Satokowashi-hen Part 5

Satokowashi-hen Part 5
Key Episode Staff
Director	Mitsuki Kitamura
Script	Naoki Hayashi
Storyboard	Takeo Takahashi
Episode Information
Story Arc	Satokowashi
Part	5
Season	Higurashi: When They Cry - GOU
Episode Number	22
Air Date	March 4, 2021
Previous	Satokowashi-hen Part 4
Next	Satokowashi-hen Part 6

Satokowashi-hen Part 5 (郷壊し編 其の五, Village-Destroying Chapter Part 5) is the twenty-second episode of Higurashi: When They Cry - GOU and the fifth episode of Satokowashi.

Synopsis

Japanese

昭和五十九年、六月。

大好きな梨花といつまでも一緒にいたいという、たったひとつの願いを叶えるため、沙都子の孤独な戦いが始まる。

English (Translated)

June, 1984.

Satoko's lonely battle begins to make her one wish come true: to be with her beloved Rika forever and ever.

Preview Gallery

Plot Summary

Prologue

Inside the St. Lucia Academy main building, Satoko hugs Rika as a chandelier falls on top of them, killing them both.

In the Sea of Fragments, the horned woman watches a Fragment spin in front of her and chuckles. She looks at Satoko lying on the ground next to her and waking up.

First Half

Satoko heads to another Matsuribayashi loop and hears Rika talk about her dream at the Okinomiya bookstore. Satoko sadly listens on and tosses her book aside before leaving the store, cutting off Rika's explanation. Rika chases after since she wasn't done, and Satoko stops her. She says she isn't as smart as Rika, and absolutely hates studying. Rika does too, and promises that she can help her but Satoko tells her to stop talking and let her speak. Rika is taken aback, and Satoko explains that she couldn't keep up academically if she got in, and the ladylike people who attend St. Lucia wouldn't befriend a country girl like Satoko. She knows Rika will fit in well and have lots of friends, while Satoko doesn't want to be alone. Rika promises that she'll be Satoko's best friend and stay by her aside the entire time, but Satoko yells that she's lying.

Satoko claims that Rika's idea of "together" is just hanging out with Satoko because she doesn't want to be bored or scared by herself. Rika says that's not what she means, and Satoko tells her that the ability to accomplish anything with effort is a talent by itself. She reminds Rika of a time she tried to use stilts or unicycles and kept failing while Satoko could use them with no problem. Satoko says that everyone has things they cannot do no matter how hard they try, and she's accepted that she'll never do well in school no matter how hard she tries, nor will she ever try.

Satoko no longer wants to suffer just to fulfill Rika's dream, exclaiming that once they get enrolled, Rika will forget all about her and spend more time with her friends. Rika asks why she's saying all of this, and Satoko says to pick one: go to St. Lucia, or be with Satoko in Hinamizawa. Rika still doesn't understand why she's doing this, and Satoko tells her to decide now. Rika apologizes and says she wants to both go to St. Lucia and be with Satoko.

Satoko sighs and steps onto the guardrail on the sidewalk. As Rika looks on in surprise, Satoko says she told her to pick one, dejected that Rika had to be so stubborn. As Satoko comments that this won't be as easy as she thought, she falls into the road as a car comes barreling towards her. She snaps her fingers, and when Rika tries to chase after her, she gets bathed in blood.

Another Fragment appears next to the horned woman as she peers inside it, still amused.

Satoko wakes up in the middle of the night inside the shack with Rika on June 16th, 1984. Satoko wakes Rika up and drags her outside, with the Furude girl sleepily wondering where they're going so early. Satoko reaches their destination, where they watch the sun rise over Hinamizawa. Rika is amazed by the sight, and Satoko says there are many other wonderful aspects of Hinamizawa they have yet to uncover. If Rika ever left Hinamizawa, then all of this beauty would go to waste. Rika calls Satoko her bestest friend, knowing that she would support her dream. Satoko asks what she means, and Rika says she wants to leave Hinamizawa before noticing Satoko's carrying a knife.

