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I have nothing but respect for Shion at the end of her story. Twins in anime often regulate to a gimmick. But the story of Shion is one of identity and love that can be understood.
I’m so happy this exists! Shion is a very complex character, but a lot of people simplify her to “that psycho yandere chick”. It’s nice to see an analysis that goes far deeper than that.
bruh anyone with half a braincell should be able to realize she isn't just a yandere 💀💀💀my faith in humanity is yet again challenged if there are people who think she is just that
@@kesshoujo1357 yea it's sad and a massive waste, it shows just how narrow minded a lot of the fanbases are nowadays. On a side note to me it may have been extra evident because i went through her arc in the visual novel very recently, and i'm sure the anime doesn't go nearly as in depth as the VN so this perspective surely gave a way easier time understanding her than people who just viewed the anime
@@A123ftw And the fact people only views higurashi as "that anime filled with crazy chicks" and nothing more is pissing me off as well What about Rika's struggle? The club friendships? Their backstories? Higurashi is a complex media yet people just remember it as "Haha crazy chicks killing and laughing each others" like frick off 💀
All the events that lead to her psychosis are completely valid in HER point of view due to lack of context and support from her family and trust. A lot of people would react pissed the same way given series of misfortune
I mean, when Shion started avenging Satoshi by torturing her family and on, I remember being non-impressed. Bro, they had it coming, you just can't push someone off their limits and expect no reaction out of it.
@@remiremsar5946 he went insane after killing his aunt and Irie had to put him in a coma and hide him in the underground part of the clinic until he can heal him.
"She learns from her mistakes and never makes them again." It is absolutely touching to see Shion embracing Satoko as a nee-nee in Gou. Her will and conviction to carry on Satoshi's last wish rise above suffering and fate, immortalizing her spiritual relationship with Satoshi and her belief in kindness. What a truly awe-inspiring character development in Meakashi and post-Meakashi arcs and I'm so happy that her lessons are not unlearned in Gou although many circumstances remain messed up.
which is why I find it so insulting the resets on gou and sotsu and having to believe that Satoko got to such a breaking point alone in St Lucia without Shion giving a rat ass to help her in a school she herself broke out before - and also Rika not trying to help Satoko either
@@ettoreozzy9932 I agree that the lack of Shion during the St. Lucia arc is infuriating. I wish we could have seen Shion more involved in Satoko's time at St. Lucia. Rika is justified for me though. She just finally becomes free of hundreds of years of looping so she has all the rights to pursue her dream at St. Lucia. She actually concerns for Satoko at St. Lucia but they just have lots of misunderstanding and miscommunication.
Wow, a video essay over 10 minutes that actually makes clear arguments, then backs them up with evidence from the show while using clips that show it at the same time, without going off on tangents unrelated to the original point, never actually discussing the narrative of it but just expressing that it exists. Am I still on UA-cam? This kind of well researched, well presented and thought out video is so unbelievably rare. A true gem
This video is really interesting, but I'm surprised to hear that people thought Shion was a yandere. I don't think anyone in Higurashi is yandere - yangire, sure, but the point of yangire is that the violence is rooted in the girl and her own experiences, not her overwhelming love for someone else, right? As much I like yandere and analysis/deconstruction thereof, I tend to consider yandere and yangire to be pretty separate anime archetypes, but maybe I'm in the minority. I'm definitely under-informed. I guess this is what I get for not being active in the fandom since like 2012. Great video!
i feel really similarly about the yandere/yangire thing--to me they're very different (or at least, different enough to be separated), and I always tend to cringe when i see other higurashi characters being labeled as yandere (Rena as yandere? Come on now...) but that said, i do get where people come from while marking shion as a yandere, since satoshi is so integral to her story, and there are shades of the traditional yandere in how shion treats satoko in meakashi-hen, even though i fully agree that she's more yangire than anything
@@LonerOfShadows Rena was actually a yangire though, while personally I still think Shion can still be considered as a "yandere" character, even before she began to fall ill with L5 of hinamizawa syndrome you can already tell that she is somewhat psychotic when it comes to her strong devotion for Satoshi and especially his promise he made to her about taking care of satoko, she took it way too seriously perhaps and bashes Keiichi's head with a chair.
@@Hex_sixsixsix tl;dr: every other main character, including Mion, were also tempted to act on their violent thoughts for the sake of their loved ones but were convinced otherwise, just like Shion. They all have emotional outbursts but learn to control their emotions and refrain from killing even when the far more immediately threatening situation of the yamainu hunting them down happens later on, which doesn't make them yanderes. Here's the thing, that doesn't make her a yandere for the same reasons stated in the video above. She was making the same mistake every other character did before where she was acting alone and being naive about the fact that Satoko, the person she's trying to save, wouldn't want her to commit murder. It's a desperate act caused by emotional turmoil (Shion brings up the fact that legal ways HAVE been tried before to no avail and the other characters realize that they can't come up with anything else, it's not until Keiichi's father tells him about the appeal system that they find a way, Higurashi Gou skipped that part though) in the exact same way Keiichi acted in Tatarigoroshi, who also committed murder out of emotional attachment to someone (also the reason Rena killed Teppei in Tsumihoroboshi). Even Mion herself admitted that at one point she was planning to strangle her grandma because of Satoshi, but you wouldn't call Mion or the others a yandere would you? All of them get tempted to do violent things for the sake of a loved one and all of them get convinced otherwise, just like Shion. Bonus for Keiichi admitting in Minagoroshi that he was also planning to murder Teppei in his head until Shion made him recall the events of Tatarigoroshi. The crux of it just being a desperate emotional outburst moment stems from the fact that Shion who, like the other kids, didn't know of a way to save Satoko legally, does agree to the legal solution once Keiichi finds it out and tells her about it. In fact, she straight up gets embarrassed when Keiichi and Rena tease her about her behavior from the previous day. Again, much like how Keiichi felt embarrassed after Rena chastised him for his own emotional outburst against Mion in Tatarigoroshi where he claimed that she wasn't a friend and that she wasn't even human for "not wanting to save Satoko." Hell, both Keiichi and Shion use the exact same line: "I'll kill him in 1500 seconds" just to make it extremely clear that Ryukishi is deliberately drawing parallel to both cases. But most importantly of all, when the Yamainu are trying to murder them all later in that same arc, at no point does Shion even try to kill any of them and instead just zaps them with her stun gun. This transfers over to Matsuribayashi where she gets full control of her emotions even when her friends are in danger and is willing to sacrifice herself for them, while still not killing the Yamainu even when she has access to a sniper rifle, all she and Kasai do is disarm/incapacitate them. This is character growth, she even recalls the events of previous arcs much like Keiichi and Rena did, which also made them learn from their mistakes. Honestly, that change is so drastic it makes me think Shion's initial outburst in Minagoroshi was more so just the plot-progressing event that Ryukishi came up with just for the sake of letting Keiichi remember Tatarigoroshi, much like a prior scene with the ohagi had made him remember the events of Onikakushi as well as the scene of Rena bringing up Tsumihoroboshi. It's like what Rena told Shion about loneliness, and indeed one of the core messages of Higurashi: don't act alone, seek help from your friends. The moment Shion (and every other character for that matter) stops thinking by herself and embraces her friends is when the thoughts and events that lead to a tragedy disappear. This also happens to Keiichi, Rena and even Rika herself, they've all given up before because they didn't trust their friends and acted out of emotional attachment to someone, and none of them are yanderes. Plus, Hinamizawa Syndrome isn't black and white, it's gradual with levels 1 through 5, and paranoid emotional turmoil IS the thing that triggers it. Remember that right before Shion attacks Satoko at school, Rena had convinced her that Satoshi was about to disappear because of the curse and that Satoshi himself admitted that Satoko was the reason for his mental anguish (Matsuribayashi even shows Satoshi wanting to slam Satoko's head against the wall for crying in front of him, sound familiar?). Shion herself is shocked and self deprecating after she gets home about her outburst against Satoko early in Meakashi, and at the very VERY end of the arc when she explicitly says that she can't feel the "demon" (hinamizawa syndrome) anymore because of her gaping head wound from falling off her apartment window, right before Shion dies, she starts genuinely apologizing to Satoko and wishing for a reality where they were best friends at school.
Yeah same! I didn't think Shion was an yandere until this video popped up on my recommended. Granted, I only just got into Higurashi about a month ago and was unfortunately not there in its prime
It’s really surprising because beyond that one arc in the anime, she never really does any majorly yandere things. To be honest I was coming into Higurashi thinking that Shion would be a villain, either the main one or secondary one, but she really doesn’t deserve the general reputation that she gets.
I think the truth is, she just goes beyond the "yandere" trope, she broke out of that box and became a human being. Her character is so well-fleshed out, that her actions make sense.
as someone who has BPD and struggles with a lot of those base level fears that shion has, this video wasn't just compellingly informationally but also emotionally. there was something really cathartic and hopeful in hearing you discuss shion like this, thank you so much for sharing
Shion has always been my favourite character. I am happy that there are still some people interested in Higurashi - I've felt that they disappeared long ago.
Shion torturing Satoko was my beginning of watching anime. I didnt enjoyed at all. It was digusting and filled me with rage. And by the other hand, want me to understand how the things get to happen like that. Mion screaming to stop was another pressure point. I cant blame Shion, neither like her a lot. And that the story of how I began exploring anime.
YES you have no idea how long I wanted someone to make this video, not only is Higurashi my favorite anime ever but Shion is just my personal favorite character to analyze out of them all because she really stole the show for me. Nowadays people think yanderes are just Himiko Toga and Yuno Gasai, but to me Shion Sonozaki is the best take on the trope by far
I agree. Yuno and Toga are pretty much stereotypes personified tbh. Shion has more to her character, and the fact that she's a yandere is just a piece of the puzzle, not her entire personality
This was...so amazing. I can't believe how good you are at deconstructing character to their very core, and finding not only what these things mean, but why they evoke such actions. I guess it's because I only watched the anime, but I had not seen or realized over half of this. It's truly phenomenal how well these characters were written. You certainly did cause me to like Shion much more than I used to. I don't mean to just spout compliments and praise, but these videos you produce are just beyond that of what I ever expect to find or understand about something, that they leave me scrambling for the correct way to express my gratitude. ^^; I had no idea how amazing and powerful Shion was to take on so many burdens and do it all so by herself for so long, even when she had no one to turn to. And with what I've just learned, it made her snapping all so much more clear. It made sense and I now appreciate that dark turn for what it symbolises and brings out in her through the mistreatment. Mion, Shion, and all the rest of the cast go through so much throughout this story, yet in the end are all still amazing characters and so inspiring. Again, thank you so much for these deconstructions of the Higurashi cast and in depth analyses. I knew you had a talent for this! (Oh and yeah this world is much more different now my state also just went into lock down. I know it doesn't effect the youth very much, but still, stay safe out there and good luck Bess!)
