi immediately confirms miyo's involvement here
• mion knocks down the parasite theory comparing it to miyo's past "ufo theory" or "underworld princess from the depths of water" theory. she generally nonchalantly snaps him out of the conspiracy obsession:
reveals the three families have decided to connect a highway to hinamizawa and are eager for both tourism and intermingling with cities/outsiders
the maebara family is very welcome as theyre the first family that bought a plot of land in the village put up for sale to try and attract outsiders (contradictory to oyashirosamas original rules supposedly)
why/how would miyo have unfettered access to blood samples to run tests like that?
claims that the guardians werent directly involved with the kidnapping but ultimately approved of it and the sonozakis took credit for it after the fact; it was lone wolves looking for ransom money (... i dont buy this. but keiichi does)
she reveals the sonozakis ultimate tradition is of bluffing to boost the organizations image
the idea of the usa trained death squad was a bluff; it was basically a business trip to texas and san fran lead by kasai
• keiichi gives up thinking rena just fell for miyos story as a result of the murders leaving her somewhat unstable
• during lunch break, the white van returns; its occupants enter the school posed as gardeners with a very lenient fee
• the teachers claim that these gardeners first inspected the school to give a quote yesterday.
• keiichi fully snaps out of it, aiming to snap rena out of it too
• renas pov (slightly redder text?); she is completely convinced of being followed and surveilled. she is convinced the gardeners are the death squad and the teachers are under the three families' thumb
• she tries calling the gardeners number based off seeing the principal hold a paper detailing such, but the line doesnt go through; she is convinced this is proof its a sham operation
• she begins to wonder if keiichi may be a sonozaki informant, potentially having spilled the beans to them; apologizes for doubting him in the mirror
• teachers pov; rena saw an outdated phone number, the updated one is explained by a worker
• tips:
Lunch Takeout List 3
further clinic notes; rena is at risk of delusional misindentification syndrome as well as a personality disorder. notes that her condition is not unique nor severe, recommends her relationship with her father be kept intact and her transfer to a specialized hinamizawan clinic

• rena pov (redder text); she ditches school to evade her supposed captors, hiding in the forest clearing
• convinced she isnt safe at home and cant trust anyone but keiichi, she runs home and takes rinas debt repayment (left in her dads cash box) and supplies then books it to live in her dump hideout
• renas dad pov; he makes a police report on his stolen cash (thinking it was rina/teppei) as rena left it all askew in her exit
• he gets a call from keiichi who is looking for rena; he hangs up on him in a hurry over the theft
• rena pov (redder text); she returns to where the corpses are buried and finds the corpses have been dug up. she gets immediately suspicious that one of her friends mustve dug them back up and/or contacted the police; lands on mion and the sonozakis being most likely
• on her way back to her hideout she stalks near her house and overhears her dad reporting that shes missing; interprets it as the sonozakis having made her a suspect and that she is now wanted
• at nighttime rena calls ooishi via the remote payphone (arc1 keiichi / arc4 mamoru). she discloses that she thinks shes being followed by the sonozakis, and ooishi responds saying hes heard reports that a special corps of the sonozakis is indeed mobilizing to find her (very unclear if its renas paranoia glazing over what he said, or if hes intentionally instigating her paranoia)
• rena confesses the sonozakis are probably after her for miyos scrapbooks, then details her research in brief; ooishi is bewildered but keeps her talking
• briefly considers the clinic suspicious; ooishi is eager to try and raid somewhere but they dont have conclusive enough evidence
• he reveals that "miyo"s corpse died before the festival; hints that its not her body at all, but rena takes that to be proof of another one of miyos theories being correct (undisclosed)
• ooishi offers her shelter and protection but she goes back into hiding
• third person pov ooishi centered; kumagai bursts in claiming its kasai that gave the order to target rena. he orders he put an unmarked patrol car to watch her house but the sonozakis are already doing so; regardless, shes gone missing
• going ballistic as he didnt realize rena was calling from a payphone, ooishi realizes he needs to secure rena immediately
