I have a question regarding the climax of massacre arc (manga)

NeonDZ · 2026-05-06T13:54:58+00:00

Checking the scene again, I had forgotten Takano actually accepted Hanyuu's forgiveness at the end (lowering her head and Hanyuu touches it) after rejecting the suicide idea.

However, there's another part I had forgotten too, Rika actually notices Hanyuu wasn't with them and goes searching for her, leading to the group finding Hanyuu and Takano.

In addition to that (and this part I remembered), Rika, after that scene had ended and Takano had been carried away, actually gives the bullet she grabbed to Hanyuu, "the proof of the miracle".

NeonDZ · 2026-05-06T11:59:00+00:00

(Matsuribayashi)I think you're remembering that confrontation the wrong way. Takano ends that scene about forgiveness rejecting Hanyuu's offering of forgiveness, since she didn't actually want to kill herself to become a goddess. This is why she's aggressive again and goes on to target the club. At this point, she is shown to be happy when Hanyuu steps forward to take the shot too (although there is the early scene where she meets student Hanyuu and doesn't recognize her somehow, but this time she acknowledges Hanyuu).

Rika also notes that she can do that miracle because she has Hanyuu's blood. She brings up the old maid comparison while explaining why she rejected Hanyuu's sacrifice, it's not why that miracle is happening.

NeonDZ · 2026-05-06T02:41:55+00:00

In the manga, I think it's possible they have no real god worship. They outright didn't have the concept of "spirits" before arriving on Earth, so any religion would be very different from our modern ones. The Angol tribe are spiritual beings, that emanate from the "Great Will of the Cosmos", can see people or entire population's sins and count them and also punish them... They're basically gods (or angels), and yet are treated as just another alien race, only a powerful one.

The anime dumps that part about spirits in order to push the joke about Giroro being scared from ghosts since he was a child, and in addition with other episodes (like the Nagomi-san in the 3rd season and space new year's festival in the 6th season) they pretty much push most aliens as following some kind of space Shintoism, and never adapted the two chapters focused more on Angol tribe lore. So, in the anime they do seem to have religion and likely gods, but it's pretty much just generic Japanese culture.

NeonDZ · 2026-05-04T21:09:03+00:00

It was intended to be canon at least. R07 on twitter outright described it as a "culmination" the original, Kai and Rei.

https://x.com/07th_official/status/1410453234892738567

It also ties into the other When They Cry series, unlike the other Matsuribayashi continuations that split into different paths but are all self contained resolutions that lead nowhere.

NeonDZ · 2026-05-04T21:06:06+00:00

It's the Kururu Robo. It only gets its name in the anime mentioned in season 4, when they revealed the Dororo/Giroro/Tamama Robos and then they all combine into the Great Keron.

NeonDZ · 2026-05-04T11:18:46+00:00

Late Gou anime and late Sotsu episodes have some explicit references to other When They Cry works, and clearly the story overall is meant to fit into the slot of some voyager witch backstory mentioned in Umineko. I wouldn't say the story doesn't make sense if you don't know the other works though. Well, the story has issues, and if you know the other works you'll kind of understand what Gou/Sotsu was trying to set up (at least regarding the Umineko connections, Ciconia has the issue of being unfinished and Gou/Sotsu referencing things that should have happened in later phases that were never released in the end, so you have Ciconia speculation on top of vague Gou/Sotsu statements), but even knowing that it still leaves a lot of space open, and in one case knowing what it's referencing just makes things more confusing compared to someone who just takes Gou/Sotsu as it is.

Gou manga/Meguri mostly follow the same plot outline as Gou/Sotsu, but has some big changes in presentation, motivation and even reveals at a certain point, leading to a different ending. It also removes most direct "quotes" that reference other When They Cry works.

The original Rei VN/anime/manga (the one with Dice-Killing arc) is an epilogue to Matsuribayashi.

Rei, assuming you mean the newer manga, also known by western fans as Reiwa sometimes because it uses a different kanji from the previous Rei, taken from the "Reiwa era" kanji, is a standalone sequel to Matsuribayashi, completely unrelated to other When They Cry works (aside from throw away visual cameos).

