DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

MANGA DramaUmineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 7: Requiem of the Golden Witch
NOVEL DramaUmineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 5: End of the Golden Witch
MANGA DramaUmineko no Naku Koro ni Murasaki: Forgery of the Purple logic
NOVEL DramaUmineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 8: Twilight of the Golden Witch

REVIEWS

• 

  notpearitspeer

  96/100
  A tragic story that managed to exceed my expectation in every way possible.

  Note: This will be a review for the entire series. Contain light spoilers.

  2 days, 245 chapters. What happened? There is only one truth behind the scenes.

  

  From the same author as Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni, Ryukishi07 pumps out another series called "Umineko no Naku Koro Ni" which translates to “When the seagulls cry” as the third instalment for the "When they cry" series. As the title suggested, this series will not disappoint you.

  Umineko introduces itself as a murder mystery, but of course, it's not that simple. Every time the murder happens, you will think to yourself, “that is interesting, I think I know who the imposter is and how they do it”, and when that happens, the story will shift away from what you think as far as possible. Every time you think this is it, it can’t be other reasons, it slipped away from your hands. That is the nature of Umineko, and it is remarkably well-thought.

  What I like about Umineko is how it manages to go further from the main plot without losing its way back. There are eight arcs, and each arc is nearly completely different from the other. As the story goes, the story change from one to another and you can only wonder how the author pulled this off. In each arc, you are one step closer to the truth of what’s happening. It attracts you until the end, and without spoiling much, I could say this is a real rollercoaster. Normally when you read manga, there are ups and downs. In Umineko however, up is pretty much the only way. Each chapter increases its stake. Every time I think it couldn't go any further; it excels. There is no limit to this series, and the fact that they could end it beautifully is even more impressive.

  Other than the genuine plot, Umineko also teach you about love and truth. Typical murder mystery often uses a clever trick of who and how to enhance its own story. Umineko, however, managed to go deeper than that. While mystery lovers will try to solve the mystery of the tragedy as fast as possible, Umineko will deny all your theories and say to you that “Without love, the truth cannot be seen”.

  The other aspects of the series didn’t fall behind, too. As the story is originated in a visual novel form, I think the artist managed to captivate the atmosphere and essence of Umineko. It is detailed, visually stunning, and sometimes creepy. Some say that in episode 8, the story is even more organized than the visual novel. The answer becomes a lot clearer and makes much more sense. I never read the VN, so I can't say which is better.

  Characters in Umineko may not be the strongest aspect, but that doesn’t stop it from becoming astonishing. This is bound to happen, as you read Umineko, you become more and more attracted to the cast. They were all likeable, and each person pretty much gets a development. Both protagonist and antagonist sides also played the role well.

  Overall, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni is one of the most well-rounded series I’ve ever seen. It is thrilling, tragic, depressing, yet so lively, wholesome, and inspiring. Without a doubt, it turns into one of my favourite manga, and it deserves the rating it gets. Since I don’t want people to read a long review, I’ll end the review here.

  This is only my point of view, so remember that people may have different tastes. If you don’t like this series, it’s okay. I didn’t write this to change everyone’s mind, and you can write the review on how this series is a trainwreck. Perhaps, two truths may exist at the same time…

  
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• 

  AquaLucas2

  30/100
  Probably the worst ending to what was an incredible story I've ever seen

  Yes, even worse than Shingeki No Kyojin. (full umineko spoilers ahead)

  Umineko was a series that I really loved for a while. I loved the first episode, and the sequential episodes somehow continued to build upon and explore the concepts and characters previous in a way that was extremely unique and enthralling. I have my complaints of course, but up until I noticed a certain narrative trend in the answer arcs I would hesitate to call Umineko "bad". Until episode 8. It turned a intensely fun, intriguing, thematically and philosophically poignant series into one with excessive cloying melodrama with bizarre moral postulations that barely hold up under any form of scrutiny. And that's because of one character.

  Ange ruined Umineko. That's my take.