• third person pov shion centered; shion tells kasai that rena wants to speak to him in person. theyre interrupted by shions dad giving him oryous order to secure rena and bring her to the main house immediately
• keiichi pov; over the phone mion tells him the police are looking for rena. mion had her family dig up the corpses and hide them (presumably in the torture room's well) to pre-empt the logging project potentially finding them (per earlier tips)
• she tells him she asked the family to also look for rena (that it might not be oryous order at all) and that she will divert the cops by saying shes in gogura
• off the phone, keiichi decides to try and visit her at the garbage dump, bringing her food
• tips:
"Them"
rena pov (redder text); after hanging up on ooishi, shes completely convinced that she had been watched during her entire phone call. she hallucinates (maybe only auditory) an alien/monster stalking towards her and hitting the phone booth; she screams then runs off

• rena pov; back at her hideout, she cant rest out of complete paranoia. she concludes the ritual storehouse likely housed medical equipment and is the most likely spot of a hidden research facility
• a car approaches and two people head into the old dam construction office building; she thinks its sonozaki grunts (one of them is named atsushi). rena gets really itchy
• its actually police grunts; theyre on ooishis orders to get miyos scrapbooks (rena doesnt realize this, or it could be the dialogue is skewed per her paranoia). they receive the tip shes in gogura and leave
• rena gets very paranoid as she sees the tip as proof of a doppelganger situation placing her in immense danger, folds into capgras delusion (as a sort of mega parasite taking over villagers)
• she spirals, obsessed with miyos death as a potential whistleblower; rika approaches and knocks on her car, terrifying her
• rika speaks in deeper register: she proclaims that she isnt the "real" rika, that she has lived 100 years and assumed the name rika
• rika claims that rena is just a bit sick and that she brought an antidote with her; rena freaks out at the sight of her syringe per her prev trauma with shots/medication, thinking its the parasite infection drug
• rika is giggly (unclear if this is objective pov); claims that a drug *was* used on tomitake but this isnt the same one. claims that shes already tried forcing the shot on rena and others but it "never works"; asking if she wants to take it voluntarily is her only option, which rena refuses
• she says shes done with "this" rena and will hope the "next" rena is more persuadable. she will venture onto the "next" hinamizawa, but "this" rena will only have "this" hinamizawa (the looper...)
• she says this world is ending soon and she will not force her to take the shot. on departure she breaks out into laughing, that its very amusing to have a conversation "like this" every once in a while
• rena realizes she scratched herself to the point of bleeding earlier; she begins to feel the maggots which she resists (really cool scare)
• keiichi pov; very carefully running towards rena. hes somewhat paranoid himself but to a far lesser degree, concluding that rena just has a "mental cold" and needs support
• he spots her just outside her car with eyes glazed over holding her hatchet; shes convinced the drug used on tomitake was slipped into her food
• keiichi slowly makes her confront her obvious paranoic perception and offers her unconditional support, asking for her to trust him. he slaps her trying to knock her out of it and she staggers back in disbelief
• renas pov (redder text); shes convinced the parasite is working in tandem with aliens. she suddenly remembers "what ooishi told her" about how keiichi was before moving to hinamizawa; shes afraid of what he would think of her attacking her friends and breaking school windows during her breakdown a year ago
• keiichis pov; she slaps away his hand. dramatic "youre lying" scare freaks him out. she monologues the truth ooishi revealed to her: that keiichi recurringly shot little girls from his school with a bb gun, then turned himself in (?????????); their family moved here as part of trying to obscure the situation. internally he explains that was just letting off steam during exam period (with a gun???), desperate for attention even if was just being scolded
• rena exclaims that by keeping secrets from one another, they are not actually friends. keiichi breaks down crying; she leaves
• tips:
The Reason We Moved To Hinamizawa
pov keiichis dad; he first learned about hinamizawa during one of their touristy tour guides through the village during the dam conflict. he saw two young girls with long hair playing together in the plot of land he later bought and built his mansion on
its emphasized one of the girls seems to be rika, the other unknown as its not satoko...

