[Spanish John]

Did you see something in the series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni/Kai that didn't sound quite right or was never fully explained? Such as what was in the syringe in Onikakushi-hen and Watanagashi-hen/Meakashi-hen, what it was created for, and why Rika and Mion were using it?

Well, this is a thread for answering any and all Higurashi no Naku Koro ni questions you may have. If I don't know the answer, I'll chase it down until I get it.

Warning: There may be spoilers. I'll do my best to filter them, but if they aren't, I apologize. Unless it's a severe spoiler, I will not tag any answers from questions about the question arcs (Onihen, Watahen, Tatarihen, and Himahen). The other exception is if I need to answer the question with spoilers from a question arc and its respective answer arc.

(If someone already posted this thread, please tell me so I can delete this. ^^")

[Gingy]

What role does the cicadas in all the episodes and the title of the show supposed to achieve?? Are cicadas supposed to be symbolic or something?

[Spanish John]

Originally Posted by Gingy

What role does the cicadas in all the episodes and the title of the show supposed to achieve?? Are cicadas supposed to be symbolic or something?

This might be a little tricky to answer...

This could be answered one of three ways.
(a) In the literal translation of the title, "When the Cicadas Cry", the 'Cicadas' could mean the characters. Which would make sense, seeing as the group is surrounded by a time-looping tragedy.
(b) Ryuukishi07 and/or 07th Expansion could be tricking you. They might make you think that 'Cicadas' means something, but really it doesn't. An example of this is shown in the American TV drama Lost, in which one of the characters thinks he is cursed because the numbers 4 8 15 16 23 42 are "following him" and somehow causing bad things to happen (like his plane [which was flight #815] crashing on an uncharted island and people are looking for them 1000 miles away). The writers/producer said that those numbers mean nothing, that he was just exaggerating.
(c) The cicadas bear witness to the horrible tragedy in Hinamizawa...? o.o

I'm pretty sure it's (a) tho. And the fact that the cicadas are crying in every episode is probably thanks to the fact that the series takes place in the summertime.

Hope this helps! =]

[Akane-chan]

Question about Tatarigoroshi-hen: If the girls said that Keiichi was with them during Watanagashi festival, then who killed Teppei?

[Gingy]

Yeah I think reason a) is the most convincing probably...

Question about Tatarigoroshi-hen: If the girls said that Keiichi was with them during Watanagashi festival, then who killed Teppei?

Mind if I answer this one? Im bored....

Im pretty sure Teppei, satokos uncle was never killed at all in that one. The murdering of Teppei (which, in my opinion, is the ONE person in the entire series that I believed TRULY deserved to die, even worse then Takano, for Takano, you can emphatize, but Teppei, nop, I was cheering Keichii on during that scene) never happened at all. Keichi was probably hallucinating or dreaming that he WAS killing Teppei. It was all a dream or hallucination probably. Why?
1) Keichi was unable to find Teppei's corpse when he tried to dig it back out again.
2) The girls had an alibi for him.
3) Satoko's condition even after that night. When Keichi broke into the house, Satoko still look abused, and she was in the tub probably as punishment. Satoko says that her uncle was still in the house.
That might be it.
Alright I have another questions...
1) In the second last arc, when the gang was ALMOST victorious, or atleast got close to it, during that scene when the gang was ambushing the yaiganu, why did Rena resort to using the blunt end of her cleaver?? Why didnt she use the obviously more effective and lethal sharp end on the bad guys...who were looking to killing the kids.

2) Is that a gun mounted to Mion's shoulder? If so, how come she never used it.

3) What does nipah mean. And how come no one notices anything weird about how Hanyuu has horns, or have purple hair.

[Akane-chan]

Originally Posted by Gingy

Mind if I answer this one? Im bored....

Im pretty sure Teppei, satokos uncle was never killed at all in that one. The murdering of Teppei (which, in my opinion, is the ONE person in the entire series that I believed TRULY deserved to die, even worse then Takano, for Takano, you can emphatize, but Teppei, nop, I was cheering Keichii on during that scene) never happened at all. Keichi was probably hallucinating or dreaming that he WAS killing Teppei. It was all a dream or hallucination probably. Why?
1) Keichi was unable to find Teppei's corpse when he tried to dig it back out again.
2) The girls had an alibi for him.
3) Satoko's condition even after that night. When Keichi broke into the house, Satoko still look abused, and she was in the tub probably as punishment. Satoko says that her uncle was still in the house.
That might be it.

Hmm that's weird. I was sure Teppei was killed because Keiichi checked Satoshi's locker and find that the bat wasn't inside the locker.

