Read the other books, loved them; couldn’t even reach half of this one, sorry. If only I had a choice not to like being dragged around like a slave all the time I could have endured the plot and seen where it was leading; but I got tired of the author telling me how abuse is good for the mc, not my kink. Def not part of target audience for this game anymore. Pity beacuse I really loved the other ones.
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About the Jigoku…
a). Do you think there might have been previous holders before Gensai?
He must have been following some thread of knowledge to unlock its power and the nature of the Jigoku itself being related to cannibalism and the ‘power of Hell’ does indicate it to be a supernatural force that existed independently of Gensai who acquired it and used it as a basis for his sword school.
b). Do we have a solid grasp of its initial activitation requirements post-Book 4?
In summary I think the Jigoku, at least when utilized with the blade, requires the potential user to satisfy a psychological condition.
I understand cannibalism alone appears to have been sufficient for the MC and Junko to gain the golden eyes but if that was the sole requirement then I doubt Ichiro would have had trouble gaining them. Not to mention there would have considerably more such cases throughout Hyugan history for those who resorted to the act during times of famine.
We know Ichiro does gain what might be some advanced variant of the Jigoku through sacrificing Takeda souls to gain physical entry into Hell followed by cannibalising the shugenja Kiyoshi who was somehow able to transform into a mythical kirin.
(Its darkly ironic really - Ichiro can go to such insane lengths to gain the ‘power of Hell’ yet he’s incompetent at acquiring the baseline Jigoku that a random starving orphan could do without even realising).
Maybe cannibalism is but one step out of two to gain the Jigoku.
The nature of his hypothetical second condition is unclear - Junko and the MC committed cannibalism to obtain the Jigoku and were later trained in swordsmanship.
Ichiro swordsmanship was impressive the few times he showcased it and his obsession with the Jigoku and final treatment of Kiyoshi suggests he would have had no qualms with cannibalism. Yet he could not manifest the Jigoku like ‘normal’ even though with his skills he might have made for a formidable inheritor.
If the ‘Hell’ seen in Book 4 is indeed the true source of the Jigoku then soul sacrifice seems to be a necessary component to harnessing its power. In the MC’s case the souls of their childhood friends became confined to that netherworld. Ichiro seems to have conducted an amplified version of this with the Takeda voters through the armbands but still needed to physically cannibalise Kiyoshi afterwards.
The fact that this worked in giving him the power he sought whereas his assumed previous attempts failed is interesting. Junko does admonish Ichiro as an unworthy successor to Gensai given his willingness to sacrifice the Takeda voters even though the act of cannibalism could be seen as sacrificing the victim for your own power.
Maybe the obstacle Ichiro faced was gaining that psychological connection to or understanding of Hell the same way the MC, Junko and Gensai could without resorting to literal portal.
The Jigoku is a supernatural power that Gensai incorporated into the sword through his founding of the ‘Jigoku Itto Ryu’ which we are told means ‘Hell’s Release style’. Junko has an interesting interpretation of the name’s meaning in Book 4:
To release hell, one must find and embrace heaven. This is the gift sensei left for us The power to free ourselves from this hell we’re in.
Both the MC and Junko had traumatic pasts in which they resorted to cannibalism to overcome and free themselves of their torment (starvation and abuse respectively). Ichiro on the other hand was born and raised in relative luxury, thus unlikely to have developed a similar mindset. He didn’t experience suffering the same way as the MC and Junko and so was not motivated like them to seek freedom from that suffering.
His motivation was to prove he was worthy of being Gensai’s son, seeking power to live up to his father’s image rather than truly understanding the mindset of the Jigoku Itto-Ryu. In the end he was able to gain the raw power of the Jigoku without that crucial understanding and it distorted him into something wholly inhuman (and perhaps pitiful).
At the moment it does appear that Gensai’s version of the Jigoku that was passed onto the MC and Junko requires not just cannibalism in it of itself but also the correct motivation and circumstances behind the act. Its unclear however whether this means that anyone under the specified physical and mental conditions can gain the Jigoku in the world of SoH or if the MC and Junko were innately ‘special’ in some other way.
The MC’s relation wih the Jigoku is interesting as they forgot how to use it after losing their memories of Junko early on in Book 3 until the end where the shock of Ige’s (inevitable) death undoes the mindwipe and they are momentarily able to use it once more. We know from Book 4 the MC’s Jigoku first manifested without the influence of Junko but at some point they repressed that incident and their time training with Junko became a cornerstone for their willpower to use the Jigoku.
But remembering Junko wasn’t enough to retain the Jigoku after forgetting it and its not until the reunion with the Oyamas that the MC, perhaps reminded of their time as an orphan is able to reconnect with their original motivation to free themselves of ‘hell’ and can use the Jigoku more readily.
c). Does some aspect of the Jigoku user’s initial victim(s) influence them?
