Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch
Umineko When They Cry Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

When They Cry 3, dubbed Umienko no Naku Koro Ni is considered the spiritual sequel to Higurashi (direct in my opinion). Like Higurashi, its a mystery/thriller but with more emphasis on the mystery aspect. The state of affairs for the adaptions of the Umineko Visual Novel are pretty damn messy at the moment. There's the anime, which is a godawful piece of crap that's worth no one's time. Than there are the manga adaptions which are still being published. Simultaneously no less. Needless to say, it can get pretty confusing but that's what this review is for.

The premise is typical stuff for a murder mystery. ... The Ushiromiya family has an annual get together on the island of Rokkenjima. Of course while they're staying there, a storm comes a long and the next thing you know, half the people on the island are dead. Than its adopts the classic whodunit angle and we've got ourselves a run of the mill mystery. Except Umineko is anything but run of the mill, but I'll get to that later. The protagonist is none other than good ol' Battler, who's fairly silly, perverted and has a pretty good sense of humor. He's also very level headed and has a knack for thinking in a logical manner. All of this is integral to the story but it might not be so obvious as to why at first. Now an important detail to know is that Episode 1: Legend of The Golden Witch, is fairly different from the other 3 episodes. It has a completely different mood and tone from the others because the point of it is to establish characters and pose some initial questions to the readers. You can look at it as a long prologue of sorts, as the real story begins in Episode 2.

That's not to say that its bad by any means, on the contrary, episode 1 is a very good stand alone story that sells its mystery quite well. The suspense is excellent and a lot of the murders will leave the readers scratching their heads. Of course its all presented in a textbook fashion but considering what it has to work with at first, it does a splendid job.The pacing is great, if a bit on the slow side. Unlike the anime, the manga includes a lot of the details that the VN had in regards to the characters and story. It also has a very interesting spin on the more ambiguous events that in my opinion, add a lot to the elements of the story. It presents a whole load of interesting characters, like the abusive mother Rosa, the atypical loli Maria, the overcompensating grandfather Kinzo, and of course, the Endless Witch Beatrice. Although Umineko does have a tendency to take your impressions of characters and twist them hundreds of times over. In that sense, it has great characters who are certainly not what they seem at first.

The art is great, definitely better than the generic designs that DEEN did, and leagues above the VN's "art". Although the proportions on both the male characters and females can look kinda weird at times, its got a distinct style that suits the overall mood of the story well. Some of the details are exquisite, its definitely a pleasure just to stop and admire some of the spreads. The only problem I can think of about the presentation is that it doesn't have one of the VN's strong points: the BGM. Of course, this is the limit of the medium, but the VN's BGM went a long way in adding to the atmosphere. Some scenes in the manga are not as poignant without the appropriate tracks playing in the background but I guess its fair trade for the art.

As a mystery, Episode 1 is great if a bit familiar. I said before that Umineko isn't typical at all but the story only really takes off in the later episodes. Unfortunately EP1 is the only one that's been completely published so far, so you're looking at 3 other episodes that are still incomplete. There's continuity between each episodes, so this publishing method isn't exactly the best, seeing how the whole thing is fragmented right now. I wouldn't ever recommend watching the anime, so if you want to pick this up, I'd say do it sometime in the future unless you don't mind the wait. The only other option is to read the VN which I also wholeheartedly recommend if you really want to know what happens next.

There are lot of longer series that are dull and uniteresting at the start, but with a huge fanbase spamming "Bro you gotta keep reading/watching bro I promise it gets better after 200 chapters/episodes bro trust me please don't drop it". Fortunately, Umineko is not one of those. And I don't mean that it starts great only to get weaker later. It starts great and keeps getting even greater. And it goes even beyond that, the later parts are so great they make the already good start even better. But more about that later.

Umineko is a detective mystery made to transcend the concept of detective ... mysteries. It pits logic, deduction and detective works of mere humans against the magic of great witch. Or does it? It is a fight between mystery genre and fantasy genre. And Episode 1 serves as a great introduction to this conflict.

