Higurahi Gou Podcast Review - (Higurashi: The Anime Retrospective Special)

[@fawful9992]

Something I will say is that the “jail” at St Lucia was just a normal room in the script, the artists kinda exaggerated it. (Although it is symbolic of Satoko’s feelings of being trapped)

[@davidwilson4446]

Funnily enough… with new insight from Sotsu… everytime Satoko snaps it’s implied she’s resetting via killing Rika and then herself… so the whole “Satoko failing to open the suitcase and then having to reset and relive all the events again just to try a new combination” is even more hilarious in a darker realization… she fails to open safe and basically goes welp I guess it’s time to kill myself and try again

[@CreweontheSofa]

That's a great point, hot damn! And here's something even darker: She snaps a couple of times during the toy shop tornement, so there are countless realities where she gets the wrong pair of cards and just kills herself in front of her opponents.

[@nbr6116]

Always great to hear your takes on this series. I don't want to write an entire essay here, but here are some theories I have especially for the Village destroying Arc: - I believe that Satoko, on the one hand, is too stubborn to take up on Rikas offer to help her out, but on the other hand is pissed that Rika isn't spending as much time with her as she used to. Like she wants Rika to be happy with her new friends, but also wants to have her all for herself, or at least wants to be with her. The problem here then being that the situation puts her in the dilemma with her grades and aforementioned stubbornness and not being able to ask for help, which is very much in-character. The Snake biting itself in its tail. And with the fact of St. Lucia being as messed up as it is leading Satoko to tip over the edge, wanting things to go her way even more. And that's also why she plays around with all these loops the way she does. She wants to set up a huge, expanding "trap" in which everything will go exactly as she wishes, and she doesn't care about deaths at this point. The problem then being that, as Eua (or Featherin or Whatever) stated, the more loops occur, the more people around her start to remember bits of past loops more frequently and thus eventually biting her in the ass. Or at least that's what I hope for.

[@geraldherbert2818]

This is gonna be good!!!!!!

[@mauricehartmann2047]

Great podcast ^^ I really enjoyed it! I agree with the first part of the series being weaker than the second half. Like you said they propably tried to please old fans and newcomers and it just didn't work that well... I suppose the intention was to find differences between og arc and gou arc and make your predictions/assumptions about what causes them to go so differently. I always think this series truly shines when you discuss it and theorize with other people. So I hope you won't mind if I also give a few sotsu predictions in bullet point form: - sotsu will retell the first three arcs (yes, again) as there probably are a lot more differences than might be obvious. - characters backstories will be retold (kinda necessary if they want to keep gou only watchers on board) - more people than just keiichi had dreams/flashbacks during the first 3 arcs - it will be revealed that satoko did not kill Rika in arc 2 (why else would she visit mion and not just kill herself? ) and whatever her original plan was in arc 3 completely failed - Satoshi will play a key role (like you stated too) - Umineko tie ins will get stronger (but umineko knowledge will stay unnecessary for this story) - hanyuu "is" eua - bad ending Also #Teamrika but not 100% free from guilt

[@nbr6116]

#TeamRika She's been through more than enough shit. Also She'll probably get Rena on her side, so Rika all the way!

[@wilhelmdietz4023]

Yeah, I'm always with the side Rena is on. Without a doubt my favourite anime character at this point.

[@frederickgrandison3609]

Rika is hope

[@goobermagoob9160]

- Cotton Decieving: I think it is unlikely that Satoko is the one who killed Rika in this arc. We know that at least one of the Sonozaki sisters has the syndrome this arc and I’m guessing that the “visitor” to the Sonozaki home is Satoko, possibly there to confirm Rikas death. -What did you find strange about Satokos line “it doesn’t matter what I want?”. I took it as a jab at Rika leaving for St. Lucia(obviously Rika doesn’t understand the meaning behind this. Similar to things Rika says in the first two seasons that have meaning unbeknownst to the other characters). -I have a feeling(hope?) we will see more of the setup of the first three arcs, possibly from a few different characters perspectives. - We see very little between when Satoko and Rika decide to go to st Lucia and when they arrive. I have a feeling Shion did have a conversation with Satoko about it. -NICE bit of info about the girls in study hall. I wonder if all the girls in the normal class look down on the girls in the “special” one and if Rika bought into that social hierarchy. -About the offer to study. Satoko wasn’t unhappy because of the academics. She was unhappy because Rika wasn’t spending “friendship” time with her. Ultimately we need to wait for Sotsu for more context but it does seem odd that Rika, who has 100 years of experience doesn’t know her friend well enough to understand her. -There are no teams, Rika and Satoko are both simultaneously right and wrong.

