Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Meakashi-hen 1-2

August 8, 2006 | 12 Comments

While both of these episodes are interesting to see, the standout is definitely episode 17 (Meakashi-hen 2). Of all the violent scenes I've seen in either film or television, this one is definitely one of the goriest one. When I was a kid, I got into an accident where my little finger got crushed by a door. Doctor had to stitch my wound because it won't stop bleeding on its own. Both the pain and the stitching part were not pleasant experiences to say the least. Thankfully my finger is still functional despite the accident. Seeing 'that scene', however, brought back the memory of unbelievable pain that I felt back then. Although I think in Shion's case it is far more painful. Anyway, for answer episodes, these two are still rather hard to decipher but at least there are a few mysteries from other arcs that are cleared up by these episodes.

Episode 16: Meakashi-hen 1

This episode opens with Shion giving Mion a jolt of electricity from her taser while nearby, the old grandma is tied up and unconscious. Shion then drags her sister's unconscious body away. The story then begins when Shion escaped from her private school. After escaping the school, Shion asks her driver if her sister is now living at her grandma's estate. The driver confirms this and tells Shion that Mion has been living there ever since Shion was sent to private school. This reminds Mion of how her existence has been loathed by the Sonozaki family since the beginning. It was believed that there would be trouble in the future if there were two heirs to the Sonozaki estate. Family tradition dictates that the twin should be strangled before their first bath but it seems the twins' grandma took pity on them. Shion's driver warns her that if she stays in Okinomiya, her relative is bound to spot her. Shion, however, ignores the warning.

The next day, Shion informs her driver that she intends on getting a part-time job. This worries the driver but she assures him that she won't be discovered. Her first plan involves giving her sister, Mion, a phone call. Mion is surprised to know that Shion has run away from her school but is happy at the same time to hear her voice. Shion narrates how despite the Sonozaki family issues, they are actually a very close sisters. After the phone call ends, Shion informs her driver, whose name turns out to be Kasai, that she intends to work for her uncle at the Angel Mort restaurant. Later on, she tells her uncle that all that he only needs to call her Mion while she's working there. Her uncle agrees to do it because he feels bad that Shion got cooped up in the school for 2 years. Shion doesn't mind because she knows no one can change the mind of the Sonozaki's head. Having said that, she wants to know if anything has happened in the past 2 years.

Her uncle thinks there isn't anything new but Shion wants to know about Oyashiro-sama's curse and if police managed to catch the suspect who killed and dismembered the Dam construction manager. Unfortunately one of the killers is still on the loose and the case involving Hojou's couple that fell into the dam also remains a mystery. In addition to this, on the third year, the Furude temple owner died due to mysterious disease while his wife drowns herself into a marsh. Through Mion, Shion finds out that the 'mysterious disease' part is an exaggeration but the Furude temple guy did die suddenly. Shion thinks it's weird that people die third year in a row and moreover, it's also the type of people that Oyashiro-sama will curse. Mion agrees and reveals that Houjou family were ostracised by the villagers for supporting the dam project. The Furude temple priest was the only one provided shelter for the Houjous when the villagers attacked them.

The Sonozaki family also tried to unify the three great houses to unify the village by turning Houjou family into scapegoats. Because of this, as a member of the great houses and a priest of Oyashiro-sama, the Furude priest had unpleasant time trying to protect the Houjou family. Shion thinks that it was very mature of the priest to continue his neutrals stance. Mion, on the other hand, thinks that if he was that mature, he should have adjusted to the crowd and maintained harmony. When one of the three great houses, an exemplar of Hinamizawa disrupts the town's harmony and does his own thing, it's hard for Mion to call it mature. Shion is surprised to hear this and thinks that Mion really sounds like the next heir now. Mion denies this and tells Shion that she simply mimics what her grandma will do and she thinks Shion can do it as well. Shion laughs and tells Mion that she doesn't want to because it's Mion's job to baby-sit 'Onibaba' (Demon Grandma).

Shion also tells Mion that she bears no grudge towards Mion or her own birth so there is no reason for Mion to feel bad about this. That night, however, Mion lets Shion knows that their grandma found out about Shion's escape so Shion tells her that if it gets too dangerous, she will escape from town. Mion feels that it's unfair for this to happen to Shion but Shion doesn't mind. Having said that, she needs to hole up for a while until things are safe so she decides to shop while pretending to be Mion. Unfortunately, while carrying the groceries, a motorbike rips her plastic bag to shred, spilling her groceries to the ground. In her anger, Shion kicks the motorbike, causing it to fall onto another bike and so on. The problem is, the owner of the bikes are a bunch of punks and they are not happy about this. However, before they can bash Shion, a blonde-hair boy appear and defend her. The punks easily beats the boy but thankfully a police then arrives in the area.

