Yeah, we’re totally off the grid now – at least any part of the grid that I, as an anime-only, have any recollection of. We’ve seen St. Lucia of course (not least in the Gou OP), but that’s through Shion. There’s been mention of Rika going there in some possible future but this is the first time I remember that possibility has been seriously explored in “present” tense. One thing we can say for certain – when it seems as idyllic as it seemed for most of this episode, things aren’t going to end well.
- OK, on the cold open and Hanyuu’s role. I assume she materialized herself and that’s how she managed to “save” Rika and seemingly get us to this good end, using herself up in the process. Was Rika specifically talking about her when she referred to Oyashiro-sama going back to sleep?
- Is it Hanyuu’s effort that’s caused Hinamizawa Syndrome to into mysterious remission for a year? Or is that because Takano was taken out of the equation? And as I asked before, is HS going to be basically irrelevant in the final denouement of the story this time?
- It’s nice that Satoko is cured, but what about Satoshi? If HS is going away shouldn’t he be at least improving as well?
- Rika and Satoko seriously growth spurted for just one year passing.
- All the Ts and Is were crossed and dotted very neatly here, right down to Rika getting Oryou-san to agree to declare the dam war over.
All this leads us to the question of what it is that sets us off on the wayward path again, which is obviously inevitable. Does it happen because Satoko doesn’t get into St. Lucia and Rika does, and she goes psycho out of resentment? That seems a bit of a stretch to me. Perhaps Hinamizawa Syndrome will make a comeback. More likely, though, I think the other looper (who I’m still assuming is not Satoko, but rather the one using Satoko for their own ends) intervenes to put a spanner in the works here. That seems the most likely endgame to me.
Whatever happens, it’s kind of interesting to see the cast grow up a little (though Keiichi and Rena look exactly the same). For the first time Gou feels like a true sequel, and the first 17 episodes feel like the setup to get us to this point. I have no idea how well the series is going to pull off whatever happens next, but at least it figures to be something we haven’t seen from this mythology before.
Anchen
February 5, 2021 at 11:41 pmIn regards to the opening which I am fairly certain is the ending to Kai, Hanyuu actually materializes herself as a human more or less that entire final arc. She’s introduced as a normal transfer student to the others and they can actually see her. It is supposedly her will to finally “join” the fight in person rather than as a spirit that causes the miracle. She is still I believe a god/divine, which is how the bullet from Takano missed. This is all from what I remember of the ending to the original series. And yes, the backstory is that the “Oyashiro-sama” that most people talk about was actually Hanyuu.
My personal speculation is that Hanyuu by existing in her spriti form and walking around in the area (often but not always with Rika) is what “caused” a lot of the Hinamizawa Syndrome being elevated in people. I’m not sure if she is necessarily the cause, but basically people who are deeper (higher) in the Syndrome levels become more paranoid, and also more able to “hear” the spirit Hanyuu. They still can’t see her though but hearing footsteps they can’t see and possible words exacerbates their problems. There is some speculation I guess that just existing and being awake may cause the syndrome which is what I think is being implied here. That after they won in Kai, sometime soon after Hanyuu leaves and goes to sleep basically, which actually stops the disease from happening.
One idea is that maybe Satoko did get into the school with Rika, however she has a miserable time there. She has issues with studying/memorization and it also takes her away from all their other friends. It’s possible she might get bullied, her family is kinda non-existent and she is poor, while Rika is ok financially and is also can be rather adjusted. From what I remember St Lucia is a very “elite” school so it tends to mostly attract wealthy and affluent students, which would make Satoko if she did get in a prime target for discrimination and bullying. Also unlike their old school they probably have separate classes and they might get separated in that way too. Basically just adding to things Satoko could be angry about and wishing for the days of Hinamizawa.
I do personally think Satoko is the looper in the way Rika is a looper. That they are normal human beings that happens to have some divine force helping them. However, I do think someone is probably using her for it and adding fuel to whatever reasons she has for doing the things she is doing. So while Hanyuu was mostly just trying to help Rika, I think whatever is helping Satoko is not so benevolent perhaps?
Guardian Enzo
February 6, 2021 at 9:02 amRIka and Satoko as avatars, with whoever or whatever is looping Satoko being Hanyuu’s avatar is an interesting way of looking at it. The problem I see here, though, is that it has to be someone or something we’ve encountered in the mythology already or Knox’ rules are pretty much tossed out the window. It’ll probably be something from a part of the franchise this series hasn’t covered, but that ship has already sailed anyway – new viewers are clearly an afterthought here.