[@SuperZeldaGirl]

Knowing some things from Umineko really do seem to help or add to the context of some part of Gou

[@JustSomeUmbreonfromJohto]

#TeAmRika because that poor girl has been through hells and back. I just want Rika to be happy and live a good life she deserves. It makes me sad to see her suffer so much more at the hands of someone she thought was a dear friend.

[@goobermagoob9160]

Rika and Satoko are both simultaneously right and wrong. The BestGirlifying/ picking sides with this season of Higurashi is extremely puzzling to me. I think both characters motives and feelings are legitimate, but as it happens in Higurashi quite often, miscommunication and a bit of outside meddling results in tragedy.

[@IGotDiabeetus]

Return of the King

[@TheOrian34]

I appreciate your different takes. Also, to answer the gun location, we see in the manga that she had a strap on the leg, hidden by the skirt.

[@nuthella5251]

I haven't watched the full retrospective series but I like watching you because I'm a filthy Visual Novel reader and I have major grips with the anime adaptation, but it's fun to see the point of view of someone who only experienced the series through it and liked it... Even if I end up disagreeing with a lot of stuff lol One thing I find interesting about Satoko is that people's opinion of her seem to vary a lot depending on which version of the series we're talking about. Anime onlies tend to either not care about her or really dislike her... But Visual Novel reader usually have her on a pretty good spot on their lists of favorite characters, if not at the top. Take that as you will Gou is really weird. It wants to do new stuff, but it also needs to re-establish a lot of stuff for new watchers... But since they need to make it quick, it ends up lacking a lot of context and weight to it. But hey, at least it allowed me to see an anime adaptation that followed the source material a lot better than season 1 of studio DEEN did. The Cotton-deceiving chapter in particular honestly just had me crying tears of joy with how much more of a crap it gave about the ShMion thing than the first adaptation did. Talking about that arc, I don't think Satoko is the one who dumped Rika in shit. Satoko's entire deal is messing with Rika, and only Rika. She has no reason to stick around in a timeline where Rika already died. I think she was just as confused as everyone else about what happened to Rika and had to investigate what happened to be sure she wouldn't quit a timeline where Rika was still alive, thus her visit to the Sonozaki house. So the likely culprit is still Mion/Shion. I'm #Teamneither honestly because both girl messed up in my opinion... Satoko I think you guys went on and on about it enough as it is, though in her defense, she actively tried to tell Rika she didn't want to go to Saint Lucia twice during her loops... And both time resulted with Rika refusing to compromise and go on her own and instead wanting to force Satoko to go with her regardless of her opinion on the matter... And then making the bare minimum of efforts to take responsability for being the one to force Satoko's hand when her friend is struggling. Like, these two just need to sit down and talk, but hell-school Saint Lucia doesn't want to give them the time to do that... Buuuut, if I really had to choose, I'd still go #TeamSatoko because she's been my favorite girl since my first time reading the series and every day of my life is spent in utter agony with how much her screentime and character defining moments were just... Cut or heavily restricted from the anime and how a large majority of the people aquainted with the series will only see her as "the bratty spoiled bitch". And also a motherfucking god appeared before her at her lowest moment and told her "Yo, I can give you the power to do litteraly anything you want with no repercussion. Oh also, allow me to force you to repeat the last few years of your life which were super miserable just to make reaaaally sure you'll go drunk with power." Eua is the real villain.

[@CreweontheSofa]

Lot to digest with that, but I just wanna say, I really appreciate the different views you've got there. Great points to chew on. And thanks for your honesty about the Retrospective, I know it's not perfect, I just hope you enjoy it for the wildly inaccurate mess it is, haha

[@sreliet605]

yaaay i was so excited for this vid!

[@fawful9992]

If you ever check out Umineko read the manga or VN, the anime is very bad and confusing, and has only the question arcs.

[@nbr6116]

Arcs Plural? I haven't seen the anime and want to read the VN, but from how I understood it they didn't even adapt all the Question Arcs.

[@mauricehartmann2047]

@@nbr6116 it does cover all question arcs. But even there it makes mistakes and leaves crucial details out which makes solving the riddles impossible.