The great saga starts with more or less regular crime scene. Group of people gets trapped on a secluded island and mysterious murder happens. Well, mysterious murders. The protagonist has to catch the culprint so there aren't any more victims. The conclusion, which I won't spoil, sets of a conflict of even greater scale. Now this is where the true genius of this work comes to play. The hints are there from the starts and they alway were there. Hints to conclusion both to this episode and to the whole Umineko story. Hidden in plain sight, carefully chosen to not be given away while still allowed to be spotted. But I would bow to anyone who puts them together, as the mystery is constructed so well it looks unsolvable yet once you get to the solution, you see that it was your fault for not getting it. There is no BBC Sherlock-tier bullshit asspull, the author cleanly won the intellectual battle with the reader without cheating. Admittedly, yes, the grand conclusion comes later after this episode, so it technically isn't part of rating of Episode 1, but Legend of the Golden Witch pulls out such well done set-up to the finale that it deserves some of the credit. Set-up that is enjoyable not only after the finale, but right from the start.

The art is great and a perfect fit for the atmosphere of Umineko. It shifts from cute, daily life style to horrifying scenes and terrifying grimaces, creating a great contrast. The violence and gore is well balanced, it's enough to bring out the mordbid curiosity humans tend to have, but at the same time not overdone in a way that would be seen as edgy and pretentious.

Like it's spiritual predecessor Higurashi, Umineko no Naku Koro ni is split into eight arcs, with the first four being question ones and the last four answer. This is a review of the first arc, Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch, often refered to simply by the series name, like on here, due to it being the first arc.

As a forewarning, I may end up comparing this to Higurashi a lot due to them being very similar, but I'll try to do so as little as possible.

Ah, the story. In this we get Ryukishi07's usual style of telling you as little as ... possible for the question arcs so you have to try to fit it all together. The plot here is fairly typical of a horror/mystery with a group of people being stranded somewhere as they all start to get killed until there are none left ala Ten Little Indians. What Umineko adds though, is magic, possible insanity and some of the most gruesome murders I'm seen in any media.

In fact the main problem the plot seems to have is just how in the dark in leaves it's readers. Of course I can't fault it on this though as it's a mystery series with this being only the first arc.

Sadly though, it being the first arc is also probably the main fault the arc has overall as due to that we don't get a lot of the wonderful elements and banter between characters that we do in later arcs. It's still we'll done though and manages to maintain a disturbing tone from the first murder to the last.

As I seem to be noticing with a lot of manga I've reviewing as of late, the art is one of the worst things the series has going for it. Thankfully, it does get better as the series progresses. The backgrounds are all fine and dandy, but the way the characters are drawn by this artist looks off a lot of the time, though it's good when it needs to be.

Disturbingly, the best drawn things in this arc are the corpses... I'll say this: I remember watching the anime several months ago and complaining about all the censoring that was done on the corpses. I am now GLAD they did that. Honestly, I think if I'd seen some of those pictures with detailed colouring, I may have lost my lunch. Just... Look for yourself, but you have been forewarned all you squeemish people out there!

Charcter wise, this series is a little lacking. I don't mean that there's too few of them, oh no, we get nineteen in this arc alone. Where it's lacking is the actual development of the characters and this is a problem that we had back in Higurashi too. The characters are all fun from the adorable ones to the ones you just want to punch in the face at times, but they're all brutally underdeveloped little things, doomed to forever maintain one character trait.

They are luckily all memorable thoug, something to be thankful for in a series with so many who often end up dying before we even can remember their names.

Despite my griping, I am happy to report that this series is very enjoyable. The beginning is a bit slow and deductions can drag on once in a while, but when the shit hits the fan it gets good.

I'm really hoping that this becomes more popular as right now it's only really known by Higurashi fans for the most part, so I'm really hoping it can break away from that and become a story unto itself.

I am happy to give this frighteningly gruesome ride a 7 out of 10, leaning on an 8.

A great set up for the rest of the series, it starts off slow but slowly builds up momentum and becomes more and more intriguing, which leads to an amazing and quite terrifying climax.

Characters-

The characters are set up pretty well too, Battler is an entertaining and endearing protagonist right off the bat and you truly feel for him during certain moments in the story, he's just so fun and likable you can't help but root for him to survive against all odds and be excited to follow this journey with him. Maria is quite creepy yet sad, she can certainly be annoying but it's ... obvious after a while everything is just a coping mechanism to deal with the pain she has to go through, she's a very well written character.

Jessica is also likable but I can't say she was one of my favorites at all during episode 1, she was alright in this episode. George was instantly suspicious to me, I was pretty much convinced he was the killer and was manipulating and tricking Maria into murder, he just felt too perfect to the point he was shady, and it constantly being mentioned that he was good with kids heightened my suspicions of him.

