#yandere ooishi

[stupid-sloot-headcanons]

ooishi anon here. ngl i feel like ooishi would be into tying his darling up in shibari so they can’t really resist him (or just using cuffs lmao)

if your requests are still open for the ficlet id like to request something like ooishi and female (she’s like in her 20s and is a family friend of his) go out for drinks and he ends up getting her super drunk or drugs her and she wakes up and finds herself in shibari displayed on his bed and he just is fucking her into the mattress.

djfjfjdjdjd sorry for the cum brain thoughts. delete this if you don’t feel comfortable with it

OH FUCK YES, anon you just activated my fap card

TW: somnophilia, bondage, dub/noncon

Ooishi had always loved how cute she was when she was drunk. Normally she'd only give him quick hugs and pats on the shoulder at most, but the first time they'd gone out for a drink and to catch up, she'd gotten more and more affectionate as the night went on. She always apologized the next day for being too handsy, and Ooishi always said she had nothing to apologize for; he never told her that he loved feeling her rub against him all night, cuddling him and failing to notice his cock stirring in his pants thanks to her touches.

____ was over two decades his junior, and a family friend at that; fantasizing about her always gave him a lingering sense of guilt and shame for a while after he'd cum while eagerly fucking his hand. But it never lasted too long, especially when he imagined her wrapped up and on display for him like a fine piece of art.

Being a man of action and instinct was what had gotten him this far as a detective, and it was what would finally push him to make this one fantasy a reality. He wasn't content to jack off and pine over her like a shy teen; he was a man, and he was going to enjoy ____ as a proper woman.

Taking her home was ridiculously easy: order her a rum-and-coke so the fizz from the pull didn't make her suspicious, feign concern and help walk her into the back of his car, and carry her inside once he's back home. She'd known she wasn't at her place by the decor and the scent of Ooishi's cigarettes and cologne lingering in the air, but she had simply pouted and said he didn't have to let her stay the night like this. He'd shushed her with a smile and said it wasn't any trouble at all--it was his pleasure.

____ had woken up to an intense heat radiating from her body, and she had no idea why. Was her temperature high just from drinking too much? But...why did she feel so full? What was moving between her legs? And why were her arms behind her back?? She was lying face down now instead of on her side, and something was pulled taught over her body as if she were in a web. Her arms were bound to her sides, but which she could feel criss-crossing all around her body. Something round and spherical was in her mouth, and a strap held it in place around her head. The cold nighttime air made her bare nipples harden, but the extreme heat from her full cunt was--

Wait. Why was she naked? Who was inside of her? Who...what was happening?

She slowly opened her eyes (no easy feat thanks to the drugs leaving her foggy and and dazed) and in the reflection of the bedroom mirror, she saw Ooishi towering over her. One of his hands was below his waist; she could feel some of his knuckles every so often while something fleshy with a blunt head kissed the cleft of her ass as well.. His other thumb was feverishly circling around her clitoris, and two of his thick calloused fingers were stretching her walls as he curled around a particularly sensitive spot inside of her that made her gasp.

____ blinked her half-lidded eyes and struggled to fully realize just what Ooishi had done to her. His voice seemed so far away as he panted and murmured vulgar praises to her. "There you go, that's my girl," he said with a grin. "Once you cum on my hand again, I think you'll be ready for my cock. Can't wait to finally feel this tight, cute little pussy of yours now that you're all wet for me."

He moved his fingers faster, curling the ones inside of her while circling even faster around her clit. ____ let out a squeal as she clenched around him; this was so wrong, but it felt so good. Too good. She tried to wiggle her hands free and shuffle forward away from him, and the sudden movement instantly made Ooishi look at the mirror. When he saw ____'s bleary, confused and frightened eyes staring back at him, he smiled sheepishly as he continued to fuck her. "Guess I should've given you a second dose," he admitted. "Then again, it wouldn't be as good if you'd been asleep the whole time." His gaze darkened and his smile became a bit more sinister. "It'll be nice to see what you look like when you cum--well, while you're awake, I mean."