[@Nightfight3gaming]

I would like to point out that the wiki states satoko went missing in the loop that rika was in previously (the one from kai). The world satoko gets taken to after getting powers is a different one from where rika is. My theory is that the person who made rika start looping again was actually herself. Idk just a thought, but i dont think the rika in gou was brought there by satoko

[@ciennaquidd6486]

Y'all have no idea how much you're missing saying "I don't care about Umineko" 😁

[@ciennaquidd6486]

It's not even a crossover connection, Umineko is the sequel and extension of Higurashi. If you were looking at a coin, Umineko is the entire back half of the coin that you've up til now disregarded. I ignored it for a long time myself, so I understand, but finally giving it a full chance was one of the best decisions I've ever made in regards to anime. It fully explains Rika & Satoko's characterization and logic in Gou. I hope you take the plunge.

[@CreweontheSofa]

So, I actually deleted a good half an hour worth of chatting, were I explained to Bearded Kuriboh what I know about Umineko and it's connection to Higurashi, which I will grant is second hand information, but I've had Umi explained to me a number of times by a number of people and they've all pretty much told me the same thing... And honestly... I straight up don't like the implications it gives to Higurashi's narrative (Obviously don't want to go too in-depth in case anyone who just so happens to be reading this thread doesn't know and wants to check out Umi for themselves). After telling BK what I know, the tone of our conversation drastically changed and, legit, "Spoiled the mood" so to speak. I think you can tell from this video that we tend to agree on a lot of things and, while I haven't directly asked him what his thoughts are since this, I think it's safe to say he shares a similar opinion to me. While I don't intend to "Take the Plunge" any time soon, I know I will inevitable check it out properly, thought I will probably be reading the Manga rather than watching the anime (Which I've been told is naff) or "reading" the Visual Novel. Though I will say, I have had a bunch of people basically recommend it to me, so, you know...

[@ciennaquidd6486]

@@CreweontheSofa I hear you, but just the way you're speaking about it sounds like someone has primed you to dislike it, and so of course your friend is going to feel similarly if it's being explained in the same way. I mean, the way you were discussing it spoiled my mood too, so I get it. And I'm a huge fan of When they Cry! If it were just a dumb crossover or tie in made weirdly important, yeah that would feel bad. I'd never recommend watching Last Period just for the Higurashi tie in. But that's not the case. It's the continuation of Rika's story & character arc in every way. She's not just some cameo, she is the 3rd main character of the story. Just like Higurashi, the first arc or two she takes the back burner while the world is being explained and developed, but once the mysteries are in place she takes center stage. I'm not sure what implications you are suggesting about it affecting the Higurashi narrative. It explains the metaverse from Higurashi and the effects 100+ years of trauma had on Rika, but it doesn't fundamentally change Higurashi. Gou changes Higurashi far more than Umineko does. (And that's not even including Eua, who doesn't even originate in Umineko; she may exist in both, but she originated in Higurashi under a different name.) I just think your limited knowledge on Umineko is really holding you and Kuriboh back here. I don't blame you at all cause Umineko is a rather complicated narrative, but so is Higurashi. It's the same reason Higurashi is a hard sell to new people, but it's still worth it. I'm glad to hear you'll check it out eventually, that's totally cool. I just hope you don't let your preconceived notions color it too much cause it's a lot of fun.

[@CreweontheSofa]

I will bare that in mind when I eventually check it out. I've recently made friends with some people who know Umi very well, so I'm hoping they'll help guide me if need be. I actually sent a snipped of the deleted segment to one of them to see if I got things right and get a second opinion on it in general, and they said I wasn't too far off, but I still felt it was best to delete the segment anyway just cos of the feeling it gave me. I'm sorry if what remains still caused some distaste, that was never the intention. Like I said, I do intend to check it out eventually, through one means or another :)

[@frederickgrandison3609]

When are you gonna review the Eye Opening Arc?

[@CreweontheSofa]

I am currently in the early script writing stage. Not even going to tempt an ETA for its released date. Production might be a bit slow as I am returning to work now. But I am working on it :)

[@frederickgrandison3609]

@@CreweontheSofa Btw, Team Rika, her and me should have a different role to play till the die has casted before chaos eclipses, I bet she's suggesting the same thing, I wreck! 🔥🔥🔥 She respond!

[@frederickgrandison3609]

#TeamRikaforhope

[@kingsidecastle13]

First!