Natsuhi's character was very well expanded upon, not too much, just enough to get us interested in her and leave space for her to be truly fleshed out in the excellent episode 5 - which just so happens to be my favorite episode. As for the rest, some highlights were how Eva was introduced as this total cunt but got a real nice humanizing moment with Hideyoshi which really made her likable and interesting, and just Shannon and Kanon in general and the mystery behind their identities as furniture and why and what furniture meant and why they had to be so? (This is a mystery I'm just starting to figure out actually)

Story and Atmosphere-

This is probably the weakest episode out of what I've read up to in terms of story, the beginning parts were truly sometimes frustrating to get through, but at the same time, they were effective and important, you really realize the amount of importance and foreshadowing it contains on a reread after you reach a certain level of the truth behind Beatrice.

However, I very much enjoyed the latter half of the episode and the way the tension was built up had me biting down on my lip in anticipation, it was incredibly compelling and well done, the ending didn't fail to give me chills and at the moment the ending credits rolled, I was fully invested in Umineko and beyond ready to go on the currently 6 month journey of reading I'm on.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this episode despite it being my least favorite, it was a great introduction and was effective at getting me hooked.

“Does the Witch exist?”

Story: (9)
Umineko no Naku Koro ni also known as When the Seagulls Cry is a story about a closed circle mass murder mystery. 18 people on the Rokkenjima Island, which includes the Ushiromiya family, servants and a doctor are slaughtered one by one through gruesome methods. There are an amount of locked room murders that seems impossible to be done by humans, which brings up the question: “Is the Golden Witch Beatrice responsible for the murders?”

First of all, the pacing of the story is done pretty well. The author spent the first six chapters to mainly focus on the characters. As I ... mentioned, episode 1 consists a huge cast of 18 people, these six chapters gives a brief description on the characters background and personality, which helps the readers to become familiar with the cast. Not to mention the six chapters are not merely character introductions, strange events also takes place, such as the appearance of the witch’s letter and umbrella.

After the first set of tragedies occur, the story becomes fast paced and intense. More and more questions are raised while mysterious murders take place. However, don’t expect all the questions to be answered in EP1. As you may have noticed, this is the first episode to the Umineko series, which serves as a prologue to the story and an introduction of the Umineko world. As the episodes continue, more tips and parts of the story will be revealed.

The author took his time and the story was never rushed. I am impressed by the details they put in this manga adaptation. Most of the tips are included from the original Visual Novel, this is particularly important for Umineko, as tips are essential for solving the complicated challenges and understanding the truth of the story. Sadly this was not the case for the anime adaptation.

Characters: (8)
Our protagonist, Ushiromiya Battler serves as the detective of the series. The story is unraveled through his perspective most of the time. He gets the greatest amount of character development in EP1, he is determined to seek out the witch and bring the tragedy to an end. He is a likable character to me. Although he is one of the casualties in the mass murder, he still manages to pull himself together and tries to end other family member’s conflicts with his theories.

Other characters did not receive the amount of character development that Battler got. It would be really difficult to put a large number of times on the characters individually while balancing the murder parts of the story at the same time. Also, EP1 act as the prologue of the story, we get to know more about their pasts and personalities in depth in future episodes.

Art (8)
The most impressive part of EP1’s artwork is the character’s expressions. They are drawn filled with emotions, such as how twisted the grown up’s facial expressions are when then plan to scheme against each other.

There are also some impactful moments nicely drawn. The scene when Battler has his first encounter with the witch’s portrait gave me a strong impression. The artist used two pages to illustrate that scene, which is really memorable.

I have to point out that the gory corpses are drawn pretty detailed. I have no problem reading those scenes but others might feel uncomfortable, be warned. One might argue it is excessive gore though I treat it as tips. Why would the culprit put in so much effort to damage the corpse’s faces brutally? That is the question.

Enjoyment: (8)
I had a lot of fun reading Legend of the Golden Witch. Not only does the locked room murders, bizarre deaths got me attached to the story, trying to hunt down the culprit myself is also enjoyable. From time to time, when I suspect a certain character is the culprit, they get murdered suddenly. One might even ask themselves if the Golden Witch Beatrice exists and involved with the murders, making the story even more mysterious.

The enjoyment of EP1 does not end when you finish the last chapter. There are tons of challenges left by the author unanswered, such as who is the culprit and the methods of murder. Readers could also challenge the witch’s epitaph, which is the greatest challenge of Umineko in my opinion.

