Overview

Hōjō Satoko is one of the main characters in the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series. She is the younger sister of Hōjō Satoshi and the insinuator of the events that took place in Tatarigoroshi-hen, Tsukiotoshi-hen, and, to an extent, Minagoroshi-hen. She is also the protagonist of the anime-exclusive arc Yakusamashi-hen.

Character Summary

Satoko never understood why her and Satoshi's mother repeatedly married and divorced various men. In fact, she could never decide whether or not she actually liked her mother, since their relationship was far from perfect. Men kept appearing beside her mother one after another, and Satoko could not adjust to any of them. The only family member that she felt she truly trusted was her older brother, Satoshi.

At some point, she started playing pranks on her step-fathers. This included a fake abuse report against Mr. Hōjō. Each step-father responded severely to her tricks, but whenever she recounted the abuse, she believed that her current Hōjō step-father did all of it. He and Satoko's mother were supporters of the Dam Project in Hinamizawa which caused them to be shunned by other villagers who branded them "traitors." Due to the stance of their parents, the villagers distrusted Satoko and her older brother as well. Since Satoko was somewhat of a nuisance towards her parents, she believed that they would be better off without her, and would kill her at some point. This belief was the starting point of her entering the L5 terminal phase of the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

According to Irie's theory in Matsuribayashi-hen, on the day of the Watanagashi Festival on June 1980, Satoko's parents decided to take her out to Shirakawa Park to escape from the celebration of the villagers' victory over the dam project, and to support Mr. Hōjō's and Satoko's relationship. However, the parents' attempt to get closer to Satoko only worsened her suspicions and paranoia. When they took her to a viewing platform over a muddy river, she was certain that they were going to kill her right there. In what she considered as self-defense, she pushed them over the cliff. This theory however, was revealed to be false in Miotsukushi-hen. Satoko did have suspicions about her parents, but she overheard them at Shirakawa Park, talking about how much they love Satoko, and want to make up with her. Satoko was happy and rushed to hug her parents, but the corroded railing gave in, and Satoko's parents fell for their deaths, right before her eyes.

Satoko was later hospitalized at the Irie Clinic to be treated for her poor health, and was almost vivisected as a terminal subject in research of Hinamizawa Syndrome. She was saved thanks to Irie's development of C-130. Afterwards, she and Satoshi were taken in by their uncle and aunt, Hōjō Teppei and Tamae, respectively. Satoko was abused during that time and always clung to her brother. When the Watanagashi Festival came around, Tamae was murdered by Satoshi to protect his sister from the abuse. Satoshi then disappeared, Teppei fled to Okinomiya to live with his mistress and Satoko started living with her recently orphaned friend Furude Rika.

Satoko, despite her past, is an energetic and playful girl. She has a very distinctive laugh, 'vampire fangs' as Keiichi describes, and loves to set traps to play pranks on her friends (mostly on Maebara Keiichi). Her traps can be dangerous, however; in Matsuribayashi-hen, she set traps for the Yamainu, some of which proved fatal.

Like Ryūgū Rena, Satoko can be incredibly analytical and intuitive at times; in Tsumihoroboshi-hen when Rena held the school hostage, Satoko was able to completely map out the blueprint of the school and the location of the bomb in her head, as well as connect all of the various clues together, especially pieces of seemingly-useless information, such as what types of containers were used to hold the gasoline Rena used, the reason a students' ball went missing, how the drain canal runs and how and where the bomb was set up.

Satoko referred to Satoshi as "nii-nii" (にーにー) from 兄 (ani・older brother), a cute term for older brother, when he was around, and has since referred Keiichi as such, as well as calling Sonozaki Shion the female equivalent, "nee-nee" (ねーねー) from 姉 (ane・older sister), though in previous arcs, Shion, pretending to be Mion, had murdered Satoko. In Matsuribayashi-hen, when Shion appears threatened, Satoko cries and tells Mion that Shion is her "nee-nee," while in the manga version, Shion wants Satoko to call her "nee-nee."