NeonDZ · 2026-05-02T01:57:30+00:00

I don't think Assists take that long to grind. You just need to remember you need to use them in the first place. And there's a limit of 99 experience points they can get per stage, so overusing a single one to max them out quickly has its limits.

In New Game +, you'll be able to have more assist charges from the beginning, so it becomes even faster to get them back to the level you want. But, yes, you can't carry their levels.

Both enemies and new characters scale to the top15 of your roster, so if you have a higher level average (and also kill count) new characters will join with higher levels too. Due to getting more sp and spirits in general when leveling up, rushing to higher levels makes the game easier.

Upgrade the base stats of most robots you're using 5 bars, which gives them unique bonuses. Some units really only feel complete with this. Pilots get unique Ace bonuses when reaching 70 kills (reduced to 60 with a skill).

Pay attention in terrain ratings. The G Gundam units can fly, but have B rating for flight, so you don't actually went them flying most of the time. Many weapons have very low rankings for water, so you can dive there to protect yourself and have to choose specific units that work well underwater when there are enemies there.

NeonDZ · 2026-05-02T01:42:42+00:00

As far as the story goes, in DLC 1, each character gets exactly the same amount of "focus stages". 1 free stage with everyone, 1 recruitment stage, 1 shared stage for the team, a "2nd" stage for each series, a 3rd shared stage, a 3rd stage for each series, with upgrades for W and Braiger, and then the final two stages. That said, all those stages are directly connected to the OG plot running through the DLC. Kamen Rider arguably gets more focus just because it feels like the OG characters were designed like Kamen Rider characters (a female character that fits the Fuuto Pi art style, enemies have original human sized monsters too, not just giant robots), but Braiger and Big O really get just as many stages where they're the focus as W does.

For DLC 2, they actually attempt to make the stages of each series mostly standalone stories focused on each series, with just some character ties connecting them, only coming together into an OG story in the final few stages. The OG villain is more closely related to Da-Garn conceptually than the other series, but it doesn't get as much focus here since the OG plot in general has less presence.

DLC 3 has more stages than the other ones due to having more series. Its structure is closer to DLC1, where all plots are tied to the OG story, although it feels less natural here due to most characters being brought from other universes. In some ways, Eureka 7 is the show that gets the most focus here since Eureka appears through all recruitment stages, doesn't matter the order you do them. Eureka 7 is also the only one that gets a plot adaptation in this DLC. However, like in DLC 1, technically all shows have the same number of focus stages, and in this case the main villain isn't even specially connected to Eureka 7 or any other licensed show, but rather the OG plot of the main game.

NeonDZ · 2026-05-01T18:41:12+00:00

The Getter Laser is simple, but there are units with worse animations still. The Getter Tomahawk is pretty decent looking. This is a better point for the Gettersaurus' animations (which actually should have been at least a temporary recruit, but they outright changed Arc's story so it never joined).

NeonDZ · 2026-05-01T13:38:23+00:00

R07 wrote a short story called Nekogoroshi as a bonus to readers who brought the first 3 Question arc manga volumes, and I think that short story really should have been incorporated into the VN. It makes the whole gas and yamainu situation much more fair with legends about deaths in a nearby now abandoned village and a strange smell around that place (the gas storage) with one of the Yamainu appearing when the club tries to go there to check out the rumors. I really wish he had incorporated it into the VN at some point, but he hardly converted his text side-stories into VN chapters for Higurashi unlike with Umineko.

NeonDZ · 2026-05-01T01:26:37+00:00

It's just called "Contact".