Before ____ could react, Ooishi bent down and quickly used his free arm to wrap around her stomach and pull her torso up until she was in a seated position on her knees. Now she could feel his cock pressed flush against her from behind, and she blinked back a few tears of relief when she felt him remove his fingers; even if the ache was unbearable, she could withstand having to look at herself if he wasn't inside her like that anymore.

Her relief was short-lived. Ooishi placed one glistening hand on her breast, kneading and squeezing her nipple between his fingers while lining his cock up with her entrance. "I changed my mind," he declared. "I can't go another round with just my hand. Now that you're awake, I just have to see how cute you look when you've got my cock inside you."

____ frantically tried to angle her hips away and struggled against the rope and the arm keeping her bound, but all that did was earn her a sharp slap to her backside. She let out a muffled scream and Ooishi looked at her sternly in the mirror. "Listen to me," he said firmly. "I want to make you feel good too, but if you're going to act like that then I'll stop being so caring." He gently rubbed the stung skin on her thigh and rocked against her. "You know that only good girls get to cum, right?"

____ trembled against him and sniffled before replying with a whimpering "Uh-huh" from behind the gag. Ooishi smiled and positioned his cock at her entrance again, and slowly eased his way into her; even without going too fast and the prep he'd given her while she was unconscious, the stretch of his cock was still painful.

"Fuuuuuck, good girl," Ooishi groaned. "Taking me like a good little slut. You're even tighter than I imagined you'd be."

____ began to cry as the man she thought she knew used and violated her. Even if he had started off slow, he'd quickened his pace almost immediately until he was bouncing her on his cock at a frantic speed. Her breasts and stomach jiggled furiously while he continued to jackhammer his cock in and out of her until she thought he'd literally break her. Even with the fear of him punishing her again, she frantically shook her head and strained against her bonds while sobbing and begging him to stop.

Ooishi sighed with disappointment and spanked her again. A new round of sobs came from her and he forced her head up to look at her reflection in the mirror. "Look at me and listen to me, ____-chan," he ordered. ____ blinked away her tears and willed herself to face him in the mirror while he continued to fuck her. "I've dealt with criminals much stronger than you and much more stubborn than you could ever be. You're not gonna win and you're not gonna get away from me. You can hate me now, but I still love you so, SO much." His voice softened and he rolled his hips against her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The sudden tenderness made ____ feel even worse than when he'd been rough with her. "And you'll learn to love me too, not the same way as before but like this." He smiled and went back to his fast, admiring the way her breasts bounced wildly and how she'd gasped and moaned at the sudden change. "I know you don’t want this, but I’m going to continue until you need me."

[medea10]

My Review of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni GOU

(a.k.a. When They Cry Gou)

I know what you’re thinking. Why the heck am I reviewing this anime again? I’ve already written a review in 2009 and re-polished it in 2016. (Here it is BTW) I’ve made my point on who I like, hate, what ships are worthy, and poked fun at all the deaths that happened throughout the series. I think some time has passed that I should say some thoughts on this…um, story. After all, Higurashi is one of my favorite animes.

STORY: Ah shit, here we go again!

Higurashi or When They Cry is about a boy named Keiichi Maebara who recently moved to a place called Hinamizawa. And ever since moving to this town, he’s found his days are filled with fun mischief with fellow friends Rena Ryuuguu, Satoko Hojo, Mion Sonozaki, and Rika Furude. But little does Keiichi know that there’s a little murder mystery that surrounds the town. During a town festival known as Watanagashi (or Cotton Drifting), there’s usually one or two people that go missing or turn up dead. And this year, Keiichi is next. So let’s relive the horrors that plague the town of Hinamizawa and…

One episode later.

