Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Tatarigoroshi-hen 3

June 17, 2006 | 28 Comments

Dear Kei-chan,

The next time you plan to murder someone, please make sure that you have contingency plans in case something goes wrong. There's nothing more embarassing than a murder done half-heartedly. If you hadn't been lucky like in this one, your target would have been able to escape. That's a big "No-no" in murder. Before you know it, you'll be prosecuted and the only thing you can say in your defense is "Oyashiro-sama forced me to do it!!". To begin with, do not leave your finger prints all over the place. Get intimate with latex gloves. They're your best friends in murder. Second of all, never ever use your own belonging to clean up the mess. If the authorities suspect you, you'll be busted in no time. Finally, do not leave your belonging near the scene of the crime no matter what anyone else says to you. You'll just incriminate yourself.

Sonozaki Mion

PS: No, I never murdered anyone. That incident never happened - no one saw it and you can't prove it. No, I don't have multiple personality disorder. Please don't interrupt me while I'm writing a letter to Kei-chan, that's just rude!!

The episode begins with the teacher informing Keiichi and Mion that Satoko is okay and probably just had a panic attack. Keiichi, however, does not believe this and thinks that if left like this, Satoko will break down. Because of this Keiichi wants to do something that adults can't do: kill Satoko's uncle. Keiichi then do what any other teen will do if they want to kill someone and that is asks their mother which mystery novel she's read contains the most perfect crime. His mother, however, tells her son that there is no such thing since mystery novels are about enjoying the process of solving a mystery. She therefore thinks that an unsolvable mystery defeats the purpose of a mystery novel. In other words, a perfect crime won't be a story. She also tells Keiichi than an important part of a story is the introduction. Without this element, then the story won't start to begin with. Because of this if nothing happens then there won't be any case.

Keiichi's mother continues by saying that if there is no investigation then there won't be a solution. This means that a detective won't be called to investigate the case. Upon hearing this, Keiichi realises that if there's no incident then the police won't investigate anything. Having said that, Keiichi's mother believes that making it seems as if nothing happened is the most difficult thing. Unfortunately Keiichi didn't hear this part of the explanation since he's too busy planning his perfect murder. His idea involves getting the baseball bat that Satoshi used and scouting a perfect location to bury the corpse. In order to execute his plan, however, Keiichi needs someone to take Satoko elsewhere. Because of this she gives Mion a call, asking her to take Satoko to the Watanagashi festival. Mion becomes suspicious after hearing this and asks Keiichi why he doesn't take Satoko to the festival himself. Keiichi simply mumbles lame excuse about not being able to go.

Mion becomes worried upon hearing this because she once heard the same thing from Satoshi. Apparently last year he asked Mion to take Satoko to the festival because he too had something to do. Keiichi suddenly remembers that Irie once told him that Satoko's aunt was found dead after beaten by drug addicts. Keiichi immediately assumes that Satoshi and his bat were the real perpetrator. Mion tells Keiichi that the truth is they've already invited Satoko to the Watanagashi festival and everyone was planning to meet tomorrow. Mion, however, wants to know what Keiichi has in plan or if he plans on not telling her the way Satoshi didn't tell her. Keiichi simply tells Mion that it's nothing important but Mion doesn't seem to believe. After the conversation ends, Keiichi tries to justify what he's about to do by thinking that even Satoshi murdered his aunt to protect Satoko. Because of this, Keiichi goes to the forest and starts making a hole to bury the potential victim.

While he does this, a flashback reveals that Keiichi's is actually an eccentric genius who got a high score on the Kraepelin intelligence test. It appears that he is usually not interested on meaningless questions but is good at practical ones. Because of this, Keiichi was accepted into an advanced class and received quite a good grade. This, however, invited the jealousy of her classmates and one day Keiichi became the recipient of a dead rat on top of his desk. The incident traumatised Keiichi to the point that he refused to go to school anymore. Because of this, his family decided to move to Hinamizawa to start a new life. It is in Hinamizawa that Keiichi finally finds people who like him. Because of this, he tries to take care of them as much as he can as well. In the present day, Keiichi finally finish digging a hole for the body so he tells himself that when the Cicadas starts to cry, everything will be over. That was a cheesy way of mentioning the series' name.

In order to complete his plan, Keiichi makes a phone call to Satoko's uncle, claiming to be a police from Okinomiya station. He tells Satoko's uncle that they currently have his 'daughter' in the custody and asks him to come over. Satoko's uncle at first refuses but after Keiichi insists on it, he decides to come. Keiichi, however, almost panic when Satoko's uncle asks him about the location of the station since he doesn't know either. Thankfully for Keiichi, Satoko's uncle suddenly remembers the address. After the phone is over, Keiichi waits near the road to ambush the uncle with his bat. True enough, not long after he waits, Satoko's uncle appears riding his motorbike. Keiichi then jumps out of the bush and hits Satoko's uncle with his bat while the guy was speeding on the road. The guy is shocked upon seeing Keiichi trying to bash his head open. He tries to run away from Keiichi and manages to do so until he falls into a nearby cliff.

Keiichi suddenly appears in front of the guy and begins to use his bat to crack the guy's skull open and turns it into a pure mash. As he does this, rain starts to pour so everyone in Watanagashi festival runs away to find shelter. Back to Keiichi, he realises that the place where he plans to bury the corpse is quite far from his current location. Moreover, the scooter that belongs to Satoko's uncle is now sprawled in the middle of a street. Keiichi, however, manages to take said scooter and dumps it into the nearby lake. While he does this, he thinks that he may have misunderstood Satoshi. When he arrived at the burial area, however, he realises that the hole has disappear for some unknown reason. Because of this he bikes all the way back home to get a shovel. He then uses the shovel to dig a new hole and dump the dead body in it. In the midst of the excitement, however, Keiichi forgets to hide his bike before digging the hole. Judging from the camera, it seems someone notices the bike.

