Two Queers Play Higurashi When They Cry Hou: Chapter 1 Discussion
52Howdy, y'all! We hope your stay here in Hinamizawa is going well.
We've been enjoying our time here to the fullest, and over the past few weeks, eskay has been theorizing about and analyzing all of the goings-on in this rural village. Now, Vivian will be putting all that research to the test in this 3.5 hour discussion covering the entirety of Chapter 1: Onikakushi.
We hope you enjoy.
You can find the playlist for our playthrough of this chapter of Higurashi here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbw1lM7LEyCZaJemj5pERzrlVHGpYHS3D&si=PFGqPaVz_TLk3ONQ
And you can find the playlist for the entirety of our Higurashi playthrough (in chronological order) here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbw1lM7LEyCbi4oEKqfJsNvX5ccWjb1XJ&si=RsBSKKY7-kloio4O
Thank you again to Lulu on the 8PR Discord for our lovely PNGtubers!
Chapters:
0:00 Introductions
4:04 What happened?
4:32 Higurashi is a Story About a Catastrophizing Kid Who Doesn't Know How to Be Happy
8:36 Higurashi is a Story About Young Girls Finding Hope in the Midst of Recurring Tragedy
11:42 Higurashi is a Story About Serial Death and Conspiracy in a Small Town
13:55 Higurashi is a Story About the Unseen Cost of Modernization
16:09 Higurashi is a Story About Kids Playing Card Games
17:37 Why can't this all be explained by Keiichi making stuff up?
21:34 What is the nature of Keiichii's delusion?
33:26 What is Oyashiro-sama's curse?
35:25 Who benefits from Oyashiro-sama's curse?
48:16 Why are Keiichi's friends connected to the curse?
49:48 Vivian gets really hung up on what details we know about the foreman
53:01 Why do the deaths occur during the Watanagashi festival?
54:50 Why are there both deaths and disappearances?
56:27 Why is it taboo to discuss the curse?
59:35 Why does belief in the curse matter?
1:01:12 What is the role of the police in this story?
1:03:19 What is Ooishi's stake in this case?
1:11:35 The case for Maebara Keiichi being clinically depressed
1:18:19 Parallels between Keiichi and Tomitake
1:25:58 Parallels between Keiichi and Rena
1:29:57 Parallels between Keiichi and Satoshi
1:32:16 Pour one out for Satoko
1:33:09 Ol' Uncle Mion
1:35:11 How (and why) does Keiichi die?
1:37:28 Who are the Manager and the Doctor?
1:41:18 Trans Rena Theory
1:54:16 In-groups and out-groups
1:58:11 The Maebaras are suspicious
2:07:26 What can we trust?
2:15:43 People who are not themselves
2:21:00 Home lives
2:29:23 Why were those lines removed from Keiichi's note?
2:33:58 What are the broad themes of Higurashi?
VIEWER-SUBMITTED QUESTIONS
2:44:52 If you were to take the narration at face-value, what would you think is happening?
2:40:09 How about that white van that almost isekai'd Keiichi?
2:52:04 Vivian, what was different about the VN compared to the anime?
2:53:55 What were your expectations for this story, and what are your expectations for it now?
3:01:25 How much do you know about Mahjong?
3:04:45 How does Higurashi arc 1 compare to Umineko arc 1, pacing-wise?
3:09:26 Who are your favorite characters so far?
3:13:24 Who are your favorite characters to voice?
3:17:18 How does you enjoyment of the story compare to Umineko, moment-to-moment?
3:20:19 What are your hopes for later chapters?
3:23:55 Anything we missed?
3:29:43 Conclusions
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