Cat Deceiving Chapter Part One

Cat Deceiving Chapter Part One
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gō (ひぐらしのなく頃に業)
General Information
Season	Third
Arc	Nekodamashi-hen
Chapter	1
Season Episode	14
Anime Episode	75
English Name	Cat Deceiving Chapter Part One
Rōmaji Translation	Nekodamashi-hen Sono Ichi
Japanese Name	猫騙し編　其の壱
Writer	Naoki Hayashi
Director	Keiichiro Kawaguchi
Original Airdate	January 7, 2021
Previous	Curse Deceiving Chapter Part Five
Next	Cat Deceiving Chapter Part Two

Synopsis

Need we warns ye that there be:

Arg!

Prologue

A television shows a title for the evening news for "June 19 (Sunday)."　Rena gently guides a ball of cotton into the river. From behind them and holding her own ball of cotton, Rika watches Shion and Mion add theirs. Numerous balls float. Rena thanks Oyashiro-sama. She stands and asks where Keiichi and Satoko ran off to. She whines that they attended most of the performance. Shion suggests after the hard battle they are alone relishing their victory, which sends Rena into Cute Mode. This provokes a laugh from Mion who does suggest that the two are "at that age." Rika, however, listens, whilst still holding her cotton ball, with a concerned look. Mion suggests that they will all have to thoroughly interrogate the two tomorrow.

In her Adult Voice, speaks to the cotton ball as if addressing Hanyū. She notes that they have broken through the dead-end fate and rescued Satoko. She continues as she places the ball in the water that she knows that by working together they can break the fate that results in her death. Her ball floats away with others.

The scene shifts to empty stalls after the festival. Under one tent, a number of adults laugh, drink, and eat. A concerned Rena tells Shion, Mion, and Rika that it appears that Keiichi and Satoko have not returned yet. Addressing herself as "uncle," Mion decides that she must return home, else her grandmother will force her to "make conversation" with her relatives. Shion turns and offers to go with her, and she suggests that she can stay the night at the guest house. During their conversation, Rika walks forward to approach the adults.

Shown: a maniacal smile

One man looks up and happily asks her what is the matter. She asks if he has seen Tomitake. She suggests that the man might have seen him with Takano. Another man with the first states he just saw them at the parking lot as the scene focuses on a bat covered in blood dragging on the ground. It is being carried by Ōishi Kuraudo whose eyes appear black, and who has a maniacal smile. Rika turns to him as the rest of the adults in the tent also look at him. She asks, "Ōishi?"

"Because you ate kimchee!"
[Citation Needed – Ed.]

He laughs. His eyes are bloodshot, and he declares that he has been looking for her. He tosses away the bat and grabs her by her throat. She struggles to ask him "why." When Rena, Shion, and Mion confront him, he triumphantly, but maniacally, declares that he finally solved the mystery. The two men grab at him, but a gun goes off. Rika's face is sprayed with blood as the man she addressed falls to the ground shot through his chest. The other man runs in panic, but Ōishi shoots him in the back. Now strangling Rika with his left arm, he falls back against the wall of a stall. His grip lifts her off the ground. With his right hand, he begins furiously scratching at his neck while demanding to know why it itches. The scene focuses on her feet dangling, his blood starting to fall on the ground, and her asking "why."

He excitedly declares that he knows the truth behind Oyashiro-sama's Curse, and he demands that she confess. In her Adult Voice, she asks what he is talking about. He claims that she is behind the The Series of Mysterious Deaths; she insists that that is ridiculous. Digging into his neck, Ōishi curses her, the itching, and he blames "this damn village" for everything as he start to fire randomly at the onlooking men. Desperate, Mion runs up behind him and promises to listen to him as the next head of the Sonozaki Family. He turn to look at her, points his gun at her, and Rika screams for him to stop. Suddenly, Shion grabs at his gun as she shouts her sister's name and tells her this is her chance to grab Rika.

Both Shion and Rika hits the ground hard. Ōishi points the gun at Shion. The screen splits to show Rika watching from the ground while Mion runs screaming her sister's name.

Rika, in her Adult Voice, demands that it stop.

The gun fires, Shion's torse shakes, then blood flows freely upon it. The running Mion looks in horror. Looking up from the ground, with Shion's body in front of her and Shion's blood starting to flow towards her, in her Child Voice Rika begs for it to stop. Rena fights through a crowd of panicked adults as she screams Mion and Shion's names. Mion's feet run on the ground as her voice asks Rena to take care of Keiichi for her.

