Umineko no Naku Koro ni

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]

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

Urasaki, Nobumitsu Producer

Oomori, Hiroyuki Producer

Okamura, Takema Producer

Danno, Yoshito Assistant Producer

Reviews

Jun 17, 2023

PipeOrganLover

Recommended

This just my opinion, but only watch the first few episodes. The first 4 episodes is amazing classic murder mystery horror, near peak as far as anime horror goes. The first 4 eps are definitely worth your time to watch, and I can't recommend them enough. But once you reach ep 5 that is the start of where the story massively changes and turns into something huge, drawn out, and overly convoluted to follow. The first 4 eps earned it a higher rating than I would give it based on the remaining episodes. Not saying that the remainder isn't good, it is just a lot ... to follow and overwhelmed me a bit. It twists people and events a lot and made me feel lost, conflicted, and confused at points. The driving concept from ep 5 onwards was cool, but in practice was not well received by me. It did have its select great moments throughout that make the rest of it still worthy of a watch if you have the time and patience. But if you like a tightly structured and to the point plot then this might not be the show for you. Because in my opinion the remaining 22 isn't worth the time investment. Note that this is my opinion and I am sure there are plenty who played the game and are experts on the various routes and lore, and those people probably had a much better time of watching than I did. So please don't let me dissuade you from watching all of it if you're genuinely interested in the show. Many of its characters show up only after ep 4 anyway.

Also it can be corny at times, though that is to be expected of 2000s anime, but be aware there is a spooky little girl who made me cringe most times she spoke.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 13, 2024

alenaphoenix

Mixed Feelings

I'm a bit conflicted on the Umineko anime. On one hand, it's got a great atmosphere, solid usage of gore, and a story that's only getting more mysterious as it goes on, not to mention the amazing character development that goes on. But on the other hand, as an adaptation? This series has a plethora of issues, even beyond its nature as an adaptation, but what's really damning is just how good the source material is. It's a shame that anime-only watchers will probably walk away confused and disappointed, as it only adapts the first 4 arcs (of which there are 8) of the original.

Then ... again, the series is still pretty damn good, all things considered, and has some moments that rival the best of the visual novel. What's most surprising about this series is how the showrunners aren't afraid to get dark. The series has a lot of blood, gore, and generally fucked up shenanigans, even more so than the source material. Some scenes, particularly in the third arc, genuinely made me cringe and I'm glad I'm not a masochist. It's a pretty damn raw series, with a lot of raw imagery, and in that respect it does a good job of capturing the horror elements of the original.

What's also surprising is the series's usage of sound. While the OST isn't anywhere near as good as the VN's (which is god tier), I think that when they allow the soundtrack to take over, the series's atmosphere kicks up a notch.

The series also has a really good cast of characters. They're all pretty interesting and well-developed, and there are a lot of them. Sure, they don't get quite enough development as in the original, which can be detrimental to some earlier episodes as you don't really feel like you know the characters. But as the series goes on, the characters really start to get good, and I think my favourites here are Rosa and Maria. Their dynamic is depicted in such a way that you can't help but feel for them as the series goes on, and they're one of my favourite mother/daughter pairings of all time.

What's also really interesting with the series is how it handles the mystery. The series does a great job of keeping the mystery going, but the fact is that in adapting such a dense, difficult mystery novel, a few details were changed that make it far less cohesive than the original. While it's still a great mystery, it doesn't really have a resolution here, and the best thing it does is make you wonder what's really going on, without ever truly letting you figure out whodunit.

The series's biggest flaw is just how much it cuts down on the original. I spent at least 90 hours on Umineko, and that's pretty low all things considered. That doesn't even count the time I spent theory-crafting, re-reading, or generally just trying to figure out the mysteries. It's such a dense novel, and unfortunately, that means this anime falls short on being truly great.

So, is it worth watching? I'd say it is, though you should really consider reading Umineko as opposed to watching it. There aren't many stories with its sheer scope and execution. But regardless, the anime is some solid supplementary material for starved Umi-fans, like myself. Give it a watch, it's a good time. Just know that you'll have to deal with the cliffhanger ending and some pretty weird pacing issues.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Apr 21, 2024

DarkSlayerVergil

Not Recommended

If you intend to start Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, the anime is a bad starting point. A lot of things are extremely rushed, not to mention it only covers the question arcs. Studio DEEN had a bad idea taking a 100+ hours VN and making it a 26 episode anime. If you want to start Umineko, get the Visual Novel, or the manga. The manga does a way better job than the anime does. However, the best way to enjoy Umineko is by reading the visual novel. You can watch the anime after you've finished Umineko No Naku Koro Ni VN fully, just to ... make fun of it. At least, that's what I did. Overall, not recommended.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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