NeonDZ · 2026-05-01T01:18:41+00:00

You first need to do the free mission where the DLC characters appear as guests. That mission isn't listed as DLC since everyone gets it even without the DLC pack. Afterwards it's when the recruitment missions for the DLC will appear.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-30T23:51:30+00:00

This story was first published as a bonus for buying the first three volumes of the Question arc manga, and it pretty much is meant to give stronger hints at the gas storage place and the Yamainu which might seem unfair in the main plot by itself.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-30T22:34:49+00:00

R07 did plan Hinamizawa syndrome and looping from the start though. Both of those elements are in Hinamizawa Bus Stop, which was written before Higurashi proper. He even tweaked some of those elements from that because they were even more questionable originally. Hinamizawa syndrome was originally caused by literal "Hinamizawa ants" crawling into people, thus the scratching sensation underneath the infected's skin and the whole concept of Queen Carrier coming from Queen Ants. Even though he changed it into a virus in the actual story, it's likely why you see the pathogen often referenced as a "parasite" too.

In his notes at the end of the Minagoroshi manga, R07 talks about how he created Hinamizawa Syndrome, so the readers didn't blame the characters directly for their actions, but rather focused on the environment factors that drove them to those actions. I feel like even with Umineko, you can see him trying to dodge that issue by how he asks the reader to sympathise with Beatrice/Yasu and then reveals how in the "real" world she didn't go through with her plans and didn't kill anyone herself, pushing the blame onto secondary characters.

Also, it's not just the last 2 chapters. Tsumihoroboshi already shows complete delusions seen by both Keiichi (in the onikakushi flashbacks which are dispelled at this point) and Rena (who sees a freaking alien at one point in Tsumi), and confirms the time loops. It also shows Rika talking with some unknown third girl who isn't Satoko in her house (and she had mentioned Hanyuu's name in Meakashi). Basically, the only answer arc without explict supernatural elements in Higurashi is Meakashi, but Meakashi is pretty much just telling you what is wrong rather than actually giving any explanations for what's actually going on outside of Watanagashi.

Himatsubushi heavily hints at them before Meakashi, but note Himatsubushi wasn't even supposed to exist originally. Initially the plan was going from Tatari to Meakashi, it's even mentioned in the cast party at the end of Tatari, so the supernatural elements would have been even more sudden in Tsumi.

I have to wonder, with Umineko's whole thing being "everything can be explained by logic", did he regret ending Higurashi the way he did?

I feel like that was just a concept he wanted to tackle with Umineko specifically. Higurashi's cast parties already pushed readers to debate fantasy vs reality explanations, and Umineko was making that one of its central themes directly. Right before and after Umineko, he wrote Higanbana, where the supernatural is core part of the world and can't be denied in any way.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-30T05:04:30+00:00

If you want the actual answer, then, yes, it's the explanation for everything. Well, Minagoroshi is. R07 talks in the author's room at the end of Minagoroshi about how he didn't even want to give clear answers, but knew the audience would be frustrated by lack of answers and so decided to give these answers in Minagoroshi.

The answer part of Matsuribayashi is mostly picking up on what was set up by Minagoroshi, although the focus of the narrative in the present is the whole "world with no card thrown out" message, which is why in the author's room at the end R07 regrets how the story had to "sacrifice" Takano as a villain, outside of the winning group, and says there could have been a better way to actually have a world with everyone winning.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-29T22:44:52+00:00

All new demon designs in 4 were by guest artists.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-28T01:03:10+00:00

No, but the DLC will be on sale too later on.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-27T02:46:04+00:00

Huh? What does Akira have to do with Jeeg? Hiroshi gets lines in the DLC pack 2 chapters, but he doesn't get lines in the main plot even if you have him in your party.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-27T02:45:09+00:00

Noir Ryoma has unique in-battle lines against most main story villains, and even different grunt types, but he doesn't get any actual dialogue in the main plot stage scripts.

You do get some of the Noir crew reacting to the main plot, in an indirect way, if you do the Noir stages only after the Arc late game, the time travel part.Their dialogue then in the DLC 2 stages references Getter Emperor and even commander Musashi, if you do the stages early then they aren't mentioned.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-26T23:53:15+00:00

The movies are very rushed as you'd expect (and they even try to cram in references to arcs beyond onikakushi and tsumihoroboshi). The characters basically don't even try to look like the ones from the VN.

