Episode 1, Bonus Scene 1 : Tea Party in Purgatory
So, we're in "Purgatory", which actually looks a lot like the mansion's parlor. Are present : Battler, Jessica, Maria, George, Shannon, Kanon... and Beatrice. Everyone, including the narrator, berates Battler for his stubbornness in denying Beatrice's existence and trying to find a rational explanation for everything that happened.
Beatrice re-enacts the more inexplicable deaths (Eva and Hideyoshi's), as well as those of all the other people in the tea party, just to show to Battler how pointless it is to refuse accepting the obviously magical nature of the plot. But Battler recovers from the assault, and picks up on what Beatrice is really doing : she cannot be revived until everyone including himself acknowlegdes her. So he won't. He'll stay in his defiant posture, just to spite her. Beatrice's amused to find such a spirited opponent.
Other points worthy of notice in this scene :
- Beatrice claims she'll recompense those who acknowledged her by restoring their lost love : the Shannon/George romance, Jessica's barely voiced feelings for Kanon, and Maria's broken relationship with her mother.
- In the last moment, Jessica encourages Battler in his defiant attitude.
Episode 1, Bonus Scene 2 : The Witches' Tea Party
Beatrice has invited for tea another witch, the mysterious Bernkastel. Beatrice's openly fearful of Bernkastel, who's recently defeated another witch called Lambdadelta.
Okay, this is a sideways allusion to Higurashi's resolution, so I can't discuss it without HEAVY SPOILERS FOR HIGURASHI. If you don't want Higurashi's plot spoiled, don't read the following. Thankfully for the purposes of this Liveblogging, The "Bernkastel" and "Lambdadelta" pseudonyms have been completely excised from the Higurashi anime, so I can use them with minimal care.
Lambdadelta would be the moving force behind Takano Miyo, while Frederica Bernkastel was the moving force behind Furude Rika (say both names out loud, and notice the similarity). All of which has been excised out of the Anime adaptation, except for an incomprehensible scene at the end where Bernkastel intervened very early in the timeline to prevent young Miyo from ever being involved in the Higurashi plot.
END OF SPOILERS FOR HIGURASHI
Anyway, Bernkastel decides to slightly help Battler, supposedly out of boredom. Though her powers are a very bad match for Beatrice's, so she doesn't hope much to happen before she gets bored again.
My thoughts on Episode 1
Well, this was a very interesting read. Even though the end was mostly a foregone conclusion once the Epitath was known, the suspense was still effectively maintained, thanks mostly to the bizarre happenings along the way and the impressive characterization of all the characters involved (Natsuhi's transformation from a pathetic whiny bitch into a Bad Ass Mama Bear was especially very well handled).
I was surprised by the timing of some deaths : I certainly wasn't expecting three of Grampa's children to die in the first round. For some reason, I sensed something akin to And Then There Were None, and presumed the nicest people would die first (hence, Hideyoshi would have been in the first lot), with probably the grandchildren surviving until the end. After the first set of deaths, everything more or less went as expected : Eva/Hideyoshi were the only couple left, after all.
Like Battler, I'm quite puzzled by everything that happened, including the closed room murder. I'm convinced that Beatrice is NOT the one doing the murders at random : it would be far too disappointing, and moreover that's what she wants us (and Battler) to think. She could have been manipulating some characters, but this tragedy has to be man-made. Otherwise, what's the point of the story ?
I'm assuming the narration plays fair. Everything we're told is real (or thought by the POV character to be real - it can be hallucinations or paranoid delusions, I guess). Also, that means that the thoughts we see of the characters are genuine : they can be misleading (through careful wording), but not actually lying to us. This rules out Battler as a culprit in this first round (this is confirmed by the first epilogue, which makes no sense if he's involved). Ditto for Natsuhi, I guess.
Then, who do I suspect ?
- George is probably innocent. The poor guy loses his girlfriend and his beloved parents in rapid succession, and looks completely out of it after that.
- I'd also exclude Jessica. She seems mostly baffled and distressed during the whole incident, and has decent alibis for most of the murders. Natsuhi may be covering for her a bit, but that's it.
- Maria is very, very involved : she cooperated with "Beatrice" openly at least twice. On the other hand, she does have good alibis for most of the murders. So, she couldn't do it alone.
- No idea about Kumasawa, Genji and Dr Nanjo, but I still have a hard time seeing them as big players in the game (especially Kumasawa).
- Kanon may have been an accomplice at some point, but he certainly rebelled against somebody at the end.
- Grampa obviously put something into motion. I think he's been outwitted.
- Eva and Hideyoshi may have attempted something, but their death is really puzzling (and ends their involvement anyway).
- Shannon, Gohda and Krauss die too early, and leave recognizable bodies. There's also a hint that Krauss may have been killed first, and that Shannon and Gohda just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. So : Krauss may have attempted something at first, but it backfired.
- Kyrie and Rudolf have unrecognizable bodies, and he somehow expected to die... but the TIPS hints suggest he was unlucky. Again, they probably attempted something, and failed.
- Rosa is very suspect : unrecognizable body, and ambiguous TIPS. Also, she's too quiet : she must hide something.
Some questions are still quite open at this point :
What is the extent of Beatrice's involvment ?
What can she actually do ? Did she actually commit any of the murders ? How many people did she manipulate ? And how ?
Was there a nineteenth person on the island ?
I'm not talking about Beatrice, but an actual 19th flesh and blood person. I think it unlikely, but I have no way to exclude it yet.
Did any of the victims fake their death ?
This is a definite possibility for Kyrie, Rudolf, Grampa (despite what his best friend and servant told us), and especially Rosa. Moreover, this would open the question of what happened to them in the end.
What happened in the first night, which ended with the six corpses in the shed ?
I expect that several parties tried to act, with maybe some bystanders caught in the crossfire, and the survivor(s) putting the corpses there. Which leaves the question of what each was trying to do, and who survived.
Why (and how) did Grampa leave his study ?
We've been given two possible ways how (through the window with Natsuhi closing after him, and through the door after the women left). But why ?
How were Eva and Hideyoshi killed in their closed bedroom ?
This is one of the big puzzles of this story.
Who killed Genji, Kurasawa and Dr Nanjo ?
Why did Natsuhi appear to shoot herself ?
Also, what was in this mysterious fourth letter that convinced her she should duel Beatrice ?
What happened to the four children at the end ?
Seriously, something horrible seems to have happened to their corpses.
What's the deal with Maria's final letter ?
She was the last person I expected enjoining others to find out what happened.
Why is Tsuru Pettan in the VN's soundtrack ?
Seriously, why ?
I hope the next chapter will answer at least some of these points...
Next part : the beginning of Episode 2, where we actually see Beatrice in action.