The title kinda made me expect something more like 'what makes Shion work as a Yandere' at first and I wasn't interested, even though that's not actually what it says. I'm pretty happy with what the video actually says though. I think you nailed it on the head when you said that Shion isn't a yandere because her actions are ultimately not driven by her love for Satoshi. She loves Satoshi a lot and his name always comes up in her thoughts, but it always felt to me like her feelings for him did not drive her as much as other aspects of her life, namely her complicated relationship with her family and Mion. Shion telling her sister she'd want to be twins again in their next life is such a moving line too. I can somewhat imagine how inferior Shion might feel when her duty as the older sister is pushed onto Mion and that would make it so hard for me to say the same line if I was in her shoes. It's been years since I read Higurashi/Umineko and my impression of the series/R07 had lowered a bit over those years, but lately I've come to remember how amazing R07's characters and their relationships are again. I really appreciate this vid and your previous Mion vid.
THANK YOU!!! Dude hearing people refer to any female character that kills someone their attached too being called a yandere has been an ongoing frustration for a while now, like how people try to claim sayka from madoka magica is a yandere when in reality again she was a well written complex character who happened to hurt those who cared. I kinda hate the yandere trope at this point because so many people put well written complex characters and the classic personalityless stereotype in the same boat.
@@burnttoast.2017 She's really not. Homura's love/obsession for Madoka isn't what drove her to the brink mentally, and I think this fact is lost on a lot of people who misapply the yandere archetype to her just because they believe she fits within their narrow definition of the term. SPOILERS FOR MADOKA MAGICA It was the YEARS (according to Urobuchi Gen, the writer of Madoka Magica, she looped for the same month and a half about 100 times beginning at the age of 14, which means she reset time 12 years in total) of self-loathing and grief over repeatedly watching her friends die and becoming numb to the fact that she can't save them. With a dollop of Kyubey mentally torturing her with "facts and logic" and then experimenting on her Soul Gem in Rebellion. This is just exacerbated by the revelation that she made a mistake in letting Madoka make her wish and ascend to Godhood, and now she was in jeopardy within her Witch labyrinth. She's stuck in an existential crisis where she believes her only choice is to save Madoka one more time and stop Kyubey by ending her existence, or just letting Kyubey sabotage the Law of Cycles so Witches can be reborn into the world. This doesn't work, which leads to her taking Madoka out of godhood and becoming a demon as a last ditch attempt to save her and make up for her failure to keep Madoka on Earth with her friends and family which is what she truly wanted all along. Homura has suppressed her emotions and become increasingly more cynical (A LOT like Rika, actually) to the point that Madoka's safety is the only thing driving her forward, especially since Madoka is the only one of her friends who treated her well across all the timelines. Yet multiple times in the series she says that she would prioritize Madoka's happiness over her own, even vowing to leave Mitakihara if Walpurgisnacht is defeated. And at the end of Rebellion, she gives Madoka back her ribbon she had worn in her hair since the end of the series (the very last thing Madoka gave her before she became one with time and space and left Homura behind on Earth) and claims they will be enemies. She completely sacrifices her own happiness for her beloved's, and shows no desire to control or be possessive of them. A yandere would not go this far even for the one they love, because they desire affection from the person they obsess over and will go to any lengths no matter how morally transgressive in order to get it. Homura never even considers doing such a thing to Madoka, no matter how much she loves her.
@@TruthinessChibiOtaku all of her action are to keep Madoka happy. By all means she is lovesick, just not a traditional Yandere way. She prioritizes Madoka's happiness above all else, just expecting nothing in return.
I actually have a video on Madoka Magica and my view on this. But I would not call Homura a yandere because, as I am trying to argue in this video, it is a reductionist and stigmatising term that stunts meaningful conversation around female characters.
@@_bess when I hear Yandere you can take it in two ways, the traditional Yandere, which is the crazy obsessed person with a crush, or how I view it, anything that can be described as lovesick. Like Homura. Just my thoughts.
Shion is currently my favorite character, probably because she reminds me of myself. She's kind of a screw-up- she's not super-competent like Rena, Keiichi, or Mion. I think she just didn't really fit in anywhere in society, and really just wanted a place she could call home but didn't know how to achieve this, and constantly sabotages herself. She's a deeply lonely character, which is maybe why she clings so obsessively to what bonds she has (or thinks she has). But she's also ferociously individualistic (not independent!! But individualistic, and there's a difference!). No matter what, she won't let Society control her or her emotions. Idk I just felt such a powerful empathy for Shion, really a tragic character. Her background is a big part of why she can sometimes be so hateful and petty. There's far more to her character of course, but these are the parts that stuck out to me. I'm not sure I'd call her a "deconstruction" though. I think when authors write characters they usually aren't trying to challenge a narrative but are rather trying to grasp a particular aspect of the human condition. If this feels like a "deconstruction" of a "trope", it merely shows how poorly written other characters are.
I agree! To me, that's what a deconstruction is--a reflection of the trends in the medium with an eye to realism. I think it can be something observed by the audience as much as something intended by the author (though I think there is a case to be made for it being intentional in Shion's case).
when people call characters like Shion or Rena yanderes, you know they didn't not understand higurashi that well im currently reading the VN, but even in the anime i could feel she wasnt just a crazy girl, she was builded until she killed everyone that she saw
Videos like this that explore characters that tend to be quickly categorized as a trope and in turn have little to none of their true depth explored give me a special kind of happiness. I won't be able to see Shion in the same light again. Would be cool if you could do one for Rena.
Higurashi's characters are written like they could live in real life. While other Animes would directly show you how twins feel about each other and what problems they bear, Higurashi shows it mostly with subtle actions. flashbacks are also rare (except Takano's), which I can respect. When we find out about personality and actions of people in real life, we also don't get flashbacks. With that said, I love how they show the problems of twins that are born in a traditional (mafialike) family that rules over a village. These problems are problems that can happen in real life but they are hidden to outsiders. In other Anime those problems are shown directly and also with other characters. But in real life, who would know? No one knows how Shion feels, cause that is realistic. Shion is so realistic, she can't be a Yandere. At most she is the most realistic Yandere. As she knows she is not doing it for Satoshi, but for herself. Also let me appreciate the build up to the finger nail scene. Everything before that scene should make us feel more and more that Mion is a normal nice sister. That her family might be scary but it is just by word. We know Mion right? We know that these devices are old and unused right? We saw that even in the arc before. But then we see the action. We see how Shion really gets treated.
Higurashi has a whole thing going on about defying your circumstances and not letting them dictate your fate, and different charracters exemplify it differently, so I feel like Mion and Shion especially focus on love. As in, they come from an extremely powerful family reigning through fear which took big part in the division between families during the dam war and caused the Houjos to get 'hated'. Yet, Mion is the most compassionate character and Shion defies her role as a perpetrator of this cycle by taking on a protective role within their friend group. While Mion shows 'purer', most traditional kind of love, you could say, Shion has a more tactical approach, and she's a lot less passive. The best part of this all is that as the characters grow and change so do their surroundings, including the Sonozakis. Even if it's just more information getting revealed I don't think it's a coincidence that as Shion especially allows herself to be caring and less guarded around her friends the Sonozakis also become more open to change. All in all, I'm pretty biased because the idea of breaking through what life throws at you is one of my favorite themes in fiction, if not my favorite, but few stories tell it as well or in so many different ways as Higurashi, and to me, Shion above anyone else in the series proves that where you came from does not dictate where you can go.
I don't usually leave comments, but this video made me Feel Emotions, so here goes -- this is a super sympathetic look at shion that dives comprehensively (and, in my opinion, correctly) into almost every piece that comprises her character. this video has said basically anything I would, so I won't go on about it, but these characters have been close to my heart for a long time -- since I was younger and watched Higurashi for the surface level violence, to now, when I'm older, and genuinely adore the series for the characters that struggle with seemingly insurmountable, yet easily relatable issues. Shion is the one I've liked for the longest, for pretty personal reasons. I rarely see people talk about her in the expanded context of the arcs outside of Meakashi-hen, and her character evolution throughout the series honestly breaks my heart and puts it all together back at once. She's a bundle of contradictions, being at once predisposed towards being distant, callous, and overconfident, while also just craving affection and security. She's hurting. In her arc, she's not a character I endorse, but definitely one I understand -- and hell, at the beginning of her downslide, part of me even felt kinda vindicated. Even while she's the point of view character in the Meakashi VN, not everything she says can be taken at face value, and because of all of that she's so incredibly human. I guess this is just a thank you, for looking at a character who I see many people gloss over by only seeing the surface, and expressing it in a well-put-together way. Like you said, she deserves all the love she gets, but hoo boy does she get it for so many of the wrong reasons.
I am a bit late! but GREAT video! I really love the analisis and the aprecciation to the Shions growing up, i REALLY LOVE YOUR PHRASE: "I dont support Shion actions but theres something satisfing in seen a girl expected to suffer in silence rightfully condemned a world that has wronged her"
You... Unironically made me understand myself more. I have BPD, and sometimes I have trouble understanding my own diagnosis or my own actions, but this...Make sense. Love is something unknown for most of us with this diagnosis, either because we become obsessive, or we become completely blind to it due to past abuse. Thank you for making this video.
I think this is your best essay to date, but as someone who has always adored Shion I am probably biased. :p Your understanding of her character is beyond incredible, and you are able to put that reasoning into words brilliantly. I even understood some things I was confused about in the past, especially regarding the rejection she faced in her childhood, and her former resentment against her sister because of that. Anyways It's very easy to follow your train of thoughts, to be fair I am not surprised you're a great fiction writer as well. Shion is such a hard character to grasp, and even though when I myself feel like I've got it right finally, it is always so hard to explain her logically. But you've done that better than anyone ever could I think, and I can only thank you for it. =) Also the last sentences of the video really resonated with me. I love Shion exactly for the themes her story tackles.... Second chances, moving on, forgiveness and compassion.
The whole Meakashi - hen arc is why I despise the Sonozaki family besides Mion and Shion. I mean how could you do that to your own family. I'm kinda disappointed that the Sonozaki family member didn't get any retribution or we don't know if Mion actually made any changes to the family.
I would highly recommend reading the Yoigoshi arc for a bit of insight into how Mion copes with her role as an adult. I think it's made very clear throughout the main story though that even Oryou wants the family to completely reform, and Mion is absolutely dedicated to this goal. She is sometimes cowed into compliance at a young age, but her values are crystal clear--for example, in how she takes a stand against the Houjous' discrimination (just not as much of one as she could have).
@@_bess Yeah I know that oryo also wants to reform and she regrets her actions against the Hojo's and her own family. I also understand Mion is young and she's dealing with her own problems. I guess I'm just an unforgiving person i can't forgive how they did my boi satoshi and Satoko. I also can't forgive the fact they mistreated people just because they disagreed with them on the dam project. Like Mion's statemate on the neutral priest that he was wrong for not cooperating with them that kinda ticked me off don't people have a right to their own opinion?
@@_bess You know what would be a cool arc if they showed the future of Matsuribayashi - hen and how everyone turned out in their adulthood and we see how things have changed in Hinamizawa.
