Pivotal Moments: The Festival Massacre

The massacre at the end-of-summer festival in Kamakura comes after Kuu kills the other children in the orphanage. This event would throw aside young Kuu's remaining hopes at living together with humans, at least until he met another, unfortunately, doomed friend. It is also the second instance of Kuu killing other people in a fit of emotion-fueled passion (the first being him lashing out at the bullies of the orphanage), and notable for him slaying an innocent person in the spur of the moment for no other reason than because of their being in the way. Even the murders of individuals inside their homes before this massacre was a mean to an end, something he gave little thought to and could justify with his need for a warm place to stay (and possibly his envy of ordinary human families), and served a purpose, however, wrong and misguided it was.
Festivals are a time for celebration, but this festival would not end so brightly.
The massacre at the festival paints a bleak picture of Kuu's world, and shows us, in lurid detail, Kuu's degrading mental state.
Firstly, the coldness of the people around Kuu as he's suffering from hallucinations and his mind breaking down in despair. Several people watch him as she lies on the ground, shoved there by a man who berates him for being in the way. Some even wonder if he's on drugs, which a child his age should have no access to since he's talking to himself. No one stops to help him up or ask if he's alright but merely stands around to stare at him before he bisects those closest to where he lay. In Japanese culture, there is a heavy emphasis on how to conduct oneself in public, how to stay low-key and not draw attention to yourself, and many onlookers will often not intervene or only look on in disapproval when someone is making a spectacle of themselves. However, the bystander effect of doing nothing is not an exclusive trait of Japanese culture. In both the anime and manga, onlookers watch the main characters with disapproval several times before this flashback even begins.