OK, first things first. Injections hurt. They don’t have to hurt much if they’re given by competent medical professionals, but even then you still feel them. Surreptitiously given by a civilian? I’d have to imagine there’d be some pain there. So just how, exactly, did Satoko give Mion that shot without Mion even noticing it? Even if she’d stuck Mion in the ass when her back was turned, I mean – you’re gonna feel that. Given how far Higurashi ventures into suspension of disbelief on a regular basis it seems like a little thing, but the little things do matter.
That grump aside, this episode was actually a step forward for Sotsu I thought. We’re in another “answer” arc (Wataakashi-hen), covering events that have already taken place in Gou (in Watadamashi-hen, in this case). But there were some unknowns after that arc that this one is, well- answering. Getting actual new information makes a big difference in these new eps not seeming as if they’re just filling time till we get to the real action.
Rika is still clueless about what’s happening to her, and Hanyuu is powerless to change that. Meanwhile Eua-not-Featherine is enjoying the time of her presumably endless life watching Satoko turn into a bigger and bigger sociopath. The big development in the A-part is the return of Teppei, who when last we saw him was making a seemingly genuine effort to reform his life and make amends with his niece. The guy is a total loser and always will be, but he nevertheless did seem to honestly be trying to change, so I groaned inwardly when Satoko turned up at Teppei’s doorstep.
I guess he got off easy – for now. Satoko (clearly having planned for this development) gives him a tip on a daily double which wins Teppei a literal satchel full of cash. Satoko does get him drunk, which is a very bad idea for Teppei, but she seems to want only the name of one of his Yakuza contacts to source a handgun and a chunk of the cash to secure it. Hell, she even makes him clean his pigsty of an apartment. My sense is that Teppei is irrelevant to Satoko’s plans one way or the other – I doubt she holds any feelings for him (if she even still can) but she doesn’t seem obsessed with revenge against him.
So just why does Satoko need-want a gun? Watadamashi-hen tells us that, of course. Apparently this whole diversion is Satoko engaging her curiosity about what would happen if Mion got Hinamizawa Syndrome (which she seems to be immune to under normal circumstances). We pretty much knew how all this was going to end up, but as compared to the first arc we had a lot fewer details of how it was going to get there, so it’s kind of interesting to watch play out.
Aldo Stefanoni
July 17, 2021 at 6:47 amYeah I definitely had the same question about how Satoko gave Mion the shot, I guess the show couldn’t come up with a convincing way to inject Mion either, unless drinking the shot (as in Satoko putting it in Mion’s drink from the vending machine) has the same effect which I see no reason why that couldn’t theoretically work. I agree, this episode was far more interesting than the Rena arc as Mion is a rather unknown variable when being afflicted by Hinamizawa Syndrome and that we didn’t really see how things went down when we watched them from Keiichi’s perspective (being locked up and all). Also I have more faith in the pacing of the show now. 2 more episodes following Mion’s Hinamizawa Syndrome, then another 3 for the Ooishi and Teppei one, maybe one for a recap of Gou’s gory ep. 15, leaving 5 for the ultimate showdown between Rika and Satoko in the classroom, or perhaps a completely new showdown in a fresh loop if Satoko does shoot Rika right away. I haven’t forgotten the sword fragment from Gou and Hanyuu’s final words; I can’t wait to see their impending psychological battle. Here’s to hoping it is less like the cutesy/childlike finale of Kai, and more of the same that Gou and Sotsu has been giving us.
Anchen
July 18, 2021 at 6:22 amI don’t think that it is *just* about her curiosity although that is probably certainly part of it. I think Satoko is still looking for ways to basically inflict despair on Rika to gaslight her into staying, and if Rika had similar thoughts/memories that Mion basically never succumbs then it probably is of interest of Satoko to push that button and see what would happen, both for Mion and where it puts Rika. That said, this episode was pretty puzzling to me how Mion gets the drug, assuming it isn’t in someway a bait and switch. I’ve seen some speculation that she basically uses it to “spike” a drink for Mion, but I can’t say I know any drug that can be ingested when it is originally meant for injection. Feels like taste or something would come into affect not to mention what might happen with it in the digestion system before it would actually get into someone’s blood. Hopefully next episode might take a moment at least for it.
But yeah, we’re in a firm, direct answer arc here, and there are some potentially interesting things to find out for how that arc played out, I do still worry a bit on the time crunch. I guess one could argue that the original series also featured two very direct answer arcs, while the third arc was a much more “overall” arc, and then finally the “victory” arc. Although I’m not sure what victory would actually look like here. I suppose that is part of the interest though.