At this point I think one has to seriously question the utility in continuing to write about Sotsu until it actually gets around to something of consequence. One of the most damning things you can ask about any series is why it even exists, but I think that’s especially true with a long-standing franchise like this one. So much Higurashi has flown under the bridge that honestly, maybe Ryukishi07 is just out of ideas and inspiration. I wouldn’t have said that after Gou, but after 5 episodes of Sotsu it’s looking more and more like a realistic possibility.
Last week wasn’t actually much different but it felt a little different at least, because it was broaching material that hadn’t been covered by earlier arcs. None of it was really consequential to the endgame but it filled in some gaps, at least. Paradoxically it seems as long as we’re in the answer arcs the material focusing on the peripheral is going to feel more relevant than the important stuff, because we already know the important stuff. Like what we saw this week.
I don’t think anything we saw here was a surprise. The curry thing at the beginning seemed there just to remind us of just how much of an asshole Satoko is at this point of the story, and the rest of it was all rehash. Maybe there could have been some speculation that it was Mion rather than Shion that called Kei-chan that night, but that’s about it. And I think we pretty much knew any “Shion” we saw afterwards was actually Mion.
One other thing has been bothering me. Am I nuts or is it odd that with this newfound ability to reboot, Satoko has shown absolutely no interest in the fate of Satoshi? I mean, we were led to believe that at one point he was ridiculously important to her, but even though she can now effectively time travel and retain her memories she has no impulse to try and change or even learn about his fate? That seems really weird to me, but this post-Eua sequence has played out as if Satoshi never even existed.
Anchen
July 23, 2021 at 10:35 pmShe did have a moment in Gou where I think were Satoko says “Goodbye” to Satoshi. It was in Episode 22 toward the end. I think the idea was basically her obsession with Rika had gotten so far to the point that she no longer cared about him? What was weird in particular in the scene is that we can see Satoshi before she walks down but after she says goodbye the bed actually looks empty. Maybe there is another bed that he is, but that seems like a weird way of depicting the scene. It’s almost like he actually vanishes. I am a little annoyed that they didn’t even bother to show how Satoko exactly injected or otherwise got the drug into Mion from last week. As you noted, injections are felt and I don’t really think just pouring it out and spiking something really works. Just weird/sloppy to me. I do want to see how this all concludes but like you I am kinda just waiting to see these answer arcs end.
It’s not that I am not interested *at all* in some specific answers but since the broader/main “answers” of who is the villain/what is really going on are answered, they are kinda just background. I think what made the original set of answer arcs work, both as answers and for building the narrative is that they were actually leading to the main villain while eliminating the non villains. It was easier to see that most of the “villains” of previous arcs were people succumbing to the syndrome, some red herrings about aliens and other stuff, and it was just sort of built up in an interesting way to me. I think the answer arcs here are too direct, since it is the literal same arc as in Gou, while the 5th/6th/7th arcs of the original series had similarities to the original arcs but had differences too that helped show how fate can change.
Guardian Enzo
July 23, 2021 at 11:27 pmI forgot that moment in Gou but in my defense, it was pretty forgettable!
Mello
July 24, 2021 at 11:05 amHonestly, Higurashi Gou and Sotsu have just been a bad attempt to recreate the original. The are missing all the aspects that actually made the original interesting–mystery, intrigue, character development and exploration. We haven’t had any progress in the story since the end of Nekodamashi, and all of these ‘answer arcs’ show the most obvious answers without adding anything new or interesting.
Satoko’s character has been completely reduced to her obsession with Rika as well. You’re right, her feelings for her brother are barely explored (and that brief scene with her saying goodbye to her brother was a laughable way to address it). What about her close relationship with Shion? Or her friends, who are supposedly like family to her? It’s just baffling to me. She is such a horrible person, there is nothing here that is enjoyable to watch or see… and I still tune in ever week because Higurashi was a part of my childhood.
Unfortunately Sotsugyou taints it.
sailor80
July 29, 2021 at 5:34 pmWe first met “this Satako” after the third arc. She was being cleared by Dr. Irie of Hinamizawa Syndrome (a supposedly secret infliction that no one believes exists). The reason she is callous to her brother and friends is because she sees herself as an outsider chasing her version of Rika. The real deception is going to come in the next arc when everyone believed Satako was being abused by her uncle, the now changed for the better uncle…