Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Tatarigoroshi-hen 2

June 14, 2006 | 18 Comments

This one feels a little bit off the mark for some reason. I actually think Satoko's story is quite good. However, the constant changes from the abuse story to the paranormal one was rather abrupt. I also think there are too many repetitions from the previous arc included here. For example, the scene where Keiichi meets with Tomitake and Takano should have been shortened because it doesn't have that much of an effect on the overall storyline. Besides, one can guess easily what Takano said to Keiichi from his conversation with Mion later on. I am also rather surprised to see the blood-thirst nature of a character in the story. I hope that this will tie in to the overall story because at the moment, it seems as if the storyline treats murder as if it's just a part of one's daily routine.

The episode begins with Keiichi being worried because Satoko hasn't been coming to school lately. Rena thinks that it's because of cold and therefore wishes that Satoko will get well soon. Later on that day, Keiichi is approached by a policeman from Okinomiya station called Ooishi Kuraudo. Ooishi tells Keiichi that he's come to see Satoko but when Keiichi becomes incooperative, he decides to ask two other students about it. Upon finding out that Satoko is away that day, he tells Keiichi that he knows Keiichi's father is famous artist. He then squeezes Keiichi's shoulder and threatens the boy by saying that it's not a good idea to make an enemy in a small town because grudges tend to haunt when one least expects it. Before he can continue with the threat, however, Irie arrives to save Keiichi. Ooishi tells Irie that he too was planning to see Irie in his office later on. In reply, Irie asks Ooishi to bring a warrant since he has the right to refuse police questioning.

After Ooishi left, Keiichi tells Irie that Ooishi actually wanted to see Satoko, prompting the Doctor to call Ooishi a persistent man. Irie then explains how after Satoko's parents passed away, Satoko and her brother, Satoshi, were adopted by their aunt and uncle. Unfortunately for the two, they end up being abused on a daily basis. However, on the evening of Oyashiro-sama festival last year, their aunt got beaten up to death by a drug addict. The whole village for some reason believe that this is the work of Oyashiro-sama instead of a simple murder case. Satoko's uncle went into hiding after this because he's also afraid of Oyashiro-sama's curse. From what Irie heard, he apparently lives with his mistress in Okinomiya. Despite this, Satoko is far from being free because Ooishi then showed up and started acting like he's Satoko's father. Later on that day, Keiichi heard from Satoko's friends that Satoko's uncle has returned to Hinamizawa.

Keiichi decides to investigate this by visiting her house. When he gets there, however, a car arrives with Kantoku and Satoko in it. It appears Satoko accepts a lift from Kantoku because she was carrying a lot of groceries that her uncle forced her to buy. Despite this, she still gets abused by the uncle because she forgot to turn off the stove. Keiichi becomes angry upon finding out that Satoko's uncle has been forcing Satoko to buy beers while he himself is busy playing Mahjong. Keiichi becomes even more enraged upon seeing bruises on Satoko's body but thankfully before he can do anything stupid, Irie manages to stop him. Satoko thanks Keiichi for being concerned about her and tells him that just then he looks similar to her brother. She feels as if she has a new brother callled Keiichi now. Keiichi tells Satoko that he will not run away now but this seems to make Satoko sad so she decides to leave when her uncle calls her from inside the house.

Later on Irie tells Keiichi that he thinks Satoshi ran away and as a result, Satoko thinks that she's just a burden. Technically there is a way of seperating a guardian from the child for the sake of the child but Satoko doesn't want this. She thinks that enduring her uncle's abuse is a trial for her. Satoko believes that if she can't overcome this trial then Satoshi won't come back. This is why Satoko won't admit to the abuse. Upon hearing this Keiichi tells Irie that if he sees some more abuse against Satoko he's going to report it even if it means Satoko will hate him. Irie wonders why Keiichi will do such thing. The next day, Keiichi meets a man called Tomitake on his way to school. Since the man wants to go to Furude Temple, Keiichi decides to take him there. Once they reach the temple, the two are greeted by a woman who seems to recognise Keiichi but not the other way around. Tomitake introduces her as Takano Miyako, a woman who works at the local clinic.

Takano doesn't blame Keiichi for not recognising her. After all, they've only met a few times on the road. Tomitake tells Keiichi that it seems he's quite famous because he's the young member of the Maebara estate. Upon seeing the camera on both Takano and Tomitake's hands, Keiichi wonders if the two are photographer. Takano denies this and claims that she's just a beginner waiting to learn something. Tomitake, on the other hand, is here to take photos of the Watanagashi festival. The three then starts talking about the curse and Keiichi wonders if a curse can really kill a person. Tomitake points out to him that the events that happened in the past few years were real. Takano, however, plants a seed of doubt in Keiichi's mind by suggesting that maybe someone just imitate the curse and simply kill people off. Later on that day, Keiichi becomes angry when his classmates pretend that the reason Satoko is not coming to school is because she has cold.

