preface note these games SUCK in a very specific hard to stomach way. theres a lot of jokes where the kids will describe wearing revealing outfits or guys will fantasize abt the girls or such it is really gross. its bizarelly tonally inconsistent with the rest of the story like its... a game about abused kids surviving against all odds, yet treats sexual harrassment like a frivolous throwaway topic for unserious lighthearted slapstick with no effect on people ever. and you can kinda... see hints of it in how the girls are drawn its 😬😬 at least the jokes never amount to anything and the kids are unhurt in all situations but itssssss bad. thankfully this whole thing is dropped whenever the plot gets serious(? so far at least) and you can kinda tell when this is about to show up so its easy to skip without missing the plot
^ as such i dont recommend the games. i knew it was gonna have some layer of creepiness to it bc i had been warned by friends and colleagues but itssss worse than i thought. im braving a horrible frigid windstorm bc im told theres an actually really great and resonant story underneath the bullshit. id describe it as like... rather than a good story trapped in the format of a videogame/visualnovel, its a good story trapped with the cliches of creepy vns of its time. the author undoubtedly was within these circles, idk if hes a creep himself or was asked to include the bullshit by friends/colleagues/the publisher or what bc it really, really sticks out at all times... maybe the adaptations (anime/manga/novels) are less bad and im getting the worst version by engaging with the original😭
i was sold on the series as a whole after watching a friend be entranced by the sequel series (which im told has No such creepiness).. she kept thinking the tone of it was absurd/needlessly complex and not that great then towards the end it all clicked and made for a very multilayered sad story so im like... hoping this game also amounts to that for me at the very least LOL im enjoying cicada very much but it is very much part of my journey towards seagull
direct quotes: "well. that was the ending. [5 hours later] am i being too harsh. the whole eight episodes together are by no means a bad story and yet i dont know if i'd like reccomend it to somebody for instance... [7 hours later] nvm remembered how ep 7 recontextualizes everything maybe this was a good story after all. sayooooooooooooooo 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭"
general "read this to understand anything" section
terminology
chapters/arcs/subchapters
the game is separated into 8 arcs (individual .exes), also called separate installments/games, also called the story's chapters; each arc has a subtitle (eg Higurashi When They Cry: Onikakushi, is "arc 1" / "chapter 1"). each arc/chapter has subchapters/parts, which are officially called just "chapters". because of this confusion i try to refer to the installments/chapters as "arcs" OR "ch1/2/etc" and subchapters as "chapters" or "subchapters". i apologize thiat this is already difficult to make sense of
tips
after each chapter, bite-sized mini stories are unlocked. typically they expand upon topics briefly mentioned in the associated chapter; all of them contain new information and thus shouldn't be skipped. often feature alternate povs, or inspection of written material mentioned in the main chapter. they're not exactly "tips" on solving the mystery.
punishment game
the penalty whoever lost in the club's daily activity must endure. typically involves making them do acts of self-embarrassment (eg wearing weird outfits or slapping the school principle's bald head)
watanagashi
lit. "cotton drifting"; local festival where the villagers gather at the furude shrine and leave gifts of cotton downstream for oyashiro-sama, the village's guardian deity
location
hinamizawa
a secluded mountain village, the main setting of the story. has only one school and so few students that it is a single classroom mixed grade. the villagers are very close knit; at one point keiichi describes their occasionally eerie bond as "mafia-like". has only one small hospital clinic. has no police station.
onigafuchi swamp i forgot to add this one Oops(update)
a supposedly bottomless swamp in hinamizawa associated with legends of demons. "onigafuchi" was originally the entire village's name
okinomiya
the largest town nearest to hinamizawa; a ~30 minute bike ride away. its small, but has a train station, leading to the city. has a more city-like culture contrast hinamizawa, despite being pretty small. has a weird restaurant where the waitresses dress up. has a police station.
characters
(formatted as [given name] [surname])
keiichi maebara
club member. protagonist and pov character. a kind, dumb, goofy, slacker 15 year old whos very gullible and bad at lying. wise enough to understand when hes in danger but has a habit of internally talking himself out of suspecting obviously suspicious people. has no hobbies past hangingout with his buddies or watching tv. he has moved to hinamizawa one month prior to the game's events due to his eccentric artist/manager parents; his parents cherish him deeply and are kind to him despite being a bit odd. technically i havent seen sprite artwork of him in-game but i looked it up lol. he looks like a turtle
rena ryuugu
club member. a gentle, reserved, sweet 15 yo who suddenly gains super strength when trying to steal something cute for her collection. shes normal, cheerful but easily flustered. seems unwell but doing her best to not express it. seems to be close with her dad
mion sonozaki
older twin. refers to himself as a guy, 15 yo class representative, head of the kids' after-school club. he's the next head of his very politically involved family, and has a bunch of uncles he works part time for. is goofy and slacking the same way keiichi is, but weirdly scheming. i use he/him pronouns but still occasionally call him a girl bc thats what he does for himself (i havent deciphered where the story is going with this...)
shion sonozaki
younger twin. decidely more "proper" and feminine than mion, but seems just as if not more scheming than him. waitress at the weird restaurant in okinomiya. doesnt attend the same school as club members.
note: the twins are identical and sometimes (all the times?) assume eachothers identities, but when presenting as one or the other have tell-tale grammar and tone of voice differences
rika furude
club member. a sweet but lonely-seeming 11 yo orphan girl. somewhat quiet, speaks in a monotone. overly polite at all times, extremely by the book, weirdly skilled at everything and very capable of stringing people along. lives at the furude shrine; seemingly in contact with a lot of community leaders because of her association with the shrine
satoko houjou
club member. a rowdy 12 yo orphan girl. carries a cartoonish rude yet very posh/proper "you peasant!" ojousama tone at all times. she seems to not know things nor be skilled at anything at all (realistic, apologies for the phrasing), putting on shows of overconfidence to compensate. likes to prank keiichi. rika makes her school lunches. seems to be homeless
idk what he looks like yet
satoshi houjou
satokos older brother; thus unseen
kuraudo ooishi
senior detective at a well-regarded precinct in okinomiya. investigating the hinamizawa cases
jirou tomitake
miyo's boyfriend, is into bird photography. a tourist that visits hinamizawa twice a year. a normal sweet guy, military vibe
miyo takano
tomitake's girlfriend, is into bird photography. a nurse at the village's sole clinic. somewhat off-putting
chapter summaries section
onikakushi-hen (demoned away arc)
chapter 1
- opens with keiichis internal monologue as he kills rena via repeatedly hitting her w blunt object (rena is silent; presumably was already dead before the scene started). pivots to keiichis overnight train ride home with his dad from a funeral in the city. half-asleep, keiichi seems to hear someone incessantly apologizing, and thinks whatever they did cannot be bad enough to warrant that. keiichi picks up rena and mion on his way to school. after a school day (introduction to rika and satoko), the three of them head home.
tips:
- We're a mixed grade?
