Heck, I may already be blogging too many anime, so why did I get the crazy idea of including another one to my bloglist? Well, because this anime deserves it. To me, this was the surprise of the season, as my predictions of the spring season seemed to be quite accurately. I never saw this one coming, though, and I have to say, it’s pretty awesome.

Okay, so what has happened so far? The story plays in a world with a unique property: all people are born genderless, though with the shapes of a female. When a person has reached the age of nineteen, she can choose to go to a special shrine, at which she can choose to be either a man or a woman, and reach adulthood. In the world, there’s one country which stands for everything that’s holy. They have holy technology in their posession, including the so called Simoun. These are flying vehicles who can have total flight control in the air, and are most probably the most powerful weapons in existance. The only problem is that only genderless persons can control it, and you need two people for it.

The other countries of the world, however, do not have things that easily. Their countries are polluted, and they are barely able to survive, forced to use technologies which poison their air. They see the Simoun as the way to get them out of their miseries, as these are made with some incredible technology. That’s why they aim for a war against the holy country, in order to capture and research one of these Simouns. So far, they’ve got not much luck, as they’re trying to capture some of the deadliest weapons ever. The story follows one of the groups of these Simoun pilots. At the moment, their group is put on standby, as their leader has just lost a number of very important friends, and needs time to process this.

The thing I like about Simoun is that even though it knows that it doesn’t make any sense, it still is able to deliver some quality drama. Both between main characters, but, as this episode showed, also between main characters and guest characters. It also is able to take some overused clichés, then gives this a huge twist, and it manages to turn these into something worthwile. The main character, for example. She’s incredibly impulsive, just like most other main characters. The difference is that she actually knows what she wants, and she’s not afraid to take actions to do this. She’s a person with a great insight, though she lacks the respect towards others. At the beginning of the anime, she didn’t take any other person’s feelings into account at all.

These first four episodes, Aaeru (the main character) changed. A lot. The other members of the Chor Tempest (the group of Simoun Pilots) made her see a bit what it’s like to be working with others. Not much, but it’s only the fourth episode.

The themes introduced in each episodes also are a major plus. This episode, for example, shows us how desperate some of the members of the other countries can be, the fact that Aaeru’s willing to make some gruesome acts and the heavy themes that this show will be featuring. Aaeru takes another member of the Chor Tempest, Limone, out for a ride on the Simoun, in order to practice (even though this is forbidden). They then notice what looks like a destroyed Simoun, so they land down in order to check things out. Then it seems that the stranded Simoun was fake, and set up by a single member of another country, desperate in an attempt to conquer a Simoun.

This plan, of course, was a huge waste. The guy (who looks very interesting, by the way. I liked it) knocks Aaeru and Limone out, though when he tries to pilot the Simoun, things go wrong, as he’s not genderless and he doesn’t have a pair. Not to mention that he seems to have troubles breathing, probably because of the polluted environment where he came from. When he finds out about the way the Simoun work, he gives up, deciding to wait for help. The three of them (Aaeru and Limone concious, but tied up) wait for a couple of hours. This gives the guy the time to reveal that in The Archipelago (one of the other countries, seems to be the major enemy), the system at which you can go to a spring and choose your gender doesn’t exist in other countries at all. People just get surgeon, the minute they are born. Aaeru also reveals that all of her older friends have gone to the spring, and became mature. She didn’t, as she couldn’t decide what to become.

It’s also interesting that the creators tried to give the viewer a bit of sympathy for this man, right before Aaeru manages to cut her ties loose, and charges for him, which drives him mental. He runs towards the Simoun, and starts shooting at everything he sees moving. Aaeru and Limone hide a bit, and decide to think of a trick to lure the guy away from the Simoun. In the meantime, he dies, while desperately clenching himself to the controls of the Simoun. This results in the fact that his hands, as they’ve become stiff, won’t come off. Aaeru then even goes as far as cutting the guy’s hands off, in order to remove him. That was one disturbing scene, but greatly executed nonetheless. Limone, as she’s much younger than Aaeru can’t take this, and decides to hide and close her eyes. Aaeru herself has great difficulty doing this, even with tears in her eyes. The result is a blood-stained Simoun. A freaky sight, especially when you see Limone’s reaction to this.

