Higurashi When They Cry: Dice Killing Arc
Finally finished Higurashi Rei's Dice Killing Chapter (Saikoroshi-hen) Comparing every scene of difference from the anime to the manga is redundant- albeit each included and excluded some things. Surprisingly though, the anime did great in adapting some scenes. I thought the visual novel would be superior to this adaption, like it is with the main game. Regardless, I'll be focusing on breaking down the visual novel itself for the most part. The truth of this story is... that all of it was in fact a dream by Hanyuu for Rika to properly grieve and respect her parents, and appreciate the life she has in the world she is, without taking granted the many time loops she's had. The theme of the story is clear from how Rena explains to Rika the difference between her world and the "ideal dream world." To cherish the life we have, where we are, physically and mentally. Over the 100's of years of countless deaths of her parents after 1981, Rika grew emotionally cold to her parents. Partly as a subconscious neglect to avoid pain of their deaths, as she herself ponders. In 1000 years (a millennium) Hanyuu regrets saving Rika... in the sense of how it turned her lacking in gratitude to her parents and life itself. So, in a bike accident, in a coma of almost a month, she put Rika in a dream world where everyone was sinless; From Keiichi without the gun incident, Rena not causing her parent's divorce, Satoko getting along with her step-father, Satoshi not vanishing, Mion and Shion not switching the role of successor, thus getting along, and Takano's research being accepted. ... As for Rika herself... even though she was friendless at the moment, her parents were alive, and she could work on befriending Satoko, while enjoying the club with a different group of members. Although, this dream world seems "ideal" as Hanyuu claimed... as her friends explained, it doesn't hold better value than their world where they persevered through some sort of obstacle, and each matured in wisdom. Rena was still kind on the surface, but learned to be empathetic. So did the others. Satoko was spoiled with her brother, so she became independent and caring without him. In this dream world, Rika enters it after dying in a bicycle accident being run over by a vehicle. She doesn't have full access to Hanyuu or her powers to return to her original world, because her mother was born as the eigth generation grandchild of Hanyuu, not Rika. While the contradication counteracting to Hanyuu's power to leave, is in Rika's mother which Rika learns at the end of the story... the only method to remove this contradicton is to kill her mother. Ultimately, this did not happen, and in reality, Rika was awoken from her coma before she could act on her decision, but Hanyuu gave her the sense that she killed her mother to return to her world. After Rika realizes Hanyuu's lesson to feel "sorrow" for "killing my mother everytime". [...]"It'll be okay, Rika. Your hands are not stained with your mother's blood. That was all... something I showed you because I wanted to be mean to you for a little... All just a dream." Hanyuu says to herself. In this dream world where Rika had a superiorirty complex by ordering the little boys who adored her to do whatever she wanted, she became friendless after they transfered. While Satoko who's spoiled and spiteful, bullies her with hate, and Mion mostly neglects her because she believes Rika deserves it. Reina on the other hand, tries to help, but doesn't do more or the best she could until the end. During that time of hopelessness of living in this strange different world, Rika panicks, trying to find Hanyuu, when she finally does, she cries in relief with the only friend who can fully understand her. Her 100-year companion. Her family. Living friendless, at the corner of the classroom, with her best friend Satoko bullying her, she cries for a week off-screen, but resolves herself to do everything she can to find the fragment that isn't from this world and destroy it to go back to her world. Researching documents from the shelter, Satoko steals it from her, tossing it around to her classmates while mocking Rika. The manga adaption's action is fairly accurate to the visual novel. Fed up with the bullying, Rika punches Satoko in the face, knocking her down, upon grabbing a chair to hit her with it, and stopping her with it. After that, Mion, Reina, and Satoshi confront her. Discussing to work together as friends. Start a club to play games. The rest is mostly similar to the anime, albeit with cut dialogue to rush the end a bit- Unfortunately I'm too lazy to elabarate and breakdown the best part of her relationship with her mother... since I've written too much. Anyway. Throughout all of this, Rika ponders her life against this world, and is conflicted in being her witch self of 100 years old who doesn't deserve to be her child self. Unknown to her at the time until she overhears her parents after dinner... her uncharacteristically strict mother is cheerful in making dinner with Rika. Rika takes it upon herself to enjoy her time as is with her parents, enjoying food together. After her mother realizes she overheard their discussion of what the doctor revealed to them (of Rika revealing the whole truth to this doctor) her mother regrets not taking Rika's pain of moving out soon so seriously. Suddenly, that's when Rika realizes her mother has the same sensation of that energy- that the fragment is inside her. Happy before to come to an understanding, yet sad she must kill her mother, they both sob while embracing each other. Anyway, I'm getting lazy now in my writing. Basically, Rika continues to cry when she tells all of this to Hanyuu. To then when it finally happens in her mind. Waking up in the hospital, looking at her hands, imagining blood upon killing her mother again, she screams in trauma. So, that's it. Oddly enough, both the manga and anime had great adaptions in one sense or the other, but unfortunately none were exactly perfect since they excluded or changed a few things. I was hoping Rika would have more grief towards her parents, but like the mix of the anime and manga that I experienced before playing the original source material now, it's pretty straightforward in its story, with a bit more inner dialogue from Rika's emotions, Hanyuu and her friend's message. The only "biggest differences" that I can recall is the chair scene not being exactly the same, Hanyuu never being on the bike like in the anime, and the anime and/or manga excluding Rika and Mother crying together, as well as the origin of Rika's Frederica Bernkastel. Which all occurs from reading the label of her father's favorite wine, which she's fond of as well, and decides to enjoy it after a week of research and exhaustion in this new world. Feeling that she's not this child Rika Furude of this world, but the "witch" one who entered into this world, creating the name through the Bernkastel wine brand, and then using it when telling everything to the doctor. ... I'm not exactly left wanting more as I originally was from wishing there was more from Rika in grieving her parents. I guess seeing her visit their grave instead of mentioning it in the end would have been better, but since it's a good mix of the anime and manga, I'm somewhat satisfied and surprised how decent the adaptions are, even thought the visual novel would be superior with a lot more. I guess the other comedic arcs won't be as different. |
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