After making peace with the spirits of his childhood friends, if the MC chooses to attack Kiyoshi they can feel a boost of power as if having won their support. It made me wonder if Kiyoshi’s status as a shugenja and kirin might have influenced Ichiro’s transformation or if that was all tied to the nature of the mass ritual itself.
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Possibly, from what I remember Gensai is very eager to do whatever it takes to be a better warrior, no matter how twisted it was. He might have stumbled into it when he try to find a way to harness his ability. And of course, there was that eye in bichiro secret room that I’m still confused who’s was it…
Imo, I think cannibalism is (one of?) the way to acquire the Jigoku, but not necessarily control it. I’m on opinion that if one have the power of Jigoku but don’t have what necessary to control it, they either can’t activate it (like Ronin when they forgot about their past) or overwhelmed by it (like what happened to bichiro).
I agree with you about how it need the potential user to be in a certain psychological condition, it most likely why Gensai have his doubt with his son (who born to a such luxury) and don’t think he can handle the Jigoku.
Possibly, though I always assume it have more something to do with Jigoku user relationship or/and connection with their victims. Jun/ko with their biological father, bichiro with his adopted “son”, and Ronin with their childhood friends.
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No Toshie, no Momoko, no Masami; only want Junko for my MC. I really wanna pay and enjoy the 5th part as I have enjoyed its others. And its only possible if Junko and MC comes together in next part. So, please remember to make a way to bring back Junko in the story again (they are tied in a rope with the centre as MC. They have to meet again. That’s their fate. You sid tht Devon). Please,please,please,… ending is already sad. I don’t want a sad start for 5th sequel. Please author remember that.
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Why?? Why that ending, i mean for people who dislikes Junko that ending it’s a good one but damn we even got asked if we would like to have a child with her, my heart can’t take this 
, i hope she comes back, the sooner the better.
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I also really liked Junko… was sad she had to go at the end of book 4, I hope she will come back later on
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Do any of the characters from book 1, 2, or 3 come in? I wish the Ronin didn’t leave after the tournament And some people say it really focused on the Jun/ko relationship with the mc.
Yep. I just had to resort to the achievement guides for those sometimes. ; - ;
Book 4 is primarily about the Ronin’s past and Jun/ko. We do have some glimpses of our old crew though. It’s kind of hard to describe without getting into spoiler territory but let’s just say that the vital member or part of the Ronin’s crew needs their arcs.
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Beside what resuri said, there also some minor characters from book 1 and 2 that make an appearance in book 4 (some would probably plays a larger role in book 5)
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I think it was Toshiaki (the chef dude from the Baron’s island?)
I wonder how Sakiko intends to involve the Ronin in her uprising against Satsuma.
Also do you think the Ronin might be shaping up to become a leader during some major event considering their experience as a sword instructor in Book 3 and as an unwitting politican in Book 4?
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Great story. All time favorite. However, am I the only one that utterly despised Junko no matter what character development they went through? They cut Momoko’s tongue out because they are a jealous, possessive f***, threaten to kill your friends and LI, genuinely believe they own you, and then to round it out they literally cut you off from your spirit and bind you too them without consent. They then have the gumption to be sad if you won’t bend backwards for them- and God forbid that you don’t want to be eternally bound to them! If that’s the case they feel hurt and wonder if it’s “such a big punishment”. She is literally everything I hate and yet other people like her! Am I seriously the only one who despised her? (She is well written though…)
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You’re not the only one, there are plenty of people that despise her and plenty who like her on this forum. I personally liked her and the whole fucked up relationship.
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You must have missed the very… heated… debates that happened here 
But no, your not the only one who dislikes Jun/ko. Everyone has their own reasons to like or dislike the character.
I - while not condoning certain actions - like the character and the development they go through. Others consider me mad for doing so.
That’s the beauty.
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nope, I also utterly hate them, don’t really understand how can people like them so much (you do you I guess) and to be very honest, reading 20+ chapters of an abusive relationship made me not interested in the next games, and it was a favorite of mine.
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So, I know this has probably been spoken about in the previously posted demo, as well as here…
eyes the few hundred comments above
But…
Anyone else on the edge of their seat waiting for SoH book 5 notices to, one day, start appearing on the forum? 
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please dont give me hope, i’d rather suprised than waiting (possibly for a long time)
well, i kinda miss masami tough, and iam fell in love with junko, i want my harem.
I try not to, but it’s hard not to at the same time.
However, while I support the author, I’ll wait til the final version will be out and hope to hear little til then (otherwise it just gets harder ).
But the next book is likely a good ways off, so try not to torture yourself.
All I know, is that I recently found it mentioned in one of the authors recent posts on MCS:
Walking, Thinking, and Being Bored
and It’s exciting to think -even if it’s just in the drawing board phase- that the idea for it is there.
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