Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Frederica Bernkastel is basically The Watcher of the Higurashi continuity. People have been saying (and so does The Other Wiki) that Frederica is the summation of all past Rikas that have failed to break through June of 1983.

Now, here's the catch. In Rei episode 4, Rika outright states that... Well just click this◊ if you want to see what she said, but it's pretty much spoileriffic and has been known to induce Mind Screw.

Anyway, assuming that you clicked the link, having said that she should no longer be Bernkastel the witch, it's a guess that the Rika after Saikoroshi-hen is no longer a part of the entity that is Bernkastel.

From my understanding, whenever Rika dies, Hanyuu's powers pull her back into a space where she can see the kakera around her and she presumably merges with Bernkastel or something like that. Then, some kind of reentry point into a new kakera can be established (kakera are the shards seen in the Kai OP and at the end of Minagoroshi-hen, they're individually different Hinamizawas, so to speak). Having done so, Bernkastel will take possession of the Rika in the new kakera, thus letting her know of events that she should normally not know (as evidenced by her trying to warn Tomitake and Takano in Yakusamashi-hen). However, she cannot know of anything beyond her death, which is why she knows naught of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster and of Takano being the Big Bad until Minagoroshi-hen, and she even forgets that Takano is the Big Bad in Matsuribayashi-hen's beginning until Hanyuu points it out.

This is in Higurashi so far, but it gets worse. In Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, a witch named Bernkastel also exists in that continuity. Whether or not Higurashi Bernkastel and Umineko Bernkastel are one and the same is not quite clear at this point in time, though one thing is for sure, as previously stated, Rika Furude after Saikoroshi-hen is no longer the same entity as the Witch of Miracles, Bernkastel.

edited 26th Nov '09 1:08:05 AM by Mapi-chan

There are just not enough hours in the day to be become conversant with all of this.

I have only the most superficial of familiarities with Higurashi (read: I've read our article): is it a stupid question to ask if it's really necessary to go through all those visual novels, or can I get away with the anime?

Play Again? Y/N

The visual novels would be better, as a lot of information was cut out of the anime, but it is sufficient.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

The anime is sufficient. Bear in mind that all my observations and statements in this thread are all borne of my understanding and analysis of the anime, as well as some outside Wiki Walking.

*Sighs* Well there goes next weekend, then.

edited 23rd Aug '09 8:18:37 AM by zeroplusalpha

Play Again? Y/N

Hey, it's all good. So, if you're going to watch it, I'd be happy to help with the understanding if you need it.

At least right now, you're not like me, where I'm suffering from a case of Hijacked By Rika.

And there I thought the Clannad After Story ending was weird and hard to understand...

edited 23rd Aug '09 8:24:09 AM by Mapi-chan

Since I'm here, I might as well ask this if I'm going to be watching it: is there any concensus on the best sub out there for this?

Play Again? Y/N

I forgot who subbed my episodes of Kai but Win D fansubs did the first season justice.

My subs of Rei are also from Win D, but I can't help but chuckle at the fansubber group called Nipaa.

*Goes off to scrupulously observe intellectual property laws.*

Play Again? Y/N

On another note, I use Tokyotosho as my main torrent search engine for up-to-date individual episodes. Just sayin' ;)

EDIT: zeroplusalpha, here's a cookie for you. When you watch Higurashi, keep the following in mind in relation to Clannad:

• Rena = Nagisa (Mai Nakahara)
• Rika = Mei (Yukari Tamura)
• Misae = Mion & Shion (Satsuki Yukino)

edited 23rd Aug '09 8:39:17 AM by Mapi-chan

Is there a batch for first season and Kai?

Play Again? Y/N

Not that I know of; I downloaded mine by season, and I got Rei individually.

Speaking of Rei... The last episode's got a feel of Saki to it. I so cannot wait for subs.

Clicky◊

Too bad Rena and Hanyuu aren't as good as they are in Saki, but we get to see Ryuumonbuchi's butler in action Looks like some friendly mahjong to me.

edited 23rd Aug '09 9:00:40 AM by Mapi-chan

@Sneeb: It wasnt really an Idiot Ball as much as it was Anime´s standard Idiot Hero and villian. Miyo flashbacks were sure long, but they were very sad and violent, so I didnt realize all the time that they spent on it.

@Mapi: Yeah, a Kyo Ani remake, that would be awesome!:

• More beach scenes
• Less Blood
• More romance subplots
• Less horror
• Less implied rape and Gory Discretion Shot s

I love Kyo Ani as much as anybody, but I'm not sure if their trademark approach would work with Higurashi. Haven't seen it yet, but I thought the creepiness and Mind Screw were part and parcel of its appeal.

Taking that away, WAFFing it up, and putting in Beach Episodes would kind of detract from Higurashi's patented baroque moe horror.

Play Again? Y/N

I just wanted the art style, not more of the implications from what they did with Haruhi... Oh God, did I just derail my own thread?

EDIT: Guess All Our Thread Are Belong to Haruhi indeed.

edited 23rd Aug '09 8:23:30 PM by Mapi-chan

No, I totally agree with you on the art style. I was posting in response to src9, who suggested toning Higurashi down.

Although I just recalled that Higurashi homage in the Lucky Star OVA, so they're clearly capable of it...

Play Again? Y/N

Which part was that? I might've missed it, not having seen Higurashi at the time...

EDIT: All I can see is when Konata remarks that she had the urge to climb a mountain, the wooden steps looked a lot like the steps towards Furude Shrine. And of course the cicada sounds. Anything else?

That was src9 being sarcastic.

edited 23rd Aug '09 9:17:47 PM by Mapi-chan

It was that really weird bit near the end where Konata is pestering Kagami to go with her to the pet shop (I think), and the perspective is from the other end of a some sort of tunnel. It's a bit of an Art Shift, and it suddenly dissolves into some kind of trippy Nightmare Sequence...

To be honest, I don't really know much about it, but I asked someone what is was all about and they said something along the lines of "Oh, it's a Higurashi thing"...

Play Again? Y/N

Oh that... Yeah, kinda.

EDIT: There was something about the cat being a "Witch" or something. Oh, there is NO WAY they could have thought of Umineko this far in advance... Right?

edited 23rd Aug '09 9:15:53 PM by Mapi-chan

Ooops. Temporary brain fail...

Although I'm sure the pothole wasn't there the first time...Stop...Messing...With...My...Head...

Play Again? Y/N

Now now, let's not forget Kyo Ani did FMP Second Raid.

I find it funny that Satsuki Yukino was the voice of Kaname and both Mion and Shion.

Just to bump this, but when Bern told Beatrice that she was a traveler between kakeras, isn't this exactly what Frederica Bernkastel was doing in Higurashi?

Does this help clear up Furude-san's Mind Screwy-ness?

The Bernkastel in Higurashi and Umineko may or may not be one and the same. The reasons about why she might be, might not be, and why not everyone thinks or wants her to be the same character are riddled with spoilers.

And I'm talking about pretty hardcore ones. The ones that leave your mouth hanging.

But if she is, then Ryukishi07's got some 'splainning to do, that's all I'll say.

edited 1st Sep '09 11:17:07 AM by TheAdversary

Mindfuckery at best. No seriously, I don't remember being this mindfucked by a loose end for a long time, the last one being the situation at the end of Air, which I did eventually figure out.

But this... This is SPARTA madness!

This comes full circle, but I just found out that Ryukishi07 himself is a Key Visual Arts fan, basing his design of the Higurashi novels on the Key novels, except that he replaced with the Tear Jerker moments with Nightmare Fuel.

Cooooool.

edited 2nd Sep '09 5:28:26 AM by Mapi-chan