Meanwhile, Keiichi finally covers the body with grovels and large trees/leaves. Upon doing this, he seems to think that he's gotten away with murder. The efforts, however, make him tired and he falls flat on his face. From inside a car, Takano comes out and wonders what Keiichi was doing carrying a shovel in the middle of the rain. Keiichi claims that he forgot the shovel while playing with Rena in the dam and that he didn't expect the rain to fall like this. Upon hearing this, Takano points out that this place is the opposite direction from the dam. Cue in Keiichi's internal reaction. Since Keiichi twists his ankle, Takano offers to take him home. She, however, tells Keiichi to leave his bike here since she can't fit it inside her car. Upon getting into the car, Keiichi realises that there's a folded bike inside Takano's car. The episode then ends with Takano asking Keiichi if he's buried the corpse properly. Keiichi's expression upon hearing this is priceless.

Summary of important points
1. Keiichi decided to kill Satoko's uncle to save Satoko.
2. Keiichi and his usually non-existent mother talked about how an incident is the cause of a murder mystery.
3. Keiichi asked Mion to take Satoko to Watanagashi festival because he has 'things' to do.
4. Mion told Keiichi that last year Satoshi also asked her to take Satoko to Watanagashi because he has something to do.
5. Keiichi is supposed to be a genius kid who is envied by the classmates from his previous school.
6. Keiichi and his family moved to Hinamizawa after he was bullied by his friends.
7. Keiichi made a fake phone call to Satoko's uncle, pretending to be a policeman from Okinomiya.
8. Keiichi chased and bashed Satoko's uncle to death during Watanagashi festival.
9. Keiichi could not find the hole that he dug earlier, suggesting someone probably found it.
10. Keiichi left the body in order to go home and get a shovel to create a new hole.
11. Keiichi lied to Takano, claiming that he just went to the dam to get his shovel.
12. Takano offered to take Keiichi homes but claims that she can not take his bike inside the car.
13. There is a folded bike inside Takano's car.
14. Takano asked Keiichi if he has buried the corpse properly.

Questions:
1. Did Satoshi really killed his aunt?
2. Why did Keiichi's parents decided to move to Hinamizawa as opposed to other place? Is this their birthplace?
3. Was the murder motivated by Keiichi's desire to protect Satoko or something else?
4. Who closed the hole that Keiichi created? Takano or someone else?
5. What is inside the trunk of Takano's car?
6. Whom does the folded bike belongs to?
7. What happened prior to Takano and Keiichi's meeting?
8. How did Takano find out about the murder?

Impression:

Keiichi is such an amateur when it comes to murder. To begin with, he allowed his victim to run away from the burial location, making it harder for him to hide the body. He then foolishly left the dead body unattended so he can go home to get a new shovel to bury the body. Not only someone may have seen the body at this point, he actually used something from his own house to dig the new hole. While digging the hole, he also left his bike out in the open as if inviting someone to find out who could possibly be in the forest in the middle of a rain. He also foolishly took public road carrying a shovel as if asking to be caught. Last but not least, he needs to use his brain a bit when lying and develops a face that doesn't immediately scream "OMG, I'm so busted" everytime Takano plays her mind games. Of course these things are easier said than done and that is why most people don't commit murder even if they feel like killing a certain someone.

Because of this, I can't help but questioning Keiichi's mental stability. I mean, who in their right mind will kill another person in order to save a classmate? I understand that Satoko and the rest of the girls are like family to Keiichi in this arc. They were the ones who welcome him after his brief terror with the rat on his desk back in his previous school. Having said that, it's strange to see him snapping out of sudden and turning into a murderer. Most people would have gotten a good dose of fear by the time they made that phone call to the victim. Judging from the phone conversation between himself and Mion, it is suggested that Satoshi may have committed the same murderous act to Satoko's aunt. Or maybe Satoko killed her aunt and he simply covered it up for her by bashing the aunt with his bat. In a way, this would be a rational explanation as to why he ran away from home. This will draw suspicion away from Satoko and allow him to be out of police's reach.

The more interesting part about the story, however, is related to Takano's presence. There's a possibility that the reason she refused to carry Keiichi's bike is because she already has a body inside her trunk and was about to throw it away when she spotted Keiichi or his bike in the forest. It's also possible that she was the one who found out the hole that Keiichi made the day before. Maybe she saw Keiichi committing the murder and thinks that she can use him, or the two of them can become each other's alibi if police starts suspecting them for the murder that they've each committed. If this is true, however, who did Takano kill? There is a folded bike inside her car, suggesting that her victim is most likely Tomitake since he was carrying that bike at one point in the story. If this is true, then this arc confirms that there's more to Takano than we've been lead to believe. It's highly likely now that she faked her death in Watanagashi-hen.

I also like the conversation that Keiichi had with his mother. For some reason I got the impression that the conversation was not only about novel murder mystery and Keiichi's idea of a perfect murder. It felt as if it's some sort of a hint about the entire series' storyline. What I meant by this is that, maybe the current situation is happened due to a particular event, possibly a murder. This event then caused a ripple effect which creates all of the mess that everyone in Hinamizawa is now experiencing. Those who have seen Boogiepop Phantom will know what I am talking about. For example, so far the series has mentioned the dam murder and yet nothing was ever shown about it. I really hope that the series will soon show how did the situation turned into murder. Are Hinamizawa residents as blood-thirsty as suggested by the report or is there an outsider who manipulates the situation and makes it look as if Hinamizawa residents are a bunch of monsters?

© memento 2003