(higurashi opening starts blaring)

<3

Goddamn this one really doesn't pull any punches does it. I'm used to the stories where you follow 2 girls for 60+ chapters and the story goes nowhere, but this one hits you with like 3 different trucks in the first 4 chapters.
Definitely a "crash crash" story where you know it's going to end horribly, but the morbid curiosity of knowing exactly how keeps you reading.

Bradley, baby...

At this point it feels like the dad will found out two of them eventually.......

I'm still waiting for the Chekhov's bear to make an appearance.

Where was the ra*e part or the inces*

It's when she had a baby with her dad, this is raped because legally and morally a child can't consent so it is rape.

As ShadowEdge put it:

Colin truly believes that her dad loves her. And maybe he does, in his own sick and twisted way. We don't know. Maybe he believes that is the "right" way to love. And maybe now she too thinks that's the right way to love, she loves Mary the same way that daddy loves her.

And that's where I believe is the point the story is trying to get. It's not uncommon for abused children to become abusive adults. And where is the point where someone stops being a victim?

What if the direction the series goes in is Colin falling in love with Mary and then abusing her bc that was how her father showed his own affection towards her?

That would be absolutely fuuucked

We've already seen examples of this sadly

She'd found Pii-Chan awhile before she actually gave the toy back to Mary, she kept it because she didn't want Mary to go. When Mary doesn't visit the garden for one day her immediate reaction is violent—she pushes the other girl down— then tries to guilt her by calling her a liar and claiming she was going to give Pii-Chan back the day before. When Mary snaps back with the hypocrisy of calling her a liar she hits her were it hurts—pointing out her problems with her mother. Mary understandably gets upset at this and lashes out to which Colin immediately goes in with "But don't worry! I still love you!"

Which brings up another thing, she is constantly declaring her love for Mary—even before she really knows who she is (love bombing her in a sense). It's all very manipulative. She most likely doesn't even realize she's doing anything wrong—she's a child and her father probably uses these same tactics on her. She probably thinks these are normal behaviors when it comes to the people you love—as was previously pointed out.

(Sidenote: When Mary slaps her Colin doesn't look hurt, angry, or upset. She looks confused. Like internally she's going "What the–? Oh shit...oh shit that did not have the intended effect!")

Colin is already showing signs of being abusive/manipulative even if it's not purposeful. And Mary...Mary was the perfect victim. At this point She knows she's falling into something very bad but in her mind Colin is all she has—Colin is the the only person who loves her. What truly worries me is whether or not Colin's behavior is going to get worse...

So yeah...This is absolutely fucked...

I like this in the sense of it makes you incredibly uncomfortable and puts you on edge without showing anything explicit. I only see this ending in tragedy when both kids have horrible parents at that age.

I loved the shadow effect thing on the actual sexual abuse, it makes it very nightmare like.

A few things that I think the girls need,

A hug,
therapist(s),
a loving home,
loving parents,
Helping friends,
the police (optional because you can just quietly take care of it yourself by the following list)
A gun, a shovel (Colin already has one) and an alibi.

And lastly, each other. Because I can’t see anything but the girls together for now.

I want to know how this ends but man everything about this story just makes me mad.
It's one thing if this wasn't reported but I don't understand how this disgusting mf is able to get away with this shit even after Colin's ex friend snitch on them. Like did the teachers, cps or other adults just gave up on looking for her after the "father" freaked out? Just another way these "adults" and the system also failed these children.
Also Im guessing she gave birth or stillborn birth at home or something?? Cause a doctor would 100% report it since she's I would guess younger than 12 idk. Unless japan don't have those kinds of laws idk I never checked. Although her not having any health/body issues after is weird.
Also Mary has been missing schools for days and no one is concern? Then again she runs away in the first chapter to the forest till dark and they did nothing so yeah the adults don't give a shit about these kids unless they want something from them.

last edited at Sep 9, 2023 11:41PM

These two are made for each other...

The dissociation... Wtf I feel so bad

Need a shower after that chapter.. fucking vile

I don't understand how this disgusting mf is able to get away with this shit even after Colin's ex friend snitch on them

Same way as in Happy Sugar Life. Silence. Also I got flashbacks to Happy Sugar Life with Asahi and Shio's mom backstory, how they all wiped out the father's face from memory, and then so did Shio when mom left her

But yeah, fucking vile chapter

last edited at Sep 10, 2023 9:18AM

THE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE FOURTH AND 11TH PAGE ARE DEVASTATING!