The boy thinks that Shion is actually Mion and proceeds to pat Shion on the head to tell her that he's relieved to see her okay. Shion immediately fell head over heels with the boy, who turns out to be Houjou Satoshi himself. Upon a conversation with Mion, Shion finds out that Satoshi usually tends to look distant and that his sister, Satoko is a lot more dependable. Mion informs Shion that Satoko has had a tough time lately because she and her aunt do not get along with each other. Mion thinks it's because as a Houjou relative, they probably also get ostracised by the villagers. Because of this, they probably were not keen to adopt the children from Houjou's family. The next day, Shion pretends to be Mion and attends Satoshi's baseball game. Through Irie, Shion finds out that Satoshi is a boy with a delicate heart. If he doesn't move around and break a sweat, there is a likelihood that he might break down since he's the type that keeps it all in.

Irie also explains that things have not been well with Satoshi lately. Apparently his aunt's anger towards Satoko has escalated lately so it must be tiring for him to cover for Satoko. He even asks to quit the team because he feels tired and wants to spend more time with Satoko. That day, Satoshi causes his team to lose and ever since then he never shows up to play basketball again. While on her way to see Satoshi, however, Shion gets to meet Rena who asks her to go home together because Rena thinks Shion is actually Mion. When the two stop to shelter themselves from rain, Rena asks 'Mion' if she likes Satoshi so Shion tells her that she does. Upon finding out about this Rena asks Shion to cheer up because she thinks Mion's smile can give Satoshi a bit of energy. Rena thinks that Satoshi will soon back to baseball practice once he finishes his part-time job. Shion wonders when will this be so Rena tells her that it's probably until Satoko's birthday.

Shion becomes angry upon hearing Satoko's name being mentioned once again. She thinks Satoko is the one who makes Satoshi sick and takes his freedom. Rena who hears this thinks 'Mion' is being blunt but she thinks maybe Satoshi feels the same way. Rena then recalls how Satoshi told her yesterday that it hurts him that Satoko relies so much on him. Shion thinks that Satoshi seems to trust Rena a lot but Rena thinks that is not the case. It's because she has experienced it as well: the footsteps and the gaze over the pillow as she sleeps. She is basically referring to Oyashiro-sama's curse. It feels as if someone's spying you from afar, constantly shadowing you, and then when you turn off the light and lie on the futon, it'll look down at you from the base of your pillow, waiting for you to accept your sins. Rena thinks the reason Satoshi is undergoing Oyashiro-sama's curse even though he's in Hinamizawa is because he's planning to abandon the village.

The next day, Shion arrives at the school pretending to be Mion. During lunchtime, Shion tries to ask Satoshi to have lunch with her but he crudely refuses and tells her to let him have his private time during lunchtime. When Satoko drops her lunchbox and cries, Shion loses her patience and proceeds to slam the poor girl into the locker. A fearful Satoko simply cries even more and asks Satoshi to save her. Shion tells Satoko that crying won't solve anything. She then picks up a chair, saying that if Satoko is in pain, she should die instead of dragging Satoshi into sadness. Before Shion can slams the chair into Satoko's head, however, Rika moves over to protect Satoko and so does Rena. This gives Satoshi a chance to knock Shion aside and saves Satoko. Satoshi is angry with 'Mion' for bullying Satoko after what her family did to his mother and father. That night, Shion wishes that Satoko and her aunt would disappear during the Watanagashi festival.

Episode 17: Meakashi-hen 2

Mion calls Shion from a public phone in the middle of the night to tell her twin that Satoshi just call her, wanting to apologise for yesterday. She thinks it's better if Shion is the one who accepts the call so she told Satoshi that she’d call him back. Shion decides to give Satoshi a call and upon hearing his apology, she also apologises in return for not trying to understand his situation. Satoshi also informs Shion that he quit his job because he's achieved his goal by the time the next paycheck arrived. He then asks Shion to do him a favour and that is to take Satoko to the Watanagashi festival tomorrow because he himself has things to do. When Mion agrees about it, Satoshi wonders if she believes in Oyashiro-sama's curse. Shion laughs and wonders why Satoshi talks about it all of a sudden. Satoshi tells her that he's heard that Oyashiro-sama curses those who abandon this village. He claims that he is not planning of running away anymore and yet the curse still haunts him.