Wait, what the…?! It’s episode 2, why are we seeing Hanyuu? I don’t remember that in the manga. The visual! THE VISUAL! WHAT THE FUCK?! ISN’T THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A REBOOT? WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY IS THERE AN ADULT RIKA?! WAIT, IS THAT ADULT RIKA OR BERN? IS THIS GOING TO BE THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE TO THE WITCHES OF UMINEKO?! THE SHADOWS IN THE OPENING ARE TOO FAMILIAR FROM OTHER WORKS! Ryukishi07, you magnificent, fucking troll master for keeping this hidden until the second episode’s air date!

Many of us did not see this coming. When they announced a new Higurashi series that was going to be done by a different studio, many of us speculated whether this was going to be a reboot or a sequel. But then we got the PV trailers and it looked like we were going to get a reboot to correct the mistakes Studio Deen made years ago. Rika’s head doesn’t look like its gonna snap off because her body is so small in comparison. Improvements! I mean, they showed everything we were already used to like the yandere girls, the original soundtrack, the original freakin’ cast, and death by baseball bat. Hell, the first episode ended with an Eiko Shimamiya song! It was on track to being a reboot! A better looking reboot!

Here in lies the sequel aspect! After episode one, we get a scene that isn’t usually seen until the Kai part of Higurashi (a good 4-5 arcs away). And they give away the secret that Rika Furude is repeating the timeline of June 1983 over and over because she keeps dying. And as the series progresses, you notice little things different from the original series. Many of the well-known storylines end much differently than what you remember. Instead of Keiichi killing Rena and Mion with a baseball bat, you’ve got Rena going psycho on Keiichi. And Rika’s fate is somehow worse than the stories of the original series. So let’s head back to Hinamizawa to hear the cicadas cry and watch a murder mystery unfold.

THE SUB: All the original voice actors have returned to voice their respected roles. Perfection in a nutshell!

LICENSING: You’ve gotta be shitting me!

As I’ve mentioned years ago in my review, the original Higurashi anime went through a turbulent time being licensed in the states. It was originally licensed and dubbed by Geneon. But once Geneon collapsed, FUNimation licensed it and did absolutely fuck all with it. Geneon could only manage to squeak out one season. At this point, FUNimation was picking up titles that Geneon used to have before it fell under including Familiar of Zero, Kyou Kara Maou, and yes, Higurashi. All of these titles mentioned here were done absolutely nothing with despite having cult followings, second seasons, and OVA’s.

A year or two after licensing it, the license expired for Higurashi. For nearly six years, the only copies you could get were out of print and estimating at $500 at the very least for a full collection. Single DVD’s could be found in rare shops, but it would take like 13 years to complete the fucking collection if you did it that way. And that was only for the first season. Second season, the best all of us could do was bootleg DVD’s from Japan Town or fansubs with glaring errors for the best season to Higurashi. We had to deal with this shit until Sentai Filmworks licensed and released the first 2 seasons and the Rei OVA’s.

AND NOW YOU’RE TELLING ME FUNIMATION IS CLAIMING HIGURASHI ALL FOR THEMSELVES?!

Where the shit was this love 10 years ago when we were asking politely to release Kai? People ignorantly blew Higurashi off for years because season two was never released in the states until 2016 because they thought the damn anime ended after Rena held up the school. I’m already irritated with FUNimation after the Interspecies Reviewers debacle and I’m still quite butt-hurt over them re-releasing Nichijou with a dub to make a quick buck. Licensing Higurashi just brings back old anger. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy Higurashi is legally licensed and can be seen on at the very least Hulu. It’s just that I hold grudges and this was a big one.

THE DUB: Holy…um, okay! This is a rather big gulp to take in. As I’ve repeatedly mentioned in past reviews, the Higurashi dub was a mixed bag of okay, bad, and oh gasperts kill it with fire. So, not great! The good folks at Geneon (before bankrupting in America) dubbed the first season with a good chunk of folks that put their fake names to the credits. Again, not great! To me, there were some aspects of Megan Hollingshed, Mela Lee, and Grant George’s performances of Mion, Rena, and Keiichi that were okay. SOME! John Snyder and Karen Strassmen as Ooishi and Takano were the best out of that dub. Everything else was just irredeemable! It needed a redub, an overhaul, and a spit-shine. For years, I’ve wondered who would be the dream cast. Sentai Filmworks unfortunately never dubbed the remaining seasons when they released them. Would Luci Christian be the heavenly voice to do Rika Furude? Could we get Hilary Haag to do Satoko? Okay, that never came to pass.