- We don't have a uniform?
- the kids wear mismatched school uniforms they chose themselves for fun
chapter 2
- on their day off, rena and mion take keiichi on a tour of the town. miyo (clinic nurse) is briefly encountered. they get to a hilltop by the mountain base and have a scenic view lunch rena made with surprise appearance from rika and satoko. afterwards, rena takes keiichi to the dam dump. there he meets tomitake (a tourist) alone, who tells him a bit about the dam's history. when asked about it later, rena suddenly acts suspicious. she mentions wanting a statue buried in the dump, and keiichi offers to help her.
- tips:
- The Maebara Manor
- The dam site murder/dismemberment (Newspaper edition)
chapter 3
- introduction to mion's after-school club about boardgames/games in general; keiichi is formally accepted to the club. they play old bachelor card game. at a severe disadvantage, keiichi gets last place and plays the punishment game (mion first place). on the walk home, keiichi asks mion about the dam's history, but he suddenly acts suspicious. keiichi heads out for the dam dump, where he finds rena and tries to help her with the statue she wants. when rena leaves to bring tea from her close-by house, keiichi finds a tabloid describing the 1978 dam site murder. rena returns with an axe instead of tea, startling keiichi. they agree to meet up another evening to get the statue.
- tips:
- The Hinamizawa Dam Project
- Special tabloid report
chapter 4
- the kids play zombie tag during pe class (mion and rena first place). heading out to the dam dump immediately after coming home from school, keiichi encounters tomitake on his way there, and unintentionally threatens-scares him. keiichi meets up with rena and retrieves the statue, which reminds him of the 1978 murder.
- tips:
- What kind of name is Rena?
- her legal name is "reina" but she is insistant on her nickname "rena"
chapter 5
- after school during club activities, the kids tell keiichi hes expected to tag along for watanagashi club activities (watanagashi introduction). they play president card game, keiichi loses. after school on the way home, mion and keiichi bump into tomitake, who mion acts somewhat coldly towards.
- tips:
- Community notice
chapter 6
- the night of the festival, the club meets up at the shrine. rika is revealed as a shrine maiden. the gang bumps into tomitake, who they pressure into joining them as an honorary adult member of the club. the club activities climax with a shooting game, competing for the biggest prize. keiichi wins a big teddy bear and gives it to rena. tomitake comes last place.
-rika performs a ritual, then rena shows keiichi the cotton tradition. keiichi gets separated from the group, and finds tomitake with miyo, who is introduced as his girlfriend. keiichi inquires about the towns mysteries, and learns about the yearly murders referred to as "oyashiro-sama's curse" and gets progressively unnerved. miyo leaves, and keiichi regroups with the club members. as a punishment game, the kids grab tomitake and write farewell messages on his shirt, as he is leaving town soon. confused and seemingly unnerved, tomitake leaves to meet up with miyo. keiichi walks home with rena.
- tips:
- Houjou couple's falling incident
- satokos parents were killed; dad died in an accident involving falling off an observatory platform cliff in another town, mom disappeared
- The terminal illness of Shinto Priest Furude
- rikas dad suddenly became ill, accredited to overwork around the festival; her mother seemingly committed suicide (no body recovered ergo disappeared)
- Housewife murder
- this tip is empty
- Radio Log
chapter 7
- at school the next day, the teacher is introduced. after school at club, the kids play a cluedo-like card game where the club members' names are murder suspects. keiichi steps out, signaling rena to follow him, with the intent to conspire to cheat at the game together. rena returns. before returning, keiichi is called to the school gate; ooishi (outsider detective) is introduced, and informs keiichi about tomitake's apparent violent suicide and miyos disappearance right after the festival. keiichi agrees to help the investigation via keeping in contact with ooishi, promising to not talk about any of this with the girls. he returns to the game distracted, and gets tied for last place with rena.
- tips:
- There are more than four perpetrators?
- Search notice
chapter 8
- keiichi is unnerved and starts missing sleep. napping during school lunch, keiichi overhears rena and mion discussing the disappearances. after school in club mion unusually leaves for his job. the rest decide to play yesterdays game again. keiichi notices a card marked as "satoshi"; unnerved, he asks rena if he was a transfer student, who then acts suspiciously. on the walk home, rena claims she only just transferred to hinamizawa last year, so she doesnt know much about the town. keiichi asks her if the group is keeping anything from him, to which she suddenly acts suspicious, and her eyes glaze over; she reveals she knows he met with ooishi; she screams at him that she knows hes keeping things from her (jumpscare) then goes back to acting normal.
- at home, a very unnerved keiichi receives a phone call from ooishi, who explains the disappearances aspect of the festival curse to him. ooishi explains that satoshi is dead. keiichis dad interrupts, cheerily informing him rena was in the house; she entered, telling the dad she would go upstairs and hang out with keiichi. a now terrified keiichi realizes she had stayed outside his door for the duration of the phonecall, listening in, leaving before keiichi realized she was there.
- tips:
- Notice from the police chief
chapter 9
- keiichi feels too unnerved to go to school, and claims he has a cold to avoid school. he takes a nap on the couch, then awakes to a note with hospital visit cash from his parents saying they had to take an urgent drive to the town, so he needs to get checked by a doctor alone. keiichi visits the local clinic for his sudden illness, where hes told by a male doctor its most likely a cold. he is given an unknown shot and medicine to take later. on the way home, he bumps into ooishi driving, who takes him out for lunch at an okinomiya restaurant with dressed up waitresses. ooishi reveals the main lead is that an unknown drug induces mania then suicide in the victims. shion (not yet introduced) seems to be their waitress. there, keiichi inquires further about the towns legends. ooishi reveals each sudden death is accompanied by a disappearance. all the deaths until now all involved with the club members families, and the girls themselves are suspects. he reveals that rena grew up in hinamizawa, only temporarily moving away for a single school term, then because of a breakdown moved back. keiichi takes some of the medicine. on the drive home, ooishi reveals he is retiring soon, and keiichi realizes hes simply bait for this guys last job.