  It's bizarre to highlight her specifically and if I told myself Ange was the worst character in Umineko after reading the question arcs I would have thought I was insane. The conceit behind her character isn't bad but the execution and ultimate conclusion makes all the difference. Essentially Ange's introduction highlights and opposing position for Battler in needing to return from the gameboard and care for his sister who was grieving the loss of her entire family. At least from the position of having finished the series, Hachijou Tohya is a little bit of a reach logistically, but I'm willing to let it slide.

  It's the manipulative framing of Ange as this helpless victim in the positioning of Umineko's themes, ones that only work because Ange is such a victim from circumstances that run antithetical to the ideas Umineko was originally about. It's why the whole "magic VS trick" ending has caused such a divide in the fanbase because it involves Ange.

  Let's break this down in detail, after 1986 Ange is left with Eva and the Ushiromiya family fortune and 12 years of trauma to sort through.

  Let's get this out of the way, Eva Ushiromiya is a horrible human being. She had 12 years to actually take care of her surrogate daughter but essentially spent those years pissing away a fortune she didn't earn and in no way deserved. I have absolutely no sympathy for her no matter what happened on the island in 1986, if her emotional incompetence traumatized a young child without knowledge on healthy coping strategies. If you cannot take care of a child, put it up for adoption. In fact, with the way George turned out she really shouldn't have had any in the first place, Hideyoshi really was keeping everything together. The reason this matters is that I have a hard time believing any form of "guilt" can be put on the goats or Erika Furudo (which R07 has used as a jab at certain fans of umineko) for causing emotional trauma to this girl who was already in a shitty situation in the first place. Getting bullied at school, having guardian figures and bodyguards who couldn't care less about you, and using a children's diary to cope with you're mental issues. This becomes extremely bizarre when in Episode 8, Eva is essentially vindicated for 12 years of being a shitty mother because she died and took the truth with her to the grave, as if she didn't play a massive role in putting Ange in the position she was in the first place.

  All of this culminates in the conflict of Episode 8 where Ange is forced to come to a choice of perspective in how to cope with her trauma which all comes down to framing, but neither ending is satisfactory in showcasing an honest portrayal of grieving. The magic ending has her become a story telling charity worker who believes her family never died at all and are still alive out somewhere in the world, the trick ending has her fall to the curse of inquisitiveness and continue to search the globe to completely understand the truth of the incident. I say neither is satisfactory because each one is based in extremes. This is a gripe I have with R07's writing, everything is over the top for the sake of appealing to the reader's emotions which especially come through in the murders of both umineko and higurashi. However the end result in the case of this ending has Ange becoming a completely different person instead of building off the foundations we already have and growing because of it. This is how a lot of characters in fiction deal with the death of a loved one, they don't pretend it never happened or have it define them, they grow because of it. A more middle ground solution would have proven great if enough background for her character was presented that wasn't abuse cry porn from mentally maladjusted teenagers.

  In fact the magic ending and the framing that supports it is extremely manipulative to the point that I don't understand how R07 thought this would work, like we would just forget the previous 7 arcs of the story. Essentially to remove the guilt present for each individual party everyone is vindicated as one big happy family. Even when Kinzo is an incestual rapist deluded by occult magic. Even when Eva is a vindictive sociopath that emotionally traumatized Natsuhi and her own son and surrogate daughter. Even when there are literal children who couldn't have done anything wrong like Jessica and Maria who we're brutally murdered by the hands of the greedy adults and their accomplices. I will stand firm in my belief that the Ushiromiya family has some horrible people in it, which the "truth" of the matter should acknowledge.

  I think here is the time to expand upon the manga specifically in how it handles the eventual conclusion to the mystery of the series. Personally, I don't think Shkanontrice is actually canon because it opens up a whole bag of red truths that are extremely questionable to the point of grammatical inconsistency. My point is the inclusion of the "confessions of the golden witch" chapters which essentially spells out said theory in such plain terms that it becomes a slap in the face to those who actually read the story looking for the answer. As if episode 7 wasn't easy enough to understand to all the idiots who didn't turn their brains on. Is it trying to appeal to the magic readers who don't care about the culprit anyway?

