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Old 2009-12-31, 20:44   Link #7
Archon_Wing
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Join Date: Jul 2008
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Higurashi is probaly my favorite series of all time. I'm quite aware that it was not a good adaptation, and had terrible artwork with questionable direction but it had enough screwiness and lovable enough characters that key moments were emotional ones that would be remembered. A good story can have you rooting for the characters to win! But for the most part, if you said Higurashi was good in spite of Deen and was too good to ruin, I could just go with that.

So along comes Umineko, and Kon Chikai/Deen are at it again. Did they get their shit together this time? Or perhaps at least make it a good standalone show? The result is well... questionable.

The story of Umineko challenges the reader to think on another level. Sometimes we think we know everything and become complacent. Our world view does not change, so once we see something out of the ordinary, our world falls apart and we try to reason it. When we can't find a reason, we often will succumb to the first meaningful explanation that appears. But the easy way out can't be taken; you will have lost! Umineko isn't Higurashi, and it's not right mindset to have.

Umineko initially started out pretty boring. It's understandable that the huge cast would have some flat characters, but most of them just seemed so pointless. I didn't even get to know most of their names into some way halfway through. For the most of the first half of the season, save for the end of the first arc, episodes consisted of Event A,B,C,D as if the script writer were just reading off a list and here they go! The transition from scene to scene is just not very good. Though they eventually get better at it.

And that's just how I felt about most of the characters. There were just plot devices being moved along by the plot. It became the character attachment of a typical crappy horror movie. Sure what happened to them may be pretty nasty, but anyone can make some random character die horribly. I need to be compelled to care about a character before I give a damn about them. However, the anime does a better job in the third and fourth arcs and thus the show became enjoyable to watch.

The best developed character out of the few that mattered (not in terms of boobage mind you) is Beatrice. She starts off as a generic villain, but as the series goes along we get to see many facets of her personality. Yes she is evil, but she's also devious and playful. In the late part of the season, we see that she is more than just a psychotic killer. While her ruse in episode 3 did get a lot of hate from me, it's revealed that not all of it may be fake. By the end of the fourth arc, we come to the realization that she doesn't want to play anymore, and is most likely being coerced. We also learn that nobody is on her side. Bern and Lambda are against her, and the family wins if Beatrice loses. Beatrice can not win and she's one of the most pitable characters in the story.

Our male lead Battler has a little development, but for the most part he remains rather generic aside from the pervertedness. But I must show my respect for anyone that makes vulgar jokes when he sees his aunt being forced to eat his own cousin. That was probaly his defining moment for this season. We now realize that giving up is not acceptable and there is nowhere to run.

He seems to have hit a wall in arc 4. Maybe because it's not concerning him too much, but he seems to lack emotion, though it could be expected due to all the crap that's already happened.

Maria... ugh. She was probably meant to be more sympathetic that she appeared in the anime. Indeed, those ridiclous faces and Deen's obsession with portraying her as a relative of Light Yagami pretty much failed miserably, and wasn't scary at all. Except some points in the 4th arc, when we realize how crappy a mom Rosa really is. The Rosa torture scene is indeed disturbing, but extremely effective in showing how broken Maria really is. Who would have known you could make a character more interesting by developing them?

George, Jessica, Shannon-- They are likable and aren't made of cardboard. But that's all I can say about them.

Eva/Eva-Beatrice is an interesting twist that happened as Eva seems to be torn apart in a fight agianst herself. She also seems to be plagued with guilt in the fourth arc. Eva-Beatrice is even more sadistic than Beato, and is pretty effective as a villain, but she lacks Beato's elegance.

Ange/Stakes-- While some might have found the start of the 4th arc to be boring, I found that to be really good as we finally have something that actually matters. Her interaction with the stakes is probably the high point of the series, and the epic slaughter in the penultimate is one as well.

The mystery. lol wut? Umineko's anime plot is quite the trainwreck as mostly I'm wondering what the hell was the point of most of the stuff. Indeed, the leaving out of details may have hurt it a lot. Most jarring is Eva appearing to just randomly solve the epitaph. Near the end was the worst The final confrontation had virtually no red text which means most of it is pointless. Wtf?? I'm sure it's solvable in the VN, but pretty much impossible from just watching the anime.

The ending was plain abysmal. Despite having one of the best previews ever, it had such a lack of emotion that it might as well have never existing. Especially Ange's death. Given all the time spent building up her character, you'd expect a dramatic exit with an angry Battler rising up to win for real this time. You'd expect something sad and memorable. That's not what you got here though. This alone knocks the anime down an entire point for me, much less the incomprehensible garbage that was the 2nd half of the finale.

Soundtrack was nice, and they actually used the awesome tracks from the VN, unlike Higurashi. Unforunately, as I've heard from VN readers, they weren't well used, and a certain god track was just left out. The OP is wonderful, the ED is funny.

Character designs were pleasant. Bern and Beatrice look great. The animation however... Deen hasn't learned yet.

The voice acting is great and why you should watch the series. Beatrice's VA did a exceptional job. CONGRATULATIONS made me fall out of my chair and rewind.

Overall: 6/10 I felt the show was more entertaining to watch for the 2nd half, and it had enough wtfness to keep me going. So I would say it was time well spent watching it, even though some of it was spent facepalming. The unacceptable ending drags it down a bit, and as with most other shows I give a 6 to could have been great with more effort. I'd like to see more of this, though it will probably be with another studio, which I'm sure others here would love. I do not want to see the When the Cry anime franchise to just end here.
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Last edited by Archon_Wing; 2010-01-01 at 21:56. Reason: Gonna try to rename "episode" to arc; getting confusing
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