Ōishi shoots her in the head.

Rena screams.

Laughing, Ōishi grabs Rika by the top of her head. Over Rena's begging, he points the gun at her head and demands that she confess and tell him the truth. Rika looks at Shion then Mion's bodies. In her Adult Voice she asks how this perfect world could end like this. Ōishi presses his gun to her temple as he demands to know what she is saying. She simply responds "nothing," and tells him to just end it. When Ōishi reacts, she vows that she will not reveal the secrets of the curse, and, instead, he will die knowing nothing.

He throws her to the ground and grabs the bat. He repeatedly bludgeons her as he demands her to talk.

Satoko wanders up the steps of the Furude Shrine covered in blood. She hears Rena scream for her to stay back. She turns to see Rika being beaten to death.

With a sound of a blast, the scene goes black. It is followed by the usual opening credits.

First Half

"'Sup?"

In the plane of time fragments, there exists a fragmentary shrine. Still dressed as a miko, the adolescent Rika screams and grabs her head as she writhes on the small patch of ground underneath the shrine. Hanyū stands near her, and gently tells her it is all over, and she is okay. As three fragments reflect Ōishi killing her, and the bodies of Mion and Shion, Hanyū assures her that the pain of it should be done, and it is only her memory. In her Adolescent Voice, Rika declares that Ōishi killed her, then she reacts in surprise that she can remember who killed her. She asks Hanyū what is happening. Hanyū, whose crack in her left horn appears to glow a bit, reminds her that she is only a trace left behind by Hanyū. Rika takes this to mean that Hanyū cannot leave the plane. She smiles a bit as she wishes they could share a drink again. Hanyū smiles back and responds that she would have preferred a sweet cream puff.

Hanyū then turns serious and asks her to listen to her. She used all of her remaining power to temporarily restore Rika's abilities. As her crack glows more, she explains that when Rika repeats a world, she will not lose any part of her memory. Rika understands that this means she will remember who kills her. Hanyū encourages her that she will know how to fight and resist and live as one who exists in loops. She adds that this is all she can do as a small remnant of herself.

In her Adult Voice, Rika asks her if she ever thought that she might not want this. Hanyū replies that she is sure that Rika has noticed that this Hinamizawa is different from the one of five years ago. Passing fragments contain scenes from previous episodes. Rika agrees and reviews that in the world where Keiichi was paranoid, she gave him a hint to trust Rena, as a fragment contains that scene. Despite him trusting Rena, it ended in a tragedy as a fragment shows the aftermath of Rena's attack. In the world where Shion goes on a rampage, the doll, which triggers her, ends up in Mion's hands due to her suggestion. Fragments contain the relevant scenes. Still, even though Mion had the doll, she was murdered. She confesses that she does not have a memory of that world so she does not know who killed her or how. She laments that if she had known, she might have been able to deal with them. Hanyū happily encourages her that she will figure it out. Rika sarcastically asks how she will "figure out" how to protect herself from Ōishi and his gun. Hanyū turns sullen, and Rika apologizes for yelling at her.

Shown: Hanyū Flickers
Also Shown: Hanyū's Sparkling Crack
Let When They Cry Wiki rephrase that. . . .

Hanyū suddenly shimmers with an electronic crackle. Surprised, in her more Adolescent Voice, Rika asks her name as a question. Hanyū responds that she will figure it out. Rika turns away and reminds Hanyū that she already said that. Hanyū flickers and crackle again which causes Rika to turn to her. Her image breaks up as Hanyū replies that she has so many wonderful friends. She lists them, and Rika reminds her that she is one as well. The image of Hanyū smiles and giggles. Rika tells her not to waste her power and begs her not to disappear.

Her image appears to resolve, and Hanyū seriously replies that after her one hundred-year journey, Rika was exhausted. In these past five years, her tired heart has recovered slightly, but that will not last long. She explains that those like her who live in loops do not have a physical presence: only their consciousness persists. With tears in her eyes, Rika interrupts that she already knows that and hates it. She complains that for a hundred years she was trapped in Hinamizawa like a bird in a cage. She witnessed countless tragedies without knowing why. Without her friends and their miracle, her soul would have died long ago. She insists that, in her mind, time has long passed 1983, and she is not this "little girl" anymore. She left the village and achieved her dream of starting a new life. Yet, after all of that, she has been dragged back to Hinamizawa. She rhetorically asks the flickering Hanyū if she knows what that means: it means if she can use this new power to escape again, then one day, without warning, she will be brought back to 1983 again.