- at home keiichi hazily sleeps, awakens from a phonecall from mion, who asks to come over with rena. the two visit, giving keiichi a package of ohagi, telling him hes tasked with figuring out which of the 5 ohagi was made by rena. suddenly, both of their eyes glaze over as they inquire about ooishi. keiichi is dramatically startled. shortly after the girls leave, mion reopens the door to threaten him from outside. keiichi starts to fully doubt himself and the girls.
- keiichi eats one ohagi. the second ohagi is assumed to be renas, and once he bites in, he finds a needle inside it. he throws the rest against the wall in a panic, and loses the needle.
- tips:
- What's a drug that makes you commit suicide?
- Threat
- ooishi pov; about how the cops have instructions to drop the hinamizawa cases. ooishi is warned to possibly lose a lot of his retirement funds if he continues investigating
chapter 10
- keiichi is paranoid. on the way to school, he is terrified when rena asks him if he ate all the ohagi. keiichi recalls that in his last (unseen part of ) conversation with ooishi, he revealed renas breakdown lead to her needing counseling, where she claimed she was cursed by oyashiro-sama. at school keiichi is not feeling up to usual antics, and leaves without participating in club activities. at home keiichi decides to take notes of his sudden paranoia in the form of a warning note, then tells his (alarmed) parents that he doesnt want to die, implying to them where he hid the note.
- tips:
- Not feeling so hot
- in this keiichi-less tip (pov unclear) mion and rena laugh hysterically together
chapter 11
- unnerved, keiichi goes to school early alone, where a white van nearly hits him. he retrieves an abandoned metal bat from the school lockers for self defence. before class, he practises swinging the bat, which unnerves the girls. after school he skips club again. on the way home, he spots a bewildered rena tailing him, and harshly yells at her. she timidly reveals that the bat is satoshis, who was acting as odd as keiichi is right now before he (her eyes glaze over) "transferred out of school". she coldly requests that keiichi doesnt "transfer" as well. at home keiichi senses a presence, hears a seemingly invisible girl, and wildly swings the bat at his houses entrance, breaking a shoe cupboard. later having calmed down, he heads downstairs for a phone call, where his mom reveals her and his dad stepped out again: in tokyo for urgent business. panicking, keiichi sets up the house to appear full and busy as if his parents are still there. an unknown woman (miyo?) calls asking for his mom, to which he states she'll be home soon. ooishi calls telling him to retrieve the needle as evidence.
- suddenly, rena interrupts the phone call via a front door visit. there she says shes brought him dinner, but keiichi refuses, saying his mom is home, currently cooking dinner. she (eyes glazed over) reveals she knows his parents arent home as well as his exact choice of dinner via having apparently followed him at the store at the time he bought it. keiichi freaks out, slamming the door on renas fingers, who starts incessantly apologizing, then he screams at her telling her to leave while holding the door on her. eventually he releases her, and returns to his phone call. keiichi asks about renas condition. it starts to storm. time seemed to have stopped during his altercation with rena. unable to focus he drifts towards the window, where he sees rena is standing in the storm repeating her apology.
- tips:
- Split personality???
- At the Seventh Mart
- this is a sort-of flashback of keiichi recalling his supermarket trip, where he suddenly realizes someone had been following his shadow (like the presence he felt in his doorway)
chapter 12
- the next day, keiichi heads to school alone early even more wary, where he practices with the bat again. there, mion meets with him, and keiichi confronts him about satoshi, the curse and the ohagi. after yelling at eachother, very frightened by keiichis harsh reactions, mion claims the needle was just a prank. keiichi goes on a rant, leaving mion crying. as keiichi leaves for class, he hears mion bitterly start laughing about how he will kill ooishi "this time".
- on the way home, keiichi is around town chased then cornered by an out of control rena wielding a hatchet. time seems to stop. rena hysterically laughing says this time she wants to hear keiichi out, as she failed to hear satoshi out before he "transferred". seemingly before killing keiichi, she claims everything hes stressed out about was caused by oyashiro-samas curse; there is another elaborative flashback where the exact nature of renas violent breakdown is further fully disclosed. claiming she will save him [by killing him], keiichi manages to escape to the dam, where two unknown adults slowly pursue him. he is eventually caught by them.
- keiichi suddenly wakes up in his room, where rena is tending to him, claiming a doctor is on his way. she claims she helped a fully conscious keiichi walk home, and the two adults he mentions werent there (suspiciously). realizing he needs to contact ooishi despite rena supervising him, he excuses himself to the restroom, but instead heads downstairs for the phone and sees mion enter the house, who ushers him back to his room. there, he claims the "director" (like the director of a movie) is on his way. laughing hysterically, the girls ask if he figured out the ohagi question. rena then holds keiichis arms behind his back as mion approaches to give him an unknown drug via syringe. the scene cuts out
- keiichi, as if waking up again, slowly realizes he has killed both of them violently with the bat, as his room is covered in their blood
- outside his window, keiichi spots the white van from before, surrounded by a bunch of adults hiding, about to enter the house. he pulls out the previous note, adds more details (tomitake, drug, syringe), tapes the unadministered shot to the note, re-hides it, and makes a run for it. keiichi is pursued and suddenly is experiencing maximum adrenaline.
- the scene cuts to ooishi's pov at the police station. his coworker chitchat is cut short by an urgent call from keiichi calling from a payphone who is in a complete panic. ooishi tries to send patrol cars to his location. keiichi starts to vomit and cough up blood, then claims he was overtaken by oyashiro-sama, and has been being haunted for a while now. he then claws out his throat.
- time period is revealed as june 1983 in a police report. the report claims keiichi called the girls to his house, where he killed them with his bat. the shattered shoe cupboard and ohagi splatter aftereffects are listed as evidence. the note, missing the syringe with some of the text ripped out, is found. the following year, the notes missing parts are called into question.
