Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 4: Alliance of the Golden Witch
Umineko WHEN THEY CRY Episode 4: Alliance of the Golden Witch

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''Battler, from now on, I shall allow you to use the blue.''

Well, this episode doesn't have a review, which is strange. This episode finishes the first half of the whole story, and it's very important. I will try to explain why without going into spoilers.

Story - 9
As the battle of minds continues, the story progresses as well. Throughout the episode readers receive a lot of flashbacks of Maria's and mysterious character's, from the end of the third episode, pasts. Their backstories explain why those characters are here, which moves the plot greatly. Not only mind battle is included in this part of the story, but ... also focusing on feelings. Among the first four episodes, this one touches you the most. Of course this wouldn't be the Umineko, if there were no plot twists. Without spoilers I will say that when readers reach the climax, they are going to be swallowed by the very last chapter. What's in there? Find by yourself :D

Art - 8
Just like in previous episodes art is very good. Crazy and scary facial expressions will give you shivers down your spine.

Characters - 9
Characters are still interesting, because of the continuous development. Also, some new characters are introduced. Come on, Ushiromiya family members and witches with their furniture are not enough, right?

Enjoyment - 9
This episode is really enjoyable, it's interesting, touchy and gives more mysteries. Last chapter makes me want to read the fifth episode right away.

Overall - 9
I think this score is fair. You never get bored during the reading. You just want more and more. Make sure to get acquainted with Umineko series, if this haven't been done so far.

Thank you for reading.

As for apparent tradition I gotta use a quote to begin my review, but I'll take one not as flashy as the others:

"People take the pain they've been burdened with and unload it on others. It is the only way to escape their torment"

So I just finished reading up to the end of Episode 4, marking the end of the first half of the story, or the so called "question arc" and seeing as this one only has 2 reviews on this site I figured that I could leave my thoughts here as well, because quite frankly I'm blown away by this. This will ... probably be the longest review for this one too. I will use my personal review style I did for my other ones too

STORY:
The story continues where the third part left off with the focus on our mysterious person who crashed the party of Beatrice at the end. By now having found your way to here, you have probably taken a look at the character portion and there's no point in hiding that it's Ange Ushiromiya, Battler's little sister who continuosly got mentioned in all 3 previous parts but never shown until now.

From here on out the fourth game takes place and simultaneously we see Ange's own story of her in her world alone without her family. The storytelling in Umineko was always rather unique but I think this one takes it up a notch and this also what makes it so good. The story managed to progress a great deal and I almost forgot about the deadly game they are playing. Most of what I want to say I'll adress in a later point, so I just leave this category with a score of 10/10 and move on to

CHARACTERS:
THIS was what I was waiting for reading through the entirity of the first 3 episodes, because if I'm being honest, those were almost entirely carried by Battler and Beatrice and not a lot of the other characters were remotely as interesting or fleshed out, safe for very few like Maria, or Eva in episode 3. Into the fray comes Ange as the best addition that could've happened to this franchise sweeping in and seating herself on the throne for best character in the story so far. Seeing her development throughout this thing was worth every second of over-dramatic-ness this story likes to put out sometimes.
And we also got a little more exposure to the seven sisters of purgatory and the other demons, now I can at least make out two of them per name.
10/10

ART:
The art was great and the paneling and arrangement of the pages was insanely good. The only thing I was missing in this part was that magical "black/white/golden" background that was present in most of Episode 3 when they were looking at the gameboard, so 9/10

ENDING:
The conclusion to the first half of the story (man I can't believe I still get to read even more than I have already for this) is everything I hoped for it to be and more. That final standoff going through every single game played before was quite a treat to watch, tying everything that has happened so far together whilst still being critical about any crazy theory the characters came up with, and with the way the story is going, further emphasized by Lambda in the secret tea party later. Just for the simple reason it is not the end of the whole thing, I can only grant this one a 9/10

EMOTIONAL IMPACT/ENJOYMENT:
Now we're coming to the part that sets this apart from all the other parts before it, which is the emotional impact I got from reading it. There has NEVER been a single thing, be it an anime, manga, movie, tv show, book or anything else that has made me cry on the very first chapter. As a former victim of bullying myself, I FELT everything that has happened to Ange as if it were myself, and it brought back some very unpleasant memories. So much so that I actually had to take about a 1 1/2 day break from it because it was hard to read through at times. After the end of episode 3 I had my doubts on how this was going to turn out and how much I'll like it but after finishing it I can safely say that Episode 4 is my absolute favorite part of this manga so far. 10/10

OVERALL:
It is by no means perfect because there are still so many questions left to be answered but for everything that Umineko has put out up to this point, it might as well be as close to perfect as it gets. I almost feel appalled at myself for giving Episode 3 a score of 9/10, I gotta change that to a lower r8, because this one is undoubtedly just much, MUCH better, far and away.