Because Satoshi's aunt returns to the house, Satoshi has no choice but to end the phone call. The next day, Satoshi is seen dragging the infamous baseball club towards a forest. Meanwhile, Satoko is seen looking down as she goes through the Watanagashi festival. Rika tries to cheer her up by saying that she doesn't have to worry about anything else today. Satoko, who's not in the mood to party asks Rika to leave her alone today but Rika wonders if Satoko will smile if all her pain is taken away today. Satoko thinks it is impossible but Rika thinks it's been decided. That night, Satoshi's aunt decides to investigate a cupboard, which Satoshi has apparently mentioned to her. She thinks she can sell it off for a good price but before she can do anything else, someone appears behind her and bashes her head over and over again until it turns into a bloody pulp. Soon, the news of the murder reaches the ears of the Sonozaki lbut she's not surprised about it.

She thinks it has happened three times so surely there'll be the fourth time. The next day, Shion finds out about the murder from Mion, causing Shion to wonder if Satoshi had an alibi of his whereabouts during the Watanagashi festival. She manages to find Satoshi looking at a stuffed animal in a shop. He explains that he wants to buy the stuffed animal for Satoko but because he hasn't got enough money for it, he gets worried that it'll disappear before he gets the chance to buy it. Because of this, he comes everyday to check on it. Upon hearing this, Shion takes Satoshi into the shop and asks the shopkeeper to reserve the stuffed animal for Satoshi. Satoshi is glad about this and pets Shion again. Unfortunately, their time together is interrupted by the arrival of Ooishi who wants to take Satoshi to the police station for questioning. Shion tries to interfere by saying that if it's his alibi that Ooishi wants, Satoshi was with her yesterday at Angel Mort.

Ooishi who thinks Shion is actually Mion laughs and reminds the girl that she was spotted at the Watanagashi festival until late yesterday. Because of this Shion has no choice but to reveal to Ooishi that the one Ooishi saw at the festival was actually Mion while she is actually Shion. Ooishi at first doesn't believe Shion until Shion asks him to check their family registry and offers to call her sister so he can see them side-by-side. While the police are discussing their next move away from the two kids, Shion tells Satoshi that no matter what the police ask, she wants him to tell them that he was with her at Angel Mort. Shion also wonders if Satoshi is angry but Satoshi simply laughs and tells her that he finally understand why Mion in the classroom sometimes doesn't understand what he's talking about. He also thinks Shion is a nice name. Unfortunately for the two, Ooishi decides to take both of them to the police station so he can interrogate the two separately.

Once the interrogation is finished, Shion is shocked to see four men greeting her in front of the police station instead of her usual driver, Kasai. The men wants her to come with them to the Sonozaki estate. Once she arrives at the place, Mion informs her that the head of Sonozaki family is outraged by Shion's behaviour before leading Shion down to the underground shrine. Shion is shocked upon finding her relatives waiting for her in the torture chamber. Shion's grandma scolds Shion for allying herself with the traitor, Houjou Satoshi. In retaliation, Shion tells her grandma that what Satoshi's parents did has nothing to do with Satoshi. Old granny, however, insists that all Houjous are filled with the same traitorous blood. Shion is pissed off to hear this and accuses her grandma of being angry that she, a Sonozaki, would spend her time with Satoshi, who's a Houjou. In retaliation, Grandma Sonozaki asks Shion if she knows about Satoshi's mistake.

Shion realises that Mion has probably told their grandma about her crush on Satoshi and the possibility that Satoshi might be the suspect in his aunt's murder. Despite this, Shion tells everyone in the room that she doesn't care if she's a Sonozaki. The fact is she loves Satoshi. Her words, however, is cut off by Mion who tells her although they understand her resolve, now she's gone this far, no one can cover for her. She has to display a 'distinction' for them because the Sonozaki are the leader of Hinamizawa. And no matter how Shion despises it, she's still the twin sibling of the next Sonozaki head, Sonozaki Mion. Shion is pissed off to hear this and tells her sister that it seems ever since she returns here, their opinions have diverged whenever Mion brings that topic up. Mion, however, tells her sister to remember how many people she's indebted to in order to live in Okinomiya, pointing out the fact that Kasai and her uncle are on the room next door.

She also adds that in addition to these two, they will also have to involve Satoshi, who haven't done anything to them if Shion refuses to show a distinction to them. This puts Shion in a corner and she cries her eyes out asking her sister for forgiveness. Because of this, Mion asks the goon to produce a device to tear off one's fingernail. For each nail she tears off, they will distinguish her repentance for things she has done and asks Shion to tear off 3 of her fingernails. Shion realises that the 3 nails represent forgiveness for Kasai, her uncle, and Satoshi and cave in to the demand despite her fear. Shion then proceeds to use the device to tear off one fingernail and is immediately in pain. She asks her sister if that's all giving eye-signal to the goons. Shion realises that her sister won't let the 3 people go until she tear off 3 fingernails. Her second attempt, however, is a near miss. This disturbs Shion horribly and she wants to stop.