@@_bess is the Yoigoshi arc also a VN or something else? I've played the 8 chapters available on Steam but feel like I keep seeing more titles popping up that I never heard of before 😥
Thank you so much. I love shion a looot. Both shion and mion are my fave characters of higurashi. They have been with me since a lot of years now. I really love them so much. And I feel they don't get that many recognition as they deserve. I hate when people compare shion with yuno or say who is the best yandere. And I'm like ? Shion is just much much than that. She is a character who doesn't revolve around that category only.
I have BPD, and I 100% saw myself in Shion. It made perfect sense. It's not often you see BPD characterized so well in media and given an accurate background. She's a sympathetic character, but flawed. She holds out hope for love for family, even though the evidence has always been that they've never loved her. I relate 100% and it breaks my heart for her.
Wow. This was such a quietly powerful video. I haven't been able to say that about other videos at all. When I was in my teens back in 2006, I think I overheard about how creepy this anime was, and my naive curiosity led me down to this series that I probably wouldn't have sought out by myself. Came for the blood, stayed for the plot lol. And when Shion and Mion came around, I was sufficiently confused by who was who at times. I had assumed Shion was the confident and sly tomboy friend of the group who had some ties to Satoshi like the rest of the group did, and that Mion was the mysterious girlier individual with old romantic ties to Satoshi and stirred up trouble for Keichii and friends because of it, even disguising herself as Shion just to further confuse things. Oh, how incredibly wrong I was! Thanks to you, I have the proper distinction now; Shion was the mysterious-at-first-glance girl with the hairbow, with atrocious mafia family troubles that affected everything she tried to do, from her deep romantically longing ties to Satoshi to being friends with the main group. Mion is the confident tomboy friend who is the more normal member of the group, though not without her own dicey ties to the mafia family. It's been quite a while so I don't remember all the details clearly, but now I can see that all of the times that it seemed like Mion had flipped her lid out of nowhere, it was actually Shion and her deep psychological hurt stepping out. And I'm so glad that Shion got a happy ending too; she reclaimed herself from a world of sorrow. Absolutely great video!
In a serendipitous way, I was going through CFT (compassion focused training) while playing Higurashi. I found it almost certainly powered the success of that therapy and it was really weird how I synchronised with the series as I was reading it and how much it gave me. I think Ryukishi does manage to make you like characters you disliked or didn't care much about before several times, or at least he did with me and he manages to do this while showing you all of the warts and blemishes. I am probably going to cite the script really badly, but there was a bit in the second to last chapter where he says that people essentially want to avoid being wrong or bad and that in some way makes them suffer more. That in particular really struck me because my whole life has been about blaming myself and worrying if I didn't do that I would get complacent and callous. Due to CFT and reading this wonderful story I found that I just couldn't accept that sometimes I will do crappy stuff, but it doesn't mean I'm an entirely crappy person and neither denying my actions nor condemning myself for even the smallest infraction are good outcomes. I'm still learning, but I think I am starting to understand what he meant in that observation. I've seen first hand how being so hard on myself spirals into such horrid depths that now being self compassionate doesn't feel quite so callous any more. Really, I'm becoming a Ryukishi pusher! Except I can't really sell him in dark alleys...
The fact that you only have about 800-ish subscribers as I type this comment is an absolute travesty. This is such a BRILLIANT analysis and made me really question why I ever thought Shion was a yandere. None of Higurashi's characters would ever be so conventional to fit into such simplistic terms like that. You did a great job, I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos!
aa this is such a good analysis yet again,, its really important to look at every character through their eyes in order to truly understand everything they feel and you're really good at noticing small behavioural quirks which link back to underlying emotional causes. all your videos have been really entertaining and thought provoking so thank you for making them!!
Oh. My goodness. You have no idea how absolutely ELATED I am to see at last the realest take on one of my absolute favorite characters. Like 80% people who've heard of Higurashi just go "haha knife scene go brr", when it's far deeper than that. Thank you so, so much for sharing this. It's made my day brighter.
This was the most beautiful and well made discussion that was ever held dealing with Shion's character and mind. I agree on all the points you mentioned and i love the way you gave examples to prove them. I would love to see more future higurashi videos of you, you could still talk about so many topics and characters within it, i really would support it, loved everything about this 😭💕✨
I love your way of talking. It’s so relaxing compared to the usual intense youtuber chatter that I hear in videos like this. I’m definitely going to be subscribing, your script was stellar and your presentation was fantastic.
I also felt bad for Shion, she was treated like a curse by her family, got her fingernails torned off just because she was in love with someone who is her family's enemy (and also because her uncle and bodyguard helped her and disobeyed the family's orders), lost the boy she loved even though she just got to know him (which caused her insanity to grow), and killed many people in revenge, only to find out that they weren't related to Satoshi's "disappearance". And worse, she was the actual first-born and the real heir to the family, but she switched with her sister when they were young, and thus the switch caused them to live complete opposite lives. One being favored by the family and the other being unwanted.
I think you displayed stunning emotional intelligence in your analysis of Shion. Your insight into her and your love and knowledge of the story are great. You made a fantastic video and I thank you for your contribution to this one of a kind story. It's one of the best pieces of literature to come from Japan
i have bpd and i come back to this essay sometimes when i need strength tbh. shion's so important to me as someone who was raised in an invalidating household and she serves as a reminder that i can become a better person instead of continuing the path of condemning everyone around me for not accepting me the way i wanted.
Fantastic analysis this made to have a more complete understanding of her character helped me to fill the missing pieces of my own interpretation. You have a rich vocabulary which helps me to improve mine thank you for that aswel. Kinda feel bad about inadequacy of my own analysis of her character tho.
Hmm, I'm starting to think maybe the anime left out too many details for Shion. Glimpses of the VN playthrough shown here shown her being more "vulnerable" than what the anime shown. The anime was like - Shion is put in boarding school, she doesn't like it, she wants to go out, and she escaped impulsively - Shion meets Satoshi, finally someone to love, Shion was like as if Satoshi has an obligation to love her back - Satoko gets in the way between her and Satoshi, she wished Satoko to be eliminated but that's not the case, Satoshi instead gets eliminated. - She killed everyone she thought involved in erasing Satoshi, she killed Satoko. She regrets for one moment but decided to laugh it off anyways, "easily". No wonder most people thought of her as the "Yandere", the anime may left out so many of her "vulnerability" and emotional struggles. At least that's what I think, as an anime-only watcher (I'll buy the VN later, currently have just played Onikakushi hen which is free on Steam rn).
i was going to write a long winded rant on how well this was put together and how this made me completely rethink the trope and honestly just the medium of anime in general, but you know what- good job. you deserve it.
Wow I just watched your deep dive analysis of both Mion and Shion and I'm simply blown away by your attention to the details to the narrative, I read the source material through different mediums multiple times and yet a lot of these slipped my attention. Ryukishi's of writing write characters that are truly human is simply unreal and it pains me that so little people are willing to read Higurashi's VN and give it a proper analysis because there is so much to unravel about every aspect of the narrative. Glad that there is at least one person who is willing to take up the task. Can't wait for more videos from you on the series. (I'm personally hoping about a character analysis of Keiichi and Satoko because they are my faves x3)
Damn as someone with BPD at his video and especially the comments section is a godsend. I used to be too scared as a kid to watch Higurashi but Ive recently been watching the new anime adaptation and holy shit I’m hooked! Great analysis in this video💚
Ik this comment is 3 years old but how did starting with the new adaptation turn out for you? Did you go back and watch the old one? Gou and Sotsu ended up being kind of a trainwreck
Extremely well done video, 10/10. I think people misunderstood the meaning of the term "yandere" more than straight up misunderstanding Shion. In my experience, 90% of the time people use the word yandere, they actually meant to say "yangire". I distinctly remember even Rena herself being called yandere on the internet all the time back in the 2006-2007 Higurashi craze even though she had nothing to do with actual yanderes, because the common western understanding of the term at the time was just that, someone that appears cute but can become violent, romance involved or not. And unlike yanderes, calling someone a yangire isn't really something that simplifies a character into a specific obsession and more so a casual, low brow way of pointing out one of the character's attributes, namely that they can do a 180 degree behavior shift on a dime. However, I prefer being more thorough when making a big detailed post about a character's personality than actually use either of those 2 terms though.
Incredible analysis! Writing such characters is one of Ryûkishi's greatest strength. I must say I would have emphasized the "using excuses for her murders" idea because there are parts where it just goes on and on when she's trying to justify herself to the point it doesn't make any more sense - you can see the train of thoughts get twisted as it progresses but in the end she still approves her own reasoning. It's really sad. By the way, it's been some time since I last read Meakashi. From which chapter are the screens which appear from 15:17 to 15:43? I didn't recall this bit and it surprised me slightly...
“ultimately, shion is neither trope, she is human” that was so beautifully poetic, well done. edit: “in a series like higurashi that deals with humans instead of heroes” also banger quote
I randomly came across this while just watching UA-cam. I genuinely didn't know what to expect but I am incredibly glad I clicked on it, this is fantastic.
I just finished reading Meakashi and found this video through Steam. I'm so glad I did! I didn't watch it all (I'm trying to avoid spoilers for the next arcs) but your analysis on Shion's character was great. I particularly loved that parallel you brought up about the scenes where Shion handles keys, I didn't make that connection while reading. What I'm loving so far about Higurashi is how real some of it feels. Keiichi during the first four arcs felt like a real teenager to me, down to being unintentionally cruel due naivety (the scene in Tatarigoroshi where he tries to force Satoko into Mion's house comes to mind). Same goes for Shion now. I can't wait to see how the rest of the cast develops!
Thank you very much!! I'm so glad, that you make this video. I'd love to show to all the Russian Higurashi community this, but many of them don’t know English or they just don’t care about a Shion’s real character and motives. Sometimes it’s so sad to realize that community interested Higurashi just because of “yandere” character and violence... I'd love to translate all of your videos on Russian language, so that more people can see, but I haven’t normal practice... So... I want to genuinely thank you for your hard work!! It’s very nice to listen analysis about chapters and characters from you!!!
Very well done. I feel like this gave so much more detail on her than the anime did, which makes me think they had to cut a lot of characterization from the VN. I've never read it but this makes me want to even more.
When I was playing through the sound novels, I didn't think my heart would break any harder than it did watching Satoko's abuse. And then Shion's arc began. Fantastic video, thank you.