- tips:
- All-cast review session
- a lighthearted curtain call where the cast tries to solve the mystery. notably lacks keiichi visually and miyo completely
note: apparent death + disappearance tracker
- 1979: dam construction foreman killed then dismembered by a group of 5 villagers, who each took a piece of the body to keep eachother from snitching. all but the fifth member were caught; they're considered disappeared
- 1980: on a work trip to another city, the houjou parents died in an accident where they fell off an observatory platform. the dads body was recovered confirming the death, whereas the mom's wasnt, considered disappeared
- 1981: rika's dad suddenly died of anxiety/overwork; her mom left a suicide note then disappeared
- 1982: satoshi and satoko had been taken in by their aunt and step uncle; the aunt is killed, while satoshi disappeared. unclear who the killer is; the step uncle is noted as abusive, but satoshi was suspected, then an unrelated drug addict was deemed the culprit
- 1983: tomitake dies, then miyo disappears...? or keiichi disappears...?
watanagashi-hen (cotton drifting arc)
chapter 1
- opens with keiichi waking up as normal. on a day off (sunday), he heads out for a game competition in okinomiya. the competition is suddenly called off bc of mions work. keiichi gives a doll prize to rena instead of mion. the girls introduce the concept of watanagashi to keiichi. everyone but mion heads together home on their bikes.
tips:
- Who's Mion's Uncle?
chapter 2
- at club, the kids play sympathy pencil and paper game. mion wins, keiichi loses. at home, keiichis dad takes him out to restaurant instead of having dinner at home. this turns out to be a costumed waitress restaurant where shion is introduced; keiichi thinks she is mion, but agrees to keep shion (as a secret identity of mion's concept) a secret.
- tips:
- Is There Really a Shion?
- An Introduction to Angel Mort
chapter 3
- the school has a curry making competition which turns into a club activity. the teacher is seen for the first time this arc. rika wins but theres no loser. on the way home after school, keiichi teases mion about his previous interaction with shion; mion is very embarrassed. later, shion visits keiichi to bring him a lunchbox; the two are blushy around eachother.
tips:
- It Was Delicious
- in this, mion at school acts like shion from the diner
chapter 4
- at pe in school, keiichi is introduced to more details about watanagashi, which is this sunday. in the last period, he and rena discuss if the girls are all what they seem, emphasizing he thinks rena would be the same even if she wasnt.
- on the way home keiichi realizes hes lost his housekeys. mion informs him his sister told him the restaurant workers found it after keiichis visit. after briefly visiting home, keiichi takes off to meet shion in okinomiya to get the keys back, but is instead cornered by three delinquents after absent mindedly knocking their motorbikes down. suddenly shion and a bunch of hinamizawa residents circle around the onesided fight, pressuring them; eventually the police arrive and take them away. ooishi is introduced
- shion takes keiichi to the restaurant to calm him down, seems to be using a lot of tricks to leave him at ease and think nothing of the bizarre behavior of the villagers. she explains a bit of the dam project to him, coloring it as a time of great solidarity between residents; mentions having been personally beaten by anti riot cops, which made her family mercilessly smear them nationwide. at home, keiichi receives a phone call from shion inviting him back to the restaurant for free desserts tomorrow, and possibly a date afterwards
- tips:
- Details of the Delinquent Three
- ooishi pov; he thinks the villagers would have killed and/or disappeared the delinquents if the police didnt show up in tkme. he serves them beer & uses misc insane intimidation techniques; its revealed their bikes were stolen, so they have reason to arrest them
chapter 5
- after school the next day, keiichi walks home with rena and mion. once mion leaves, rena mentions mion has some large burden, and called her late at night sobbing over it. when asked by keiichi, rena doesnt share further details.
- keiichi goes to the restaurant alone, which unusually has a bunch of creeps eyeing shion during her shift. one of them tries to harrass her, to which keiichi starts a fight; he gets beaten up. after passing out, he phones in the rest of the club. they conspire then succeed in kicking all the creeps out of the restaurant, and shion is super grateful.
- the younger girls leave together; rika somehow got the creeps arrested. on her way out, rena tells keiichi hes the reason mion is upset; she implies that he must be pretending to be shion for a reason keiichi needs to figure out on his own.
- on his date with shion, keiichi slowly realizes w circumstantial evidence that mion must be pretending to be shion because thats the only way he can express a feminine side of himself, and is deeply hurt by keiichi not having given him the doll on sunday. convinced the person before him is mion in disguise, he offers to buy a copy of the doll, to which mion seems emotional. entering the shop the pair find mion working the counter, who is utterly confused and seemingly jealous that keiichi is on a date w someone else; it strongly seems like shion has strung keiichi along just to bother mion. thus it seems mion and shion are in fact different people, but lately only mion has been pretending to be shion, not vice versa
note: this uh... presentation of sexual harrassment as something super bad we must protect our friend from is tonally inconsistent with the miscellaneous such jokes until now. its... good, but weird how it flip flops between "this happening to one of the kids is funny and/or fanservice that doesnt matter and wont impact the story" then "this happening to a supporting character(/new main character?) is unacceptable, the kids must protect her!". really sucks that its probably gonna be just a joke again next arc
tips:
- It hasn't been long enough
- shion drives keiichi home via her chauffeur/butler. in conversation, keiichi learns the twins have been dressing as one another since childhood. once home, the butler privately tells keiichi that shions doing all this for fun, and should grow tired of it soon
chapter 6
- at school the next day, mion is doing awful and avoids keiichi. rena cheers him up, but asks keiichi to promise to pretend like what happened at/after the diner incident never happened for a bit. keiichi agrees. hes thus very bored, but the younger girls prank him leaving him from getting lonely. he compares the issue to relationship drama. in private conversation with rena, he mentions shes herself no matter what, as "rena" rather than "reina" (info noted in onikakushi, unclear how he knows it in this loop)
- on saturday (half-day of school) after school the next day, keiichi walks home with rena and mion, the latter seeming to have cheered up. mion talks about having to prep for watanagashi tomorrow; keiichi offers to help out, and they meet up there. keiichi learns from the misc adults putting him to work setting up that part of the shrine was once the meeting hall for the anti dam project protestors planning, and is now like a community center where older villagers gather for fun. he realizes rika is associated with the shrine, and spots her practicing for tomorrow. he learns her dad is deceased so she has to take up ritual duty more than standard. keiichi notes some of the old people are unusually strong
- towards sunset after working all afternoon, shion shows up and brings keiichi iced tea before mion is able to, thwarting him. miyo and tomitake are introduced. ooishi suddenly appears, seemingly doing routine security checks w other cops, to which shion and mion act very coldly. he tells tomitake he should just move here already, who agrees. shion and miyo suddenly want to discuss the curse expected tomorrow, to which mion leaves and tries to take keiichi with him, but the latter decides to stay back and listen. the three of them explain the curse of sudden murder/deaths then subsequent disappearances each year; keiichiis somewhat unnerved. the note that rikas parents, the houjou parents + brother + extended family are among the lost is directly noted to keiichi (unclear if he caught satokos relation). shion seems to have known satoshi. the lost members are all identified as having been not working with the anti dam protesting group to varying degrees. the disappearances are described as sacrifices to oyashiro-sama to quell his anger regarding the yearly deaths (which he also causes?). miyo acts odd, seems to be a fan of torture, loves to share scary stories. shes noted as having moved to hinamizawa recently and a collector of local folklore info and such.