Alright I have another questions...
1) In the second last arc, when the gang was ALMOST victorious, or atleast got close to it, during that scene when the gang was ambushing the yaiganu, why did Rena resort to using the blunt end of her cleaver?? Why didnt she use the obviously more effective and lethal sharp end on the bad guys...who were looking to killing the kids.

2) Is that a gun mounted to Mion's shoulder? If so, how come she never used it.

3) What does nipah mean. And how come no one notices anything weird about how Hanyuu has horns, or have purple hair

1) Probably doesn't want to cause violence? I'm not sure.

2) Yes. Maybe for fashion?

3) "Nipah" doesn't have any meaning. It's just a word for making cute sounds. Maybe because everyone thought that Hanyuu's horns are actually accessories.

Off topic: It's a shame that everyone thought Lucy was a monster because of her horns but then no one cares about Hanyuu's. XD

[Spanish John]

Originally Posted by Akane-chan

Question about Tatarigoroshi-hen: If the girls said that Keiichi was with them during Watanagashi festival, then who killed Teppei?

Even though Gingy already answered this, I'll elaborate a bit more.

Keiichi became so paranoid that he started hallucinating. He was really at the Watanagashi Festival with everyone.

Spoiler for Tsumihoroboshi-hen:
The only time he did get killed is when Rena killed him in order to stop him conning her father.

Originally Posted by Gingy

1) In the second last arc, when the gang was ALMOST victorious, or atleast got close to it, during that scene when the gang was ambushing the yaiganu, why did Rena resort to using the blunt end of her cleaver?? Why didnt she use the obviously more effective and lethal sharp end on the bad guys...who were looking to killing the kids.

2) Is that a gun mounted to Mion's shoulder? If so, how come she never used it.

3) What does nipah mean. And how come no one notices anything weird about how Hanyuu has horns, or have purple hair.

1--I'm assuming she didn't want to kill someone in front of the little ones (Satoko and Rika). Either that, or this 2007 Kyoto murder case forbid the peoples from drawing her using the blade.
2--Yes, it's an airsoft gun. It wouldn't really kill, it would just hurt like hell. She did use it once in the Onikakushi-hen manga, but she was joking around. She hit Keiichi in the face. x]
3a--"Ni~pan" actually meant something, but I forgot. ^^" Although, I do know there's a deadly virus called the "Nipa virus", maybe Ryuukishi07 was going for that.
3b--Have you seen Mion's hair? Is that a normal color? Oo And maybe they thought they were fake. o.o

[Spanish John]

Originally Posted by Spanish John

Did you see something in the series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni/Kai that didn't sound quite right or was never fully explained? Such as what was in the syringe in Onikakushi-hen and Watanagashi-hen/Meakashi-hen, what it was created for, and why Rika and Mion were using it?

It just occured to me to answer my own question. ^^"

Many spoilers and it's long:
What was in the syringe was H173, which was literally L5 of the Hinamizawa Syndrome. L5 is the highest level, and at that level people are known to go on killing sprees and/or then kill themselves. H173 was in that form to help along with making a cure for the Syndrome.

In many of the arcs, Tomitake Jirou is found dead. He clawed open his throat. It is revealed that Tanashi Miyoko (Takano Miyo), injected him with H173.

How did Takano get a hold of H173? Simple. In order to complete her grandfather's research, (see Matsuribayashi-hen [Higurashi Kai episodes 14-24]) she herself had to research the Syndrome. What better way to do that than to dissect a live L5 patient? She told Irie-sensei to kidnap someone with L5, and they had at least two. (Remember the first murder in the "curse"? How the guy with the arm was never found? Well now you know where he was this whole time) After the first patient died, Irie-sensei was driving Houjou Satoshi home, noticed that he had L5 of the Syndrome, and took him to the clinic for "treatment".

In Onikakushi-hen, Ryuugu Rena and Sonozaki Mion were beaten to death by Maebara Keiichi, after which he clawed open his own throat. What caused him to do that? H173, administered by Mion. Before injecting him Mion said, "We need to hurry up before the director gets here." After the tragedy, Irie-sensei shows up at Keiichi's house. Here's where Mion's and Rena's intentions start to come in and are unclear. Either Mion thought that H173 was the cure and wanted to help Keiichi, but knew that Irie-sensei was coming and he'd take it away from her if he got there. Or she knew that it was L5 and wanted to kill Keiichi, and she knew that Irie-sensei was coming and he'd take the syringe away if he got there. How Mion got it? She probably stole it. Seeing as she's a Sonozaki, she wouldn't have high consequences.

In Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, Sonozaki Shion killed Sonozaki Oryou, Kimiyoushi Kiichiro, Furude Rika, Houjou Satoko, Sonozaki Mion, and Maebara Keiichi. What caused Rika-chama's death was H173, administered by Shion. Rika went to the Sonozaki estate on the pretense that she needed soy sauce. She brought along three items: an empty soy sauce bottle, pepper spray, and a syringe with H173 in it. Now where she has all of this, I have no idea, seeing as her dress is pocketless. She pulled the syringe on Shion, only for Shion to pin her down and inject little Rika-chama with H173. ;w; After Shion threatened to torture the young girl to death, Rika began repeatedly stabbing herself in the head.

Rika-chama's intentions were simple. She was trying desperately to break the curse, save that world, and save her friends. She must have thought that H173 would help Shion. Where she got it is simple too. While in the Irie Clinic for testing, she swiped away a syringe, not knowing what it could--or would--do.

How was this proven? Back to old Tommy and Takano. In Matsuribayashi-hen, Takano attempts to inject Tommy (Tomitake) with a yellow-tinted fluid in a syringe. It is revealed at some point that in each world Takano injected him with H173. In Onikakushi-hen, Mion injected Keiichi with a yellow-tinted fluid in a syringe. In Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, Shion injected Rika with, guess what? Yellow-tinted fluid in a syringe. Therefore, with the motive and the opportunity to get it, one can conclude that each time the syringe was filled with H173.

The end. =]

[Akane-chan]

Originally Posted by Spanish John

Even though Gingy already answered this, I'll elaborate a bit more.

Keiichi became so paranoid that he started hallucinating. He was really at the Watanagashi Festival with everyone.

Spoiler for Tsumihoroboshi-hen:
The only time he did get killed is when Rena killed him in order to stop him conning her father.
3a--"Ni~pan" actually meant something, but I forgot. ^^" Although, I do know there's a deadly virus called the "Nipa virus", maybe Ryuukishi07 was going for that.

Hmm I guess that makes sense. O_O "Nipah virus"?! Didn't know such virus exists. XD

Originally Posted by Spanish John

It just occured to me to answer my own question. ^^"

Many spoilers and it's long:

In Onikakushi-hen, Ryuugu Rena and Sonozaki Mion were beaten to death by Maebara Keiichi, after which he clawed open his own throat. What caused him to do that? H173, administered by Mion. Before injecting him Mion said, "We need to hurry up before the director gets here." After the tragedy, Irie-sensei shows up at Keiichi's house. Here's where Mion's and Rena's intentions start to come in and are unclear. Either Mion thought that H173 was the cure and wanted to help Keiichi, but knew that Irie-sensei was coming and he'd take it away from her if he got there. Or she knew that it was L5 and wanted to kill Keiichi, and she knew that Irie-sensei was coming and he'd take the syringe away if he got there. How Mion got it? She probably stole it. Seeing as she's a Sonozaki, she wouldn't have high consequences.


The end. =]

Whoa..But wait a minute! In Onikakushi-hen, wasn't the syringe is actually a marker pen? And I don't think the girls wanted to kill Keiichi. They just wanted to "punish" Keiichi since he didn't finish the ohagi homework and they probably didn't knew that he was in L5 mode. Remember that he gets freaked out when Tomitake said to him that there is still an arm missing? And Takano told him the curse stories. And also, Oishi told him about the "curse" incident and said "the one who's in danger is you" to Keiichi. I guess that makes him even more paranoid and went up to L5 as he keeps hallucinating.

[Spanish John]

Originally Posted by Akane-chan

Whoa..But wait a minute! In Onikakushi-hen, wasn't the syringe is actually a marker pen? And I don't think the girls wanted to kill Keiichi. They just wanted to "punish" Keiichi since he didn't finish the ohagi homework and they probably didn't knew that he was in L5 mode. Remember that he gets freaked out when Tomitake said to him that there is still an arm missing? And Takano told him the curse stories. And also, Oishi told him about the "curse" incident and said "the one who's in danger is you" to Keiichi. I guess that makes him even more paranoid and went up to L5 as he keeps hallucinating.

The marker pen was earlier in the arc, and I'm not saying they wanted to kill him. But think about it, if your friend was in a terminal level of a disease, wouldn't you want to help them? Tomitake didn't know that Takano had the guy with the arm. Takano told him the curse stories because she wanted him to know the cover, not the real story. My guess is that Keiichi got up to L4, maybe borderline L5, but when injected with H173, he got up to L5 for sure. All of this is revealed in the game of Matsuribayashi-hen, I believe.