Despite her wish, Mion orders the goons to cover Shion's face with a rucksack and to restrain her body while they tear off her nail. In the aftermath of the incident, the estate informs Shion that Kasai and her uncle are fine and she's forgiven. She's also asked to forget about Houjou Satoshi. Despite this, she still has to work for a living and on her way to the city, she passes the doll shop and notices the stuffed animal is not there anymore. She thinks Satoshi has managed to purchase it. Shion then apologises to Irie for not telling him sooner that she's actually Shion and not Mion. Shion, however, is shocked when Ooishi informs her that Satoshi went missing yesterday and wonders if she knew about it. Ooishi thinks that Satoshi killed his aunt and wasn't able to buy the stuffed animal for Satoko so he ran away. Later on, however, Shion is informed by Kasai that police has caught the person who killed Satoshi's aunt, leaving Satoshi's disappearance a mystery.

Episode 16 summary of important points:

1. Shion was shown giving Mion electric shock for unknown purpose.
2. Grandma Sonozaki spared Mion and Shion despite the fact that they are twins.
3. Mion and Shion seems to have a good relationship when Shion first escaped the school.
4. This episode reveals that Houjou family was ostracised and bullied by the villagers.
5. Furude family was the only one who's willing to protect the Houjou.
6. Mion admits that the Sonozaki family scapegoats the Houjou to unify the village.
7. Shion thinks Furude temple's priest was mature for protecting the Houjou from the mob.
8. Mion disagrees and thinks he should have maintain peace by allying himself with the village.
9. Shion is saved by Satoshi and fell in love with the guy.
10. Shion starts to dislike Satoko because she thinks Satoko is the reason that Satoshi is miserable.
11. Rena reveals that was followed by Oyashiro-sama's curse just like Satoshi is now.
12. Shion abuses Satoko and almost injure both her and Rika.
13. Satoshi asks Shion (and not Mion) to take Satoko to the festival.
14. Mion, however, is the one who ends up taking Satoko to the festival.
15. Satoshi is seen dragging a baseball bat to a nearby forest.
16. Satoshi's aunt goes to the same forest to see the cupboard that Satoshi mentions and got bashed to death.
17. Shion covers for Satoshi by telling Ooishi that she's not Mion.
18. Shion gets punished by her family and is forced to tear off 3 of her nails.
19. In exchange, her driver, uncle, and herself are forgiven. She, however, is asked to forget about Satoshi.
20. Shion finds out that the stuffed animals that Satoshi wants is not in the shop anymore.
21. Ooishi informs Shion that Satoshi disappeared yesterday.
22. Kasai informs Shion that someone else turned out to be the killer of Satoshi's aunt.

Questions:

1. Who kill Satoshi's parents?
2. What caused Rika's father to die suddenly?
3. Who killed Satoshi's aunt?
4. What happened to Satoshi?

Impression:

Throughout these two episodes, I can't help but thinking that 7th Expansion is trying to carefully tread on Japanese society's tendency to 'hammer down the nail that sticks out the most' or in this case, extracted said nail out...ouch. This, of course, refers to the pressure to confirm to society's rigid rules or else you'll risk of being ostracised by the society. In Hinamizawa, traitors are not only ostracised but also tortured like Shion, or killed like the Houjou and Furude couple. While this kind of beehive mindset is dangerous and unhealthy for an individual, a complete opposite of that, total selfishness, which is represented by Shion, is also equally unpleasant for everyone. All that Shion cares about seems to be herself and those in her immediate proximity such as Satoshi, her driver, and her uncle. She, however, forgets that in order to appeal to a person, sometimes you also have to appeal to his/her family.

Shion's hatred for Satoko, for example, was uncalled for. I think she was simply jealous that Satoshi cares a lot about her sister than he does for her. But what did she expect? Satoshi thinks that she's Mion, a girl who rarely talks to him. And even if he knew that she's Shion, he's only known her for a few days. However, Shion's selfishness quickly clashes against the beehive mindset of the Sonozaki family, who considers her actions to be a disturbance to their name. Unfortunately, when two conflicting ideologies clash, it usually ends in an unpleasant manner. From these episodes, the beehive mindset seems to be the winner for now with Shion ended up being tortured and forced to apologise to them. However, judging from episode 16 opening, it would appear that Shion would get her revenge on her sister and her grandmother. In the end though, both parties suffer major loses because of their unwillingness to understand each other's belief.