Overall: (8)
As a mystery lover, Legend of the Golden Witch is a must read. It is packed with locked roomed murders and challenging puzzles one after another. One must bear in mind that EP1 is only the prologue to the Umineko series, an amount of questions would not be answered immediately and readers must come up with their own theories. Episode 1 is merely the beginning of your eternal struggle with the Golden Witch Beatrice.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni, or "When the Seagulls Cry", is a manga adaptation of of a visual novel by 07th Expansion, written by the same author, Ryuukishi07, whose work include Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, another horror, mystery story in a similar vein. However, I urge fans of the latter to come into Umineko with little expectations, not because I don't think the story will live up to it, but because Umineko is such an odd beast that it is very unlikely to fit to anything the viewer could expect. Umineko is a cluster of genres, ideas and deconstructions that it is difficult to ... recommend at times due to how dense and obtuse it can be. However, those who give it a fair shot may find something entirely original with bold ideas and bizarre premise.

Story (7):
Despite the bizarreness of the series as a whole, the first episode is comparatively very traditional. It starts with a simple premise: "A cast of character is trapped in a relatively small area and people begin dying." Legend of the Golden Witch is the most traditionally horror story in the series, and is almost a (very long) prologue in retrospect. The characters are introduced but (mostly) undeveloped, the questions the story poses remain unanswered, and it ends without a clear resolution. That isn't to say the plot is bad however, far from it. Its simple premise allows for excellent execution. The tone and atmosphere are consistent and effective. And, due to its brevity, the horror aspects remain oppressive throughout. I will say that Umineko is a series that does not like giving answers, so readers who want to stay for the long run better start taking notes if they want their questions resolved. Of course, finding an answer is a lost cause in a fantasy setting, and there lies the central question of the early arcs: "Is Umineko a fantasy or mystery story?"

Characters (8):
The cast of characters are varied and unique, if rather mostly undeveloped at this point. The protagonist, Ushiromiya Battler is, at this point, the somewhat traditional male teenager protagonist: He's passionate, perverted, stubborn and clever when the situation calls for it. Battler does go through some development during this episode, being torn between suspecting his relatives and denying the existence of a witch. This makes for an interesting dilemma and sets up his position for later arcs nicely. His siblings, at this point, are the traditional mature big brother and hotheaded tomboy trope. The adults, however, show hints of greater complexity, and while getting deeper may hints at spoilers, suffice to say it becomes more difficult to label them with any single trope. Of course, in these sorts of setting, the morality and nobility of the characters are tested, and I believe that they react in believable and sometimes sympathetic ways. Paranoia and guilt plagues the cast and how they adapt to the horrors around them is a joy to see.

Adaptation (7) :
(for those familiar with the source material, no spoilers here however)
I will say this: those of you who have played through the original materials and have found all the answers will have little reason to read the manga adaptation of the first episode unless you want to see certain scenes in a more visual format (because obviously the anime is a mess and isn't worth your time). However, if, like me, you have played through the visual novel once without finding all the answers but isn't too keen on going through the exact same thing again, the manga is a great place to go through the story again in a different format. It is still a pity that the adaptation of the first episode has so little that the source material does not, but at least it is a faithful adaptation (unlike the anime), if not an ambitious one. I personally find the art at the beginning rather off-putting but either the artist got better or I got used to it because I found little to complain about in the latter part. It is also a plus that the manga has no obligation to censor the more disturbing scenes, which is one thing it has over the source material. That said, some scenes are just not the same without the visual novel's stellar soundtrack accompanying them, but really there is noway around that. Even so, the horror aspects are diminished somewhat by the lack of sound, arguably the strongest contributor to atmosphere, or the iconic sound effects used throughout the source material.

Overall:
As a long prologue to the overall story, Legend of the Golden Witch may not be as strong as the other arcs, comparatively lacking in both character development and resolution. However, it makes up for it with a concise and effective horror story and setting up the characters nicely. As a prologue, the first arc does a very find job of setting up the scene, allowing for later arcs to take off. Judging Legend by its own merits, it is a simple yet effective and atmospheric story filled with creepy moments and surprises.

What I’ll kick start might be my most challenging reviewing goal, Umineko When They Cry. Due to its complexity and current influence on me I have yet to fully digest Umineko’s overall majesty. Also, it happens that I’ve read both the original visual novel alongside the manga adaptations.

Nonetheless, I will review as precisely as possible, individual episode level and holistically. Also included is an extra connected to the VN, limited to this sole review.


[1. Let's begin with an introduction.]

Umineko is the second installment in the When They Cry visual novel franchise and considered a spiritual successor to Higurashi. It is structured likewise in eight episodes, ... divided between question arcs and corresponding answer arcs of “Chiru”, the last four of which cover more clearly what is established on the question arcs.