- after this keiichi seems to regret having pressed on about this rather than hang out with mion; he perceives mion as someone trying to protect hinamizawas reputation via not scaring an outsider like keiichi asap, whereas shion generally somewhat dislikes the village and doesnt mind describing the serious problems with it. looking for mion who went to get dessert at a stall, he's nowhere to be found, so he heads home
tips
- Scrapbook Note I
- Scrapbook Note II
- seems to be miyos misc notes on the subject of the curse
- Scrapbook Note III
- this note is slightly different; it suddenly swaps tone to be about seeking to recover the ritual equipment, noting that a lock in the shrine was recently changed, that "he might be able to do something about the lock", and watanagashi is the best time to try for it
- The Festival's Around the Corner
- @ precinct random cops post-helping with festival setup pov as ooishi enters and informs everyone at the station to be on high alert after the festival rather than during it, and to assume the murder+disappearance will definitely occur. the rando seems to think ooishi sucks but is told he has some previous brave history with the precicint
chapter 7
- the night of the festival, the kids goof around at the stalls a bunch but without a club activity pretense. shion shows up, at first embarrassing mion then going off on her own.
- keiichi gets separated from the group at the time for rikas ritual. shion finds him, and makes him sneak with her back behind the shrine to show him that shes found miyo and tomitake sneaking around a very old looking storeroom.
- caught, miyo invites the kids to join her as she explores the warehouse that tomitake picked the lock of, with tomitake staying guard. the storage room is considered sacred and only furude family members are allowed in. they enter, and find "carpentry tools" all across the walls
- miyo explains the room is full of ritual objects, preserved yet hidden here seemingly having fallen into disuse and disrepair. trying to scare the kids, she starts to detail the village's history and apparent connection to whats stored here; according to myth/fairytales, hinamizawa village was considered to have been a place where demons entered the earth from the underworld via the onigafuchi swamp and started killing humans. oyashiro-sama suddenly appeared to intervene, and oddly, the humans allowed the demons to stay with them; in exchange the demons taught them magic, after which they were so enlightened they couldnt be considered human any more. over time the humans and demons bred, leading to (supposedly) all hinamizawa-born villagers now having demon blood
- keiichi reasons that "demon" is probably a metaphor for white foreigners that got stuck in japan after shipwrecks, and miyo is very impressed. she goes on to explain that the demons traditionally ate humans, and the now demon-blooded humans begun having cravings for flesh once a decade. shion pipes up explaining "watanagashi" can also mean "entrail-spilling"; the two discuss how the cotton being ripped out of a futon ritual rika is performing as they speak somewhat eerily resembles disemboweling a human. keiichi is in disbelief; miyo reveals the "carpentry tools" in the shed are all dissection tools intended to produce torture in still-alive victims. the group finds boards with straps on them and cages. the tool rika is currently using outside is one of these
- shion is suddenly more scared than keiichi; miyo presses on, discussing how she found in a ~100 year old newspaper via archives a report of an unsolved case regarding a corpse found skinned and half-chopped up seemingly for consumption purposes. she notes how the idea of the curse's disappearances being "sacrifices" lines up with them being consumed sacrifices. she notes that if her trespassing here will lead to her being killed/disappeared she wouldnt mind
- miyo then starts to discuss a recent case of canned flesh production, to which shion is suddenly hostile, but is interrupted by tomitake. the ritual outside is nearly over, so miyo takes photos while the kids hide outside. tomitake and shion mention having heard something like a kid jumping up and down on the floorboards very very loud the whole time the group was inside; privately discussing this with shion, keiichi is unnerved that he didnt hear this
- miyo is enthralled after witnessing proof of the ritual's true nature. the group splits up; when separating from shion, she tells keiichi to not tell mion about this as he'll get jealous, but also they cant talk about what they saw. scared that keiichi didnt hear the scary bouncing sounds in the shed, she runs off, and keiichi regroups with the girls (except satoko). rika apparently messed up during the ritual and is emarrassed. realizing keiichi didnt participate in the cotton drifting, he takes him by the hand towards the stream, leaving the other two to find satoko
- alone, mion suddenly gets very mad as he reads that keiichi just hung out with shion, but seemingly not in a jealous way. theres a couple uncomfortable moments of the screen hanging on mions smile sprite with no dialogue nor music (nor scare chords)
tips:
- From the Scrapbook IV
- more miyo notes; the sacrifice during each watanagashi is chosen by oyashiro-sama himself. miyo theorizes the whole thing was to force the villagers in antiquity to endure the same hardships, bringing them closer (%i forget the psych term for this)
-From the Scrapbook V
- more miyo notes; she theorizes theres so many tools rather than few specialized ones because the human suffering was immensely entertaining to the demon-villagers. shes very excited for the festival so she can inspect the shed
- After the Festival
- rando cop pov at the station; the cops found this years victim strangled to death then cooked then dumped outside of hinamizawa; found inside an oil drum. ooishi thinks its not the curse victim of the year, but a lead-up (warning?) to it. the victims dental records are kept in an office in okinomiya; ooishi sends his partner kuma to wake up the dentist
note: contrary to what i expected By Nature Of It miyos fascination with torture doesnt seem sexual (or at least, theres no such jokes/tone to immediately imply it). she does seem to be keeping tomitake on a metaphorical leash its very funny
chapter 8
- the next day, mion is nearly late to school, rena thinks he has a fever. keiichi was unnerved so he missed sleep. after falling asleep in class hes sent out to go wash his face; in the school yard, he bumps into mion, who was sent home for not feeling well. mion claims he instead has a hangover from drinking with relatives last night. suddenly, he coldly asks keiichi two questions: did he see miyo and tomitake? did he see shion? keiichi tries to claim he didnt, then mion repeats the latter question, claiming he wondered if (eyes glaze over) the answer would change if he asked again. the two part and keiichi is left unnerved
- back home, keiichi is asked by his mom to go return her library books as shes expecting an important phone call. suddenly shion calls wanting to ask keiichi something important, and he asks her to come show him where the okinomiya library is. they meet up; inside the library, shion notes she wish she could become a library, and than her family has immense political and financial influence throughout the himamizawa and okinomiya area. ooishi suddenly interrupts them; shion skedaddles, but keiichi fails to follow her, gets stuck talking with ooishi
- ooishi tells keiichi the twins are daughters of a prolific yakuza boss, explaining their immense influence, as well as mion status of successor to the family. he implies that keiichis apparent romantic interest in either of them would lead to keiichi gaining ties with the local yakuza. he then semi-interrogates keiichi with the same questions mion asked earlier; now terrified, keiichi again weasles out of the conversation.