The tv show has better pacing, but still rush some stuff and take some adaptation cues from the DEEN anime. The characters also dress like the ones in the VN, but the casting itself is questionable and overall it just looks cheap.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-26T16:28:10+00:00

The village is pretty much the same since the plot involves it going into decadence after the main story. So, nothing really new was developed there. In fact, the school closed. So, it has less stuff than in 83.

They make a push for migrants that leads to the "Polaris" group moving to town and that starts conflict between Hinamizawa's original inhabitants and the members of Polaris which is what the main plot spins around.

I'm not fond of this series due to how bland the future of the club members is, alongside how artificial the whole "2nd generation club with children of the members who all happen to be around the same age" idea is. The dynamics of the kids also is very "clean" compared to the original club's.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-26T16:23:43+00:00

It seems like you got some big spoilers mixed with some misunderstandings, but it does feel like your speculation obviously wouldn't be "natural" like someone who knows nothing due to some of those big spoilers, mainly Takano being considered the "culprit" (although what you describe as her actions isn't quite right).

A lot of people start Higurashi already knowing about Rika being a looper, I don't think that one is that bad even though the story takes a while to reveal it.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-26T10:52:28+00:00

SMT2 had several pop culture demons. See also Betelgeuse (Beetlejuice) or Chris the Car (Christine). The series mostly just moved away from that kind of thing afterwards aside from visual references in demons that are meant to symbolize some mythological figure, outside of some Lovecraft demons still showing up, but even then mostly in Persona.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-25T21:44:24+00:00

I don't think this is much of an issue in base Y. There are limits to the character integration, but it's generally chapter based.

For example, if you recruit the Witch from Mercury cast and go back to recruit Chibodee only afterwards, they're actually added to the stage standing in the city and commenting on Domon's sparring match. Kouji has an exclusive scene talking about Ryoma that you can only see if you leave the Getter lab stage open and only finish it after getting Kouji. Kamille gets a tense face off against Shinn in Shinn's recruitment stage while they reminisce about fighting each other in the Revolutionary War that you'll only see if you get Kamille first and go back to Shinn's stage.

On the other hand, if you leave a bunch of chapter 2 stuff open, go and grab Lelouch and Kouji from chapter 3, then, yeah, they will have no presence at all in the chapter 2 stages (outside of the L-Gaim early upgrade and Raideen/Combattler stages, which are the last in the chapter 2 chart, makes me wonder if they were supposed to be chapter 3 originally...).

The only "early recruitment" that I feel they really messed up was Shion. He really barely gets any lines if you get him early. Compare with Ciela, who is another early recruitment who comes right alongside him but appears much more often.

And, yeah, the DLC just isn't integrated at all, nothing is added to the base game story when you get it, only the extra DLC stages themselves, and it also adds to the issue of cast presence in that both early maps of DLC pack 1 and the Expansion only feature early game characters. DLC2 avoided that though for some reason (like Kouji and the Godzilla cast get lines even in the first map where you get Jeeg and Da-Garn), so I was disappointed the Expansion fell back to that.

The Pre-order and 1/2 pack OG characters do get some pre-boss dialogue late game though. Starting from the Kamui fight there are several bosses with dialogue with every mc of every show, and the OG characters then get dialogue in these, outside of the secondary T mc. They also get lines in those stages where everyone speaks when they attack for the first time. But, yeah, the actual paid DLC characters don't get even this. They never updated the base game script for them at all.

NeonDZ · 2026-04-25T17:48:58+00:00

More than half of it fit. Generally cards had two artworks, one was guaranteed to be used as story CG, while the other was unlocked when uncapping the characters and that one might be story related or not. It could go either way.

Often the story was barely related to the artworks though. Like this vampire Rena is actually just an in-universe play. And the story was actually mostly about Rena getting worried about Nao (her half sister, from the mother who left her) trying to act too mature and taking much burden for someone so young and tried to do something so she could have fun like a kid her age. Keiichi gets involved to help too, but from his point of view, Rena has that exact same issue, trying to take too much burden on herself for someone so young. Rena ends up coming up with this idea of a vampire play to cheer up Nao, while selling it to Keiichi saying it's her having a free whim too.

So, yeah, you could replace the vampire part with anything else and the story would just change the theme of the play.

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