Saikoroshi-hen

In the world of Saikoroshi-hen, where no tragic events occur, this Satoko contrasts highly with the Satoko we all know. Since no tragic events happened, Satoko did not kill her parents, but rather had learned to accept them over time. She lives in a stable family with her brother Satoshi (whom she is also not as endearing towards) and has learned to speak very polished and formal Japanese, with also a more advanced vocabulary, unlike her normal self where her speech is quite rough. Her speech can also be particularly demanding and sharp when she is upset. Satoko is also very cold and uncaring towards Rika, and does not have much of a close relationship to Mion nor Rena; rather, she hangs out more with her peers, and is quite popular among her age group. Due to her attitude towards Rika, Rika regards her as an insensitive brat who doesn't care about anyone's pain. However, it is revealed later in the arc that her particular attitude towards Rika is mainly due to Rika shamelessly and constantly exploiting her male classmates, and Satoko, along with the others disappointed by Rika's actions, did not want to associate with her at all.

It is important to note that anything pertaining to Satoko in this world does not affect the Satoko of post-Matsuribayashi-hen in any way at all. The world of Saikoroshi-hen is the "perfect world" for everyone but Rika, and Rika begins to see how she has, in effect, made them all suffer each time she has lived her life. Rika is seen by many as spoiled and self-centered, and Satoko resents her for being a "princess."

Appearance

Satoko has blonde hair and, depending on the media, she has pinkish magenta eyes. She is a petite girl, though taller than Rika in manga, and has sharp canine teeth. She wears a black headband most of the time.

On school days, Satoko wears a green dress with a yellow tie or bow, a white sailor collar and black stockings with brown shoes. On her free days, she wears a pink, sleeveless collared shirt, denim shorts, a belt and pink sneakers similar to Keiichi's sneakers.

When Satoko transforms into a magical girl she wears a playful yellow dress which is very decorated.The dress has many patterns and a large yellow bow on its back. The outfit is bright, with long socks and a yellow ribbon, yellow wristbands, yellow shoes with light sanding and a big bow at an angle on her head.

Relationships

Hōjō Satoshi

Satoshi is Satoko's older brother. Early on, Satoko was completely dependent on Satoshi. When Satoshi disappeared, she blamed herself for always clinging to him. She vowed to become more independent from that point on. As eventually revealed, one of Satoshi's last actions before becomeing overwhelmed by the Hinamizawa Syndrome was to buy her the stuffed bear she wanted for her birthday.

Maebara Keiichi

Satoko has a somewhat complicated relationship with Keiichi. In many ways, she acts as a "brat" sibling, while also acting as an older sibling depending on the situation. Part of the tragedy of some arc is her seeing him as a replacement older brother only to have his and her behavior influenced by the Hinamizawa Syndrome ruin it. She likes to practice her trap-making skills on him. Keiichi seemingly resents her for this while also seeing defeating them as a challenge. Both of them care about each other quite a lot, as is clear in the Minagoroshi-hen arc and others based on that time line where Keiichi tries to kill her abusive uncle or force the village to take her abuse seriously. She will, at some points, call Keiichi her "Nii-Nii." Again, part of the tragedy involves the paranoia from their Hinamizawa Syndrome destroying their trust: in the climax of Tatarigoroshi-hen, she confesses that she felt he was her Nii-Nii," only to reject him. She behaves as the "adult" when she takes charge of Keiichi's situation when his parents leave him alone. She prevents him from burning his house down, then cooks him dinner. Rika explains to Keiichi that she is happy in that role. In Tatarigoroshi-hen, when Keiichi fails to think clearly due to his Hinamizawa Syndrome, she repeatedly reminds him that she is uncomfortable being wrapped in only a towel. Keiichi does not seem to understand this, which irritates her.

In Outbreak, when Satoko is captured by maddened villagers as a sacrifice, Keichii, along with Rena, risk their lives to save her. When Satoko tells them that they are idiots for risking their lives for her, Keichii replies that they are huge idiots, then asks Satoko if she has a problem with that. Satoko realizes how much Keichii cares for her and tearfully says that she does not.

Sonozaki Shion

Their developing relationship serves as an example of misunderstandings that over the arcs eventually resolve. Shion initially hated Satoko for always clinging to her brother whom Shion had as crush on. She comes to blame Satoko for the stress that she believes kept Satoshi from her, then his eventual disappearance. Thus, when the abused Satoko starts crying for her brother, Shion reacts violently against her. Later after Satoshi's disappearance in Meakashi-hen, Shion started killing those whom she deems responsible. She crucifies, stabs, and ultimately kills Satoko only to remember her promise to Satoshi to protect her. She promises at the end of the arc that she will not make the same mistake again.