This dub is a breath of fresh air. Rika doesn’t sound like Mihoshi. Satoko doesn’t sound fake, Keiichi doesn’t sound like a weird Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s perfect. ESPECIALLY BRITTANY LAUDA AS SATOKO! I knew the second she was cast as Satoko that she was going to excel the fuck out of this role. And I was not disappointed! The only voice I’m still not quite used to is Michelle Rojas as the Sonozaki twins. Probably because I was somewhat okay with Megan Hollingshed’s voice in the 2006 version that it’ll take some time! And we FINALLY got a voice for Hanyuu. I am super excited that Xanthe Huynh is the voice and I know she’ll do great with this role! With all of that said, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Keiichi is now played by Khoi Dao (known for Kiriyama on March Comes in Like a Lion, Murata on Demon Slayer, Chaka on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 3, and Iskhan on SAO: Alicization)

*Rena is now played by Emi Lo

*Mion/Shion is now played by Michelle Rojas (known for Shizu Delta on Overlord, Touka on Assassination Classroom, Minase on Psycho Pass, Kanan on Love Live Sunshine, and Kusakai on Keijo!!!!!!!!)

*Rika is now played by Apphia Yu (known for Rio on Assassination Classroom, Marie on Black Clover, You on Love Live Sunshine, Victorique on Gosick, Natsumi on Danganronpa 3, and Laki on Fairy Tail)

*Satoko is now played by Brittany Lauda (known for Riko on Made in Abyss, Meidri on Interspecies Reviewers, Lessar on Index III, and Ichigo on Darling in the FranXX)

*Hanyuu is played by Xanthe Huynh (known for Menma on Anohana, Haru on Persona 5, Hanayo on Love Live, Hidomi on FLCL: Progressive, PallaPalla on Sailor Moon Super S [redub], and Sachi on SAO)

ANY CHANGES IN YOUR HATE-O-RADE:

Okay Medea, let-a-rip!

*inhales and exhales*

Teppei Hojo is trash. He is ultimate trash. This fucker needs to be murdered in every timeline. He is a turd in a Glenn Quagmire shirt. Him and his wife are trash. And when this pile of trash is cheating on that pile of trash, he sleeps with peak trash named Ritsuko. Teppei Hojo needs to die in every timeline. Whenever Keiichi bashes this cum-burger’s head in with a blunt instrument, I scream at the top of my lungs, “DIE SCUM, DIE”! And nothing, I repeat, NOTHING will change my opinion of Teppei Hojo.

Episode 23.

Oh, fuck you Higurashi Gou!

MUSIC: Okay, thank you for proving me wrong. I did not despise the opening theme. Having Higurashi with no Eiko Shimamiya is like having Pokemon with no Rika Matsumoto. Or Rozen Maiden with no ALI PROJECT. But this new opening is fine by my standards.

That’s right, get the niceness of the review before I get angry down below.

THESE TIMELOOPS: Rika tries to find solutions to end her time-loop in June 1983. Much like the original series, we follow stories from the Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen, and Tatarigoroshi-hen arcs (the first three stories to Higurashi, although now these have different names). However, all of these arcs have different endings. And after a positive turnaround with Satoko escaping from her abusive uncle, shit goes south when Detective Ooishi, who up to this point has never suffered under the Hinamizawa Syndrome or died a painful death goes on a murderous rampage. Higurashi style! That means, he’s after Rika Furude, will slaughter anyone in his way, and scratching his neck because he sees maggots (part of the hallucination effect).

