@aaaaaaaaa26810
My understanding is that the mom killed her first husband and buried him in that garden, and had a plan to kill this one too. The older kids figured it out, Ringo ran away and got involved with a shady guy, and Gouki was so traumatized that he became a shut in. Maybe the kid that died threatened to report her, or tried to tell people - we know she isn’t above harming her kids to keep her secret, and even said she doesn’t care if one of them goes missing when they are playing around the garden. When she got together with the second husband, her plan was to kill him too once they were legally married (for the insurance money). That’s why Rie was so violent; she wanted to drive him away from the family. The mother probably did it by poisoning; she first tested it on the cat, and then used it to kill the first husband, and she was already actively trying to kill the second (to me that was clear when one of the younger kids mentioned the dish he was eating was their father’s favorite, and the cat used to like it too), but Ringo wouldn’t let her cook, to protect the new father. This new father was so nice - saving Ringo, trying to actually be a good parent for the others - that the kids decided to get rid of their mom to protect him. I think that’s why Gouki decided to leave his room; Ringo told her plan to him when she was whispering in his ear - and he was on board.
@Tohkaaa
Little sad sidenote when I looked into this, Sumio's actor has passed away in 2021 so RIP. You played a character who is the definition of an ideal father figure.
@Hqckerman
I didn't get creeped out until you showed the zoomed in shots of the mother in the background. I'm sitting on my bed crocheting at 3 am and my heart dropped and my whole body went cold when you showed that. This mockumentary is amazing and I'm so glad I stumbled upon your channel, your commentary is amazing.
@briseydasalgado3016
The kids were definitely won over by how kind the dad was and wanted to save him from the mom. Especially after the whispering between Ringo and Gouki, which leads to think they caused her 'accident'. Even while shes in the hospital, no one seems sad and even Gouki is no longer in his room and is involving himself with their regular family antics at the end of the movie.
@Random-bi
At first I thought the stepdad was going to be a closeted weirdo that slowly poisoned the family but he actually ends up being the only thing keeping the family together.
@BlueNeulB
The first husband was a violent man. (I read one of the comments that this series had a sequel tv season) Also one of the kids said the father got angry and hit his sister. “My mother and sisters and brothers gathered and talked a lot about it.” They planned his murder (This could also be all the mother’s plan, and she gathered the children to hush them up) and by testing the poison on the cat, the mother poisoned the food which both the father and the cat ate. It was confirmed that the cat was buried in the garden does that confirm thats the first husband also got buried there and the cat is the cover if anyone dig. Ringo ran away with guilt, thats why she called security on him the first time. When she heard that one of her brothers fallen from the second floor she immediately knew it was her mother who pushed him off. (This is semi-confirmed with the mom in the window) She came back to protect her siblings, she knew her mother is greedy for “Life Insurance”. Ringo may also have felt that she is indebted to the stepfather. So she went immediately to the kitchen after coming back to protect the whole family from her mother poison. The mother won’t only target the stepfather as shown by the fruit basket. (The knife plunged on the Dragonfruit which symbolize Ryuta) The brother who was pushed. At dinner, Rie snaps to also protect her step-father from the “poison” way before Ringo’s arrival. Ringo didn’t want her mother to see her as a threat, so she cooperated with her to spy on the other kids. While also using a powder thats similar to the poison so her mother doesn’t suspect anything. When Ringo decided to deliver food to her eldest brother, she knew thats the only way to plan her mothers murder without her mother suspecting anything. On the field trip, Gokui (The eldest) joins them. It was shown he brought a baseball bat in a fishing trip, and later on the mother was hit in the head really hard. In Gokui room one of the calligraphy’s says. (Single bat swing). The mother knew she’s done for when the whole family sided with stepfather. That’s why the whole fruits in the basket has a knife inside them. The mother wanted to kill them all. This was all pieced together by the comment section, and the video. I have never watched the film. This film really has clues and hints everywhere lol. Edit 1: The cat wasn’t tested on but it ate the father’s poisoned food.
@lizs.7505
something that really got me was the first interview with remon (4th daughter) when she was asked about sumio and she says “he’s really creepy… he asks about my day-to-day life.” and just how realistic it is for a child of abuse to initially be off-put by normal, loving behavior because of how unfamiliar it is to them
@Anthropomorphic
I agree with most of the observations here. Two more things: 1. In the epilogue, when Ringo is asked about the white powder, she pours some into her hand and tastes it herself. She then offers some to the hostess, who remarks that it basically tastes like salt. To me, the point there seems to be to underline that the powder actually isn't poison - at least not anymore. My sense is that she swapped it out for something else without telling the mother. 2. Ringo is shown whispering something to Gouki. Later on, Gouki breaks his habit and decides to join them on the field trip. The quick scene in the car shows that he's decided to bring his baseball bat, to a fishing trip, for some reason. In the epilogue, we find out that the mother's had an accident, and while they're not really sure what happened because she was alone at the time, she hit her head really really hard.
@dezzydream
honestly the fact that the dad spent over 3 hours searchibg for rie in the night despite the fact that she treated him like shit all the time really says that he was fit to be a father
@oisindayo
All the calligraphy in the hikikomori brother's room implies that he was made to do the dirty work of actually killing the original father by the mother. 「バット一発」+「十三振だ」= バット一発、父さん死んだ → One hit with the bat, my father died 「ハハハ」+「サイコーです」= 母はサイコです → Mother is a psycho 「強打」+「行こロス」= 兄弟殺す → Kill my brother 「猛虎」+「ロスしかない」= もう殺すしかない → I have no choice but to kill Japanese wordplay is wild, I know.
@daisiesforghosts
The moms reluctance to leave and her weirdness with the garden, the first husband is 100% buried in the garden
@evanbaracuda
The way the mother scolded her kids in her backyard. “I don’t care if all of you disappear!” Hands down she killed her last husband.
@sourdust6558
Japan actually has a TON of super good Mocumentary/found footage movies, it’s just that most of them have never been subbed in English
@alexandragabitto2573
Ringo didn’t come back home until her stepfather told her about Ryuta’s accident, so she def knew something was wrong and that it was beginning to affect her siblings. I think the mother wasn’t just responsible for the death of her husband, she was starting to murder her own children for the insurance money. Once Ringo realized that the stepfather was a genuinely good person and has no idea what her mother was doing, I think she decided to take action to stop her mother once and for all.
@tuna9847
I went to watch it. It was really good and certainly creepy. BUt multiple times, I had to pause the video to stop and laugh at how ridiculous Veronica was. I was losing my mind every time there was that white screen with text where she badly pronounced Japanese terms and explained them.
@Revanchist_Follower
Mockumentary or not, W dad. Got shitted on multiple times and still never gave up on them. Screw the mom.
@MothNoises
It's kinda ironic the traits that made the mother pick the new dad are most likely what lead to her demise. She thought him being kind, caring, hardworking would make him a perfect pawn to support the family for a while and kill for insurance money, but those traits are what made her kids realize they had a possibility to live a normal life, to leave the terrifying world of uncertainty created by their murderous mother. He survived this horror scenario by being a kindnesspilled carecel
@joshkaid
If the oldest son knew that an English speaking production was going to film them, it's entirely possible he did the cross-language pun on purpose to try and signal to the English crew what was happening. And, because it LITERALLY translates to "mom is awesome", his mother would be none the wiser.
@calidabrisadeverano
The fact that Gouki was a shut in, means that nobody would notice if he went out for a day at a "cliffside" with mom...
@meepmoopiethe3rd