- on his way home, keiichi begins to feel immensely guilty for desecrating the sacred warehouse, believing the sharp nighttime cold to be appropriate punishment he deserves.
- at home, he receives a phonecall from shion; she reveales that miyo and tomitake both committed violent suicides (former was the corpse the cops found, latter clawed his own throat out), then suggests that this year's curse would be 2 deaths then 2 disappearances. terrified, the two realize theyre in danger of "disappearing"; shion reveals she thinks the curse is a pretense for free for all uninvestigated serial murders committed in the village, and keiichi gets so scared he yells at her, blaming her for convincing him to enter the shed. she hangs up on him. regretting having yelled at her, keiichi wishes she would call back, but instead receives a call from a kimiyoshi girl, who asks if her grandpa is currently visiting his house (he's not), then hangs up.
tips:
- From the Scrapbook VI
- miyos notes continued, she notes an oral tradition/explanation surrounding the festival which posits it as a cult ritual intended to instill fear in the villagers, forcing them to stay close knit and stick to strict religious teachings. the ritual is mentioned as having tremendously grossed out many villagers. she closes saying she thinks the three families' current control of the village is probably closely related to the village/myth history
- From the Scrapbook VII
- miyos notes continued, the three families are the kimiyoshis, furudes and sonozakis. the kimiyoshis were previously the leader of the three, but now only get elected as the village's mayors as a remnant of tradition. the furudes were heralded as the sole mouthpiece of oyashirosama as the only local priests, but only rika remains of them. the sonozakis held an enforcing police-like role but were considered the weakest link among the three. she notes the demon blood supposedly runs thickest in these families
kiichirou kimiyoshi, rika furude and oryou sonozaki are specifically mentioned
- Late-Night Phone Call
- another kimiyoshi family member's pov, hes calling households asking if his grandpa the mayor is currently visiting; seems he wanders off often. after talking with an unknown likely relative woman wondering where he is. mion calls asking if he was found; at his grandmas suggestion, a search party is put together . mion unusually (for the first time?) uses "watashi" (fem) pronoun
ch9
- at school the next day, keiichi and mion both seem unwell; keiichi is unnerved while mion missed sleep due to the search party. the school at large is unnerved because of the mayor's disappearance, theres talks of it being this years curse (the current 2 deaths are not common knowledge). rena describes the mayor having been like a close family member to mion. satoko hates eating pumpkin. while doing class duties, keiichi bumps into a beaten up rika, who similarly interrogates him about the festival night. at the last second he confesses using code terms "cats" for the trespassers and "dog" for oyashirosama(?). rika promises shell keep him safe and deal with the "dog" herself; keiichi cries in relief but is suddenly afraid of rikas apparent extensive knowledge of whats going on.
- at home, keiichi receives a call from shion; she describes being suddenly paranoid all day. the two exchange information; shion describes that within her family her social standing is below mions, as mion at a young age was directyl involved with a lot of the illegal activities the family was up to, especialyl related to the dam project, who mion was a spearhead of. she mentions the family kidnapped a kid (seemingly satoshi) to coerce his family who were involved with the project, then he was found a few days later. upon learning of mayor kimiyoshi's disappearance, shion is extremely distraught; she reveals she had confessed to him everything the night of his disappearance, and she believes the curse is picking off the pairs loved ones before killing them. keiichi tries to comfort her in her panicked state, but suddenly realizes rika is probably in the same danger
tips - From the Scrapbook VIII
- miyos notes continued, during the dam protests the kimiyoshis were figureheads handling media reportable incidents whereas the sonozakis were the actual leaders committing illegal acts. the sonozakis are considered responsible for the sudden modern continuation of the watanagashi traditional murders. miyo closes saying if she can confirm the ritual instruments, she will afterwards foxus towards whether or not the sonozakis are in fact involved in all this. she mentions another point of research in vague terms
- Their Punishment Isn't Over?