The way Collins facial expressions when greeting her father are very subdued—small even! There's not a hint of light in that poor girls eyes! HELL! The whole page is covered in shadow—so dark you can't really make out the details! The bottom panel is long and thinner compared to the bottom panels in page 11. And once again, everything is shrouded in darkness. The scene feels kinda drawn out and cramped.

Now compare it to when she greats Mary! She shouts out her name, big smile, eyes wide and sparkly with highlights. The whole page is covered in light, you can clearly make out details. There are three panels at the bottom that follow in quick succession.

With her father the world is dark, cramped, interactions are too long, you can't truly see the details. And with Mary the world is bright, fast, everything is clear and pretty.

But thanks to you, everyday is like Spring: Filled with so much warmth and happiness

YOU CAN LITERALLY SEE IT IN THE PAGES AND NOT JUST THE ONES I'VE MENTIONED! MY HEART, SOMEONE PLEASE KILL THAT MAN—DEATH BY A THOUSAND CUTS!

Dissociation, babyyyyyy~

I wonder if that tree branch is going to snap at a critical or dramatic moment. If we're unlucky, it'll happen when Colin decides to escape for good. If we're lucky, it'll be when the dad jumps onto it when chasing Colin. And if we're fucked, the dad will have it cut off/torn down after figuring out what's going on.

Also, sorry: Chekhov's bear? Did I forget something?

We need to kill the dad.....

I'm not sure what the hell just happened. I get that Collin's dad is one hell of a pervert pedophile bastard. But what I don't get is what's going on between Mary and Collin. Is Collin inadvertently continuing the cycle of abuse with Mary? Is Mary just feeling Isolated by keeping Collin's dark secret? Or am I misunderstanding the plot completely.

I'm not sure what the hell just happened. I get that Collin's dad is one hell of a pervert pedophile bastard. But what I don't get is what's going on between Mary and Collin. Is Collin inadvertently continuing the cycle of abuse with Mary? Is Mary just feeling Isolated by keeping Collin's dark secret? Or am I misunderstanding the plot completely.

Yeah, as previous posters especially @YamYammi has pointed out, I think she's basically treating Mary the same way her father treated her, minus the rape of course. Colin, like her father, is coping with her intense loneliness and depression by lovebombing and emotionally entrapping the one single person they've decided to form a codependent relationship with. We can't blame Colin for doing this, of course, since she's a young child and has gone through unimaginable trauma (which is still ongoing!), but that's what's happening. Mary feels so lonely because this isn't actually what she wants. She wants to go to school, make friends, have a real relationship with her mother, and attain a normal life. Instead she feels like she has no choice but to isolate herself from everything, skulk around her town out of sight, and act like everything's fine when she knows very well what Colin is going through and that the current status quo cannot last, because if she doesn't do those things she'll lose the only person whom (she thinks) is actually willing to interact with her.

It's really really fucked up!!!

(Fantastic manga though, it's the rare work of fiction about an extremely dark subject that's actually earning the right to discuss that subject.)

Also, sorry: Chekhov's bear? Did I forget something?

There's a bear warning in the forest entrance. It appeared a few times already but no bears yet.

Not as graphic as the previous chapter, still hurt to the core...

First off I'd just like to announce that I finally found out what the hell "Who Killed Cock Robin" is a reference to. Apparently it's an old nursery rhyme.

Second off, every time I read one of these traumatic updates and feel like my soul is being crushed, I come to the comments, see "Chekhov's Bear," and start laughing, so thank you. I'm not knocking the thought process behind it I just think it's a really funny phrase to see.

Finally, I keep having to remind myself that the very first scene in the manga seems to be set very much towards the end. While I can totally see some sort of "once this moment occurs in the normal sequence of things, it will be revealed that this isn't the end but is instead set before the end, and something unexpected will change the ending," I can assume that at some point Colin will be in shackles and will at least believe that she will never see Mary or their garden again.

Welp, this is basically kikuo's "gommenne gomenne" song but in visual novel.

Obviously Colin gets found out one day cuz her ankle was cuffed in chapter 1 … this don’t feel like happy ending.