These episode also reveal that Mion and Shion actually got along well prior to the incident in the torture room. But it's obvious that their ideology have diverged right from the start. Shion, despite being selfish at times, still has compassion for those around her as exemplified by her approval of the Furude temple's priest action to protect the Houjou and her agreement to remove her nails to save her driver, uncle, and Satoshi. Mion, on the other hand, seems fully entrenched in her role as the next Sonozaki leader that she seems unable to forgive those who betray the village. On the other hand, one can argue that Mion's attempt to punish Shion could be seen as a way to save her sister as well as Shion's driver, uncle. Mion is not officially elected as a leader yet. If she were to go against her grandma's order, her fate as well as Shion will surely be in bigger danger. As a result, she probably thought that punishing Shion would produce the least casualty.

Unfortunately, judging from the opening of episode 16 as well as the previous arc, it's apparent that the sister will grow distant after this incident. I've been wondering if Satoko's cruel treatment was the start of Mion's resentment towards Shion and Shion's torture was the start of Shion's resentment towards Mion. Either way, it's understandable why Shion wants to hurt Mion by making a play at Keiichi, the one boy that her sister seems to be attracted to. After all, Mion was indirectly responsible for her own failed romance with Satoshi. This leads me to wonder about the Houjou and Furude family and to a certain extent, Rena. It appears that the villagers despised Houjou and Furude family. The Houjou were obviously ostracised and had to be protected by the Furude temple's priest. It's possible that they actually got killed by the villagers but everyone pretends that it was an 'accident'. The police won't be able to know the truth if the entire village lies about it.

These episodes also more or less suggest that Satoshi was the one who killed his aunt. To begin with, this episode reveals that Satoshi actually asked Shion and not Mion to take Satoko to the festival. Mion simply knew about it because Shion ended up asking her to take Satoko to the Watanagashi festival. Note that unlike Ooishi and the other policemen, we the audience actually know Satoshi and Shion's conversation. We know that Satoshi wants to do something. The episode also showed Satoshi dragging a baseball bat to the same area where the cupboard is located. In addition to this, unlike the police, we know that Satoshi is the one who told her aunt that there is a cupboard in the middle of the forest. While these are not conclusive evidence, they are certainly incriminating evidences that points Satoshi as the killer. However, if that's the case, then why is it that another person was found to be the killer later on in the story?

This probably has a lot to do with Shion, especially her declaration to Ooishi that she and Satoshi were together in Angel Mort when the murder happened. The Sonozaki family is a prominent family in Hinamizawa. To have one of their relatives defending a murderer so openly will tarnish their name. Sure they probably have done their own share of murders but they ensure they leave no track when they do it so they uphold the good name of Sonozaki family. Because of this, they need someone else apart from Satoshi to be the murderer. If Satoshi is 'proven' to be innocent then it implies that Shion, just like other Sonozaki family, is respectable and her words can be trusted. It's therefore likely that they made Satoshi 'disappear' either by sending him to another prefecture or secretly killing him. The first option seems rather unlikely because Hinamizawa's residents such as Rena, seem unable to leave outside Hinamizawa for some reason.

Satoshi was probably last seen on the same day Shion was picked up by the Sonozaki goons. It's not unlikely that another set of goons were sent to capture and probably kill him. I think this is where 'Oyashiro-sama's curse' and Watanagashi festival become convenient scapegoats. In a village where the majority of its residents believe in this superstition, it's very easy to blame the disappearance or the murder of another human being on the curse. This is exactly why Satoshi chose to kill her aunt on Watanagashi festival. It's the reason why Keiichi chose to kill Satoko's uncle on the same day as well. It's the same exact excuse that the villagers use when an outsiders ask them what happen to someone who died during the night of Watanagashi festival. Even when it occurs outside the Watanagashi festival such as Satoshi's disappearance, they can still use the same excuse because Satoshi has been wanting to leave the village as indicated by Rena.

I think I finally understand what Rika meant back in Himatsubushi-hen when she said that in this village, there are many selfish people who don't care about the lives of others. The Sonozaki family certainly don't care about the Houjous. They only want to uphold their tradition and their own name by scapegoating the Houjos and later on the Furude. On individual level, Shion doesn't care much about Satoko despite knowing that she has gone through tough time. It makes me wonder if back in Watanagashi-hen, Shion was actually be the one who tortured and killed Satoko and Rika. She probably feels that Satoko is indirectly responsible for her brother's disappearance while Rika is a symbol of Oyashiro-sama, a deity that Shion doesn't seem to respect that much. While this incident has yet to happen in this arc, judging from episode 16 opening, Shion will tazer Mion, throws her to the underground jail and then lures Rika and Satoko by pretending to be Mion.

© memento 2003