  Whatever ending R07 was trying to tell with his characters it's all put through the lens of someone that we didn't even know until halfway through the series. Fans of the first three episodes are literally told to shove it because their inquisitiveness is flanderized as a sociopathic egomaniac Erika Furudo, mindless truth hungry drones as the goats, or the reason why Ange is on the verge of suicide. Despite how much the series preaches the love the author has for their reader I'm not entirely convinced R07 loved every reader of Umineko through such vindictive portrayals.

  It's hard to imagine an Umineko "without" Ange but the arcs that don't involve her (I liked 1, 3, 5, and 7) we're really good in my eyes so make of that what you will. Despite my endless bitching I just put you through I don't think Umineko is ENTIRELY bad (episode 7 is probably the best VN I've ever read, manga's alright), after all this is just my opinion and you're allowed to feel whatever you want about the story.

  But my god this ending sucked ass.

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• 

  Beatrice

  100/100
  "Without love it cannot be seen": the philosophy of belief and why Umineko shaped me as a person

  MAJOR spoilers for all of Umineko When They Cry

  ---

  

  ---

  "Without love it cannot be seen"

  This is a motif that is reiterated time and time again over the course of the series. And yet, I wasn’t able to fully appreciate what this actually meant until the end. Over the course of the series, we see the main characters search for their idea of an "objective” truth. However, the idea of an “objective truth” is paradoxical in nature. Oftentimes, due to the nuance of the human psyche and how looking at something collectively in an “objective” manner is near-impossible, discovering such an “objective truth” can be exceedingly difficult. Generally speaking, there usually isn’t any one infallible perspective in any situation. Take Ange for instance. Ange claimed she was viewing things objectively, hence why she believed for her entire life that Eva is evil, and when viewing the story from Ange's own perspective, it does appear to be the fact. In reality, Ange was just projecting her own resentment and cynicism onto Eva, a woman who was far from guiltless but was also suffering and in turmoil. They're both victims in the end, and it becomes far more easier to empathize with Eva after having learnt the identity of the true culprits, knowledge that we the reader now recognize why Eva went to such great lengths to withhold it from Ange. By never trying to understand the heart of Eva and solely viewing her as a culprit, Ange fell deeper and deeper into her cynicism and pushed their relationship into something irreparable.

  

  “Without love it cannot be seen” signifies that you need to approach situations with “love”, that you need to place your faith in the goodness of people and believe in the love that exists in everyone’s heart in order to shape your perspective and find your own truth. Even when you are feeling dubious and uncertain of things, it's your own love and belief that will define how you view everything. On the flip side, if you view something “without love”, then you will view that something in a darker, more hopeless light, oftentimes distorting the “truth”. This aforementioned idea exists in Erika, who views everything in the light of cold logic and without love. It’s why Erika was unable to find the true culprit in game 5; she was so insistent on the “truth” that, relying entirely on the red truths, she never once contemplated Natsuhi’s own love for her husband and the Ushiromiya family honor. There is always a time and place to consider a person’s love and trust in understanding a situation, and it’s (or rather the lack of doing so) why Erika was entirely wrong in placing the blame on Natsuhi as the culprit. This leaves the question: why did Battler demonstrate such an overtly saccharine, almost parodic world to Ange? Battler's scenario serves as what is essentially the antithesis to Ange's own beliefs. While Ange's viewpoint on her family, tinged with bias, was that of greedy, terrible people that clawed at each other over the inheritance, Battler shows Ange the complete opposite: a happy, uncomplicated family teeming with meaningful togetherness. Battler did this not because he thought Ange would blindly believe in that scenario, but rather he wanted Ange to acknowledge both sides of the equation and realize that, as mentioned earlier, her own bias is obfuscating the full picture. Neither scenario is correct; rather, the "truth" exists in the space between the two and can't be defined to mere extremes like the scenario Battler presented or the belief that Ange held onto.