I'm glad there are videos out there like these, so that I can better understand stories, characters, and the development of both without suffering through the more... "visually driven" components of the story.
ive listened to this video multiple times without expressing my thoughts so ill do it now: this is the best (and probably only??) analyisis ive seen on shion and you did such a wonderful job that ive watched this more than once throughout the past few years. i really appreciate your dedication to this franchise and thank you SOOOO much for this excellent analysis on shion's character omg
Oh my God this is such an insanely good analysis, I love your videos so much I would love to see more Higurashi character analysis from you. Now I wonder, could Satoko be a reconstruction of the tsundere trope? She's obviously based on it - Ryukishi himself called her a tsundere - but she's not a typical one and it's more platonic than romantic. When we meet her, she seems to be an annoying kid who loves pulling pranks, but in Tatarigoroshi we see her "dere" side - at first she scolds Keiichi, but when he says that she seems annoyed, Rika explains that she's actually very happy. At first she gets embarrassed after being exposed that she calles her brother nii-nii, but then she slowly opens up to Kei, finally calling him "nii-nii", showing her affection with no shame. Overall, she hides her insecurities and trauma with a tough, strong, sassy, independent and playful persona and has trouble with expressing her feelings because of her past - her mother changed husbands very quickly and she couldn't get attached to them, she couldn't accept them and view them as dads, and after her parents died, she was terribly abused by her aunt and uncle. She depended on Satoshi too much, causing him pain, and she feels guilty because of it, so she wants to become independent and bear everything by herself, pretending everything's fine and not opening up to anyone, but in reality, she really needs to depend on someone, she just can't because she believes she has to be strong and bear everything by herself. And in Minagoroshi, she finally admits to herself that she needs help from other people and asks for it. She shows her soft side in the end. So I'm wondering, could it be a reconstruction of the tsundere trope, similar to Shion deconstrucring the yandere trope? Just like you said in your WTC guide, Higurashi is a deconstruction of the dating sim genre, so I wouldn't be suprise if each character was a deconstruction of a certain dating sim trope, and tsundere is a very popular one. Typical tsundere is a character who acts harsh towards their love interest to hide their affection towards them, but eventually opens up to them and is eventually able to be honest about their love. Satoko, in a similar manner, isn't honest about her feelings and tries to act tough, when in reality she really needs someone to cling to. She acts harsh towards Kei in the beginning, but opens up to him in Tatarigoroshi. Satoko isn't a traditional tsundere, but exhibits some of the trope's elements and even Ryukishi calls her a tsundere at some point. Satoko is a deeply wounded individual whose behavior isn't random and is a result of her trauma. She turns the anime stereotype upside down and shows that this behavior doesn't come from nowhere. She's not just a "tsundere", she's a human with a tragic backstory which caused her to act like this. I would love to watch a video further examining Satoko's character, what I wrote here are just my loose thoughts, but this is an interesting topic which deserves a deeper analysis
Wow. Just, wow. This is one fantastic analysis you got there! Just when I thought I know everything and instead I ended up discovering new things about Higurashi thanks to your video! I really can't express with words just how great it was getting this video in my recommended. Thank you very kindly, Bess. Keep up the good work!
ughhh i needed this i was so into higurashi back in middle school and ended up missing like all of the important shitpost. Shion reminds me of so many people, and she always felt like the most interesting
Funny enough I liked Shion more than her sister and the rest of the girls in the series, I really liked her character with being sent to a boarding school because she would've been a burden and her family really struck me.
I love your videos, you really know how to articulate your points and your analyses of higurashi remind me of why I love this series so much. Please keep making them. 🖤
I hate the way people talk about finger nails as someone who will literally go in to an internal panic upon seeing a pencil sharpener I hate people talking about it so lightly thank you for this where you actually deconstruct the character and acknowledge the characters trauma
Shion's journey is without doubt one of my favorites in the series, and this video made me appreciate it even more. It makes me stunned to see how many details carry such powerful meanings
I also really like the depth of her character. It just sad that she was put down as a “yandere” character instead of others looking into her story and life more
I absolutely loved this video. Here, you really sell the intricacies and sophisticated nature of Shion's personality which made her my favorite Higurashi character (and one of my all time favorites in fiction in general). I'm really looking forward to her internal narration in the sound novels (which I just started reading recently, though I'm only on Onikakushi) that you included to add context to what the anime had shown/extend her narration beyond her spoken monologues. On that note, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in the Deen anime for cutting a lot of those. I ultimately think some of her scenes in Watangashi-hen and Meakashi-hen (in particular, the absurd faces animator Numata Seiya portrayed her with when she was shaking the ladder Keiichi was on in the former arc and her infamous laughing/"derpy-looking enraged" faces in the latter arc's scenes) largely damaged how many people saw Shion as a character in Higurashi season 1. Which led to the discourse about her being a yandere and ofc, the nefarious UA-cam Poop memes featuring aforementioned faces/scenes. So I definitely feel that you very clearly and effectively addressed these concerns I had and filled in the nuances/concepts lost in the storytelling of the adaptation. In all honesty even back when I first watched Higurashi, while I still liked s1 a lot and Shion was my favorite from the start, I felt that it wasn't until Kai where I fully understood and appreciated this narrative for what it was actually trying to say. One exacerbation of that was how rushed the portrayal of her relationship with Satoshi was, even as a flashback. My friend also told me (you may have mentioned this in the video, but I don't remember where as I haven't rewatched it yet) that while subtle the nuance to Shion’s feelings for Satoshi and Satoko in the sound novels is described as originating from her being interested in them because of how deeply she personally relates to their ostracization. This was completely lost on me as an anime-only, despite it probably being the most obvious thing (or at least retroactively, I wish I had picked up on that myself). Anyway, this was a really great piece, and I'd love to watch more of your Higurashi video essays. I also find your argument about removing personality disorders from the DSM to be intriguing and salient, and I ultimately think I somewhat agree with it due to how often they've been pathologized by society.
Not sure if Shion relating to Satoshi and Satoko for that specific reason was ever explicitly said, but as with so many things in the VN, I feel like Ryukishi lays it out in a way that's easy to understand if you're willing to take the time to think about it. He really rewards readers and their willingness to empathise with characters in that way. Indeed the anime version of the arc runs for 2 hours iirc vs the VN version being about 15 hours, it's an incredibly compressed overview of the events. Enjoy the VN!
@@_bess Ah yeah, I figured it wasn't outright said knowing Ryukishi, but I'm sure it's a valid take. I really love that about his writing, honestly. How the characters drive the story and you only get as much catharsis and euphoria out of his narrative as you put in. I'm really eager to continue that experience with Higurashi and eventually Umineko and his other works like Higanbana, Ciconia, Iwaihime, etc. And yeah, so far I'm enjoying it a lot! On another note, I'm definitely going to check out your video on Madoka Magica next as well, because I think our stances on Homura's behavior in the TV series and film line up pretty well so I'm excited to see you elaborate on your take~
Admittedly, when I first saw this a recommendation to me, I clicked away from it because how I thought the video would be was telling me Shion was a yandere and I was instantly like "No. She's not" and stalled watching this. But now I'm glad I watched this. Mion is my favorite character because she's such a light in the series, but her sister is the one whom I find the most interesting. Especially depending on the time loop. Shion is honestly a character you can both somewhat relate to (either as a kid who thought they were unwanted or how they used laughter as a coping mechanism or even being open to standing up to others) but also is much more complex to actually really relate to. She's someone I love to watch and see within the Higurashi series. She's someone unique and she doesn't get enough love and respect as a character.
I first learned about Higurashi through gory compilation of Shion`s kill spree and oh boy I didn`t expect that it all would turn out as a tear-inducing psychological drama rather than just another bloody and violent piece of media. To this day my favourite character is Shion, even Takano couldnt overshadow her.
I've loved Shion ever since I first saw her in the anime, but I never expected my favourite character to be this deep! It just makes me love her more 😆
Welp Now I'm one step closer to understanding why I like Shion so much Thank you for this fantastic video because I love higurashi but I suck at analyzing anything This video helped a lot!!! Edit: am looking forward to your next videos! Keep it up!
I hadn’t watched or read Higurashi since early 2019, so I saved this video until I finished my rewatch of the anime. I love that this video exists. I never really appreciated Shion as a character until reexperiencing the entire story, and I’m glad that somebody was able to dispel such a limiting trope as the “yandere” label from her so effectively. She’s so much more than that.
I’ve literally never seen Higurashi but the opening seconds of this video scared me viscerally. If that’s not a wonderful recommendation idk what else could be haha
even so seeing her descend into total madness with "festivals" ost making that unsetting creepy noise made it the most awesome part of the whole of higurashi. Im reading CH02 again and boy was mion x keiichi the cutest thing ever , the gou animation with them cute part added a bunch to that too despite being different arcs.
@@mycommentisgonnaruinyourday122, Shion killed Mion, Kimieshi and Rika for revenge. The only person killed because of Satoshi is Satoko. And in this case, Shion wanted to take revenge on Mion by killing a man dear to her.
@@celestialudenberg4196 actually she did kill her grandma for Satoshi too, Mion wss kinda killed because of that but she didn't have anything to do with his disappearence
@@feduwtc, Didn't she kill her grandmother in self-defense? She thought Mion and grandma were going to kill her. She even said that she would not make the same mistake as Satoshi and would survive.
The situation in the show and web novel is probably what I find remarkable. Some events remain the same, while the rest is different. Makes you wonder if theirs ever a semi-peaceful timeline.
I had this video berried in my watch later list for quite a long time now but now that I finished watching up to Rai, I immediately went to check this video out.
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I have nothing but respect for Shion at the end of her story. Twins in anime often regulate to a gimmick. But the story of Shion is one of identity and love that can be understood.
By Shion you mean the one that didn’t go on a killing spree right?
@@papabroke7567 I think he meant the two Shions, the one who was and the one who is.
I’m so happy this exists! Shion is a very complex character, but a lot of people simplify her to “that psycho yandere chick”. It’s nice to see an analysis that goes far deeper than that.
bruh anyone with half a braincell should be able to realize she isn't just a yandere 💀💀💀my faith in humanity is yet again challenged if there are people who think she is just that
@@A123ftw unfortunately a lot of anime characters tend to get boiled down to a narrow set of tropes by parts of the fanbase
@@kesshoujo1357 yea it's sad and a massive waste, it shows just how narrow minded a lot of the fanbases are nowadays. On a side note to me it may have been extra evident because i went through her arc in the visual novel very recently, and i'm sure the anime doesn't go nearly as in depth as the VN so this perspective surely gave a way easier time understanding her than people who just viewed the anime
@@A123ftw And the fact people only views higurashi as "that anime filled with crazy chicks" and nothing more is pissing me off as well
What about Rika's struggle? The club friendships? Their backstories? Higurashi is a complex media yet people just remember it as "Haha crazy chicks killing and laughing each others" like frick off 💀
All the events that lead to her psychosis are completely valid in HER point of view due to lack of context and support from her family and trust. A lot of people would react pissed the same way given series of misfortune
finally justice and a proper breakdown of my girl thank you!
r/usernamechecksout
Based
That name tho... idk g
SHION IS QUEEN PERIOD WE STAN
Haha yanderes make me go yes
I mean, when Shion started avenging Satoshi by torturing her family and on, I remember being non-impressed. Bro, they had it coming, you just can't push someone off their limits and expect no reaction out of it.
Well, thing was that they didn’t do anything to Satoshi, in truth.
@@TheGuraGuraMan Yep.
btw, what did actually happen to him?
@@remiremsar5946 he went insane after killing his aunt and Irie had to put him in a coma and hide him in the underground part of the clinic until he can heal him.
@@TheGuraGuraMan Hinomozawa sindrome?
