Ranked #629

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

The thrill in playing a game does not come from our chances of winning. It is the weight and pressure of losing that fuels our fascination. It is why people challenge, why they gamble and why they compete. The adrenaline that comes from defying defeat is what motivates us.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni attempts to be an anime that depicts a game in which the lives of the Ushiromiya family are in the hands of a wannabe Phoenix Wright and a bratty witch who is more tsundere than terrifying. What starts off as a deliciously dysfunctional family drama (that happens to have gruesome murder and black magic involved) soon turns into a train wreck. What we have here is Survivor: The Scooby Doo Edition.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni sadly is not a great psychological thriller nor is it an anime about a great debate. It is about a young man named Battler who sees a blue sky and insists that it is green. For the entire anime. It does not matter that everyone else points out the obvious to him. He is wrong and strong and will go down insisting that he is right. Thus this anime begins to fall to pieces when you realise it is not a battle of wits, but a battle of patience-- just how long is Beatrice going to put up with Battler's idiocy? Boredom, she claims, is the reason behind any of her actions. Certainly the audience itself must be bored to put up with an anime that is clearly insulting their intelligence.

And insult our intelligence it will, unless you are too wrapped up in the gimmicky insanity and cheap distractions of this story's plot. Repeat in red: this is a bad anime.

Basically the entire anime becomes interspersed with scenes in which Beatrice tries to tell Battler that 2 + 2 = 4 but it ends with him just arguing and insisting that the answer must be 5. He just does not want to believe that either magic or a familiar murderer is behind the deaths on the island. Which makes no logical sense. He basically says for the entire anime, "Nobody in the family or staff is a murderer. There are only eighteen people on this island. The murderer must be Beatrice. But Beatrice does not exist since witches do not exist. So then the murderer must be one of the eighteen because a nineteenth person does not exist. I refuse to believe one of us is the murderer, so that can only mean that the murderer must be Beatrice. However, she is not real because witches are not real. But--" How Battler made it this far in life without choking on his own spit is a wonder.

The pointlessness of this entire anime is exacerbated when glaring evidence in front his face basically says magic is real:

Beatrice teleports them through the mansion and grounds WITH MAGIC. Beatrice can stop the flow of time WITH MAGIC for them so they can have debates. WITH MAGIC, she can make her words float in the air in red in front Battler's face. She is able to separate Battler into two beings, one with a physical state and the other a mere consciousness, WITH MAGIC.

And yet Battler refuses to acknowledge she is a witch? No. Just no. Even dogs know when not to piss all over your couch after you smack them around for a bit. It is insulting to even call Battler retarded since that would be offensive to retards. Not even Kanon's light saber that grows out of his arm is as ridiculous as that logic. And yes, for some reason, this anime turns into Chaos;Head, as the characters start growing or conjuring flashy light weapons out of their bodies. Actually, it just starts getting insanely funny after a bit because everyone basically turns into an action hero by the end of the anime. "Magic does not stand a chance against my kung fu!" Or the power of love, or the power of hope, or the power of determination. Umineko no Naku Koro ni gives us a lot of options. Choose your destiny.

What started off as a fascinating melodrama about a cruel, horrible, greedy and messed up family getting their comeuppance with their grisly murders soon turns into an anime about magic and witches and gruesome deaths that simply happen so a point (and a rather stupid, obvious point) can be made to the village ignoramus.

Beatrice herself isn't as badass or clever as everyone makes her out to be. A real genius would lay the trap and watch and the foolish prey fall into them. That is all well and good in the first four or five episodes, which honestly are very enjoyable. Eventually, Beatrice willingly inserts herself and several elements into the story which means that she is directly controlling the outcome. She is not so much hunting wabbit by laying a trap as she is ramming a metal spoke down its throat. Maybe she should have held out for duck season?

Umineko no Naku Koro ni at least looks nice. Minus a few glaring errors and sloppiness on the part of Studio DEEN, the artwork is fairly good. It is very rich in Gothic elements, and the recurring checker patterns stand out thematically. The character designs are also very good, which each person looking rather distinct from the other. The setting is mostly on the island and the mansion, and the place is littered with sprawling, manicured gardens that give the air of creepy upkeep in a lonely, dank place.