• keiichi pov; rena has officially been declared missing. at school, he tells the club members about his "dark past"; he was acting out due to study stresses; due to how he thought his high grades in cram school were his only personality trait
• eventually he shot a little girl in the eye with a bb gun and the guilt snapped him out of it, he turned himself into the police (the girl fully recovered)
• the girls tell him it doesnt matter what hes done, so long as hes trying to do better its ok. he doesnt have to confess to his sins to everyone in order to be friends with them. in particular rika is very proud of satoko overcoming her "weakness" (shes 10...) and mion used to throw bricks at people (yay)
• anything rika may have done is left completely vague
• keiichi cries; unclear flashback of arc1 exchange of keiichi baraging mion for not explaining satoshi and the murders to him, wherein he realizes she was not deliberately keeping him the dark
• in that loop, one ohagi contained tobasco as a prank. he concludes there never was a needle, it was just a delusion
• he realizes rena and mion carried him to his room and called the "director" aka irie to come check on him; he hallucinated that mion had a syringe rather than her marker (from jirou's punishment game)
• hes caught between either he was deluded and misinterpreted their care as trying to kill him, or they had suddenly became posessed and indeed were trying to kill him
• renas last words in that timeline were "please trust me"
• he somehow has this memory of "another world" and is completely grateful this timeline isnt playing out that way
• current keiichi breaks down; nobody knows how to help him. rika approaches and declares hes realized his sin of refusing the blame for killing his friends, and that she forgives him
• she declares this instance of remembrance a miracle; keiichi resolves he will try to save rena again even if she ends up killing him, the same way he killed her
• rika admits she had given up on rena but now doesnt want to give up hope; he dramatically apologizes to mion whos completely confused
• third person pov ooishi centered; the cops are invited to a sonozaki dinner (mion, akane, kasai present) where they are handed miyo's remaining 10+ journals
• each journal hones in on a particular out-there theory of miyos, all kinda having the flavor of incentivizing delusions
• the cops realize the notebooks are bogus. akane reveals the sonozakis are anticipating ooishis raids in search of the sonozakis' supposed parasite research facility; ooishi is cornered and forced to agree to cancel the raids
• ooishi leaves and kumachan completes the negotations; the sonozakis will let them question rena so long as mion is informed immediately upon her being found, and she only answers questions with a lawyer present
• afterwards, akane says shed like to meet with rena. its emphacized how close akane and kasai are
• keiichi pov; rena has been missing for 2 days. before bed he spots rena under the streetlamp on his street and rushes to meet her
• shes exhausted, still at peak paranoia; shes certain she will die soon and only wanted to apologize to keiichi before it. she confesses to her meltdown in ibaraki; she affirms she trusts keiichi but then goes back to saying she will save hinamizawa from invaders
• keiichi starts crying, asking her to forgive him; they cry together. she leaves, letting him know she'll likely ask for his help in "preparation for tomorrow, the final battle"
• keiichi calls mion and warns her that rena probably thinks the sonozakis are still her biggest enemy; mion brags about how she got the police to drop the case.
