Umineko no Naku Koro ni (Umineko: When They Cry)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: When They Cry 3, When the Seagulls Cry, When They Cry: Seagulls

Japanese: うみねこのなく頃に

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 26

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jul 2, 2009 to Dec 24, 2009

Premiered: Summer 2009

Broadcast: Unknown

Producers: Geneon Universal Entertainment, Frontier Works, Sotsu, Movic

Licensors: NIS America, Inc.

Studios: Studio Deen

Source: Visual novel

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Suspense

Themes: Gore, Psychological

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 7.04¹ (scored by 92,295 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #4167²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1090

Members: 221,073

Favorites: 1,960

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Synopsis

Considered as the third installment in the highly popular When They Cry series by 07th Expansion, Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place on the island of Rokkenjima, owned by the immensely wealthy Ushiromiya family. As customary per year, the entire family is gathering on the island for a conference that discusses the current financial situations of each respective person. Because of the family head's poor health, this year involves the topic of the head of the family's inheritance and how it will be distributed.

However, the family is unaware that the distribution of his wealth is the least of Ushiromiya Kinzou's (family head) concerns for this year's family conference. After being told that his end was approaching by his longtime friend and physician, Kinzou is desperate to meet his life's true love one last time: the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Having immersed himself in black magic for many of the later years in his life, Kinzou instigates a ceremony to revive his beloved upon his family's arrival on Rokkenjima. Soon after, a violent typhoon traps the family on the island and a string of mysterious murders commence, forcing the eighteen people on the island to fight for their lives in a deadly struggle between fantasy and reality.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch, Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 2: Turn of the Golden Witch, Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch, Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 4: Alliance of the Golden Witch, Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Alternative setting:	Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Spin-off:	Umineko no Naku Koro ni Specials

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Beatrice

Main

Ohara, Sayaka
Japanese

Ushiromiya, Battler

Main

Ono, Daisuke
Japanese

Ushiromiya, Ange

Main

Satou, Rina
Japanese

Ushiromiya, Maria

Main

Horie, Yui
Japanese

Kanon

Main

Kobayashi, Yuu
Japanese

Shannon

Main

Kugimiya, Rie
Japanese

Ushiromiya, Jessica

Main

Inoue, Marina
Japanese

Ushiromiya, George

Main

Suzumura, Kenichi
Japanese

Bernkastel, Frederica

Supporting

Tamura, Yukari
Japanese

Lambdadelta

Supporting

Ono, Fuyuka
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Okamura, Takema

Producer

Oomori, Hiroyuki

Producer

Urasaki, Nobumitsu

Producer

Danno, Yoshito

Assistant Producer

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Opening Theme

"Katayoku no Tori (片翼の鳥)" by Akiko Shikata (志方あきこ)

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Ending Theme

"la divina tragedia ~Makyoku~ (la divina tragedia~魔曲~)" by Jimang

Reviews

Jan 20, 2010

VerneJules

Recommended

In my own perspective, "Umineko no Naku Koro ni" is a very entertaining and enjoyable masterpiece. It's just sad that it has been quite underrated because of its comparison to Higurashi and that the Visual Novel was still a lot better. First of all, don't go thinking it would be close to Higurashi 'coz its plot is a lot different though similar. Higurashi's main point is horror while Umineko is more of a thriller or rather something like a mind battle like "Death Note" and even includes witches and magic. For me, this is one of the most unpredictable anime I've ever watched and does ... not deserve being underrated. It's a series that would actually even make you want to rewatch the whole series after completing it.

Story: 9
Now this is what you call an anime with a "really deep" story. Before enjoying this anime, let me tell you that the first 4 episodes were introduction only to the anime's plot. After that, episode 5 finally reveals the plot of the story so I suggest don't go dropping it before that if you think you already know the plot (well, if you really want to know the plot before you can continue, all I can say is this: Human vs Witch). Episode 6 will make you think this is getting boring, but let me tell you after watching Episode 7 you might finally like this anime. The major breakdown of the series is episode 10, as it would probably make you say "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE!?". Being unable to bear such breakdown might finally make you want to drop this anime, moreover, that the protagonist seems to have no chance (0%) in winning. However, let me tell you that the protagonist was just unprepared in those episodes and will finally show off his true might for the rest of the series. Regarding the breakdown in Episode 10, there'll be an explanation for that too. The last episode was satisfying, though you might think many of the mysteries were left unsolved, they were actually answered but in a way that you can already logically think how and just think of them yourself.