In later arcs, Shion takes care of Satoko. The two of them share a sisterly relationship from that point on, to which Satoko calls her "Nee-Nee." When all of them fear Shion has been killed, Satoko tearfully protests that Shion is her "Nee-Nee," which brings Mion to tears. Comic relief extra panels in the manga have Shion smother Satoko and insist she call her "Nee-Nee." Finally, in the anime ending titles for the Matsuribayashi-hen arc, she clings to Shion.

Furude Rika

After Satoshi's disappearance, Satoko and Rika began living together since they are both orphans. As a result, they became best friends and are extremely close. Over the arcs, it becomes clear that Rika submitted to experimentation at the Irie Clinic to help develop a treatment for her.

The only time this is not so is in Saikoroshi-hen which represents a "perfect world" for all other characters save Rika. Both Rika and Satoko's parents are alive and well. They live with their parents and do not have the same close bond, or seemingly any bond at all. In that arc, Satoko considers Rika to be a spoiled brat or "princess" who attracted and exploited all of the boys at school. She bullies Rika until she steals a book Rika is reading to discover an exit from her current world to return to the world she secured in Matsuribayashi-hen. The enraged Rika beats Satoko with a chair then and threatens to beat her again if Satoko ever comes near her. In the anime and particularly in the manga versions of Saikoroshi-hen, Mion, Satoshi, and, as she is known in this arc, Reina confront Rika in an attempt to cease the conflict. She is told by Mion that she had been a "princess" which earned the enmity of most girls near her age. However, Satoshi confesses that Satoko really does not want to fight Rika, but she is too stubborn to admit it. In this world, Mion, Satoshi, and Reina set up their The Club to allow everyone to play together and become friends. In the manga, Satoko is depicted with her arms folded and glaring at Rika during the games, but the implication is that she will, eventually, accept Rika.

Takano Miyo

Takano was Satoko's nurse at the Irie Clinic, where Satoko was treated for Hinamizawa Syndrome after being taken in by her aunt and uncle. Because she was treated quickly and with experimental medicine, Satoko survived, but she requires daily shots to prevent a relapse. Since this incident, Satoko maintained friendly relationships with those at the Clinic, Takano included, and Takano valued Satoko as an important test-subject in the development of Crazy Medicine, though in Minagoroshi-hen Takano kills her without hesitation.

It is also interesting to note that a young Tanashi Miyoko looked very similar to the Satoko of June 1983.

Irie Kyōsuke

Irie was Satoko's doctor at the Clinic, as well as something of a foster father. Irie cares deeply for Satoko, and he has jokingly voiced a desire to marry Satoko when she is old enough, but this is more an expression of adoration than a romantic attraction to her. This does not stop him from "admiring" Satoko in her various "punishment game" outfits, however, and the anime and manga expand on this with his various attempts to dress her in "maid" costumes. In Matsuribayashi-hen, this determination and love for Satoko led him to develop C-103 to suppress her L5 symptoms.

Trivia

•The kanji of her name 沙--sa--都--to--子--ko means, literally, "sand-capital-child."

•In Tsukiotoshi-hen, it was revealed by Rika that Satoko always eats Japanese style breakfast, usually rice with miso soup.

•It is suggested that Satoko has extraordinary strength for someone her age, as shown in Tatarigoroshi-hen when she shoved Keiichi twice across the room after he harmlessly petted her, and later even pushed him off of a bridge; however, another theory is this could be due to an adrenaline rush, rather than extraordinary strength.

•In the anime-only arc Yakusamashi-hen, it is shown that Satoko can detect sounds like a cat. She was able to hear a Yamainu member's leg graze a trap she set in the middle of the night.

•Originally, Satoko and Rika were supposed to appear on the cover of Meakashi-hen's fourth volume, but Yutori Hōjō (the artist of Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen) dropped this idea and changed the cover characters to Shion and Satoshi.

•Satoko has the highest number of individual sprites in the original sound novels; most other characters have twenty or fewer sprites, while Mion and Rena have around fifty apiece, and Satoko has sixty-four.

•Her casual sprite in the original Visual Novels show her wearing a satchel behind her hip.

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北条沙都子