What the shit? Ooishi for the most part has been a great guy. With the exception of the Tatarigoroshi-hen storyline, he was a nice guy! In the limbo with Hanyuu, Rika now remembers who has killed her. Every time Rika dies up to this point, she never remembers who was the cause of her demise. Hanyuu implanted that power to remember the deaths and a clue for Rika to use and then she disappears.

Now seriously, imagine Rika’s plight here. She has been repeating the month of June 1983 for over a hundred years. And each of these times she repeats, she’s horribly murdered. Rika got the shit-end of the deal in the murder department in the original series, including being dissected on while alive. Then, leaving her bloody, naked corpse out in the open of the Oyashiro altar! She’s tired of this shit! She wants to live a happy life away from Hinamizawa. She wants to grow older, become a teenager, and have fun. And this series made it worse by having her die four times in one episode. Not just that, but murdered by the most unexpected people including Akasaka, Chief Kimiyoshi, Mion’s mother Akane, and Keiichi. Keiichi has never killed Rika in any of the timelines up to this point. He has killed Mion and Rena, but never Rika. Keiichi loves Rika! Welcome back to A Million Ways to Die in Hinamizawa.

I’ll just add decapitation, drowning in a lake, set on fire, drowning in a sewage pipe, and death by…um…

Alexa, play Chandelier by Sia.

ENDING: We all know by now that in the original series, Miyo Takano is the betrayer and the reason behind all the murders during the Cotton Drifting Festival. This time, it’s someone closer to Rika that’s causing Rika so much pain. After we watched the worst kinds of murders happen to Rika, the episode after gave us our answer. Satoko, Rika’s friend and confidant is not happy that Rika is turning her back on Oyashiro and Hinamizawa. All the while pulling out her intestines!

Oh Higurashi, don’t stop being gory!

Yes, Satoko is aware of past timelines much like Rika and is almost on a god-like state. So what the hell happened to her? I know Satoko’s past has been a cluster-fuck of horror with her brother disappearing, her parents dying, and every form of abuse from her uncle. But she was able to prevail after all that. After surviving 1983, a lot has changed in Hinamizawa. The three big families of Hinamizawa put an end to the Cotton Drifting Festival and claiming there is no curse of Oyashiro. Mion and Shion moved on and are going to high school. And Rika decides she wants to move away from this village. By attending St. Lucia! And she wants to do this with Satoko.

Oh, if you don’t recall St. Lucia, Shion attended this academy until she escaped during the Meakashi-hen arc. It was also the same school that Ange from Umineko attended. But of course Ange attended it in the 90’s and we are clearly in the 80’s. Moving on!

Rika and Satoko studied their butts off for years and their hard work paid off as both were admitted into St. Lucia. Now Rika was able to prevail and fit in with everyone. Satoko on the other hand couldn’t do the same as her grades took a dip, her manners are atrocious, and she doesn’t seem to fit in with anyone. And this caused a drift between Rika and Satoko! And so during a trip to Hinamizawa, Satoko went to the old shrine where she ended up getting sent to that limbo place Rika and Hanyuu were at many times before. There, she meets Eua (God, I hope that really isn’t her name). She’s much like Hanyuu except a lot more condescending. Oh, and she’s that mysterious shadow during the opening theme. She bestows the power to Satoko of reviving on death and returning to a certain point in time. In the hopes that Satoko is able to stop Rika from going to St. Lucia! But Rika is not going to budge. She wants out of Hinamizawa no matter what. And Satoko just wants to be with her friend no matter what. Satoko is even shown Rika’s past and still no dent in…Okay, this is bugging the fuck outta me. Pause the Ending portion!

MY GRIPES WITH SATOKO: Satoko, girl, the fuck is wrong with you?! I know Rika is like your main chick and everything, but for fuck’s sake loosen the grip you have with Rika. This season has changed you and not for the better. You made a connection with ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS from Hinamizawa. Big connections! At least in the original series you did. Look at your moments with Keiichi and Shion. Are you just going to shove them off? And what really sets me off is that Satoko literally had the opportunity to learn about Rika’s hundred year’s loop of death. And feels nothing about it! Only that it’s a challenge to break her herself! God damn, at the end of season one, Keiichi learned the truth and he was remorseful. This bitch doesn’t care that her friends were murdered in such a way. And Rika’s been shot in the head, had a live dissection performed on her, and other forms of torture…AND IT DOESN’T FAZE SATOKO!