Ah well, one of the major reasons I decided to blog this is the following: this show is unique. And with this, I mean not a tiny bit, but really unique. I haven’t figured out what makes it so unique, but I hope to be able to define this later on. I’ve also seen some hints from the raw watchers that around episode 7 this anime begins to get incredible, so I’m very curious about how this will turn out. :)

During the entire episode, I sat on my chair with a big smirk on my face. It was so amazingly written, so many brilliant opportunities were taken, this episode was just utterly incredible. It’s easily the best episode of Higurashi yet. Thank god the series managed to pick itself up again, after a kindof weak start.

The main reason behind the awesomeness of this episode: Keiichi getting paranoid. It was so awesome to see his reaction when he started to realize that his whole plan backfired. That’s the beauty of Higurashi: its amazing number of incredible plot twists. At some times, it manages to forget this, though this episode totally made up for it.

We start with the flachbacks from the previous episode, with Keiichi killing Satoko’s uncle, burying him and running into Takano. The OP rolls, and we start with the real episode. But not before the usual sponsor-image is shown, showing Oishi and Keiichi, in the rain. I really dislike it when the sponsors are shown in this way, as it immediately spoils a part of the episode. Why can’t they just show a bunch of fanart?

In any case, Takano mentions the fact that if the body isn’t buried properly, stray dogs may pick up their scent, and dig the body up. Keiichi then mentions that the bicycle in the back is Tomitake’s. Takano, however, tells him that it’s her own bike, which Jirou picked out for her. Once she drops Keiichi off at his house, she tells him that they hadn’t met during that evening. It takes Keiichi a while to figure out what she means. Keiichi isn’t really tactless, as it’s clear that the two of them have both killed someone, and they’re kindof in the same boat. Takano tries to remain subtle, though Keiichi’s too paranoid to notice this. This reaction ticks Takano off, and we see her annoyed for the first time in the anime.

Then Takano takes off, and Keiichi wishes her to fall under the curse of Oyashiro. He then hears a splash-like sound from behind him, though the source of this splash remains unclear. The next morning, he wakes up late, and rushes to school. To his surprise, Satoko’s come as well, instead of mourning over her uncle. When he enters the classroon, the fun really starts. Rika, Rena and Mion are talking like Keiichi actually WAS at the Watanagashi! Brilliance! Rena was also too cute when she started talking about the stuffed doll. ^^;

Seeing Keiichi react to this was just brilliant. He’s got no idea what happened, so he starts asking around for his own actions, and behaves very weird in the eyes of others. Satoko, meanwhile, is incredibly gloomy. When Keiichi talks to her, she breaks down in tears. He then gives subtle hints about what happened at the last episode, and, GUESS WHAT, her uncle didn’t disappear at all. He even gave Satoko her most horrible treatment ever. Satoko was so sad at that moment, and seeing Rika comfort her was just too cute.

Anyway, Mion and Rena are starting to wonder about the things that Keiichi said, making him only freakier and freakier. Rena then suggests a treasure hunt with him and Mion. Keiichi tells Rena, however, that he’s got a cold, so he can’t come. Rena then suggests him to go to the clinic. It then seems that Keiichi has learned, as he actually goes promises to show her the receipt. Rena then replies in disease-mode, and she walks off.

Keiichi then gets on his bike, and goes back to school. He then checks whether Satoshi’s bat is still where it was before he took it at the previous episode. Well, it isn’t. He then goes to the clinic, because he promised Rena and he then runs into Irie. Keiichi asks him what he’s been doing during the night of the Watanagashi, and of course, he thinks that Irie begins to suspect him. Irie, however, acts just calmly, though Keiichi doesn’t seem to notice it. He gets more paranoid by the minute, and ends up confessing his murder to Irie! Hehe.

Irie then thanks him for saving Satoko. A strange reply. Keiichi also tells him that Satoko told him that later, it appeared that Satoko’s uncle didn’t get killed at all. Irie then gets some coffee for Keiichi in order to calm down, though then Keiichi overheards Irie talking with another doctor about adding some isomytal and brovarin to his drink. I’ve got no idea what kind of stuff that might be, but Keiichi doesn’t really see this as a good thing. More theories on this later in this post, as it actually explains quite a few things.