Episode 1 functions sort of as a prologue, establishing characters, introducing the reader to key ideas and setting foundations for an overarching narrative that will only become more and more complex and intriguing with each succeeding episode.


[2. On to the story...]

At this stage, the story is a whodunit crime mystery with horror elements, modeled heavily after Agatha’s Christie’s “And Then There Were None”, a novel the creator Ryukishi07 cited as one of his major influences in his overall writing.

Set during October 1986, the extended Ushiromiya family gathers together in the island of Rokkenjima, where the head mansion is sited, for their annual meeting yet end up stranded due to a monsoon. Similarly to ATTWN, a series of mysterious murders occurs until little by little less and less people remain. So what is the twist? Those murders’ executions occur in certain circumstances that hint towards the supernatural, leaving the reader and the characters in ambiguity: is it the work of a human culprit or a great witch? Deductive reasoning is pitted against fantasy, and many people describe Umineko overall as a fight between the mystery and the fantasy genres (although this statement is not quite correct).

Either way, don’t expect crystal clear or spoon-fed answers at any question arcs. And for the whole length of Umineko, more than mere hypotheses will be required in order to grasp either the whodunit or the elementary ideas or the overarching mystery; observe, take hints, think and theorize. The rest is to be experienced.


[3. Continuing with the characters...]

At this stage, they are far from the strongest card, the reader being initiated to nineteen of which all remain underdeveloped at this stage, yet it’s fair to note this is more than justifiable for three reasons. First, all are easily recognizable and memorable. Second, development is left for the next episodes.

Third and connected to the above, almost nobody introduced at this stage remains what they appear at a superficial level. One factor connected to that is the overarching theme of family. Without digging into too many details, I confidently claim that Umineko is the most radical treatment of family I’ve experienced in Japanese fiction; for example, parents are not step-sided by their offspring and are portrayed as people with warts-and-all, while running the gamut from abusive yet troubled to sweet if strict to dysfunctional but caring. On top of that, mothers assume main or even protagonist roles in various parts of the overarching story. And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Ushiromiya Battler as a protagonist is goofy, upbeat and rather perverted at first glance, but also compassionate, quite rational and intelligent. He’s driven to confront the culprit and prevent more murders from occurring. He’s also more than meets-the-eye and should not be judged solely according to this episode.


[4. And concluding with artwork...]

Umineko’s story is progressively evolving and literally improving in quality with each episode. What does remain inconsistent though is artwork, for the manga adaptations are not done by the same artist. Apart from the object of the current review, its artist drew and illustrated the 2nd and the 8th episodes.

Character designs can be hit-or-miss and most backgrounds are simply functional, yet some powerful panels can be found and expressions are one of the strong cards of artwork. When the artwork really does shine though is during transitions to crime scenes and more disturbing expressions. Those shifts match perfectly to their corresponding scenes, and are not for the squeamish or weak of heart. And tha should be kept in mind for the whole of Umineko: be prepared for very nasty horror scenes that could shock and/or nausiate even a seasoned spectator, among others.


[Extra: comparison to the VN...]

I prefer the visual novel by far for almost all parts, save for Episode 8 which I did not complete in VN form. Two notes before elaborating on my impressions:

Note #1: my PC version of the visual novel is from Steam and got it patched in order to provide PS3 models and voice acting (not present in the original VN), among others. This patch is free, easy to find and easier to install.

Note #2: this part here is meant to present an alternative to interested readers.

On to my explanation, the VN takes more time to build the characters early on. Also, I love the richly detailed and well-polished PS3 sprites (including their memetic and scary expressions) and appreciate the backgrounds. Writing wise, I even appreciated more superfluous parts due to some neat trivia here and then.

Above else of course, I was won by the music and the voice acting. Concerning the former, there is a very good reason Umineko was marketted as a "sound novel"; with proper soundtracks matching and amplifying the scene's mood and tone. Also, I more than appreciated performer and composer Akiko Shikata's contribution to the OST, e.g. the OP (although I prefer the anime's version).

What of the voice acting? Stellar. Voices match their given roles well, be it e.g. soft-spoken Miki Ito as the mockingly playful Ushiromiya Eva, or the baritone Daisuke Ono as the hot-blooded Ushiromiya Battler or deep-sounding Ohara Sayaka as the majestic, hammy, troll witch Beatrice. On the last two voice actors in particular, I cannot shower enough praise over the sheer energy overflowing from their dialogues, it is more than apparent that they loved their work.