Shown: Onigari no Ryūō (鬼狩の柳桜) . . . duh!

Hanyū's image stabilizes as she sadly apologizes. Rika continues that if Hanyū disappears, she will truly be alone. She falls to the ground crying. Hanyū states that she did not want to tell Rika, but she will now as her parting words. There are a number of sacred objects that bear her name. The most important is the sword Onigari no Ryūō (鬼狩の柳桜). She explains that it has the power to kill those for whom death is not the end but a beginning. It can kill one who lives in loops. Rika repeats as a question that it can kill those in loops. Hanyū explains that it is hidden within the statue in the Saiguden. Rika demands to know what she wants her to do with it: "which 'looper' am I killing?!" Hanyū merely lowers her head with a sad look. She explains that the Hanyū that faded into the sea of shards did not want this reunion.

She floats to stand on a large shard and happily reminds her that she is no longer a fledgling. Rika calls for her to wait, but Hanyū bids her goodbye. She tells Rika that her life and future must be shaped by her own hands.

Rika tries to reach after her as she begs Hanyū not to go. She runs after her to the edge of the "temple grounds" fragment; Hanyū, shimmering, asks her to have a creme puff for her every now and then. She is surrounded by many different-sized fragments that contain Rika crying for her to stay. Rika insists that she only made it throught the hundred years because of her.

She falls to the ground crying that she cannot do this anymore without Hanyū.

With a "hyperspace jump"-like sequence that transitions into black . . .

Second Half

. . . Rika quite literally "pops" awake in her bed shouting Hanyū's name in her Adolescent Voice. Satoko peers in an slyly observes that Rika is "finally awake." She playfully chides her that even on a weekend, her sleeping this late is "quite slovenly." As Satoko bubbles about preparing their breakfast, Rika stares ahead with a stunned look. She focuses on the calendar that reads, "Sunday, June 12, 1983." Satoko ceases her playing and seriously asks Rika if she had a bad dream. Rika brings her hands to her cheeks, tears still streaming from her eyes, and she replies that she did have a horrible dream. Satoko walks over to her, crouches down, and asks her what happened in it. Rika gathers herself, smiles, and innocently in her Child Voice announces that she does not remember it at all, ending with a "Nipaa!" Satoko smiles back and suggests that it it was that horrible, it is perhaps good that she does not remember. She happily walks away reminding Rika to wash her face before joining her in the kitchen. Rika maintains her own smile until Satoko leaves.

As Satoko chops, Rika places tofu into boiling water. She stares at it with her depressed visage. Satoko turns and notices this with concern. They are interrupted by the phone ringing. Asking who could call them so early, she leaves to answer it and asks Rika to finish chopping. Rika picks up and looks at the knife. She flashes back to her asking Hanyū what she expects her to do with the sword and whom she is suppose to kill with it. In her Adult Voice, Rika muses that the answer is obvious. She places the blade between her neck and locks of her hime-styled hair. Her musings are interrupted by Satoko announcing that they received an "emergency call" from Mion who wants them to participate in a Club activity. Rika lays the knife back on the cutting board.

Satoko rushes up to excitedly tell her they must meet at the school within an hour. In her Child Voice, Rika responds that she has something important to do that day and will not join them. Shocked, Satoko whines that "deserting your comrades" breaks the rules and will garner a penalty. Rika replies with a "Miii," but her countenance is dark. Satoko asks her if she must do this "something" right away. Without looking at Satoko, Rika admits that she does not. The scene focuses on their feet, with Rika standing on a step stool they use to reach the counter, and Satoko standing on the floor behind her. Satoko suggests that it can wait since she does not want to risk a penalty. Rika turns to her with a smile, a cute "Miii," and she agrees that she does not, to Satoko's delight. However, as she walks past Rika to gather their breakfast, Rika's expression turns dark again.

