Higurashi - Anime Discussion

Haha, yeah Bernkastel and Lambdadelta's games in Higurashi have long since ended, but they can always create more stories from it. I mean they have cranking out more games for it, so they base more anime arcs on those, but the manga ended a while ago. So if you want to see the two witches duke it out in another game, Umineko is the way to go. It will also clear up the ambiguous reference to the witch's game that come up in Higurashi.

I don't want to say too much or I might spoil some Higurashi secrets to those who may not have finished it. But I could go on in spoilers, if you want.

Spoiler

I can tell you why Frederica looks like Rika. And I could also elaborate on the "game" they were playing in Higurashi. But it would be safer to keep it hidden like this.

 

I don't mind it at all, I like that aspect of the story.

Spoiler

As you may or may not have gotten from the Festival Accompanying Chapter, or the last episode of Kai, or the off moments when Rika mentions Bernkastel, Higurashi is a game between two witches. In Umineko they go into more detail of the game, but basically it was a game to see who's magic was more powerful: Lambdadelta, Witch of Certainty, or Frederica Bernkastel, Witch of Miracles.

Lambdadelta's magic was that she could cause anything to happen with 100% certainty (or so it was believed before her match with Bernkastel), and Frederica's magic was that she can cause things to happen, as long as the probability isn't zero. The game was set so that Lambdadelta would rig the board and Frederica would have survive that June of 1983. But what they were using as a "board" in this case, was the human world.

That's where Lambdadelta cursed her pawn, Miyoko Tanashi (Mio Takano), and caused her to eventually kill Rika Furude, Frederica's pawn, with 100% certainty. Lambda's plan goes as it was meant to, but Frederica's power allows her to reset the board as many times as she wants. So over and over they play the game, until, of course, Frederica eventually wins. But she therefore proves Lambda's powers aren't exactly 100% and causes her to loose her title as the "most powerful witch in the universe".

This eventually leads to their interference in Beatrice's, the Endless Witch's, game in Umineko. However, it should not be mistaken that Rika and Frederica are the same person, even though Rika does allude to it a couple times. In fact, Rika herself makes an appearance alongside Frederica in Umineko to further prove that point.

I think I liked this aspect of the plot a lot more than the general story of Higurashi, so that is probably why I liked Umineko more, but it's still interesting.

 

Haha, yeah. Never a bad reason to watch good anime over again. Though I'm pretty sure sure Bernkastel only comes up in Kai and Rei. She even makes an appearance in the very end of the last episode of Kai, for a very brief moment, after the credits.

Spoiler

She uses her powers to reset the board and give Miyoko (Mio) a better life.

Also, yes, there should be another Live Action movie called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chikai, after the first one (that was just called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni). I never felt like watching them, to be honest, but I hear they don't really deviate from the story too much.

 

If you mean to call the games "visual novels", I have played few I could for the PC. They were pretty fun to play around with, I suppose. I only played them to try and find all the hints. The anime was far more convenient for getting the outline of the story, at any rate.