I know in my original Higurashi review, I felt sorry for Satoko as she did seem to get the short-end of the stick living in Hinamizawa. I mean, her parents died right in front of her, she suffered abuse from her uncle, abuse from her aunt, ostrisized by the town for years, and a myriad of all types of shit to befall her. But Higurashi Gou has ruined this character. Rika didn’t really do anything wrong to Satoko. She didn’t snitch on her when Satoko got in trouble. She offered help to Satoko when she thought her grades were slipping. Satoko just held onto this petty vendetta. Satoko acted like Rika sexually assaulted her and have two other people gang rape her while drugging her. Okay, that’s a call for revenge, not your petty shit.

YOU SEE WHERE I’M AT WITH YOU SATOKO?! Your actions are so bad that you have me siding with the protagonist from Redo of Healer.

REDO.

OF.

HEALER!!!

I’m done with you! Girl, bye! We now return you to my talk about the ending already in progress.

BACK TO THE ENDING: Sorry, had to get that off my chest. Yeah, Satoko is leaving a bad impression on many of us who have been following the Higurashi story for years. And it just gets worse as she uses her new power for petty shit and abusing it at that. I mean, we saw Rika use her power in order to find a way to live past June 1983. Satoko is just using that shit to win some games and have things go her way. What else could this series bless us with? How about an epiphany from Teppei Hojo?

What?!

Teppei changes for the better.

What?!

Look, I admit that these moments with Teppei and Satoko were tame compared to the shit she’s pulled in the last several episodes. But this is Teppei Hojo! The same guy that used Satoko as his personal punching bag! The same guy who fleeced Rena’s father! The same guy many of us who cheer every time we see him on a moped because we know someone’s going to bash his head in with a baseball bat. Even my best friend knows how I am with this guy. When she gave me Higurashi free swag, I took everything except for Teppei. I don’t take trash. So seeing him so remorseful makes me…conflicted.

So now Satoko’s got things turned around for her. Her uncle has…changed?! Add to that, her God-like power. Satoko decides to change the past for her own advantage. This includes changing one of the biggest stories in Higurashi Kai with the kids vs. Miyo Takano. If Rika doesn’t experience the pain in those timelines, she won’t think about leaving Hinamizawa. And if she doesn’t leave Hinamizawa, she’ll stay with Satoko forever.

Oh what a tangled web of crazy Higurashi Gou was! I gotta tell you, Higurashi got me excited all the way up until we learn it was Satoko. And then it went straight to Hell. They turned Satoko into a straight-up selfish monster. Totally unlike the Satoko we’ve all grown to love in the original series. Yes, Satoko had those moments where, yeah, you would want to throw a chair at her and beat her ass with it. But that was only temporary! You would always see the good in Satoko despite that mischievous laugh and those episodes in Higurashi Rei. And God help me, I was a shipper of Rika x Satoko 10 years ago. Not a big one, but a supporter of it. Now, I would rather support Amourshipping from Pokemon than root for this. And I despise the living fuck out of Amourshipping. That should tell you something!

If original Satoko were bestowed the powers from Eua, I think things would be different. Satoko would probably use her powers to prevent all the bad stuff from happening to her friends and to her brother Satoshi. I mean, my goodness, not once did I see her think, hey maybe I should find a way to help my ailing brother. Change a few timelines, make him all better! And of course, feel sympathy for Rika’s plight. Do it for Rika’s sake, not your own selfish desires! Rika has died horrificly for hundreds of years. And I seriously just can’t get over Satoko’s reaction to that when she learned the truth. Instead, she wants to treat Rika like a caged bird. Best friend my ass!