In any case, Keiichi doesn’t like this, gets a freaky voice, and then he hears about Takano being found, being burned again. Nothing on Tomitake was said. Keiichi then blames himself for killing her, because he wished for her to fall under Oyashiro-sama’s curse.

That evening, rain falls, and Keiichi makes his way to the place he dug the hole in, in order to check whether the body was buried properly. While he’s in the middle of digging, Oishi and a couple of other officers run into him. This isn’t the kind Oishi, more like a sadistic Oishi. Oishi then makes Keiichi dig up whatever he was planning to dig up. When Keiichi has no more stamina for this, one of the officers took over the digging work. Oishi, meanwhile, abuses Keiichi. Then, the fun part begins, as the officers seem to have reached rock bottom. No body. >:)

Keiichi’s reaction to this was just great. There are two theories which could explain what was going on:
1: Satoshi decided to visit the Watanagashi, while pretending to be Keiichi. He then had some fun with Rena, Mion, Satoko, Shion and Tomitake and gave Rena a huge stuffed animal. Keiichi, meanwhile beat Satoko’s uncle with a bat and buried him, though he forgot to make sure whether the guy was dead. This was not the case, and he managed to get out of the hole. Satoko’s uncle then covered the hole again, and made his way to his own house again, blaming Satoko for this, and beat her up like crazy.
2: The previous episode never even took place. Keiichi did get the idea of killing Satoko’s uncle, he did grab the bat and put it in the wooden shed next to the school. He then called up Satoko’s uncle, who in his place came to school. Then, Keiichi just abandoned the plan and headed for the Watanagashi, in which he had fun with everyone like he was supposed to be. The disease then made sure that Keiichi imagined that he never even went to the Watanagashi, and committed the murder instead. Satoko’s uncle, meanwhile, was extremely pissed that he had to come for nothing, blamed Satoko for this, and beat her up like crazy.

Both of these theories have strong points and weak points, though I’m inclined to believe in the second one for now, as it also explains some things which happened later at the episode. The scene in the clinic, for example. Keiichi confessed everything to Irie, and even told him that Satoko’s uncle seemed still alive afterwards. The doctor then attempts to put certain stuff in Keiichi’s coffee (the isomytal and bovarin). Originally, I thought that the other doctor warned Irie about the fact that this stuff would cause outbursts of mistrust and derangements. Though that’s not true. It causes drowsiness. And this drowsiness causes the sudden outbursts of mistrust and derangements.

This explains quite a lot. What if the syringe from episode four also contained the isomytal and bovarin? What if isomytal and bovarin are actually the cure to the disease? It also explains that Irie indeed knew about the disease, and he was about to save Keiichi in both the first and third arc, weren’t for the fact that he ran away at both times, leaving a couple of nice souvenirs in the first arc. Still, there are still a few things wrong with this theory. For example, why did the isomytal and bovarin have to be injected in the first arc, while they could have been just swallowed in the third arc. This could, of course, have been because at the end of the first arc, the disease had hit a more severe stage than during this episode. Then, another medicine was needed because the bovarin and isomytal weren’t strong enough, though this medicine isn’t able to survive the digestive processes in the stomach of the victim before it could enter in its blood, unlike isomytal and bovarin. If this was the case, it would also totally explain the ohagi from the third episode! Remember when Mion and Rena brought Keiichi some ohagi for lunch because his parent were away? Remember that he found a needle in it, and spit the junk back out again? What if there was some isomytal and bovarin put in these ohagi, in an attempt to cure Keiichi? In that case, the disease tried to protect itself, by making Keiichi imagine that there was a needle inside of them. Still, there’s one mystery at which I can’t find an answer. If Irie knew about the disease, why didn’t he call it by its name, during his conversation with the other doctor?

