This review might come of as a bit amateurish because i am not really a good writer, but i am still writing this review because I absolutely love Umineko. I just want to write down my thoughts on this topic.
What makes Umineko unique from the other media I have consumed is the way it tackles its themes. Usually in stories , the themes are apparent and can be easily gobbled up by the readers.Because the themes are spoon fed to the reader, some have little to no attachment to the story. However in Umineko, the readers must carefully follow the story as the theme/nature of the story can be easily missed. This effort put by the readers makes them emotionally attached to the story.
Umineko is all about questioning and theorising. If you're put off by this, then I do not recommend you this manga/visual novel because the answers to the story aren't explicit. Umineko uses metaphors to convey its themes and answers. Catching these metaphors can be easy provided the readers come up with their own theories. Of course, there are cases where the theories do not match with the truth. This is fine because the language used to convey these metaphors is in common with the theories the readers come up with.
what makes me appreciate this story even more is its answer arcs.The answer arcs recontextualize a few scenes in the question arcs. With the new context that is provided in the answer arcs, the readers can see the character interactions in a different light and make more sense of a certain events.
In conclusion, Umineko is story that requires commitment from the readers. It can be tiring to be committed to such a long series, but believe me the pay off is worth all the effort. Even the readers who do not like umineko still have an opinion on this story.That is to say, it leaves you with a lasting impression which is either good or bad.
