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the spoiler section

is… basically just that like. ok when keiichi resolves to kill satoko’s uncle, i think thematically what he experiences is the power of CERTAINTY!

still image from the original higurashi visual novel. There is a blood splatter on the screen and nothing else. Keiichi is thinking to himself “I knew just how much his continued existence depended on me. He was nothing - I could expel him from this world within just 1500 seconds after making up my mind. From when I decided what to do, he only had 1500 seconds.”

this power is notoriously wielded by lambdadelta in umineko, and countered by frederika bernkastel’s power - miracles~

panel from the umineko manga. lambdadelta and bernkastel are posing together seductively, passing a candy between their tongues. lambda says “as the witch of certainty, i declare” bern says “as the witch of miracles, I declare”

ahem um anyway. CERTAINTY will, in later chapters of higurashi, be revealed to also be the power fueling our main antagonist. And then look who happens to show up when keiichi is in this mindset and executes his plan so certainly and without remorse for his victim… Someone who feels exactly the same remorseless disregard towards him…

still image from the original higurashi visual novel. There is a blood splatter on the screen and nothing else. Keiichi is thinking to himself “Why?! Because I was letting him live. If I rescinded that permission, he would be evacuating this mortal coil within 1500 seconds. …You think I’d let you breathe even 1500 more seconds of air? …I’m taking that permission back - right here, right now. You’d better thank me for letting you live until today.”

a still image from the original higurashi visual novel. It is nighttime and takano is standing in front of keiichi with a polite smile on her face. Keiichi is thinking to himself “Takano-San… was clearly aware that something exceedingly abnormal was happening with me. …and as she played her little word games, she was enjoying driving me into a corner. …Maybe she had a vague guess, just from the situation… of what I’d been doing… … My timing really sucked…. To run into her, of all people, of all the times…”

a still image from the original Higurashi visual novel. There is a blood splatter on the screen and nothing else. Keiichi is thinking to himself “So to do that, I’ll make a special exception for you and give you more than 1500 seconds. I’ll give you special permission to keep on living as you have until I can construct the perfect plan for your murder.”

the tragedy of hinamizawa in every timeline is triggered by her resolve to make something happen at all costs, ostensibly for someone else’s sake, which makes it a noble goal or an ends that justify any means.

a still image from the original higurashi visual novel. Satoko’s house is visible in the background. Keiichi is thinking to himself “I mentally reconstructed the land around Satoko’s house. …The number of pedestrians, different at different times. The movement algorithm of the neighbors. Would I lure him out, or charge at him? What would my weapon be? When and where would I carry this out? Where - it needed to be somewhere I wouldn’t leave a trace. When - it needed to be as soon as possible for Satoko’s safety, without wasting even a millisecond.”

Anyways it blew my mind that keiichi repeats a lot of these same exact justifications in this scene, and i think a similar power trip. It’s a big hint (in retrospect) for better understanding the culprit’s motive!

still image from the original higurashi visual novel. keiichi is thinking to himself “…If I could have taken back what had happened by crying about it, I’d have cried all day. …But the fact was, this was how things had turned out. I couldn’t take back what had happened. …The top priority, then, would be to prevent the situation from worsening further and to sever the chains of misfortune.”