I also wonder what happened with Takano during the Watanagashi. She entered the temple, along with Tomitake. It isn’t clear whether Shion was with them at that time. She was at the Watanagashi in any case, though we don’t know for how long she remained with Rena, Mion, Rika and Keiichi. In any case, afterwards they went to the riverbed, and watched the scenery a bit. Then something happened which made Tomitake strangle himself with his own nails, right in front of Takano. I think she probably made him do it. Then, she used either her own bike or Tomitake’s bike in order to do something, she stuffed Tomitake’s body in the trunk of her car, and headed somewhere. She then ran into Keiichi, and she took her along with him. When she dropped him off, she drove off again. Then, she either killed herself by drenching herself with inflammable liquid and set it to fire, or she ran into someone she’s not on good terms with, who drenced her in inflammable liquid and set her on fire. As you can see, there are a lot of questions left in this, though I think that each arc is meant to reveal a bit more about the adventures of Tomitake and Takano every time.

Another thing I’m curious about is Rena’s treasure hunt. What was she referring to? Did they plan to go to the junkyard again, or does this have something to do with the plot? And why was Oishi just hanging around at the place where Keiichi thought he buried Satoko’s uncle? Someone must’ve warned them about the way he was acting, so who could it be?

Differences with previous arcs:
- Only Tomitake’s body was found in the first arc. Both Tomitake and Takano’s bodies were found in the second arc. Only Takano’s body was found in the third arc.
- The link between the Watanagashi-murders and disappearances is never mentioned during the third arc.
- In the first arc, Mion and Rena tried to use ohagi to cure Keiichi, but it didn’t work. In the second arc, Irie tried to use coffee to cure Keiichi, but it didn’t work.
- Oishi’s a heartless bastard in the third arc. This does show a lot about his character. He treats the key witnesses with respect, in order to find out what they know. However, if he doesn’t need them, he treats them in a total different way. That may indeed be the reason why he got into a fight with Mion (see first arc).
- Did it rain during the night after the day of the Watanagashi in the first and the second arc? It did in the third.

Overall, this episode was just totally awesome. The best Higurashi-episode yet. I’m hoping for even more awesomeness in the final episode of the arc, though it might fall victim to the fake, over the top, distorted emo-faces that plagued the fourth episode of the series. Let’s hope it won’t!

Okay, that was interesting… almost no angst, no heavy emotions. Just Firiel, Eusis and some others travelling to the dragon. Only the final minute of the episode showed the heavy drama of Good Witch of the West. I’m surprised that the creators managed to squeeze such a slow-moving episode in the fast pacing of the plot.

By the way, I strongly advice people who want to see this at a later stage to just marathon the entire thing. Otherwise, you’ll forget important facts, which only make you more confused when they get used again. For example, I still have no idea whether the queen (Firiel’s mother) is alive or not. I also found out that she has a sister, and the sister was the mother of Leandra and Adele. That actually explains a lot. Firiel isn’t the sister of Leandra and Adale, she’s their cousin. With Leandra and Adale either being sisters, or half-sisters (you wonder why Adale got adopted in the first place). Another example is that I already forgot about the big bird’s feather because of all the events that happened. It was to slay the dragon in the name of the country of the Good Witch of the West, wasn’t it? Or some strange country?

Ah well, enough wondering. Fact remains that the episode did build up perfectly. It has two major purposes. The most obvious is, of course, following Eusis who gets to tame a unicorn in order to beat the dragon. The second goes much deeper: following Firiel who follows Eusis, in an desperate attempt because Roux left her, while trying to act naturally. This goes well, until the climax of the episode.

Still, despite the fact that this episode was nice and slow, even now, there were some rushed parts, namely the people who lost their homes because of the dragon. So many nice things could have been done with this, but the anime just spends a small moment on them. Strange. I’m not sure whether I like the new unicorn-mascot, by the way. It depends on how it’ll act in the following episodes.

The fact also remains that while Firiel and Eusis were on their little trip, nothing was shown of Leandra, Roux, Adale, Vincent or the mysterious guy from the previous episode. They probably used the entire episode to scheme their little plans in order to bring a great final, which will probably come once the dragon has been taken care of.

Overall, did this unusual episode make for a great episode? To be honest, this peaceful mood does not suit the anime. The power of Good Witch of the West is its incredible use of awesome dramatic scenes. This is one of the few anime which is just entirely drama. A slow and laid-back episode doesn’t really fit in. Still, I did enjoy watching it. The climax seemed to return the show to its usual, overdramatic self, so I’m curious about the last four episodes.