Satoko repeats what she said about all this beauty going to waste if Rika left Hinamizawa, shocked that she still wanted to leave after hearing that. Rika tries to get away but Satoko holds onto her, saying that stupidity like that will only lead to divine punishment, and it would make Oyashiro-sama cry. Rika says that Oyashiro-sama did cry when she knew about Rika being trapped in Hinamizawa, and that she wanted her to leave. Satoko calls Rika stupid and sinful, thinking her unworthy to be Oyashiro-sama's priestess before slicing her own neck with her knife.

The horned woman continues chuckling as another Fragment appears in front of her, this one gazing at the Hinamizawa Branch School.

Rika studies for entrance exams during break when Satoko snatches her book away, yelling at her to knock it off. As the rest of the class watches in surprise, Satoko says this isn't like Rika and throws her book to the ground. Rika says Satoko's the one acting strange. Keiichi and Rena ask what's wrong, and Satoko tells the two of them to butt out. Rena says they can offer help but Rika says this is something the two of them can't help with. She picks her book up off the ground and goes back to studying, but Satoko grabs it again and rips it in half. Rika ignores her and goes back to studying. Satoko comments on her stubbornness before grabbing one of Rika's pencils and putting it up to her throat, smiling as the rest of the class screams in horror.

The horned woman reclines as more Fragments appear. She comments on how truly entertaining Satoko is.

Satoko and Rika argue near the waterwheel. Satoko asks Rika why she doesn't understand, grappling with her as she professes that everything she's doing is because she cares about Rika. Rika asks why Satoko won't support her dream, claiming she knows nothing. The two girls eventually fall into the river.

Second Half

The horned woman is still being entertained by Satoko's antics in the various worlds. Satoko wakes up in the Sea of Fragments again and insults Rika, calling her stupid. The woman says that Rika's lived through countless years to fulfill her wish, and so her resolve to leave Hinamizawa only strengthened. Satoko asks what she means, learning that the cat has been trapped in Hinamizawa for about a hundred years; she's wanted to fulfill this dream for one hundred years, so quelling it won't be so easy. Satoko realizes that the cat refers to Rika, saying that she's only lived in the village for at least twelve years. The horned woman says Satoko and Rika are similar, though Rika has been living in loops for far longer. Rika's goal then was to escape from the Hinamizawa of June 1983, and Satoko says that was the year they fought the Mountain Dogs, a hard-fought victory.

The woman says that's the way Satoko sees it and explains that Rika has experienced a hundred years in trying to bring about that victory. She summons several Fragments around Satoko, the records of every world Rika has experienced; the price she paid for victory. The woman says they'll take a look at some of Rika's memories, with Satoko soon enveloped in a bright glow.

When Satoko wakes up, she sees a bloodied Keiichi about to hit her with a bat and cowers, only to see him beating Rena's corpse. Satoko demands to know what he's doing and backs away, finding Mion's beaten corpse next to her. Satoko returns to the Sea of Fragments soon after, asking if that really happened to Rika. The woman says that was a small excerpt of Rika's long-endured tragedy, but it should've given an idea of what Rika experienced; Satoko never thought Keiichi could be so terrifying.

Throughout Rika's hundred years through the Fragments, she's lost hope many times of ever escaping the tragedy, and just like Satoko agonized over her efforts amounting to nothing. Satoko agrees, having thought she could grant her wish easily after being given the power of looping. The woman references the Infinite Monkey Theorem, that a monkey given a typewriter could eventually write Hamlet in its entirety. She guarantees Satoko's wish can be granted, but cannot say how long it will take.

Satoko decides that in order to change Rika's mind, she must learn more. She asks to watch every one of Rika's fragments. The woman says it would take a hundred years, but Satoko doesn't care. The woman is overjoyed that Satoko continues to entertain her and summons a spiral of Fragments. Satoko touches the spiral and swears that she won't let Rika win. A bright glow envelops the Sea of Fragments.

Scenes from Onikakushi play, with Keiichi wielding a bat and walking through the woods as Rena walks after him holding her hatchet. Keiichi trips and falls, soon pointing his bat at Rena and asking what demoning away is, trembling. Rena doesn't know what he's talking about, and Keiichi instead asks who's behind the series of murders in Hinamizawa. Later, Keiichi is in a phone booth calling Ooishi, saying that he can't turn around no matter what. Ooishi asks him to say what is behind him, becoming horrified to realize Keiichi is scratching his neck.