If you've come this far without even reading this manga yet, then heed my advice and just get yourself seated somewhere comfortably, make sure you had your toilet break, got enough food and drinks, and go on a binge reading spree until you've at least caught up to here. You will not regret it one single bit.

Most will not be familiar with my rating system unless you have visited my profile before. Among my scores of 10 (there are 14 so far excluding movies and this one), there are 7 entries that have a full score of 10/10 and 7 that are more akin to a 9.5/10. Umineko up to this point makes itself quite comfortable somewhere inside the latter part of this already, and I am looking forward to, and am rather curious, if it manages to find its way into my true masterpieces after I have completed the "answers arc". For that you will probably find my review on Episode 8 in a few weeks from now.

"UHYAAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I'LL BE KILLED!!? EVEN IF I CAN'T WIN AT LEAST I CAN PESTER YOU ENOUGH SO THAT I DON'T JUST HAND YOU THE VICTORY YOU KNOOOOOW!? TRY TO KILL ME, JUST YOU TRY TO KILL MEEE, USHIROMIYA BATTLEEEEER!!!!!!!!"

Okay to be honest I only put that quote because the review on top of mine has one and I didn't want to feel left out .

I've finished this and I'm feeling slightly disappointed .It's not like I had any serious problems with it .In fact it did its job pretty well as an expo for Ange but as a whole it felt pretty powered-down compared to ... the prior episodes .To be honest rating it a 7 and not 8 nags at me but I suppose for fairness' sake I must as other episodes had less disturbances/reasons for me to rate them lower .

Story - 7.999999999999999999999999999999999999999∞

So the story didn't bore me at all .It was actually pretty nice .Philosophical discussions as to the true nature of "truth" as well as the proper entrance (as it's already been hinted at before) of one of the series' most powerful themes ,namely :That if there's no love you can't see anything .I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect and it was a very thought provoking moment for me .Ange's past is also expounded upon and we see how much see suffered due to her family's stigmatization after the Rokkenjima incident .I had some issues with the story at that point too but I'll save those for when I judge the characters .

So why did I drop the score for the story a rank when compared to my other Umineko reviews ?

Well that's because I had a bit of an issue with the mystery aspect .This episode is probably the most fitting to bear this series' 'shounen' tag .Not that I have a problem with shounen but I honestly don't read Umineko to see furniture fighting against each other .There are better action series and I felt like things were side-tracked from the mystery .The arrangement of the storytelling also ticked me off .Starting from the gameboard ,moving on to Ange's POV in the real world and then moving back to the game board as the episode neared its end .Now the issue with this is simply that in the other episodes ,Twilight occurrences and mystery cracking go hand in hand while in this case however ,they were delayed until the end which had me forgetting many of the details of the murders .Many of Battler's counters also felt quite sloppy and unsatisfying .

Even with all that the only reason I'll rate the story a 7 is because it isn't as powerful as in the other episodes .It deserves an 8 in its own right when compared to other manga .

Art - 7
The art here is also an aspect I ranked lower than in the other episodes .Now I didn't have a problem with it at all .Character design quality didn't drop and in fact I can say it improved .

BUT......

The truly outstanding aspect of Umineko's art lies in its panel arrangement and over-the-top trolling expressions .In an episode with much of the focus being on Ange's experiences in the real world however ,that brilliance is mostly lost .The double page drawings that leave you wanting to soak in every detail weren't very apparent here .

Characters - 7
Ah yes .The characters .

Ange's victimization ticked me off .I felt like it was quite unrealistic since bullying over reasons mentioned in the story is not something I'm familiar with .Then again I might be misinformed .A lot of my treasured over-the-topness was lost as well .Of course these aren't negatives but simply lack of positives .

The Ushiromiya Family really is made up of badasses .

My my ,George-kun was spectacular this time around .Jessica impressed me too .If you're a George/Jessica fan then this chapter is for you .

Overall - 7
Still enjoyable and I'll be triggered if anyone badmouths this .Not as powered up as the other episodes but still carrying a gentle theme that I'll probably hold on to for the rest of my life .