@@remiremsar5946 bingo
"She learns from her mistakes and never makes them again." It is absolutely touching to see Shion embracing Satoko as a nee-nee in Gou. Her will and conviction to carry on Satoshi's last wish rise above suffering and fate, immortalizing her spiritual relationship with Satoshi and her belief in kindness. What a truly awe-inspiring character development in Meakashi and post-Meakashi arcs and I'm so happy that her lessons are not unlearned in Gou although many circumstances remain messed up.
of course she learns,theres loop timelines in this universe
which is why I find it so insulting the resets on gou and sotsu and having to believe that Satoko got to such a breaking point alone in St Lucia without Shion giving a rat ass to help her in a school she herself broke out before - and also Rika not trying to help Satoko either
@@ettoreozzy9932 I agree that the lack of Shion during the St. Lucia arc is infuriating. I wish we could have seen Shion more involved in Satoko's time at St. Lucia. Rika is justified for me though. She just finally becomes free of hundreds of years of looping so she has all the rights to pursue her dream at St. Lucia. She actually concerns for Satoko at St. Lucia but they just have lots of misunderstanding and miscommunication.
Wow, a video essay over 10 minutes that actually makes clear arguments, then backs them up with evidence from the show while using clips that show it at the same time, without going off on tangents unrelated to the original point, never actually discussing the narrative of it but just expressing that it exists.
Am I still on UA-cam? This kind of well researched, well presented and thought out video is so unbelievably rare. A true gem
This video is really interesting, but I'm surprised to hear that people thought Shion was a yandere. I don't think anyone in Higurashi is yandere - yangire, sure, but the point of yangire is that the violence is rooted in the girl and her own experiences, not her overwhelming love for someone else, right? As much I like yandere and analysis/deconstruction thereof, I tend to consider yandere and yangire to be pretty separate anime archetypes, but maybe I'm in the minority. I'm definitely under-informed. I guess this is what I get for not being active in the fandom since like 2012.
Great video!
i feel really similarly about the yandere/yangire thing--to me they're very different (or at least, different enough to be separated), and I always tend to cringe when i see other higurashi characters being labeled as yandere (Rena as yandere? Come on now...)
but that said, i do get where people come from while marking shion as a yandere, since satoshi is so integral to her story, and there are shades of the traditional yandere in how shion treats satoko in meakashi-hen, even though i fully agree that she's more yangire than anything
@@LonerOfShadows Rena was actually a yangire though, while personally I still think Shion can still be considered as a "yandere" character, even before she began to fall ill with L5 of hinamizawa syndrome you can already tell that she is somewhat psychotic when it comes to her strong devotion for Satoshi and especially his promise he made to her about taking care of satoko, she took it way too seriously perhaps and bashes Keiichi's head with a chair.
@@Hex_sixsixsix
tl;dr: every other main character, including Mion, were also tempted to act on their violent thoughts for the sake of their loved ones but were convinced otherwise, just like Shion. They all have emotional outbursts but learn to control their emotions and refrain from killing even when the far more immediately threatening situation of the yamainu hunting them down happens later on, which doesn't make them yanderes.
Here's the thing, that doesn't make her a yandere for the same reasons stated in the video above. She was making the same mistake every other character did before where she was acting alone and being naive about the fact that Satoko, the person she's trying to save, wouldn't want her to commit murder. It's a desperate act caused by emotional turmoil (Shion brings up the fact that legal ways HAVE been tried before to no avail and the other characters realize that they can't come up with anything else, it's not until Keiichi's father tells him about the appeal system that they find a way, Higurashi Gou skipped that part though) in the exact same way Keiichi acted in Tatarigoroshi, who also committed murder out of emotional attachment to someone (also the reason Rena killed Teppei in Tsumihoroboshi). Even Mion herself admitted that at one point she was planning to strangle her grandma because of Satoshi, but you wouldn't call Mion or the others a yandere would you? All of them get tempted to do violent things for the sake of a loved one and all of them get convinced otherwise, just like Shion. Bonus for Keiichi admitting in Minagoroshi that he was also planning to murder Teppei in his head until Shion made him recall the events of Tatarigoroshi.
The crux of it just being a desperate emotional outburst moment stems from the fact that Shion who, like the other kids, didn't know of a way to save Satoko legally, does agree to the legal solution once Keiichi finds it out and tells her about it. In fact, she straight up gets embarrassed when Keiichi and Rena tease her about her behavior from the previous day. Again, much like how Keiichi felt embarrassed after Rena chastised him for his own emotional outburst against Mion in Tatarigoroshi where he claimed that she wasn't a friend and that she wasn't even human for "not wanting to save Satoko." Hell, both Keiichi and Shion use the exact same line: "I'll kill him in 1500 seconds" just to make it extremely clear that Ryukishi is deliberately drawing parallel to both cases.
But most importantly of all, when the Yamainu are trying to murder them all later in that same arc, at no point does Shion even try to kill any of them and instead just zaps them with her stun gun. This transfers over to Matsuribayashi where she gets full control of her emotions even when her friends are in danger and is willing to sacrifice herself for them, while still not killing the Yamainu even when she has access to a sniper rifle, all she and Kasai do is disarm/incapacitate them. This is character growth, she even recalls the events of previous arcs much like Keiichi and Rena did, which also made them learn from their mistakes. Honestly, that change is so drastic it makes me think Shion's initial outburst in Minagoroshi was more so just the plot-progressing event that Ryukishi came up with just for the sake of letting Keiichi remember Tatarigoroshi, much like a prior scene with the ohagi had made him remember the events of Onikakushi as well as the scene of Rena bringing up Tsumihoroboshi.
It's like what Rena told Shion about loneliness, and indeed one of the core messages of Higurashi: don't act alone, seek help from your friends. The moment Shion (and every other character for that matter) stops thinking by herself and embraces her friends is when the thoughts and events that lead to a tragedy disappear. This also happens to Keiichi, Rena and even Rika herself, they've all given up before because they didn't trust their friends and acted out of emotional attachment to someone, and none of them are yanderes.
Plus, Hinamizawa Syndrome isn't black and white, it's gradual with levels 1 through 5, and paranoid emotional turmoil IS the thing that triggers it. Remember that right before Shion attacks Satoko at school, Rena had convinced her that Satoshi was about to disappear because of the curse and that Satoshi himself admitted that Satoko was the reason for his mental anguish (Matsuribayashi even shows Satoshi wanting to slam Satoko's head against the wall for crying in front of him, sound familiar?). Shion herself is shocked and self deprecating after she gets home about her outburst against Satoko early in Meakashi, and at the very VERY end of the arc when she explicitly says that she can't feel the "demon" (hinamizawa syndrome) anymore because of her gaping head wound from falling off her apartment window, right before Shion dies, she starts genuinely apologizing to Satoko and wishing for a reality where they were best friends at school.
The characters of Higurashi are way too developed and fleshed out to be tropes, thankfully.
Yeah same! I didn't think Shion was an yandere until this video popped up on my recommended. Granted, I only just got into Higurashi about a month ago and was unfortunately not there in its prime
thank you i always hated when people branded shion as a yandere because she wasn’t one in my eyes ..
It’s really surprising because beyond that one arc in the anime, she never really does any majorly yandere things. To be honest I was coming into Higurashi thinking that Shion would be a villain, either the main one or secondary one, but she really doesn’t deserve the general reputation that she gets.
I think the truth is, she just goes beyond the "yandere" trope, she broke out of that box and became a human being. Her character is so well-fleshed out, that her actions make sense.
as someone who has BPD and struggles with a lot of those base level fears that shion has, this video wasn't just compellingly informationally but also emotionally. there was something really cathartic and hopeful in hearing you discuss shion like this, thank you so much for sharing
what is bpd
@@npc6817 borderline personality disorder i think
@@Krilp oh, makes sense
Shion has always been my favourite character. I am happy that there are still some people interested in Higurashi - I've felt that they disappeared long ago.
They're around if you know where to find them! The visual novel fan community is really booming thanks to the localisation.
Shion torturing Satoko was my beginning of watching anime.
I didnt enjoyed at all. It was digusting and filled me with rage. And by the other hand, want me to understand how the things get to happen like that.
Mion screaming to stop was another pressure point.
I cant blame Shion, neither like her a lot.
And that the story of how I began exploring anime.
very tricky to skirt around GouSotsu- I’ve never watched it but I am still Higu fan
YES you have no idea how long I wanted someone to make this video, not only is Higurashi my favorite anime ever but Shion is just my personal favorite character to analyze out of them all because she really stole the show for me.
Nowadays people think yanderes are just Himiko Toga and Yuno Gasai, but to me Shion Sonozaki is the best take on the trope by far
Toga and yuno is just for normie anime watchers
But toga is not a yandere
I agree. Yuno and Toga are pretty much stereotypes personified tbh. Shion has more to her character, and the fact that she's a yandere is just a piece of the puzzle, not her entire personality
Bruh the real yandere is
Plankton from spongebob squarepants
@Daisuke it influenced her sure
But she had the choice
I can understand it more but in the end it didn't matter
This was...so amazing. I can't believe how good you are at deconstructing character to their very core, and finding not only what these things mean, but why they evoke such actions. I guess it's because I only watched the anime, but I had not seen or realized over half of this. It's truly phenomenal how well these characters were written. You certainly did cause me to like Shion much more than I used to. I don't mean to just spout compliments and praise, but these videos you produce are just beyond that of what I ever expect to find or understand about something, that they leave me scrambling for the correct way to express my gratitude. ^^; I had no idea how amazing and powerful Shion was to take on so many burdens and do it all so by herself for so long, even when she had no one to turn to. And with what I've just learned, it made her snapping all so much more clear. It made sense and I now appreciate that dark turn for what it symbolises and brings out in her through the mistreatment. Mion, Shion, and all the rest of the cast go through so much throughout this story, yet in the end are all still amazing characters and so inspiring. Again, thank you so much for these deconstructions of the Higurashi cast and in depth analyses. I knew you had a talent for this!
(Oh and yeah this world is much more different now my state also just went into lock down. I know it doesn't effect the youth very much, but still, stay safe out there and good luck Bess!)
Thank you so much!
The title kinda made me expect something more like 'what makes Shion work as a Yandere' at first and I wasn't interested, even though that's not actually what it says. I'm pretty happy with what the video actually says though.
I think you nailed it on the head when you said that Shion isn't a yandere because her actions are ultimately not driven by her love for Satoshi. She loves Satoshi a lot and his name always comes up in her thoughts, but it always felt to me like her feelings for him did not drive her as much as other aspects of her life, namely her complicated relationship with her family and Mion. Shion telling her sister she'd want to be twins again in their next life is such a moving line too. I can somewhat imagine how inferior Shion might feel when her duty as the older sister is pushed onto Mion and that would make it so hard for me to say the same line if I was in her shoes.
It's been years since I read Higurashi/Umineko and my impression of the series/R07 had lowered a bit over those years, but lately I've come to remember how amazing R07's characters and their relationships are again. I really appreciate this vid and your previous Mion vid.
YES THANK YOU, BESS!!