In a world taking place after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, a man wearing a gas mask talks to Keiichi at the Irie Clinic and asks his name and address. Keiichi answers, and a dead man with bloodstainds is carried out of the clinic on a stretcher, by more gas mask-wearing men. Keiichi watches the masked men attempt to throw the corpse onto a truck full of other corpses and miss. The man talking to Keiichi asks them to be more careful with the bodies, and Keiichi sees that the corpses of his friends are also in that truck.

Scenes from Minagoroshi play, where Takano, Okonogi, and several Mountain Dogs corner Tomitake. Takano says Hinamizawa Syndrome is like a bomb with a lit fuse, and there are some people in Tokyo who want to see it go off. Tomitake calls her insane, reminding her that Hinamizawa Syndrome is extremely dangerous. Later, Rika asks Irie and Okonogi if they know who killed Takano and Tomitake, with Irie aware that only someone within Tokyo could have done it. He nervously laughs since he's the prime suspect. Rika emphasizes that he is the only person who could've killed Tomitake like that. Irie claims innocence, as Tokyo is aware of H173, but every sample of it should have been destroyed.

Scenes from Matsuribayashi play, where Hanyuu tells Rika that Takano is the one who kills her. Rika doesn't understand why; she's the queen carrier, and her death would cause a great tragedy. The Mountain Dogs and Irie Institute protect her for this reason.

Satoko opens the secret door in the Irie Clinic and finds the room Satoshi is in, still sleeping with the big teddy bear nearby. Satoko looks at him for a bit before saying farewell to her Nii-nii. Her eyes glow red as she turns around.

Satoko returns to the Sea of Fragments, having finished experiencing Rika's hundred years. She now understands the rules of Rika's endless tragedy and realizes that, even if someone can live in endless worlds, their minds cannot escape the damage they take. The horned woman affirms her; the power of looping gives one an endless existence, but it doesn't necessarily preserve their mind or make them immortal. The same can be said for Rika, who threw her dice endlessly but almost gave up entirely.

Satoko determines that she needs to break Rika's will again, smiling. She just needs to make Rika give up entirely. Every time Satoko dies, everything should reset except for her memory, so she asks the woman to make it so that Rika's memory also persists between loops. The woman says it's possible. The horn that granted Rika power was damaged, but hers are not. The woman raises her hand to Satoko and declares that from now on, whenever Satoko dies after Rika, both of them will return to the same Fragment. Satoko remembers that the damaged horn prevents Rika from remembering the hours preceding her death, once again confirming that every time Satoko dies after Rika, they will go to the same Fragment. Satoko praises her own skills in battles of wills and promises to break Rika. She says the woman gave her and Rika the titles of those who live on loops, but Satoko sees it as nothing more than an endurance contest.

"...it will certainly make you lose."

Satoko's only wish is to live a happy life with Rika in Hinamizawa while Rika wishes for the opposite. Satoko claims that her love for Rika is so great, it will certainly make her lose.

Soundtrack

Start Time	End Time	Track	OST	Description
0:44	2:14	I believe what you said	I believe what you said	Opening
3:34	5:25	N/A	N/A	Satoko rants at Rika
6:44	7:55	N/A	N/A	Satoko and Rika watch the sun rise
11:41	13:04	N/A	N/A	Satoko learns of Rika's looping
15:25	18:24	Main Theme	Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Original Soundtrack	Rika's Fragments are replayed
20:40	22:14	N/A	N/A	Satoko is given the power to chase Rika
22:15	23:44	Fukisokusei Entropy	Fukisokusei Entropy	Ending

TV/Blu-Ray Differences

• The book that Satoko rips in half has its covers swapped.
• The teddy bear in Satoshi's room is smaller.
• A scene of Satoko looking in to Satoshi's room makes it clearer that he's still in bed. Originally Satoshi seemed to disappear.

External Links

• Official anime website with preview images and synopsis

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