Mion, Rena, and Keiichi wait for them outside the school. While Satoko happily greets them and apologizes if they had to wait, Rika approaches with a downcast look. Keiichi asks her what is wrong, but she only emits a sad "Mii." Satoko explains that Rika has been like this all morning. When Mion asks her if she did not sleep well and stayed up late, Satoko responds that she apparently had a bad dream that she cannot remember. This sends Rena into Cute Mode as she bubbles about how Rika looked trembling under the covers. She starts to enter Take Home Mode, but Keiichi gently scolds her.

Rika interrupts them to ask Mion where is "Shii." This confuses Mion. She does offer to call her sister if Rika really wishes to hang out with her. Rika sadly responds that it is okay. Keiichi notices Rika's obvious depression, while a concerned Rena wonders if she is becoming sick. Rika can only sigh a bit more and insist that Rena is wrong. Mion triumphantly announces that to cheer her up, she will let Rika pick they game they will play. The rest eagerly agree while Rika continues to depressed. When asked what game she wishes to play, she responds that she wishes to play hide and seek. Mion finds this curious, but Rena quickly agrees, and Keiichi asks where they are allowed to hide. Rika responds that anywhere in Hinamizawa is fine. When Satoko declares that her trap-making skills will render it impossible for her to be found in such a large area, Rika tells her that she will be the only one hiding. She tells the others that if they can find her before sunset, they will win. When Keiichi asks her what happens if they fail to find her, she holds her downward gaze for a beat, then looks up, smiles cutely, and declares that she will go home by herself.

Mion readily agrees to the challenge. Keiichi asks her if ten minutes is enough for her to hide. Rika agrees, Mion declares the start, and Rika skips away down the road. She stops, turns, smiles, and predicts that they will not find her. Keiichi teases back that she is declaring a win early, but she responds that when they do not find her, and they feel sad about it, it is not their fault. She continues running, but this time her dark countenance returns. The rest all watch her with confused and concerned looks.

The scenes pass over the river, past the Irie Clinic, then a view of Hinamizawa from the observation area of the Furude Shrine, to Rika running between rice paddies. As Rika runs, the voice of Rena asks her if enough time has past, and the voice of Keiichi responds to her that it has. Rika's running becomes surreal. The rice paddies are block of bright white like. Around her, sparkles appear. The scene focuses on areas in the village, including the water wheel, while the rest discuss where to search for her. The scene pans up the long steep steps to the Furude Shrine.

Back at the school, Mion declares that resistance it is futile for her to hide, as she approaches the outside toilets, produces keys, and opens one only to find it empty. Meanwhile, at the Furude Shrine, Satoko calls out to Rika informing her that resistance trying to hide is futile. When Rika does not respond, Satoko stands disappointed. Later in the day, at the Dam Construction Site, Rena calls to Rika. At dusk, Keiichi looks into the building connected to the water wheel and admits to himself that there is no way she would hide in such an obvious place. The gang all meet outside the school at night. As Keiichi approaches, Rena whines the question that Rika will come back. Satoko suggests that perhaps she already went home. Mion recalls that she did say she would do that. Though she hates having to admit it, they are going to have to ask her where she hid tomorrow. Satoko comically vows to interrogate her thoroughly. As the girls start to file away, Keiichi tells them to wait a second. He rhetorically asks them did not Rika want them to find her. There is a flashback to Rika turning and vowing that they will never find her. This brightens Rena, and Satoko observes that Rika was acting strange all morning. She thought it was due to the nightmare, but now she thinks there is something troubling Rika. Mion quickly concludes that if that is the case, they cannot let the game end here. Keiichi agrees that despite it being night, they will find her since they are her friend.

Shown: Mion Thinking for a Moment

Shown: Mion has a Sudden Realization

He asks Mion if she knows of any very obscure places in the village. She thinks for a moment, then has a sudden realization. The scene pans up the Furude Shrine. A hand holds a key. It is Rika who looks at it sadly. The scene cuts to black, there is a sound of a door, and light illuminates the head of the statue of Oyashiro-sama. Rika climbs a ladder as the scene shows quick shots of various implements of torture contained in the Saiguden. She stares at the statue's face for a moment. She touches it which causes it to separate. She inspects the neck of the statue as she says, in her Adult Voice, "in here." She laughs sadly as she reaches and tears start to flow. She chides Hanyū that it is not there. In a mixture of laughter and tears, she observes that Hanyū left her a parting gift she did not want, and it is not actually there. After crying for a moment, she sees sparkle inside the hold in the statue's neck. She reaches in and retrieves a single broken piece. She observes that it is big enough to fulfill its purpose.