THANK YOU!!! Dude hearing people refer to any female character that kills someone their attached too being called a yandere has been an ongoing frustration for a while now, like how people try to claim sayka from madoka magica is a yandere when in reality again she was a well written complex character who happened to hurt those who cared. I kinda hate the yandere trope at this point because so many people put well written complex characters and the classic personalityless stereotype in the same boat.
I kinda think Homura is a yandere for Madoka.
@@burnttoast.2017 She's really not.
Homura's love/obsession for Madoka isn't what drove her to the brink mentally, and I think this fact is lost on a lot of people who misapply the yandere archetype to her just because they believe she fits within their narrow definition of the term.
SPOILERS FOR MADOKA MAGICA
It was the YEARS (according to Urobuchi Gen, the writer of Madoka Magica, she looped for the same month and a half about 100 times beginning at the age of 14, which means she reset time 12 years in total) of self-loathing and grief over repeatedly watching her friends die and becoming numb to the fact that she can't save them. With a dollop of Kyubey mentally torturing her with "facts and logic" and then experimenting on her Soul Gem in Rebellion.
This is just exacerbated by the revelation that she made a mistake in letting Madoka make her wish and ascend to Godhood, and now she was in jeopardy within her Witch labyrinth. She's stuck in an existential crisis where she believes her only choice is to save Madoka one more time and stop Kyubey by ending her existence, or just letting Kyubey sabotage the Law of Cycles so Witches can be reborn into the world. This doesn't work, which leads to her taking Madoka out of godhood and becoming a demon as a last ditch attempt to save her and make up for her failure to keep Madoka on Earth with her friends and family which is what she truly wanted all along.
Homura has suppressed her emotions and become increasingly more cynical (A LOT like Rika, actually) to the point that Madoka's safety is the only thing driving her forward, especially since Madoka is the only one of her friends who treated her well across all the timelines. Yet multiple times in the series she says that she would prioritize Madoka's happiness over her own, even vowing to leave Mitakihara if Walpurgisnacht is defeated. And at the end of Rebellion, she gives Madoka back her ribbon she had worn in her hair since the end of the series (the very last thing Madoka gave her before she became one with time and space and left Homura behind on Earth) and claims they will be enemies.
She completely sacrifices her own happiness for her beloved's, and shows no desire to control or be possessive of them. A yandere would not go this far even for the one they love, because they desire affection from the person they obsess over and will go to any lengths no matter how morally transgressive in order to get it. Homura never even considers doing such a thing to Madoka, no matter how much she loves her.
@@TruthinessChibiOtaku all of her action are to keep Madoka happy. By all means she is lovesick, just not a traditional Yandere way. She prioritizes Madoka's happiness above all else, just expecting nothing in return.
I actually have a video on Madoka Magica and my view on this. But I would not call Homura a yandere because, as I am trying to argue in this video, it is a reductionist and stigmatising term that stunts meaningful conversation around female characters.
@@_bess when I hear Yandere you can take it in two ways, the traditional Yandere, which is the crazy obsessed person with a crush, or how I view it, anything that can be described as lovesick. Like Homura. Just my thoughts.
Shion is currently my favorite character, probably because she reminds me of myself. She's kind of a screw-up- she's not super-competent like Rena, Keiichi, or Mion. I think she just didn't really fit in anywhere in society, and really just wanted a place she could call home but didn't know how to achieve this, and constantly sabotages herself. She's a deeply lonely character, which is maybe why she clings so obsessively to what bonds she has (or thinks she has). But she's also ferociously individualistic (not independent!! But individualistic, and there's a difference!). No matter what, she won't let Society control her or her emotions. Idk I just felt such a powerful empathy for Shion, really a tragic character. Her background is a big part of why she can sometimes be so hateful and petty. There's far more to her character of course, but these are the parts that stuck out to me.
I'm not sure I'd call her a "deconstruction" though. I think when authors write characters they usually aren't trying to challenge a narrative but are rather trying to grasp a particular aspect of the human condition. If this feels like a "deconstruction" of a "trope", it merely shows how poorly written other characters are.
I agree! To me, that's what a deconstruction is--a reflection of the trends in the medium with an eye to realism. I think it can be something observed by the audience as much as something intended by the author (though I think there is a case to be made for it being intentional in Shion's case).
shes literally me
when people call characters like Shion or Rena yanderes, you know they didn't not understand higurashi that well
im currently reading the VN, but even in the anime i could feel she wasnt just a crazy girl, she was builded until she killed everyone that she saw
Videos like this that explore characters that tend to be quickly categorized as a trope and in turn have little to none of their true depth explored give me a special kind of happiness. I won't be able to see Shion in the same light again. Would be cool if you could do one for Rena.
Higurashi's characters are written like they could live in real life. While other Animes would directly show you how twins feel about each other and what problems they bear, Higurashi shows it mostly with subtle actions. flashbacks are also rare (except Takano's), which I can respect. When we find out about personality and actions of people in real life, we also don't get flashbacks.
With that said, I love how they show the problems of twins that are born in a traditional (mafialike) family that rules over a village. These problems are problems that can happen in real life but they are hidden to outsiders. In other Anime those problems are shown directly and also with other characters. But in real life, who would know? No one knows how Shion feels, cause that is realistic.
Shion is so realistic, she can't be a Yandere. At most she is the most realistic Yandere. As she knows she is not doing it for Satoshi, but for herself.
Also let me appreciate the build up to the finger nail scene. Everything before that scene should make us feel more and more that Mion is a normal nice sister. That her family might be scary but it is just by word. We know Mion right? We know that these devices are old and unused right? We saw that even in the arc before. But then we see the action. We see how Shion really gets treated.
lol
lmao even
my god, please pick up an actual book
Ya it really goes to show that this story's writer knows a lot more about human psychology than many would give him credit for
Higurashi has a whole thing going on about defying your circumstances and not letting them dictate your fate, and different charracters exemplify it differently, so I feel like Mion and Shion especially focus on love. As in, they come from an extremely powerful family reigning through fear which took big part in the division between families during the dam war and caused the Houjos to get 'hated'. Yet, Mion is the most compassionate character and Shion defies her role as a perpetrator of this cycle by taking on a protective role within their friend group. While Mion shows 'purer', most traditional kind of love, you could say, Shion has a more tactical approach, and she's a lot less passive.
The best part of this all is that as the characters grow and change so do their surroundings, including the Sonozakis. Even if it's just more information getting revealed I don't think it's a coincidence that as Shion especially allows herself to be caring and less guarded around her friends the Sonozakis also become more open to change.
All in all, I'm pretty biased because the idea of breaking through what life throws at you is one of my favorite themes in fiction, if not my favorite, but few stories tell it as well or in so many different ways as Higurashi, and to me, Shion above anyone else in the series proves that where you came from does not dictate where you can go.
I don't usually leave comments, but this video made me Feel Emotions, so here goes --
this is a super sympathetic look at shion that dives comprehensively (and, in my opinion, correctly) into almost every piece that comprises her character. this video has said basically anything I would, so I won't go on about it, but these characters have been close to my heart for a long time -- since I was younger and watched Higurashi for the surface level violence, to now, when I'm older, and genuinely adore the series for the characters that struggle with seemingly insurmountable, yet easily relatable issues.
Shion is the one I've liked for the longest, for pretty personal reasons. I rarely see people talk about her in the expanded context of the arcs outside of Meakashi-hen, and her character evolution throughout the series honestly breaks my heart and puts it all together back at once. She's a bundle of contradictions, being at once predisposed towards being distant, callous, and overconfident, while also just craving affection and security. She's hurting. In her arc, she's not a character I endorse, but definitely one I understand -- and hell, at the beginning of her downslide, part of me even felt kinda vindicated. Even while she's the point of view character in the Meakashi VN, not everything she says can be taken at face value, and because of all of that she's so incredibly human.
I guess this is just a thank you, for looking at a character who I see many people gloss over by only seeing the surface, and expressing it in a well-put-together way. Like you said, she deserves all the love she gets, but hoo boy does she get it for so many of the wrong reasons.
Holy shit, this was deeper than I thought. And yes Shion and Mion are my favorite characters in Higurashi, so I might be a bit biased ahaha
I am a bit late! but GREAT video! I really love the analisis and the aprecciation to the Shions growing up, i REALLY LOVE YOUR PHRASE:
"I dont support Shion actions but theres something satisfing in seen a girl expected to suffer in silence rightfully condemned a world that has wronged her"
You... Unironically made me understand myself more. I have BPD, and sometimes I have trouble understanding my own diagnosis or my own actions, but this...Make sense. Love is something unknown for most of us with this diagnosis, either because we become obsessive, or we become completely blind to it due to past abuse. Thank you for making this video.
I think this is your best essay to date, but as someone who has always adored Shion I am probably biased. :p Your understanding of her character is beyond incredible, and you are able to put that reasoning into words brilliantly. I even understood some things I was confused about in the past, especially regarding the rejection she faced in her childhood, and her former resentment against her sister because of that. Anyways It's very easy to follow your train of thoughts, to be fair I am not surprised you're a great fiction writer as well. Shion is such a hard character to grasp, and even though when I myself feel like I've got it right finally, it is always so hard to explain her logically. But you've done that better than anyone ever could I think, and I can only thank you for it. =) Also the last sentences of the video really resonated with me. I love Shion exactly for the themes her story tackles.... Second chances, moving on, forgiveness and compassion.
The whole Meakashi - hen arc is why I despise the Sonozaki family besides Mion and Shion. I mean how could you do that to your own family. I'm kinda disappointed that the Sonozaki family member didn't get any retribution or we don't know if Mion actually made any changes to the family.
I would highly recommend reading the Yoigoshi arc for a bit of insight into how Mion copes with her role as an adult. I think it's made very clear throughout the main story though that even Oryou wants the family to completely reform, and Mion is absolutely dedicated to this goal. She is sometimes cowed into compliance at a young age, but her values are crystal clear--for example, in how she takes a stand against the Houjous' discrimination (just not as much of one as she could have).
@@_bess Yeah I know that oryo also wants to reform and she regrets her actions against the Hojo's and her own family. I also understand Mion is young and she's dealing with her own problems. I guess I'm just an unforgiving person i can't forgive how they did my boi satoshi and Satoko. I also can't forgive the fact they mistreated people just because they disagreed with them on the dam project. Like Mion's statemate on the neutral priest that he was wrong for not cooperating with them that kinda ticked me off don't people have a right to their own opinion?
@@cdcastro7986 Oh, I completely agree. Some of the things the Sonozaki family do are abhorrent
@@_bess You know what would be a cool arc if they showed the future of Matsuribayashi - hen and how everyone turned out in their adulthood and we see how things have changed in Hinamizawa.
@@_bess is the Yoigoshi arc also a VN or something else? I've played the 8 chapters available on Steam but feel like I keep seeing more titles popping up that I never heard of before 😥
Thank you so much. I love shion a looot. Both shion and mion are my fave characters of higurashi. They have been with me since a lot of years now. I really love them so much. And I feel they don't get that many recognition as they deserve. I hate when people compare shion with yuno or say who is the best yandere. And I'm like ? Shion is just much much than that. She is a character who doesn't revolve around that category only.
