This post should’ve contained my impressions of episode 12 as well , but due to a certain incident in Kyoto in which a 16 year old girl killed her father with an axe, it seems as if the broadcasting companies have put a back seat to future episodes of Higurashi and to the last episode of School Days as well. The whole "violent TV produces violent children" argument has raised its ugly head, but this time, I’m not buying it. 

Personally, the only reason I can understand a young girl becoming so mentally unstable that she kills her own flesh and blood,  is if she suffered severe emotional and physical abuse under that family member. Not to say that I condone violence, but it pisses me off to see parent figures who think their children are mere objects. On the other hand, it pisses me off even more to come across stories of kids who think they have the right to take away life on selfish childish whims.

Needless to say, things like patricide and matricide are unheard of in my house. Parents in my family tend to instill respect into their children in the form of fear and corporal punishment. So basically, if you did something wrong, no one would stand up for you, dad would tell you to get the leather belt that was soaking in the tub, and you’d have to fish it out of the tub in all it’s heavy soaking glory, hand it to daddy, then stand there and take it. Mom would then go into the kitchen, your siblings would laugh at you from behind slightly cracked-open doors, and then through pain and embarrassment you’d learn never to do the same crap again. 

But, in anycase, back to our tragic heroine Satoko and my thoughts on the episodes. Spoilers lurk, so read at your own risk, and don’t blame me if you read something you wish you hadn’t.

Brief Summary (10 +11) 

Satoko is saved by Keichii and the gang, who overcome the binds of fate by getting everyone in Hinamizawa to band together in saving Satoko from her abusive uncle. Satoko finally throws away her masochistic love for her uncle and stands up for herself, and the evil Uncle Teppei is carted off by the police. With eveything ending so well, in Rika’s eyes, the only obstacle now is the Hinamizawa festival and keeping Tomitake and Takano alive.

But this is Higurashi, of course–things never go as planned.

Impressions (10+11):

So now we know who was behind the 5th consecutive year of Oyashiro’s sama’s curse, which resulted in Tomitake clawing his throat out, Takano disappearing, only to have her burned corpse found in the mountains,  Rika being disemboweled, and then later on the occurance of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. The mastermind was indeed Takano herself. (I was not surprised). She tells Tomitake of her dream to witness Oyashiro sama’s curse by creating it with her own hands, and he refuses to cooperate. With the help of the Yamainu ( those annoying men in green) , and the backing of the Tokyo gov’t, she gets rid of Tomitake, injecting and infecting him with the Hinamizawa Syndrome  (first revealed in the last arc of Higurashi Season 1), sets up a fake corpse resembling herself, and puts men on Rika’s trail to watch her closely.

So, once again, it seems as if tragedy will strike again. Perhaps Irie will once again, die by an overdose of pills, Rika will be disemboweled, and the "gas explosion" set up by Takano and her men will kill everyone in the town. And then maybe, and this may be a hunch….the person who comes across Rika’s corpse first will be the sole survivor once again, only to be finished off later at a local hospital once again.

This, in essence, is the massacre for which this arc is named, right?

And unless Rika finds out that the culprit is indeed Takano, the cycle will continue. orz.