The score proves to be the best thing about this anime. The music ranges from choirs chanting to atmospheric classical suspense sounds. The sound effects are also very good, and the voice cast is full of veterans and talented seiyuu. The OP theme is excellent, having the kind of earnest and not hyperbolised emotion that is lacking so very much within the anime itself.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is tainted with a horrible cast of underdeveloped characters. It is utterly disappointing that the antagonist of this series rides on her insane behaviour and quirks. Beatrice's motivations lack... well, motivation. And her cruelty is hardly satisfying as we eventually see the payoff from her actions reduced to zero in every arc. There is no weight to her actions since there is the imminent reset that happens sporadically. Is this supposed to be a psychological thriller? It's not. What she is supposed to be doing is watching the blind rats run around the maze and then bite one another's necks when they encounter each other. Beatrice seems to be sticking skewers in the rats whenever they don't run the way she wants them to. Not exactly the sign of a clever, dastardly villain, now is it?

The only characters who are not completely terrible are curiously the most despicable ones, like Rosa, the abusive mother of Maria who is also the youngest and least mentally balanced of the four siblings. Eva as well ends up being one of the better, more developed characters of the series, and she is just a mean, evil, horrid woman. George and Shannon are hands down the worst characters in this series and they move from being a tragic romantic couple to becoming a pair of lovebirds you just want to shoot for sport. The sad thing is that Genji, the butler with barely any emotive lines, ends up being the most intriguing character since one wonders why he is so loyal and dedicated to a bunch of worthless rich brats. He remains poised, collected and an enigma without ever becoming over the top and just plain silly like the rest of the characters. THAT is fascinating characterisation.

But the real mess is Battler. He is arrogant, stubborn and extremely immature. Watching him argue with Beatrice is like watching teen couples arguing on MTV. He lacks any reasoning, he is an idiot, and he is shallow. How do we root for this man to win when all you can think about is someone sticking a foot in his mouth to shut him up? Some more intriguing characters like Ange appears (the resident Super Girl), but her introduction is far too late into the series to save it, as she is the only Ushiromiya who is not a nut case, insensitive, retarded, selfish or spoilt.

A major problem with the cast is how huge it becomes. Bigger does not mean better in this case. Adding themselves to the story are some Playboy-- er, Siesta Bunnies, that take at least five minutes to kill someone, and the shota-loving Stakes of Purgatory, who are seven groupies fashioned after the Seven Deadly Sins. And seriously, what is the point of Bernkastel and Lamdadelta? The goat-head butlers have a more significant role than those two.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni ended up being a travesty of an anime. It is frustrating, and not in a good way. It is truly a detriment to your personal sanity. What starts off as a giant tower of crap devolves into such a pile of dung by the end, and you are left wondering whether this is supposed to be a comedy or a tragedy. Well, we see that it is more a tragedy than anything else-- what a horrible thing to happen to those who watched this!

If you want a real murder mystery that is filled with lies, deception of the other players, justification of moves with truths and evidence, lucky breaks, and dependence on expert timing and logical thinking, then go pick up copy of the Parker Brothers' Clue. read more

One must remember that the Umineko no Naku Koro ni anime is an adaptation. While the anime in itself may not necessarily warrant harsh scores of 2 or 3, in comparison to its source material, it is extremely, extremely lacking. I find it inconceivable that anyone could give this series, even if they never read the sound novel, a 9 or 10 out of 10 rating. What was a very deep and compelling story was turned into something disgustingly shallow.
I doubt that any studio or director would have been able to cram every single detail of the sound novels into 26 episodes. However, the way it was done was nothing but uncouth.