Shion is my favorite character she’s really interesting! i love this video
I have BPD, and I 100% saw myself in Shion. It made perfect sense. It's not often you see BPD characterized so well in media and given an accurate background. She's a sympathetic character, but flawed. She holds out hope for love for family, even though the evidence has always been that they've never loved her. I relate 100% and it breaks my heart for her.
Wow. This was such a quietly powerful video. I haven't been able to say that about other videos at all. When I was in my teens back in 2006, I think I overheard about how creepy this anime was, and my naive curiosity led me down to this series that I probably wouldn't have sought out by myself. Came for the blood, stayed for the plot lol. And when Shion and Mion came around, I was sufficiently confused by who was who at times. I had assumed Shion was the confident and sly tomboy friend of the group who had some ties to Satoshi like the rest of the group did, and that Mion was the mysterious girlier individual with old romantic ties to Satoshi and stirred up trouble for Keichii and friends because of it, even disguising herself as Shion just to further confuse things. Oh, how incredibly wrong I was! Thanks to you, I have the proper distinction now; Shion was the mysterious-at-first-glance girl with the hairbow, with atrocious mafia family troubles that affected everything she tried to do, from her deep romantically longing ties to Satoshi to being friends with the main group. Mion is the confident tomboy friend who is the more normal member of the group, though not without her own dicey ties to the mafia family. It's been quite a while so I don't remember all the details clearly, but now I can see that all of the times that it seemed like Mion had flipped her lid out of nowhere, it was actually Shion and her deep psychological hurt stepping out. And I'm so glad that Shion got a happy ending too; she reclaimed herself from a world of sorrow. Absolutely great video!
In a serendipitous way, I was going through CFT (compassion focused training) while playing Higurashi. I found it almost certainly powered the success of that therapy and it was really weird how I synchronised with the series as I was reading it and how much it gave me.
I think Ryukishi does manage to make you like characters you disliked or didn't care much about before several times, or at least he did with me and he manages to do this while showing you all of the warts and blemishes. I am probably going to cite the script really badly, but there was a bit in the second to last chapter where he says that people essentially want to avoid being wrong or bad and that in some way makes them suffer more. That in particular really struck me because my whole life has been about blaming myself and worrying if I didn't do that I would get complacent and callous. Due to CFT and reading this wonderful story I found that I just couldn't accept that sometimes I will do crappy stuff, but it doesn't mean I'm an entirely crappy person and neither denying my actions nor condemning myself for even the smallest infraction are good outcomes.
I'm still learning, but I think I am starting to understand what he meant in that observation. I've seen first hand how being so hard on myself spirals into such horrid depths that now being self compassionate doesn't feel quite so callous any more. Really, I'm becoming a Ryukishi pusher! Except I can't really sell him in dark alleys...
The fact that you only have about 800-ish subscribers as I type this comment is an absolute travesty. This is such a BRILLIANT analysis and made me really question why I ever thought Shion was a yandere. None of Higurashi's characters would ever be so conventional to fit into such simplistic terms like that. You did a great job, I'm looking forward to watching more of your videos!
aa this is such a good analysis yet again,, its really important to look at every character through their eyes in order to truly understand everything they feel and you're really good at noticing small behavioural quirks which link back to underlying emotional causes. all your videos have been really entertaining and thought provoking so thank you for making them!!
Oh. My goodness. You have no idea how absolutely ELATED I am to see at last the realest take on one of my absolute favorite characters. Like 80% people who've heard of Higurashi just go "haha knife scene go brr", when it's far deeper than that. Thank you so, so much for sharing this. It's made my day brighter.
This was the most beautiful and well made discussion that was ever held dealing with Shion's character and mind. I agree on all the points you mentioned and i love the way you gave examples to prove them. I would love to see more future higurashi videos of you, you could still talk about so many topics and characters within it, i really would support it, loved everything about this 😭💕✨
Damn, every time I watch one of your videos I get blown away. Love this Analysis, thank you.
I love your way of talking. It’s so relaxing compared to the usual intense youtuber chatter that I hear in videos like this. I’m definitely going to be subscribing, your script was stellar and your presentation was fantastic.
I also felt bad for Shion, she was treated like a curse by her family, got her fingernails torned off just because she was in love with someone who is her family's enemy (and also because her uncle and bodyguard helped her and disobeyed the family's orders), lost the boy she loved even though she just got to know him (which caused her insanity to grow), and killed many people in revenge, only to find out that they weren't related to Satoshi's "disappearance".
And worse, she was the actual first-born and the real heir to the family, but she switched with her sister when they were young, and thus the switch caused them to live complete opposite lives. One being favored by the family and the other being unwanted.
I think you displayed stunning emotional intelligence in your analysis of Shion. Your insight into her and your love and knowledge of the story are great. You made a fantastic video and I thank you for your contribution to this one of a kind story. It's one of the best pieces of literature to come from Japan
i have bpd and i come back to this essay sometimes when i need strength tbh. shion's so important to me as someone who was raised in an invalidating household and she serves as a reminder that i can become a better person instead of continuing the path of condemning everyone around me for not accepting me the way i wanted.
Fantastic analysis this made to have a more complete understanding of her character helped me to fill the missing pieces of my own interpretation. You have a rich vocabulary which helps me to improve mine thank you for that aswel. Kinda feel bad about inadequacy of my own analysis of her character tho.
Hmm, I'm starting to think maybe the anime left out too many details for Shion.
Glimpses of the VN playthrough shown here shown her being more "vulnerable" than what the anime shown.
The anime was like
- Shion is put in boarding school, she doesn't like it, she wants to go out, and she escaped impulsively
- Shion meets Satoshi, finally someone to love, Shion was like as if Satoshi has an obligation to love her back
- Satoko gets in the way between her and Satoshi, she wished Satoko to be eliminated but that's not the case, Satoshi instead gets eliminated.
- She killed everyone she thought involved in erasing Satoshi, she killed Satoko. She regrets for one moment but decided to laugh it off anyways, "easily".
No wonder most people thought of her as the "Yandere", the anime may left out so many of her "vulnerability" and emotional struggles.
At least that's what I think, as an anime-only watcher (I'll buy the VN later, currently have just played Onikakushi hen which is free on Steam rn).
i was going to write a long winded rant on how well this was put together and how this made me completely rethink the trope and honestly just the medium of anime in general, but you know what-
good job. you deserve it.
Wow I just watched your deep dive analysis of both Mion and Shion and I'm simply blown away by your attention to the details to the narrative, I read the source material through different mediums multiple times and yet a lot of these slipped my attention. Ryukishi's of writing write characters that are truly human is simply unreal and it pains me that so little people are willing to read Higurashi's VN and give it a proper analysis because there is so much to unravel about every aspect of the narrative. Glad that there is at least one person who is willing to take up the task. Can't wait for more videos from you on the series. (I'm personally hoping about a character analysis of Keiichi and Satoko because they are my faves x3)
Damn as someone with BPD at his video and especially the comments section is a godsend. I used to be too scared as a kid to watch Higurashi but Ive recently been watching the new anime adaptation and holy shit I’m hooked! Great analysis in this video💚
Ik this comment is 3 years old but how did starting with the new adaptation turn out for you? Did you go back and watch the old one? Gou and Sotsu ended up being kind of a trainwreck
Great video, as always.
Hope to see something similar with the characters of Umineko .
Yeah, that series is a very interesting one.
If we were to have a deep dive, someone like Maria, Natsuhi or Erika Furudo would work very well.
Extremely well done video, 10/10.
I think people misunderstood the meaning of the term "yandere" more than straight up misunderstanding Shion. In my experience, 90% of the time people use the word yandere, they actually meant to say "yangire". I distinctly remember even Rena herself being called yandere on the internet all the time back in the 2006-2007 Higurashi craze even though she had nothing to do with actual yanderes, because the common western understanding of the term at the time was just that, someone that appears cute but can become violent, romance involved or not. And unlike yanderes, calling someone a yangire isn't really something that simplifies a character into a specific obsession and more so a casual, low brow way of pointing out one of the character's attributes, namely that they can do a 180 degree behavior shift on a dime. However, I prefer being more thorough when making a big detailed post about a character's personality than actually use either of those 2 terms though.
It annoys me too much when people try to simplify the main cast.
Incredible analysis! Writing such characters is one of Ryûkishi's greatest strength. I must say I would have emphasized the "using excuses for her murders" idea because there are parts where it just goes on and on when she's trying to justify herself to the point it doesn't make any more sense - you can see the train of thoughts get twisted as it progresses but in the end she still approves her own reasoning. It's really sad.
By the way, it's been some time since I last read Meakashi. From which chapter are the screens which appear from 15:17 to 15:43? I didn't recall this bit and it surprised me slightly...
They're from towards the end of the arc just before Rika comes by the main house.
Thank you! ;)
“ultimately, shion is neither trope, she is human”
that was so beautifully poetic, well done.
edit: “in a series like higurashi that deals with humans instead of heroes” also banger quote
I randomly came across this while just watching UA-cam. I genuinely didn't know what to expect but I am incredibly glad I clicked on it, this is fantastic.
I just finished reading Meakashi and found this video through Steam. I'm so glad I did! I didn't watch it all (I'm trying to avoid spoilers for the next arcs) but your analysis on Shion's character was great. I particularly loved that parallel you brought up about the scenes where Shion handles keys, I didn't make that connection while reading.
What I'm loving so far about Higurashi is how real some of it feels. Keiichi during the first four arcs felt like a real teenager to me, down to being unintentionally cruel due naivety (the scene in Tatarigoroshi where he tries to force Satoko into Mion's house comes to mind). Same goes for Shion now. I can't wait to see how the rest of the cast develops!
even has someone who loves yandere characters, i'm glad to see Shion has more dept to her
@@Mori-th9ws what?
Thank you very much!! I'm so glad, that you make this video. I'd love to show to all the Russian Higurashi community this, but many of them don’t know English or they just don’t care about a Shion’s real character and motives. Sometimes it’s so sad to realize that community interested Higurashi just because of “yandere” character and violence... I'd love to translate all of your videos on Russian language, so that more people can see, but I haven’t normal practice... So... I want to genuinely thank you for your hard work!! It’s very nice to listen analysis about chapters and characters from you!!!
Thanks for making this video 💚. Gave me a new light on Shion's character and made me love her even more. Wonderful job!
a channel who talks about Higurashi? let me binge these videos real quick
What a beautiful video on an incredible anime character.
Very well done. I feel like this gave so much more detail on her than the anime did, which makes me think they had to cut a lot of characterization from the VN. I've never read it but this makes me want to even more.
When I was playing through the sound novels, I didn't think my heart would break any harder than it did watching Satoko's abuse.
And then Shion's arc began.
Fantastic video, thank you.
This was a very articulate explanation of her. VERY good job!