• tips:
Last Night
rika pov; her possessor says tomorrow is the day the both of them die. rika mentions that keiichi recalled an alternate timeline/outcome, to which she says thats impossible
the per-arc/timeline situation is compared to repeatedly rolling die; each dice roll has a lot of alternate outcomes and by re-rolling only more outcome-timelines are generated
rika resolves keiichi's recollection miracle has brought her the hope to keep rolling the dice
mentions that shes younger than her possessor
the conversation awakes satoko, who tells her to head to sleep (emphasis on the difference in rikas register between being genuine and acting)

ch13

• keiichi pov; on the way to school hes worried rena might pop out of nowhere and attack mion. mion and him wrestle
• mion has a bunch of bodyguards trailing her just in case
• at school the students note something smells really bad in the air outside the building. keiichi brushes it off as just whatever the forestry service had gotten up to; misc students seem a bit more aggressive
• keiichi theorizes rena is likely going to attack irie's clinic seeking the parasite research, where she might also kill elderly town council members thinking theyre part of the three families supposed conspiracy working alongside the clinic
• mion pov; at lunch on keiichis advice she calls kasai and has him send some of her bodyguards to the clinic to capture rena as calmly as possible. their teacher overhears and tries to get a bit more information; she feels horrible that one of her students may have been going through something difficult in secret
• the adults think rena has simply run away from home; mion realizes framing it as she had a fight with her dad may be the best lie to go with
• mion affirms renas just a bit sick. chie is very worried; mion surmises shes just worried about her curry more than anything (a bit too goofy for a late chapter)
• rena calls the school and chie picks up; hastily she agrees to meet with rena and places mion as class president in charge of class. mion has one of her bodyguard patrols tail chies car
• keiichi senses something is wrong about chie leaving; suddenly, a student returns from the bathroom alongside rena, wielding her hatchet and directing the class
• with a big smile and glazed-over eyes she holds that student hostage and threatens the whole class; she has them barricade the window, then has keiichi tie up every student individually with jump rope
• in secret mion and keiichi agree to go along with renas demands, thinking they can clear up her record down the line after shes hospitalized
• rena very calculatedly threatens the rest of the kids, particularly forcing keiichi to be her accomplice; he realizes she orchestrated the principle, teacher and mions bodyguards absence
• third person ooishi-centric pov; renas called the cops on herself, asking for ooishi to negotiate. he arrives at the scene; the school staff arrives as well
• misc pov swapping between rena, ooishi and keiichi; renas text is even redder
• rena probes ooishi and keiichi
• ooishi gets keiichi on the phone and ascertains hes being threatened
• rena asks ooishi how the raids he promised her (on clinic, ruling families) are going to which he says theyre still prepping for it. shes livid; expressing how shes only a few moments away from clawing her throat out and needs both help and for the conspirators to be found out
• rena is convinced she is dying tonight. ooishi claims they cant start the raids without proper proof; she hands over the scrapbooks via keiichi acting as if both those and her hostage situation can serve as proof/excuse towards the raids
• on hanging up he convinces her she cannot under any circumstances reapproach the windows as the sonozakis could supposedly snipe her; in reality he hands keiichi a plan note, earpiece, wiretap and pepper spray
• when keiichi returns, rena has doused the room + kids in gasoline. ooishi confirms with his mahjong buddy sato(?) that the amount of gasoline in the room is definitely enough to kill everyone on it
• both the wiretap bug and even just a threatening flick of the lighter are completely dangerous
• rena has left a note in the scrapbooks informing of her plan and terms; she will detonate at 7 pm if the raid is not performed. the cops realize shes completely paranoid; its 6 pm
• she has also rigged a proper bomb for 7 pm regardless of how her gasoline plan goes (!?!?!?!)