However, I'm obliged to be fair and present some flaws. Unlike the manga that starts more "in media res" , the visual novel begins with an extended introduction scene at an airport and later at a harbor, where most family members are directly presented to the reader. And given how the visual novel is reliant on script, expect more lengthy scenes in all parts.

Two drawbacks deduced out of this is a rather slow start that will require some patience as well as some superfluous writing here and then, but the narrative speeds up when the crimes kick in. And last, some parts can look too goofy for their own good, although Umineko is extremelly self-aware due to the nature of its writing and easily embraces those as part of its charm and fun ride. However, a legitimate drawback are the too silly fight scenes that are much more succesfully rendered in the manga adaptations.

Hope you enjoyed my review, and hope you likewise enjoy Umineko in the future!

Note: I'm not gonna go too much into detail.

"When the seagulls cry, there are no survivors."

Now this is how you write the beginning to a manga series.

Set in a scenario that might remind some of Agatha Christie's forever-cliched classic "And Then There Were None", Umineko, similar to its sibling Higurashi, is another mystery masterpiece spawning from the mind of Ryukishi07.

Now I myself am not the mystery fanatic. Frankly put, I am largely disinterested in the genre due to all the boring dialogue and uncountable, ever-present cliches. However, this takes the classic whodunnit plot and adds several layers of intrigue into it, most notably ... with the witch herself.

The characters don't have overly complex backstories to them (it's a 23 chapter manga, what do you expect), but have been properly introduced and have had their mannerisms expressed. In a three-volume with a variety of characters characters, providing enough detail to allow the reader to form connections and not enough detail in order to bore them with some drawn-out crybait is a great approach from my perspective.

Furthermore, the action in the story involving these characters is surprising to say the least.
The manga artist did an incredible job, almost too good at showing us character outcomes (you'll see what I mean) and gave Maria some of the creepiest goddamn looks I've ever seen on a manga girl.

The cherry on top for me was how it ended with Battler's resolve. It is truly awe-inspiring to see someone as plainly human as him stand up to an entity who could easily rip him into shreds. I hope he kick ass next arc.

It's my first time picking up anything Umineko-related, so I'm very optimistic as to what the manga series will offer.

I'll start by talking about the visual novel and then about the manga


Being an introductory chapter, it introduces the characters and establishes the family dynamic. The personalities are so well characterized that it is worth it with small gestures to see who has influenced another. George is passive aggressive and crushes those he sees as inferior, as does his mother. Rudolf and Kyrie are calculatedly presented as a patriarchal couple, with the seductive man tied up by a woman much more efficient and intelligent than him, but who respects his pride and shuts up to let him show off - which, above all, we will ... see later. -… You have an idea.

Of course, the western world is also being introduced to us as a contrast to Higurashi, who could not be more Japanese. It may seem like a superficial detail, but I think the whole western naming thing is a good way for Ryukishi07 to connect Kinzo with Bice. We know that his fascination with the western is very old, perhaps a form of escapism, and that before being assigned to Rokkenjima he baptized his children with foreign names. So when he met Bice an immediate bond was made. After all, she was not only a very attractive maiden in distress, but an exotic foreigner who adapted to her tastes for anything that was not national.

That all the grandchildren maintain this custom, on the other hand, speaks of the struggle of the brothers to make their offspring pleasing to Kinzo's eyes. After all, if Jessica is not acceptable for being a woman, George seems very soft in Kinzo's eyes, Battler rejected the family and Maria is not only another woman, but a girl that Kinzo disgusts ... Anyone could have an opportunity. (Important: this is not correct, as, as noted in a comment, it was Kinzo who chose all the names except Maria.)

.................................................. ..............


In the manga, practically this entire chapter is skipped and uses a more simplified presentation of the characters, directly on the ship that is heading to Rokkenjima. I think the story does Battler a disservice by showing him right off the bat screaming and suffering, and it doesn't portray his cousins ​​very well either (except maybe Maria). In George's case, all his passive aggressiveness disappears. I wonder if it was a conscious decision by Ryukishi07… Unfortunately, Maria's reaction to the absence of the temple is over-emphasized. In the novel he keeps repeating the same thing, but he doesn't have that extremely sinister aura around him. Everything is much more artificial than you might expect from characters like Umineko's (Battler gets to touch Jessica's chest) and, although understandable due to the lack of space, this means that even more characters will have to be introduced at once.