- ooishi pov, out drinking with his coworkers, hes left alone with his partner kumachan. he apparently detailed the current case info to the other(s?). he notes with kuma that the current theory is that miyo and tomitake were killed for having stepped in the shed, shion and keiichi are in danger for having stepped in as well, but additionally in danger are the mayor and rika, who were the reason the shed padlock had been replaced with an easily tampered with one. he asks kuma to send cops to surveil the furude shrine and make sure rikas ok
ch10
- picks up immediately from last chapter; keiichi immediately calls rikas house phone for 30 minutes, then calls rena saying somethings wrong. rena calls mion, and the three set out the shrine. rika owns the large shrine estate but lives in a small prefab shed with rika; theyre not home. rena runs off to call adults for help, while mion holds a ladder down for keiichi to try climbing in the sheds second story window. all of a sudden amidst explaining the orphan girls' living situation, mions eyes glaze over and he starts incessantly repeating that satoko is cursed in some way, which is leading to the death of all her loved ones, now including rika. right when he thinks hes about to be knocked down the ladder, rena comes back with a bunch of worried adults.
before the creepy repetition, mion notes that the houjou parents + aunt were abusive, but satoshi was satokos guardian angel. he suddenly gathered his savings and skipped town on her last birthday (supposedly eyewitnesses saw him board a train) which was extremely unlike him and how he usually treated his baby sister
- one of the adults retrieved a key that was held in the mayors office; the girls are not home. mion directs the oncoming groups of adults into search party divisions twice; the second time, keiichi disperses to a random unsearched direction, and falls to the ground nearly crying, thinking the disappearances are his fault for having inspected the sacred shed then disclosed it to rika. rena finds him and comforts him, somewhat piecing together what the deal is; he cries a bit then gets worried having very vaguely explained his guilt will put the crosshair on rena next.
- at the shrines meeting hall the adults + mion + newly arrived police are having soup; theres no leads. ooishi offers to drive the kids home, and rena agrees. keiichi falls asleep in the truck. when he wakes up hes alone with ooishi, who has blocked off the sole exit door: hes trying to interrogate keiichi further. he explains that he thinks mion or his grandma is next. unwilling to disclose anything and very afraid, keiichi is let go when oiishi receives a call saying hes needed elsewhere. he tells keiichi he'll start regularly visiting him to interrogate further, to which keiichi slams the car door
tips:
- From the Scrapbook IX
- miyos notes continued, about oryou sonozaki. theres a brief mention of rumors of her daughter and son in law having been disowned leading to mion being the successor. mions noted as "being permitted the name of 'demon' " as a sonozaki
- The Elderly Leader of the Sonozaki Family?
- ooishi pov, conversation with misc cops: oryou was last seen during the festival, but past that typically leaves for music lessons throughout the week. she didnt go to her lessons this week. mion apparently mentioned shes been feeling ill and took the day off. kuma doubts that the cops will get search warrants for the disappeareds' houses
- From the Scrapbook X
- miyos notes continued, leaders of the kimiyoshi and sonozaki families have the kanji for demon inscribed in their given names: oryou, mion, akane (mions mom), kiichirou. in surnames it can be derived from kimiyoshi and furude. she notes "sonozaki" might be "those who slice open the gut"
- Request Denied
- ooishi pov: back at the precinct, all the cops have been refusing sleep since the festival. ooishi is pushing for a warrant to inspect the sacred shed, thinking it contains evidence of the sonozaki familys ties to crime. suddenly a yakuza looking sonozaki family member whos a congressman storms in to chew out ooishi; the chief covers for him saying hes not in there atm
ch11
- at school the next day, the principal announces a new system where the younger students must be taken to and from school by their parents. the teens have to walk home in groups. mion is absent today
- at lunch, rena and keiichi desperately try to cheer eachother up but fail. they end up discussing their leads so far, and rena reveals based on evidence around rikas kitchen that she thinks satoko prepared lunch, then rika noticed they were out of soy sauce and went to ask the neighbors for some, and wound up eating at their house instead. she called satoko over to join them, so satoko placed their uneaten dinner in the fridge. after that, the girls vanished; why another family had potentially prepared enough food for them is called into question
- back home, keiichis parents are out on an urgent business trip. hes confronted with ooishi; in the car, ooishi slowly reveals that shion went missing the day after watanagashi and that mayor kimiyoshi had been very busy the entire day of his disappearance, leaving no room for shion to have met him as she supposedly told kaiichi over the phone
- keiichi realizes his phone calls have been with mion, not shion; mion calls again as shion, and cries a ton as keiichi freaks out at her saying all who disappeared are likely dead. after probing a bit, keiichi outright calls bullshit, revealing he knows shes not shion. mion breaks out into maniacal laughter, and hangs up
-
From the Scrapbook XI
- continuation of miyo's notes: onigafuchi/hinamizawa tradition dictates that if twins are born to a ruling family, one must be killed. miyo chalks up shion being aliving to her grandmothers sympathy. the leader of the sonozaki family "inherits a demon" via elaborate tattoo on their back; miyo suspects oryou and mion have this tattoo, and wishes she could check it out
- At the Suzu Mahjong Parlor
-
at a reserved mahjong parlor, ooishi and some trusted subordinates plan an under the table off the record storm of the sonozaki house, and taking keiichi into custody (for protection?). he mentions due to the sonozaki parliament members pressures the chief has dropped the in-hinamizawa cases to the even local-er authorities, miyos body being found in gifu made him hand the case over the there, hes being sent out of town on training/vacation etc
- note: in the uncensored version, unit 731 is briefluy mentioned (in the censored version, its merely implied). if youre not familiar, that was an extremely horrific bioweapons research department of the japanese army around the time of ww2; the facilities carried out extensive, horrific human experimentation in china thats very difficult to stomach reading about. im surprised japanese war crimes are being acknowledged in this way within the story, but just, heads up... if youre not aware of this part of history but wanna know why this is being brought up/read more/etc, maybe be careful googling it as it is truly truly vile. also worth reading is how much the usa helped covered this up
- the next morning, keiichis parents notice how shaken up he is and offer to let him stay home sick for a few days. rena arrives, and seeing keiichi unwell, lets slip that mion had put out flyers letting people come over to his family house for free fancy soy sauce. with sudden resolve, he and rena decide to confront mion themselves. rena firmly scolds him for having breaking into the storeroom.
- ooishi stops them out the door; there, the two agree and confess everything to him. rena realizes that keiichi had been bait all along, and offers herself as another piece of bait in a cold, but very upset with the cops way.