Upon seeing his anger, Rena assures Keiichi that he's not the only one who feels this way, prompting the guy to apologise. Once the school is over, Keiichi asks Mion if he can come over to her house because he has some manga he'd like to borrow from her. Once he gets there, Keiichi tells Mion that he addresses his talk to the heiress of the three great houses of the Onigafuchi village and their future leader, Sonozaki Mion. Mion is taken a back a little bit upon hearing this and wonders where Keiichi finds out this information about her but. Keiichi refuses to reveal his source. Keiichi then tells Mion that he'd like Oyashiro-sama's curse to be directed towards Satoko's uncle this year. Mion then smiles and guesses that Keiichi probably heard that the curse is a village-wide conspiracy led by Sonozaki family and brought about by the three gret houses. Keiichi tells Mion that he doesn't care whether or not Mion is behind them but he wants Mion to save Satoko.

Mion, however, tells Keiichi that if she's really the one who pulls the string then she'd grant Keiichi's wish. However, she's just a Sonozaki Mion. In addition to this, while she's aware of the rumour surrounding the Sonozaki family, she thinks murder is a bad thing. Mion then leaves Keiichi who apologises to her. The next day, they see Satoko coming back to school but she wants to know who called the child protection service. Satoko and her uncle, however, claimed that there's a misunderstanding about the entire thing. Upon hearing this, Rika pulls Keiichi aside and tells him that their teacher, Chie-sensei was the one who called the child protection service. Rika also reveals that this is the 3rd report of abuse on Satoko. The abuse actually happened when Satoko's father was alive as well. Rika then reveals that the one who died in an accident wasn't her real father. Satoko's mother married another man after giving birth to Satoshi and Satoko.

Because of this Satoko did not have a good relationship with her familiy. She even tried to make a flase abuse claim to implicate her step father but then the police found out about it. As a result, ever since there is an abuse claim involving Satoko, the police tend to not believe her words these days. While the group are having lunch, Keiichi decides to pet Satoko's head again but for some reason, this causes Satoko to remember about Satoshi petting her head as well. Because of this she pushes Keiichi away and looks as if she's in terror. Keiichi tries to approach Satoko again but she ends up looking sick before vomitting on the class. Keiichi's third attempt to reach her also got rejected violently. Even when her teacher asks what is wrong, Satoko looks terrified and simply backs away to the curtain before crying against it. She then proceeds to say "I'm sorry" over and over again like Rena after her hand got jammed by Keiichi in Onikakushi-hen.

Summary of important points

1. Ooishi is a lot more rough and suspicious of Keiichi in this version than in Onikakushi-hen or Watanagashi-hen.
2. Keiichi's conflict with Ooishi seems to make him a lot closer to the Hinamizawa residents.
3. It was revealed that Keiichi's father is a famous artist.
4. Satoko and Satoshi were adopted by their uncle and aunt after the death of their parents.
5. After the death of the aunt, Satoko's uncle was rumoured to live with his mistress in Okinomiya.
6. It was suggested that Satoko is constantly abused by her uncle.
7. Satoko, however, refuses any kind of help because she thinks the abuse is a trial.
8. Takano believes that Oyashiro-sama curse is actually performed by someone as opposed to a real curse.
9. It appears that Takano informed Keiichi that Mion is the Sonozaki heir and the future leader of the three major houses.
10. Mion, on the other hand, denied this and told Keiichi that she is not in that position.
11. Mion also refused Keiichi's request to kill Satoko's uncle.
12. Satoko's deceased father is actually her step father.
13. Satoko once faked an abuse claim in order to implicate her step father.
14. Satoko became horrified when Keiichi touches her, most likely because of the abuse she had to endure.
15. Satoko apologised profusely like Rena back in Onikakushi-hen

Questions:

1. Is Keiichi's father an important figure in the village?
2. What is the name of the woman who lived with Satoko's uncle after his wife died?
3. How did Takano know so much about the Sonozaki family?
4. Is Mion really the heir of the Sonozaki family? Or is it actually Shion?
5. Who was Satoko was being afraid of when she pushed Keiichi away? Her stepfather? Her uncle? Satoshi? Herself?
6. What is the relevance of "I'm sorry" line that she uttered in this episode.

Impression:

Unfortunately, there weren't that many clues included in this episode since the majority of the story is focused on telling Satoko's story. Despite this, there are still some interesting information that were not included in the previous arc. It appears, for example, that Keiichi's father is quite a famous man in the village. This makes me wonder if he has any role in any of the situation that has transpired thus far. I'm also curious to find out the name of the mistress who stayed with Satoko's uncle in Okinomiya. For some reason, I get the feeling that she is actually Takano. Speaking of the devil, her action with Tomitake seems to be the only constant thing in the series. While the end result seems to differ, they always started the story with the intention of doing something forbidden during the Watanagashi festival. The fact that their action is the only thing that remains constant in the series, probably has an importance to the entire storyline.

This episode also brought back the long standing question about Mion/Shion's real identity. To me, Mion's denial could mean several things: she lied and she's the real Sonozaki head / she told the truth and the real Sonozaki's leader is Shion / she told the truth but Mion is actually Shion and vice versa / she told the truth and Sonozaki family has nothing to do with the killing. I also wonder if Satoko's sudden turn into madness was really caused by abuse or something else. I am asking this because the thing that she remembered after Keiichi pet her was Satoshi doing the same thing a long time ago. It seems to be a rather unusual memory to be associated with abuse. Unless, of course, Satoshi was the one who abused her. Last but not least, there is the mystery of her apologising like Rena back in Onikakushi-hen. It makes me wonder if there is a connection between the girls' apology to the murders that have happened in the village.

© memento 2003