WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 10 of Higurashi: When They Cry - Gou, "Curse Deception - Part 2," now streaming on Funimation.
Higurashi: Gou continues its focus on Satoko, with Keiichi finding out more information regarding her tragic past and home life in Episode 10. But while her friends try to get involved and help, Satoko’s situation continues to look bleak, concluding the latest on a very emotional beat.
The episode opens up on Keiichi jumping and attacking Teppei, with the latter being tossed to the ground before being struck with a baseball bat... Only for Keiichi to wake up in his room, looking at his trembling hands.
It's not until later on at school that the full truth comes out. Mion, Rena and Keiichi notice that both Rika and Satoko are unusually tardy. Rika eventually walks in after the bells rings with a sullen expression, saying that Satoko will likely be late for class. Keiichi approaches Rika after class, trying to console her, but she ignores his efforts.
Keiichi is approached by Ooishi, a detective who is looking to question Satoko. When Keiichi dismissively responds to his questions, Ooishi tries to physically intimidate him. Irie oversees the two and manages to get Ooishi to leave Keiichi alone. Irie tends to Keiichi’s injury, and Irie fills Keiichi in on Oyashiro-sama’s curse, and how it ties into Satoko’s personal situation.
Irie explains that the death of Satoko’s parents was blamed on the curse due to their support of the dam project and that Satoko and her brother, Satoshi, were forced to live with their aunt and uncle as a result. The two siblings were then mentally and physically abused by the two and had the money left behind by their parents stolen as well. Irie reveals that the abuse came to an end when Satoko’s aunt died during the Watanagashi Festival, with Teppei fleeing town in fear of the curse.
Satoko shows up during the lunchtime break at last, but is just as dismissive as Rika when her friends try and check-up on her. This continues after school when Satoko skips out on club activities, which prompts Rika to tell the rest of the group that Satoko was taken away by her uncle the night before. With Satoshi no longer there to protect his sister, Mion speculates that Satoko’s abuse is now worse with just her and her uncle living alone. Keiichi suggests that the group call child services, but Mion reveals that she’d already tried to the first time around -- with them effectively doing nothing about it.
So, instead, Chie takes Rika aside the next day and confirms the rumors of Satoko’s uncle being back in town. Prompted to help her by Keiichi and the rest of the club members, she visits the Houjo residence after Satoko misses more school time. Teppei is ultimately unresponsive to Chie’s questioning, not allowing her to see Satoko and keeping her out of the house as a precautionary measure. Chie does call child services at this point, who takes the same 'wait and see' approach they did before.
Things seem to take a turn for the better, though, when Sakoto comes to school in good spirits. But Rika pulls Keiichi aside away from the others and tells him that Satoko had been involved with child services once before, revealing that Satoko’s father was actually her stepfather and that due to their poor family situation, Satoko had tried to get him arrested by falsely accusing him of abuse. She explains that the reason why child services are so passive regarding Satoko’s case has to do with Satoko’s history of lying to them.
With Satoko seemingly back to normal, Keiichi and Satoko tease one another and resume with their playful banter, but when Keiichi tries to pat Satoko on the head she has a meltdown in the middle of class. Satoko vomits and runs to a nearby wall, calling out for her brother and crying frantically while her friends -- with the exception of a stone-faced Rika -- watch in stunned silence.
Higurashi: Gou continues to stick to its formula, replaying the events of the original series while adding in some variety along the way. Satoko’s character arc is one of the series’ most disturbing by far, and Gou has outdone the original in portraying Satoko’s trauma regarding her tragic upbringing. With two more episodes left until the end of the “Curse-Deceiving” arc, Gou will likely spend one more setting things up before hitting fans with yet another unexpected twist.
