[LostBlue]

I finally got to watch EP 21... it wasn't as horrific as I thought it would be, but *sigh* It's quite unfortunate the shear amount of stuff they skipped.

Spoiler for Other Skipped stuff:

The "Curse System"
They never explained Shion's theory for the Curse. She actually had a very rational explanation. According to her theory this was the truth behind the Curse:

1) Someone got on the bad side of Onibaba

2) Onibaba would make a subtle yet unpleasant statement about that person (ie Wouldn't it be sad if ______ didn't come to the Festival?)

3) That statement will spread around the entire village much like how Shion made the statement about K1 knowing Rika was in danger in this EP. That statement officially made that person the enemy of the village and the target for the curse.

4) Now anytime anywhere the opportunities comes about that person will be killed by someone. That someone could be anyone and no one will question that person about it, nor will anyone will ask anything about the incident, since everyone in the village is that person. Since no one knew who specifically did it and every year it was committed by a different random villager the secrecy was kept. This is the System of the Curse.

Of course this turns out to be false though. Shion tries to manipulate the System to using Keiichi as bait but nothing ever happens to him.


Another thing that was skipped... The Sonozaki Heirloom. Only the Sonozaki Head knows of its existence. Mion herself never knew about it until she corners Onibaba about Satoshi. The Sonozaki Heirloom is a tradition. This tradition is... to bluff. It was greatly used during the Dam Contruction. There was no doubt that the Sonozaki Family did illegal stuff during the Dam Construction and everyone knew it. But also anytime anything happened that was in favor of the Sonozaki Family (whether they were involved or not), all Onibaba had to do was smile and laugh a little, and everyone (the village, the cops, even the other Gosankes) believe they were pulling strings behind the scenes. This Bluff makes the Sonozaki seem more powerful then they really are and maintains the power and the image of the Sonozaki Head.

Overall, the anime Meakashi Hen wasn't bad. Even if I didn't have my game knowledge I still think I would have hated that end. They should have given Shion's death a little more closure (like the Akane or the Oishi TIP) even if it was for a minute. *sigh* oh well.