I'm glad there are videos out there like these, so that I can better understand stories, characters, and the development of both without suffering through the more... "visually driven" components of the story.
ive listened to this video multiple times without expressing my thoughts so ill do it now: this is the best (and probably only??) analyisis ive seen on shion and you did such a wonderful job that ive watched this more than once throughout the past few years. i really appreciate your dedication to this franchise and thank you SOOOO much for this excellent analysis on shion's character omg
Oh my God this is such an insanely good analysis, I love your videos so much I would love to see more Higurashi character analysis from you. Now I wonder, could Satoko be a reconstruction of the tsundere trope? She's obviously based on it - Ryukishi himself called her a tsundere - but she's not a typical one and it's more platonic than romantic. When we meet her, she seems to be an annoying kid who loves pulling pranks, but in Tatarigoroshi we see her "dere" side - at first she scolds Keiichi, but when he says that she seems annoyed, Rika explains that she's actually very happy. At first she gets embarrassed after being exposed that she calles her brother nii-nii, but then she slowly opens up to Kei, finally calling him "nii-nii", showing her affection with no shame. Overall, she hides her insecurities and trauma with a tough, strong, sassy, independent and playful persona and has trouble with expressing her feelings because of her past - her mother changed husbands very quickly and she couldn't get attached to them, she couldn't accept them and view them as dads, and after her parents died, she was terribly abused by her aunt and uncle. She depended on Satoshi too much, causing him pain, and she feels guilty because of it, so she wants to become independent and bear everything by herself, pretending everything's fine and not opening up to anyone, but in reality, she really needs to depend on someone, she just can't because she believes she has to be strong and bear everything by herself. And in Minagoroshi, she finally admits to herself that she needs help from other people and asks for it. She shows her soft side in the end. So I'm wondering, could it be a reconstruction of the tsundere trope, similar to Shion deconstrucring the yandere trope? Just like you said in your WTC guide, Higurashi is a deconstruction of the dating sim genre, so I wouldn't be suprise if each character was a deconstruction of a certain dating sim trope, and tsundere is a very popular one. Typical tsundere is a character who acts harsh towards their love interest to hide their affection towards them, but eventually opens up to them and is eventually able to be honest about their love. Satoko, in a similar manner, isn't honest about her feelings and tries to act tough, when in reality she really needs someone to cling to. She acts harsh towards Kei in the beginning, but opens up to him in Tatarigoroshi. Satoko isn't a traditional tsundere, but exhibits some of the trope's elements and even Ryukishi calls her a tsundere at some point. Satoko is a deeply wounded individual whose behavior isn't random and is a result of her trauma. She turns the anime stereotype upside down and shows that this behavior doesn't come from nowhere. She's not just a "tsundere", she's a human with a tragic backstory which caused her to act like this. I would love to watch a video further examining Satoko's character, what I wrote here are just my loose thoughts, but this is an interesting topic which deserves a deeper analysis
Wow. Just, wow. This is one fantastic analysis you got there! Just when I thought I know everything and instead I ended up discovering new things about Higurashi thanks to your video!
I really can't express with words just how great it was getting this video in my recommended. Thank you very kindly, Bess. Keep up the good work!
ughhh i needed this
i was so into higurashi back in middle school and ended up missing like all of the important shitpost. Shion reminds me of so many people, and she always felt like the most interesting
Funny enough I liked Shion more than her sister and the rest of the girls in the series, I really liked her character with being sent to a boarding school because she would've been a burden and her family really struck me.
I love your videos, you really know how to articulate your points and your analyses of higurashi remind me of why I love this series so much. Please keep making them. 🖤
I hate the way people talk about finger nails as someone who will literally go in to an internal panic upon seeing a pencil sharpener I hate people talking about it so lightly thank you for this where you actually deconstruct the character and acknowledge the characters trauma
1:23 that is Ai yori aoshi a quite great show and managa. If anyone didn't know.
Just in time for the remake eh. Your videos are interesting, Ill keep an eye out.
Shion's journey is without doubt one of my favorites in the series, and this video made me appreciate it even more. It makes me stunned to see how many details carry such powerful meanings
I also really like the depth of her character. It just sad that she was put down as a “yandere” character instead of others looking into her story and life more
A great video. Hope you can keep doing more!
I hope you do more higurashi videos, this was very insightful very well made. You made me like Meakashi a bit more
>the most impeccably written character I've seen come across to date
truth hath been spoken
Where has your content been all my life?! this is based
You're probably on of my favorite youtubers, love your videos every time!
You're pretty great you know keep it up and im sure people will come to wacth even more than this
I absolutely loved this video. Here, you really sell the intricacies and sophisticated nature of Shion's personality which made her my favorite Higurashi character (and one of my all time favorites in fiction in general). I'm really looking forward to her internal narration in the sound novels (which I just started reading recently, though I'm only on Onikakushi) that you included to add context to what the anime had shown/extend her narration beyond her spoken monologues.
On that note, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed in the Deen anime for cutting a lot of those. I ultimately think some of her scenes in Watangashi-hen and Meakashi-hen (in particular, the absurd faces animator Numata Seiya portrayed her with when she was shaking the ladder Keiichi was on in the former arc and her infamous laughing/"derpy-looking enraged" faces in the latter arc's scenes) largely damaged how many people saw Shion as a character in Higurashi season 1. Which led to the discourse about her being a yandere and ofc, the nefarious UA-cam Poop memes featuring aforementioned faces/scenes.
So I definitely feel that you very clearly and effectively addressed these concerns I had and filled in the nuances/concepts lost in the storytelling of the adaptation. In all honesty even back when I first watched Higurashi, while I still liked s1 a lot and Shion was my favorite from the start, I felt that it wasn't until Kai where I fully understood and appreciated this narrative for what it was actually trying to say.
One exacerbation of that was how rushed the portrayal of her relationship with Satoshi was, even as a flashback. My friend also told me (you may have mentioned this in the video, but I don't remember where as I haven't rewatched it yet) that while subtle the nuance to Shion’s feelings for Satoshi and Satoko in the sound novels is described as originating from her being interested in them because of how deeply she personally relates to their ostracization. This was completely lost on me as an anime-only, despite it probably being the most obvious thing (or at least retroactively, I wish I had picked up on that myself).
Anyway, this was a really great piece, and I'd love to watch more of your Higurashi video essays. I also find your argument about removing personality disorders from the DSM to be intriguing and salient, and I ultimately think I somewhat agree with it due to how often they've been pathologized by society.
Not sure if Shion relating to Satoshi and Satoko for that specific reason was ever explicitly said, but as with so many things in the VN, I feel like Ryukishi lays it out in a way that's easy to understand if you're willing to take the time to think about it. He really rewards readers and their willingness to empathise with characters in that way. Indeed the anime version of the arc runs for 2 hours iirc vs the VN version being about 15 hours, it's an incredibly compressed overview of the events. Enjoy the VN!
@@_bess Ah yeah, I figured it wasn't outright said knowing Ryukishi, but I'm sure it's a valid take. I really love that about his writing, honestly. How the characters drive the story and you only get as much catharsis and euphoria out of his narrative as you put in. I'm really eager to continue that experience with Higurashi and eventually Umineko and his other works like Higanbana, Ciconia, Iwaihime, etc.
And yeah, so far I'm enjoying it a lot! On another note, I'm definitely going to check out your video on Madoka Magica next as well, because I think our stances on Homura's behavior in the TV series and film line up pretty well so I'm excited to see you elaborate on your take~
Thank you. Shion is the best example of well written character. She does have a personality other than obsessive and destuctive.
Admittedly, when I first saw this a recommendation to me, I clicked away from it because how I thought the video would be was telling me Shion was a yandere and I was instantly like "No. She's not" and stalled watching this. But now I'm glad I watched this. Mion is my favorite character because she's such a light in the series, but her sister is the one whom I find the most interesting. Especially depending on the time loop. Shion is honestly a character you can both somewhat relate to (either as a kid who thought they were unwanted or how they used laughter as a coping mechanism or even being open to standing up to others) but also is much more complex to actually really relate to. She's someone I love to watch and see within the Higurashi series. She's someone unique and she doesn't get enough love and respect as a character.
I first learned about Higurashi through gory compilation of Shion`s kill spree and oh boy I didn`t expect that it all would turn out as a tear-inducing psychological drama rather than just another bloody and violent piece of media. To this day my favourite character is Shion, even Takano couldnt overshadow her.
I've loved Shion ever since I first saw her in the anime, but I never expected my favourite character to be this deep! It just makes me love her more 😆
Welp
Now I'm one step closer to understanding why I like Shion so much
Thank you for this fantastic video because I love higurashi but I suck at analyzing anything
This video helped a lot!!!
Edit: am looking forward to your next videos! Keep it up!
A genuinely good video essay. Hard to come by these days. Great stuff!
Speaking as someone with BPD, there’s a reason many of us are drawn to the yandere-core aesthetic
Amazing, I love your videos. Great work ❤️
Incredible analysis. Shion had always been my favorite character in Higurashi, and this only made me love her even more.
thanks for giving a whole new perspective on shion
Beautiful video.
I hadn’t watched or read Higurashi since early 2019, so I saved this video until I finished my rewatch of the anime. I love that this video exists. I never really appreciated Shion as a character until reexperiencing the entire story, and I’m glad that somebody was able to dispel such a limiting trope as the “yandere” label from her so effectively. She’s so much more than that.
I’ve literally never seen Higurashi but the opening seconds of this video scared me viscerally. If that’s not a wonderful recommendation idk what else could be haha
Thanks UA-cam, I was watching "Rena cute scenes Higurashi 2020" and this was the first recommended.
Fear leads to panic,
Panic leads to pain,
Pain leads to anger,
Anger leads to hate
what a fantastic video. thank you for this
even so seeing her descend into total madness with "festivals" ost making that unsetting creepy noise made it the most awesome part of the whole of higurashi.
Im reading CH02 again and boy was mion x keiichi the cutest thing ever , the gou animation with them cute part added a bunch to that too despite being different arcs.
I have BPD and I appreciate your respect for her character. She has been hurt before and worries of being hurt again. Thank you
Man that Nageki no mori at the start brought back so many memories. Chills
Very well done 👏👏👏👏. I had always been perplexed why Shion and Rena are labeled as Yandere even though it’s not over infatuation with a guy.
I agree. Rena is a yangire
And everybody is forgetting about how she killed everyone for Satoshi.
@@mycommentisgonnaruinyourday122, Shion killed Mion, Kimieshi and Rika for revenge. The only person killed because of Satoshi is Satoko. And in this case, Shion wanted to take revenge on Mion by killing a man dear to her.
@@celestialudenberg4196 actually she did kill her grandma for Satoshi too, Mion wss kinda killed because of that but she didn't have anything to do with his disappearence
@@feduwtc, Didn't she kill her grandmother in self-defense? She thought Mion and grandma were going to kill her. She even said that she would not make the same mistake as Satoshi and would survive.
The situation in the show and web novel is probably what I find remarkable. Some events remain the same, while the rest is different. Makes you wonder if theirs ever a semi-peaceful timeline.
I had this video berried in my watch later list for quite a long time now but now that I finished watching up to Rai, I immediately went to check this video out.