Now can Higurashi SOTSU fix the hot mess of Satoko? Time will only tell! And good on them for having Higurashi air in the summertime. Summertime is for Higurashi! Autum is for Umineko. Speaking of, it’s been since 2009. Any chance you want to give Umineko the old reboot or sequel it sorely needs? Oh forget it! My likeness for this season is conflicted. I was annoyed by it, but I didn’t fully hate it. It’s just that last arc with Satoko really burned my beans. And I’m sure a lot of you all feel the same way.

Guys, if you want to watch Higurashi Gou, do yourselves a favor and watch the original series first. Let that swirl around your heads for a while. I know the creator tricked us at the beginning of this series thinking it was going to be an honest-to-God retelling. It is not! It is a sequel. And a sequel that isn’t based off a game or manga of all things. So fans are jumping into this with eyes closed! And if you’re a fan of Satoko Hojo, I’m sorry. I’m just sorry.

If you want to check out Higurashi Gou, it is available to watch on FUNimation and Hulu. But please, if you haven’t watched the original series, go to HI-DIVE now and watch “When They Cry” and “When They Cry Kai”. I think you can manage without watching any of the OVA’s.

I’d rather watch that Kira OVA where the fanservice is thin, you can practically lick off the whipped cream from the Sonozaki’s tit.

That should tell you something if I’m starting to say something nice about Higurashi Kira.

See you in a few months when Higurashi SOTSU comes out.

[ryouverua]

What was the vibe that changed most since Gou, what do you dislike most?

Oh man…

I'm gonna speak somewhat vaguely but still, obvious Sotsu spoilers below.

So there’s a certain subtlety that was still present in Gou (which of course are from the visual novels) that seems to have been entirely lost in Sotsu. I think nearly all of my problems (aside from the staggering amount of content rehashing, especially in the recent episodes) come from that issue.

I was actually telling a friend recently that there were certain dramatic flourishes added to the anime that I was overlooking because I figured it was just a part of working with the medium: ie, the snapping of fingers to signal a loop change, the constant repetition of ‘itchy, itchy…’ which was never a thing in any previous iteration. And there is of course a certain character I was very happy to defend last season - which I still don't regret, with what I knew at the time - because that feeling of nuance was still there.

Sotsu has just... entirely thrown that all out the window. I mean, I guess I should have realized that when we had the most basic, by-the-book version Tsun-Teppei, with the one manipulating him looking straight-up 'kick the dog' evil throughout. L5 Ooishi just flipped and turned into Evil Ooishi at points when the story needed him to - like, could we not have any inner narration at any point to make some of his decisions land better? Mion pretty much went yandere-played-straight with none of the insight Meakashi-hen offered Shion, and so on, so forth. Rena really lucked out, tbh - if we hadn't had Tsumihoroboshi-hen as a guide to what makes her tick for the anime to use as a guide, I think these cracks would've shown up sooner.

And look, I'm sure I'm not going to be the first person to bring up how it's become the Satorika show - and tbh, I don't think I'd even mind so much if all of the other issues weren't around. But c'mon, why would they have a whole episode dedicated to Witch!Satoko taking out Regular!Satoko in order to give Regular!Satoko justification to be redeemable (and lay all of the blame for the terrible actions at the feet of the Witch), only to then try and make a redemption arc for the Witch? And what in the world was that across-fragment fight? I saw some people trying to use Umineko as a justification, and it makes me wonder if they remember all the meticulous world-building that made those magic fights possible. Is this more of them trying to bridge the two? Because if so, they're disregarding all the internal logic and magic systems of both series pretty shamelessly...

Anyway, I've gotten a bit off track and there are probably whole chunks of this that warrant their own deep dive, so I'll leave it at that for now. Suffice it to say, I have no idea how they're going to wrap things up in a single episode and I feel like one of those desperate BBC Sherlock fans clamoring for the secret episode when I start thinking too hard about there actually being more coming, or an unannounced new season in the works, so I'm going to just not speculate about that until we get official word from the studio.