/jp/ - Otaku Culture

The youkai in Higanbana represents aspects of human nature and different psychological reactions to trauma.

The Headmaster represents escape through forgetting, blocking the memories of the trauma. Your pain is all gone if you forget about the troubles of the past.

Izanami represents escaping one's current problems by not giving yourself time to think about them.

The Black Tea Gentleman represents escaping into your mind through delusion and denial, kind of like Maria and Ange did in Umineko.

Higanbana represents escape through self-harm and suicide. That's why the infirmary is her realm.

Azami represents the desire for revenge that can turn bullied kids into even worse people than their abusers, especially if they feel like eternal victims even after the revenge, and justify an endless string of revenges. This is what Lambda talked about in EP6.

Kyou represents mirrors, which are a portal into your true self and reveal both your true nature and your hidden potential.

Renoir represents karma for your evil actions, the idea that bad people don't end up well.

Sumire represents the mob mentality that makes bullying possible.

Marie represents the victim that does nothing and lets their life be ruined without ever fighting back.

>>21152006
I make that point occasionally, but Higanbana the doll sits upon a cabinet in the infirmary, and I was pleasantly surprised after a rereading to discover that sitting in a high position is a recurring theme of Higanbana the character.

In the first chapter she appears sitting on the top of the toilet walls, looking down. In the second chapter she appears sitting on top of a wall before her fight with the headmaster, also looking down. She also appears sitting from a high place in the beginning One's Girl Day, and also in Utopia (twice iirc). There are probably other places I've forgotten.

It's not surprising, given the connexion between a youkai and its physical locus, but it's very cool that Ryukishi thought about that.