  

  Magic is representative of many things: it embodies empathy, happiness, and love, among many other qualities. As is pointed out throughout the series, the "magic" is quite frail and can easily be shattered, but above all, it allows you to understand the heart of people, even those that have done wrong. At the end of the day, all of this comes down to the fact that the complete, "objective" truth is wholly unknowable, gone away with the bomb that devastated the island—it's on Ange to decide on a version of the truth that she's able to accept. By choosing "magic", Ange is able to reject the cynicism that defined much of her life. She understands that her family was far from perfect, but ultimately comes to the understanding that the situation is too nuanced to define her family members to unquantifiable constructs of "good" or "evil". I don't believe that **Umineko** wanted to answer the question of whether they were redeemable or irredeemable, that's something for the reader themself to deliberate on; rather, I believe it's more imperative to understand the cycle of abuse that everyone was a victim of and why the family members came to do such terrible deeds. Despite all of their sins, they were merely people that were hurt and hurt others as a result. Of course, this doesn’t absolve them of their sins, but at the end of the day, every one of them had goodness in their heart and were capable of being loving people just as much as they were bad, and trying to haphazardly define each and every one of them into spectrums of "good" or "evil" is a fruitless endeavor. Admittedly, this is a bit of a cloying, even slightly pretentious thematic line presented by Ryukishi07, but I really do believe it works here. Love is truly wise—it has the power to influence your beliefs and how you view the world. It can even triumph over the truth. And this is not to say that the truth is necessarily irrelevant here, but it is showcased throughout the whole series that hyper-fixating on that premise can lead to disastrous consequences, especially in Ange's case where it is clear that she is using her journey of unearthing the truth as a means to provide closure for her planned suicide. Let's bring up Erika again, who by proxy serves as a sort of criticism to the audience as "intellectual rapists". Ange's character in the "trick" ending vividly reflects Erika, becoming a person without love and greatly consumed by the desire to discover the truth, almost dehumanizing her in the process. In the "magic" ending, Ange chooses to view everything that has happened with love. She accepts that terrible and heinous acts have been enacted on the island by her beloved family members, but simultaneously understands that the complete, "objective" truth can and should never be fully realized, locked away forever in the catbox of October 4-5, 1986 of Rokkenjima. There's no use in viewing them in any extreme, considering they are all deceased and gone forever. In the end, it's all up to Ange to accept different parts of the known truth and form the truth that she wants to believe in, and doing so in the process leads her to live a far more fulfilling and happier life, becoming an author and supporting orphaned children.

  

  ---

  In my opinion, what makes Umineko so unequivocally powerful is how it challenges the notion of uncritically accepting a single dogmatic truth, and this is the core of what I believe "without love it cannot be seen" really means. I've seen some people claim that the message of the story is that it's fine to delude yourself or remain in denial of reality, but I could not disagree more. The message is a simple "be open-minded" and not allow a single viewpoint to take control of what is a multifaceted truth, to view them "with love" and find meaning in it in the end. Take an idea like Santa Claus for example. It's true that Santa Claus isn't real in an objective sense, but he's "real" in the sense that his conceptual existence brings joy to countless kids across the world, and that shouldn't invalidate any of the happiness that the kids have had at the time. In the same vein, we have Maria, who chose to believe in optimism and the good of her mother Rosa through magic. Cold logic may tell you that Maria lived a terrible, lonely life, but Maria herself will tell you that she lived a fulfilling life with her magical friends and the mother who also shared a very positive side despite the bad she's done. Ultimately, Umineko was so influential to me because it told me to maintain empathy and create meaning in my own reality in spite of the many shitty things that may have been dealt to me, instead of spreading misery and creating a burden on not only myself but others around. Sayo could not do that, but Ange managed to do so, which fundamentally represents the core of the parallel between the two that Twilight put so much effort in emphasizing. It's why love can be stronger than "truth", it's not about shying away from reality, but rather having the strength and belief to face that reality and make it a better one for yourself.

  
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