My blurp opinion on Higurashi GouSotsu/Meguri
I've been inspired to write this because there were so many interesting opinions/takes/analysis on both Meguri and Sotsu. Satoko, being one of my favorite characters since the release of Sotsu, really took my interest in time loopers by storm.
I've always liked the very idea of characters trudging the fine line between good and evil, and time loopers tend to exemplify that.
Rika was very cynical in a lot of media, giving up on her friends almost immediately. All except for one person: Satoko. She could only keep going because of Satoko.
However, the exact opposite is true. Rika is, to me, a crutch for Satoko. She became Satoko's curse. Because of Rika, Satoko achieved a sort of twisted divine enlightenment by finding herself in the Sea of Fragments.
I'm not saying Rika did this on purpose, far from it, but by making Satoko her emotional support, she had attracted otherworldly forces to Satoko.
Now, the biggest difference to me between Meguri and Sotsu Satoko are the feelings behind each of her loops.
Sotsu Satoko's loops always felt angry. When she first infected Rena, she was spitting on her kindness.
Keiichi trusting Rena was Satoko's trap. Each of these loops felt like Satoko mocking and condemning each of her club members.
Something that really stood out to me was when Keiichi volunteered to be Satoko's new 'big brother'. The moment Satoko led him to her uncle's death scene was the moment I felt Satoko had essentially rejected Keiichi completely.
Now this is all conjecture, but I thought, "Satoko must be thinking, 'Who do you think you are, Keiichi-san? You can never take my big brother's place'."
Each of Sotsu Satoko's loops felt raw and angry. I loved how you could feel the emotion behind her madness.
Now, Meguri had a lot more introduction to each character. It gave each character more time rather than just giving Rika and Satoko the spotlight. This is a good thing for me.
It also tightened up a lot of loose plot points, such as the idea behind there being an original Rika in Angel Mort being left behind, or how quick Satoko was to turn evil in Eua's loops (Sotsu version). I suppose, in a way, it made Satoko more sympathetic.
However, Meguri also took away her agency. Her loops in Meguri were not driven by anger and bitterness. They were driven by hopelessness, thus making some of the Gou loops not make much sense (by an emotional perspective).
The whole uncle arc was glossed over horribly by Meguri. I know a lot of people despise the idea of reformation for Teppei. However, I think the very idea of Satoko having an actual family would be very good for her. I've made amends with people who have hurt me very very badly (I won't go into reasons because I rather not), so my perspective on this is a little different.
Because Satoko wasn't 'bitter' in Meguri, the whole uncle arc fell flat to me. I felt like Tomato-sensei didn't want to stick around with that arc for very long.
Meguri and Sotsu have great and bad points.
Sotsu had a fantastic way of showing Satoko's emotions. It showed that she's just so damn bitter about everything. Sotsu Satoko had agency that she never did in the previous arcs. Its bad points were that the club members (and every character not named Rika or Satoko) were simply relegated to side characters that have no real substance.
Meguri is pretty much the opposite. It included the club members very well. Though some other characters need a bit more fleshing out in the manga. However, it took away what I thought made Sotsu Satoko special - her emotional distress, hate, and anger towards the world, her friends, Hinamizawa, Rika, etc.
Sotsutoko is moved through anger.
Meguritoko is moved through hopelessness.
I think that Tomato should have given each of Meguritoko's loops the theme of hopelessness (sorry I keep repeating that word) in the same way Sotsutoko's loops have the theme of rage, rather than keeping manga Gou a near 1:1 copy of the anime Gou.
Those are just my thoughts. You can agree or disagree. I just like reading analysis of characters and wanted to share this for once.
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