She sits at the feet of the statue and stares at the shard. After a moment, she raises her head and places it against her neck, only to be interrupted by the voice of Keiichi calling out her name. It is followed by Satoko, then Rena, then Mion vowing that while they may have lost today, they will not let her win tomorrow. Rika lowers the shard, looks at it, and laughs. She concludes that she can now die whenever she wishes. She looks at the full moon through the window and thanks Hanyū. She now feels she can try a bit longer. She holds up her right hand and spreads her fingers as she decides that she will try five more loops and if she does not succeed . . . .

The scene cuts at her face looking up at her hand. In the black, her voice continues, "I'll give up."

Post-End Titles

Adult-Voiced Rika returns to announce the second chapter.

Characters

In order of appearance

• Ryūgū Rena
• Sonozaki Mion
• Furude Rika
• Sonozaki Shion
• Hōjō Satoko
• Maebara Keiichi
• Furude Hanyū
• Sonozaki Oryō (mentioned)
• Tomitake Jirō (mentioned)
• Takano Miyo (mentioned)
• Ōishi Kuraudo

Referbacks and Forwards

• Continuity: this episode opens in the time prior to the conclusion of the previous. It also obviously examines events from the previous three arcs of this season. It clarifies that Rika does not know it was probably Mion who killed her in Watadamashi-hen.
• "Welcome to Royston Vesey Hinamizawa! You'll Never Leave!": this sort of confirms that Rika is a student at St. Lucia Academy, since she states that she had left Hinamizawa and started a new life. Subsequent episodes will confirm that she does attend the academy – Arg! Spoilers there be!
• "Behold! Excali . . . Onigari no Ryūō!": this is the sword, described on their relevant pages, that Hanyū's daughter Furude Ōka uses to slay her mother, Hanyū. It hyperliterally means "willow of demon hunting." Why it is just a shard is . . . Arg!
• "Where is Shii?": in this arc, Shion is not a part of the community as she was in the previous. However, given Mion's willingness to call her, she does not appear to be in the exile she is in other arcs.
• "お手洗いはどこですか？": Mion previously killed Rika and hid her body in said toilet in Watadamashi-hen.
• Oyashiro-sama's Bad Head: Takano revealed that the statue's head separates like that when she, Shion, Keiichi, and Jirō enter in Watadamashi-hen.

Trivia

• "Ah! Ah! Ah! I Know What You're Thinking, Punk! 'Did He Fire Six Shots or Only Five?'": Ōishi shoots two men, then three, then Shion . . . then Mion? Then Satoko? When They Cry Wiki is surprised to not have "lost count in all of this excitement. . . ."

Cultural References

• "Um . . . Where do I Sit?": these are the traditional Japanese toilets. When They Cry Wiki fears entering those terms in a search engine to provide a link. It is strongly suggested that Takano, as a child, was forced to . . . um . . . consume the contents of one in the orphanage as punishment for escaping which almost nearly completely but not quite justifies her shooting Satoko in the face. . . .

Memorable Moments

• Age of Innocence: this episode confirms that five years have passed since the final answer arc of Matsuribayashi-hen. This would make Rika roughly 16 years old.
• Holographic Hanyū: that she appears to break up and flicker as well as skip and repeat appears significant.
• "They Say Suicide is Painless!": the subtext throughout the episode is probably too obvious for When They Cry Wiki to have to explain; however, before this time Rika frequently commits suicide when she deems the world she is in is a "dead end," and she wishes to avoid a particularly gruesome fate such as at the hands of Shion in an infamous scene. This is the first time she actually considers it knowing that she will not come back.

Quotes

• "I knew you were the one behind all the mysterious deaths!" – Ōishi Kurado to Furude Rika
• "You left me this parting gift I didn't even want, and it is not even here!" – Furude Rika
• "I can die whenever I want now." – Rika

Gallery

"And I would've gotten away with it too, if not for these meddlesome kids and their goddess!" [Citation Needed – Ed.]

Hanyū's Image Breaks Up

Hanyū Sorry
When They Cry Wiki insists the room very dusty. It is also another view of her sparkling cra[Right. Stop that. – Ed.]

Rika Cries and Laughs as She Finds Nothing
When They Cry Wiki insists the room still very dusty.