- at the mansion, mion acts as normal and the scene proceeds as if theyre all hanging out. sitting them down and offering them tea, the room suddenly gets tense; mion admits to having killing everyone himself. when asked why, he suddenly slips into a much more formal manner of speaking thats totally unlike him, but in line with what the leader of the family should act like
- mion details that onigafushi village had its name swapped to hinamizawa as part of japans imperialist endeavors & attempts at assimilating into western sensibilities. as a village thought to be made up of demons and half humans of legend, the villagers began to be heavily discriminated against by their neighbors
- mions grandfather sohei, who was part of a division of unit 731 that sought to provide human flesh rations to soldiers, returned to hinamizawa postg ww2 with smuggled cans of unknown meat from which he made a fortune. this fortune was given to his wife oryou, from which hinamizawa started prospering and the sonozaki family became the commerce monolith it is today
- years later, a whistleblower higher-up of soheis revealed to the public (past the village) the cans contained human flesh; its unclear if the specific cans sold actually did, as supposedly the human meat cans had been marked to only be sent to soldiers on the front lines during the war with animal mean cans also in ciruclation. this feeds back into the superstition-based discrimination of the hinamizawa villagers from outsiders
- with her newfound power, oryou calls for hinamizawa residents to band together in instances of discrimination and fight back. this lead to the current "mafia-like" unity among villagers today
- mion reveals that the watanagashi festival was a yearly tradition of scaring the villagers into submission. as the times evolved and the village was pushed out of its traditions, the human sacrifice element was removed from the public eye, but the sonozaki family as the enforcers secretly continued to carry it out
- thus the yearly disappearances are in fact murders, carried out by the sonozaki family. mion has personally carried out most of them. this is presented as a massive family burden hes forced to partake in with no choice, calling it the "demon" he carries within himself
- rena and keiichi tell him he must turn himself in; he agrees, but requests he gets to spend a bit of time with keiichi alone. they agree
- mion takes keiichi out to the backyard, and suggests both shion and mion are in love with him (talking abt mion in the third person, as if its the "demon" speaking). he tells keiichi he wants to go to where the corpses are and "end it all"; warned by rena to make sure he doesnt off himself, keiichi wants to accompany him (and confirm the murders)
- mion reveals he hasnt killed shion yet, as he couldnt decide what the worst punishment would be for her yet
- going deep into the woods, they enter a small on the outside, immensely deep and intricate on the inside bomb shelter thats basically the same as the furude shrine storehouse but actively maintained. the torture equipment is here as well, kept in good shape and frequently used. theres a lot of prison cells
- in the further prison cell is shion, whos completely distraught; mion slowly tortured then killed her aforementioned victims within shions earshot to torture her. suddenly, mion attacks keiichi and drags him to the torture room
- he makes shion apologize over and over giving false hope he'll release her if she apologizes well enough; when keiichi waks, he threatens to hammer nails into every joint of his hands. keiichi pleads saying the demon should release mion, and miondemon agrees to let him live, but not shion nor mion. he says that if keiichi had just given him the doll at the start then none of this wouldve happened, as that broke mion emotionally in a domino effect that "awakened" the demon hidden deep within him. right as hes about to start tortuing keiichi, the cops start to roll into the bunker, so he instead stuns keiichi with a stungun and flees the scene
- keiichi, rena and shion survive while mion has yet to be caught; shions mental state is nearly unrecoverable, and keiichis parents are offered a LOT of hush money from the sonozakis. eventually they are blackmailed(?) and decide to move away. the media is made aware of the sonozaki familys extensive crimes
- one night just before moving away, keiichi is awoken by mion throwing pebbles at his window from the street. elated to see mion again, he dashes downstairs with the doll he had hoped to give. an oddly paranoid and thinking hes being pursued mion suddenly stabs keiichi with a cleaver
- in a city hospital instead, keiichi is recovering well. the same night he was stabbed, shion fell from her apartment balcony and snapped her neck. ooishi visits keiichi in the hospital; bribing him with porn mags, he wants to hear the full story about the stabbing, but there doesnt seem to be any info for keiichi to divulge
- ooishi reveals that they cops eventually found all the related corpses deep inside the catacombs, including some decades old bones. inside rika's pocket was an unknown syringe; ooishi suggests she seems to have been taken regular injections (calling her possibly an addict?) and/or had specifically brought it on her way to get soy sauce from mion
- ooishi reveals that mion died during his escape, as he apparently snapped his neck: mions corpse was among the pile. therefore its uncertain who stabbed keiichi and threw shion off the balcony (if it wasnt suicide); on top of this, the autopsy on miyo suggests she had died as soon as she entered the ritual storehouse, rather than later in the night. it appears mion may be a ghost
- as ooishi leaves, keiichi is completely unnerved; suddenly, the ghostly arm of mion, lacking fingernails, grabs keiichis wrist from under his hospital bed; keiichi pleads for him to get it over with and kill him, but mion reminds him of their promise to let keiichi live then begins hammering nails into his hand joints
- note: this entire chapter winds up feeling like its the big reveal for how the demoning away occurs, but since its just this timeline, does the sonozaki family never get find out in other timelines???
- the cast debates the mystery. rika really wants to drink alcohol? miyo and mion think the sonozaki family isnt the root cause of the villages problems nor the grand perpetruators of absolutely everything. they theorize this arc's mion was merely setting up a diversion incident to distract from the actual incidents
ch1
- opens with an old landlord and tenant discovering a body in their apartment's sewer drainage pipe thingy. cops arrive, the body is a mid 20s woman with her ears and nose cut off and instestines removed, huge slash in the stomach
- the kids are having lunch together. keiichi laments his parents are in tokyo for a couple days so he'll have to cook for himself; the curry competitition from watanagashi chapter is mentioned as having taken place. the kids decide to have a bento competition tomorrow as their club activity, with the punishment being getting chewed out by their teacher for disliking curry. keiichi worries since he doesnt know how to cook at all. rena offers to help if he tries and fails.
- keiichi nearly burns his house down cooking, satoko and rika show up to save him as satoko had planned to cook for him bc she knew he couldnt hold his own. while shes cooking, rika tells him that in getting to take care of him satoko gets to relive having her brother satoshi back; keiichi doesnt recognize his name and they dont address where he is, like hes on some trip away
- in leaving, rika has keiichi promise to play satokos big brother every now and then so shes less lonely
- Satoko's Trap Course (Elementary):
- the teens go on a mountain trail lead by the younger girls, where they fall into all the traps satokos set up there over the years
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