Backlog Dialogues

As a person lives, they take on many burdens in their life. Whether it's as simple as a watermelon too big to take home on a bike, as thoughtful as a large teddy bear as a birthday present, or as complex and hindering as the weight of ones sins, that person needs to let themselves accept the help of others, for no burden is so easy that anyone can bear them alone.
Unless you're Takano Miyo, and are completely ignoring all the burdens you're building up in mad pursuit of your goal.
This week, we help each other take the load off.

Fifty fragments lay before you. Within each, a morsel of knowledge to build the understanding needed to reach the ideal June 1983. It will be a long process to sift through them all.
Which is why we need to do this in three parts.
Sorry.
This week, we cover the first seventeen fragments of Connecting Fragments, Ryukishi07's bizarre TIPS minigame that stands between us and the true Matsuribayashi, and look at the themes of the rot at the heart of the village that creates the circumstances that allow for a bad actor to appear and potentially destroy it.

The Mastermind has been revealed, and her god complex laid bare. With her unbreakable certain willpower, she is forcing the inevitable murder of Furude Rika, and the destruction of Hinamizawa. She wants nothing more than to tear god from his throne and be revered above all else. Truly, she is a monster for the ages... right?
Would it make you happier if she had a good reason?
A thousand little tragedies build upon each other to create big tragedies. Nothing happens in a vacuum. There are no good people, and there are no bad people. There are, however, bad ideas, and bad ideas can linger for generations.
This week, we look at the tragic life of a brave woman who stood in defiance of a cruel god that tests people with tragedy, and the seemingly innocent bad idea that led her to become the one who would destroy a village...

We're going more obscure with this minilog as we explore the 2013 cult classic anime Gatchaman Crowds and its 2015 sequel season Gatchaman Crowds Insight. We look at this history of the Gatchaman franchise and Tatsunoko Productions in general before we start discussing this strange, political, and highly prescient twist on the Superhero story, where protagonist Hajime Ichinose sets the rules and deals with internet trolls awakening individual will and friendly orange aliens granting sentience to the collective subconscious. And most importantly of all, we explore what it means to be a hero in a complex society based around the liberal democratic ideal of building consensus, as well as the dangers of populism and going with the flow. Yeah, it's THAT kind of series. Watch it!

We've made it to the end of the penultimate arc of Higurashi When They Cry. With this, all things have been revealed, and we are left to discuss the aftermath. As we prepare to go to the final world, we consider how Minagoroshi has been adapted, and discuss the greater context within When They Cry in the spoiler filled postcredits discussion. Where can we go from here?

Will. The power of the individual to influence people and events. This has been at the core of Rika's cruel fate all this time. As she has seen her friends muster the collective will to save Satoko, she too has found her own strength of will to defy her death once more.
But even the collective willpower of a village may not be able to overcome a will forged with certain conviction. A will backed by a far greater power than a single village will crush all beneath it. It would take a miracle for one to survive against such a force. A miracle backed by an equivalent amount of will.
This week on Backlog Dialogues, we confront the true Will behind the tragedy.

Politics. The science and art of convincing others to do what you want them to. For many, it's a dirty word, a thing to be avoided. But if you want to save the life of a child, if you want to change the nature of a village, if you want to tear through fate itself, it is a skill one must master. But even more important than mastering the skill is knowing who to use the skill on. To save Satoko, Keiichi must convince the head of the village herself to change her mind...
This week on Backlog Dialogues, we bring the greatest challenge to its end.

Humans are weak on their own. No single person has all the answers. People need to turn to each other for support, no matter what. As Keiichi and Friends discover, it takes many voices speaking in unison to get the gears of society turning. With a simple marching tune, they raise a chorus to defend their friend, and give Rika a fleeting hope once more.
This week on Backlog Dialogues, we make our voices heard.

The human heart is fragile, and must guard itself with the armor of hope to endure hardships. Rika has strengthened her armor, as she finds more and more cause to hope... only to have that armor stripped away. As if to mock her, the world has set up hope after hope, just so that it can lead to her deepest despair. When faced with this reality for a hundred years, who could blame anyone that wants to abandon the fight?
This week on Backlog Dialogues, we face the harshest reality.

Ah, you're finally aware of where we are. This infinite expanse of possibilities across time and space has brought us together here and now. As we travel it, it falls to us to understand not just what is happening around us, but who is impacted by it, as we are the only ones truly aware of it. You are almost at the truth you seek, but there is still much to learn before it can make sense. Come, let us see the world finally through Rika Furude's eyes, as she repeats the same month of her life for hundreds of years, struggling desperately with one simple question - who wants to kill her?
This week on Backlog Dialogues, we find a small hope.