• rena beats mion, nearly killing her. keiichi breaks down in tears; trying to ensure this outcome is different from onikakushi (explaining that plotline), he tries to reason with her and they argue. he keeps asking her to trust him, approaching with arms outstretched
• she hits him with the hatchet's handle. she receives a call and heads to the other room; its ooishi stalling saying they investigated the sonozakis as kumagai instructs keiichi to find the bomb and defuse it. keiichi enlists satoko
• he realizes rena had planned to kill herself this whole time, similar to his onikakushi mindset at the very end that no matter what happens to him he must get the "clues" to the cops
• ooishi pov; prefecture police take over and storm the building with their bomb squad. ooishi is on very bad terms with their chief, ootaka
• ooishi is outraged that theyre about to endanger the kids with their poorly planned riot gear based strategy. keiichi has to also steal renas lighter
• keiichi finds a decoy time bomb. rena corners him; rika hits her from behind (escaped her w how tiny she is)
• keiichi books it to free and consult satoko for the real time bombs location; she tosses satoshis bat to him
• keiichi books it to the roof as rena chases after him
• rika proclaims shes died a few hundred times before and isnt afraid of it anymore, and that shes played this exact scenario out once before so this outcome will definitely be better. stalls her; calls her a hatchet-girl (famous line)
• ooishi and kumagai seize the prefectural polices comms and direct the bomb unit to turn the schools electricity off; it isnt possible as rena has rigged it
• satoko frees the other kids out the window, particularly the heavily injured mion
• ooishi directs keiichi via megaphone towards the bomb on the roof. he has snipers on standby but its too risky to shoot
• keiichi catches the bomb and throws it down the roof
• fire department instructs the cops to all fall back. keiichi is instructed to jump off the roof into shrubbery, but rena catches up to him
• keiichi and rena fight a bunch 1v1 on the rooftop, half-considering a club activity. rena is scratching herself (throughout the chapter she's had cute bandaids around lymph nodes)
• they get really into it; the entire audience below is cheering them on. they all realize its part 2 of the watergun fight
• rika stands alone, shocked that this is a scene shes never seen before; she thinks keiichi could "destroy the maze of tragedies that had no exit"
• mid-fight rena is being calmed down paranoia-wise; they conclude to do a final draw, where rena wins then breaks down saying she doesnt want to kill him
• they resolve to have happy days together [in another timeline], concluding the best course of action during doubt/sadness/paranoia is to ask your friends for help. she cries in keiichis arms
• he notes her as extremely powerful for figuring out her mistake ("sin") in the same loop, rather than afterwards as an impossible memory the way he did
• keiichi has rena bow with him then addresses the audience ("in hell" lol) saying theyve done the impossible and course-corrected the tragedy, so theres nothing more to observe
• credits roll; police report of the hostage incident. renas court case is ongoing, particularly disputing her mental state (at least during the incident)
• tips:
The Demons' Script
mamoru pov; hes visiting hinamizawa with cop buddies 30 years after his first visit (1978) to collect evidence; its the first time hinamizawa has been re-opened following the disaster
ooishi wanted to tag along but is in poor health
onigafuchi swamp has been sealed with concrete, which is useless overall
online interest in the disaster has surged online, now considered among conspiracy theory enthusiasts as having been a bioterrorist attack covered up by the government
an urban legend of a document called "file no. 34" (3=mi, 4=yo) supposedly holds the absolute truth about what happened; these seem mostly fake
the article written by miyo is thought to have "prophecized" the disaster... and her folklore studies are now widespread (particularly the ufo theory)
mamoru is very suspicious of the circumstances surrounding miyos death and renas hostage situation
the disaster still occurred the day after the hostage situation (damn)
mamoru raises suspicion about the fact hinamizawa was unusually quarantined for a full ~30 years + that theres theories that the government workers that sealed the village had their blood supposedly repeatedly tested for infection; some were discharged without explanation after their results came back
the theory is that the government workers were test subjects for a mass scale bioweapon
another theory is that there was no "volcanic gas" as some enthusiasts claim was no environmental nor structural damage; it was divine madness
mamoru has a notebook that he thinks is file no. 34 (obtained via ooishi and kumagai)
the theory culminates in irie having been forced into illicit research and rika being sacrificed to evoke oyashirosamas wrath to "awaken" the original virus; instead the experiment went wrong and the villagers all went mad and killed eachother
hints that the swamp being filled with concrete may have been to hide an underground lab rather than surpress supposed volcanic gas
• Staff Room
  
  • the author addresses the players, urging them to seek help if their life circumstances feel so dire they think any sort of death could be the only solution; emphacizes the importance of having a support network