Art & Animation: 6
There's nothing special about the art and animation, but it's actually very good enough since I think it was given quite the budget.

Sound: 8
Though I've heard other anime with really good bgms, this has actually good ones. It has a very thrilling background when the protagonist shows off, and I love it. Most of the sounds were taken and remixed from the visual novel it has a good variety of sounds and all...

Characters: 8
Aside from the protagonist and antagonist, all the other characters were also given spotlight to know their story and even sometimes see a cool side of them, which is a plus actually. The thing I didn't quite like was the inconsistency of Beatrice's character (the antagonist), you may think of her as one of the most evil creatures but she also sometimes makes a character of a good person and even gets a bit feeling of romance between her and Battler (protagonist). Another one with an inconsistent character would be Maria, she's cute and adorable in normal situations and you might even cry for her when you see her being abused by her mother. However, her character often changes into an annoying evil brat. My favorite character is of course Ushiromiya Battler, he's cool and funny.

Enjoyment: 9
I really enjoyed the scenes in Umineko and I was very satisfied. If you enjoy a battle of wits, you'll enjoy this too. The only reason I didn't rate the enjoyment 10 but 9 was because there are also some boring scenes.

Overall: 10
I liked it so much. It's a gem that should be appreciated more.

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Aug 12, 2022

Sii_Kei

Mixed Feelings

A few things before reading this review:
-yes, I am one of those who have played the sound novel before watching the anime;
-no, I will not make this an essay of comparison between the two, nor will I praise the novel over the anime; however, it is inevitable that certain comparisons will indeed appear, in order to explain the flaws of the anime;
-this review might seem a bit unfriendly to someone who has no clue what Umineko is about. In fact, it's much more addressed to those who have partially or completely watched the anime/read the manga/played the game.

Let me begin with a simple assertion. Umineko ...

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Jan 2, 2010

afhdihgad

Not Recommended

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. While the sound novel may not have been a masterpiece, it was intriguing, exciting, and, at times, moving. In its adaptation into an anime, the entire thing was turned into something disgustingly shallow and one-dimensional.
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 hadn't heard of or read the novels at the time, but from the very beginning it felt as though something was missing. I heard the novel really was amazing, though, and sought it out. While there were flaws, the first four episodes of the novel felt much more complete than the anime. The story is mostly reading and the atmosphere is set more by the music rather than the visuals. Despite this, R07 managed to make the experience very enjoyable. 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 event X?" and holes simply cannot be left in a mystery story (what Umineko is presented as), 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. A lot of fun from the sound novel came from these moments between them.
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.

The sound was the most decent thing. The sound of the sound novel was excellent, as to be expected. The music really makes the setting, and even some scenes. The anime remixed some of the songs and used some of the original sound effects. Some fan-favorite songs were left out, but overall they did a decent job in this department.
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 song itself. I found it very fitting for Kinzo, however.

While many characters aren't expanded on in the sound novel until Episode 5 and the anime goes up to Episode 4, 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. A mystery has three parts to answer: the whodunnit, the howdunnit, and the whydunnit. In this series, its easiest to focus on the whydunnit, as opposed to many other mysteries.
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 an, if not great, at least enjoyable, story. Those who hated it are missing out on a story they could have gotten to really like. 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.

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Umineko no Naku Koro ni

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Beatrice

Ushiromiya, Battler

Ushiromiya, Ange

Ushiromiya, Maria

Kanon

Shannon

Ushiromiya, Jessica

Ushiromiya, George

Bernkastel, Frederica

Lambdadelta

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Umineko no Naku Koro ni

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Synopsis

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Characters & Voice Actors

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Ending Theme

Reviews

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