I was looking forward to Umineko from the moment I heard of it. I wasn't a big fan of Higurashi, but the synopsis made it seem reminiscent of my favorite book, And Then There Were None, and more fitting to my tastes in general. After the first five episodes, I couldn't describe it in any way other than "shallow." I heard it really was amazing, though, and sought out the sound novel. After finishing it, I then continued with the anime, hoping it would at least somewhat meet the level the sound novel did. Of course, it didn't come close.
The anime really has no continuity or flow whatsoever. I found myself asking as the episodes progressed, "Wait, did they cover this event?" and holes simply cannot be left in a mystery story, other than intentional ones. Small things, such as Battler and Beatrice's reactions to each others' actions were left out or glossed over, making the story incredibly superficial.
The meaning behind events happening and secrets slowly unfolding is completely lost. In fact, the fight between Battler and Beatrice, anti-fantasy vs. anti-mystery, might as well not exist in the anime. It's supposed to be a detective/mystery story, albeit a strange one, and not simply that of a fickle witch murdering over a dozen people for fun, which is what the anime turned it into, at least until the very end where it does a rapid, poorly timed 180. Of course, the end was the "same" in the sound novel, but then it was clearly thought out and planned. The anime made it seem as if the producers/director forgot all about the end until the last five minutes of the final episode, then shoved it in.
By the end of the fourth game, one should be able to determine the culprit. By reading the sound novel, I believe this to be possible. I don't see how it could ever be done watching the anime alone.

The art is something that is clearly hit-or-miss. The main reason people seem to be put off from the sound novel is the "horrendous" art. Yes, different heads put on the same body and then turned into different characters. Yes, boxing glove hands. The art of Ryukishi07's works is clearly all about the faces. Whether the art of the anime is better or worse is something I'll let you decide for yourself. However, I think it's unquestionable that the facial expressions of the sound novel are exponentially better than the anime. I won't say that they are drawn well, but something has to be said of bad art that can manage to send chills down spines and make someone not want to read it at night because of frightening expressions. It would be hard for any animator to capture the riveting expressions of the sound novel, however I think they definitely could have tried harder, or at least have done a wider variation.
Of course, the faces weren't the only things animated. Some characters (Rosa) clearly look better than others (Battler), however no one looked totally dreadful, though some people would beg to disagree with that point. In some cases I actually found myself preferring it (Maria actually looks like a nine-year old!), but I can't understand why they felt the need change nearly everyone's eye color to blue.

As for the sound, it had to be good. As a sound novel, the music is what really "made" Umineko (aside from the story, of course). The music really makes the setting, and even some scenes. The anime kept much of the original background music, and even the sound effects. Why change what isn't broken, after all. The song for the opening was very good; I was happy to see they used Akiko Shikata, who did the opening for the sound novel. While, other than "yami o kirisaku OH DESIIIIRE," I disliked the ending, I found it fitting; it suits Kinzo to a T.

While many characters aren't expanded on in the sound novel until Episode 5, the anime made it seem as if no one, aside from Battler and Maria, had a personality. Several scenes left out of the anime expand on many of the characters, mainly the adults. Every adult in the anime, aside from Rosa, the cruel, heartless, "mother of the year," might as well have been there to simply add to the body count. For instance, a scene completely left out of the fourth game in the anime, known as the "Krauss Counter," made Krauss (the only adult I actually disliked at the time) likable. While the scene itself was probably the most over-the-top out of them all and not vital to the story (though it actually was part of the group held underground escaping), it made it harder to be suspicious of Krauss, who seemed to care about money more than anything else beforehand. Several scenes that were included were done very poorly, such as Rosa and Maria at the end of the second game and the Sisters of Purgatory, Kyrie, and Rudolf fighting in the third game. It was these many moments centered around the adults that actually made them seem like people rather than warm bodies existing for the sole purpose of dying.
The characterization is so important to the series. Beatrice says that witches exist and that everyone is being killed by magic. Battler refuses to believe in the existence of witches and magic but can't deny that the murders are happening. If it's not magic, then one of the eighteen has to be the killer. One of the reasons the sound novel is so compelling is that every one of the possible culprits is likable in some way. As the it progresses, you don't want to believe it's any of them, but you know someone has to be guilty. Watching the anime alone, I wouldn't mind suspecting nearly anyone; I'd have no attachment to any of the characters, and therefore the story.

The saddest thing about this series is that it ruined what is truly a great story. Those who hated it now have gross misconceptions about 07th Expansion and what this series is really about. Those who loved it should definitely start reading the sound novel, if anything to read Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru, which will probably/hopefully never see an anime adaption. read more