[Anime] Umineko - Spoilers & Expectations (for experienced VN readers only)

[Kitsu]

She's the talking portrait of doom...didn't you know that?

And yes, I don't think she is that kind of spoiler which ruins everything. She's just like Oyashiro-sama in Higurashi (not Kai >.< back then when we thought wth is wrong those kids? And wth is a Oyashiro-sama) just that we already see her and need to decide if she's real or not real.

[izmosmolnar]

I'm referring on the people who are completely unfamiliar to the series/game. Those who just heard about it and decided to check the episodes out, but don't know anything about it's plot, events, characters etc.
If those people would see a walking witch in the op, and turning her into golden xxxxxxxxxx-s (at least that's how I'd imagine it), they would probably remember her "existence" when they see the "speculation causing events". (uh, it's like I'm speaking in riddles or something )

It's not just about her though, IMHO the OP -after we learned the bigger picture- should include more people from the "bad" side and not just the antagonist, as they each play highly unusual roles, but I believe showing them there before they are introduced would spoil new viewers somewhat, and even help/hinder them to speculate with additional not directly related informations (it might be just me and my far too strict/weird sense though).

There are some series where I enjoy the op's informative nature, and how it possibly helps you to solve the clues (Eden of the East for example), but for some inexplainable reason I wouldn't feel the same if Umineko's opening would unnecessarily give too much away.

[Jan-Poo]

Well my guess is that "B" is the only one that's going to be shown which would be somewhat spoilerish for the first six or so episodes of the anime, but only for those who really do not know anything about Umineko.

P.S: I wonder if this discussion should rather be moved on the other thread. It's not like we are doing major spoilers but it is a matter that can only be discussed by expert VN players.

[Ithekro]

Well one things about spoilers, is that sometimes a spoiler is only a spoiler if you know about it already. To someone that has no idea what this is, seeing a character that doesn't come around for five or ten episodes may not be a spoiler to them since they have no idea who it is suppose to be anyway. It because a point of curiousity, "Who is that anyway?" sort of thing. There are OPs that actually give away or show a piece of the ending of a show...just that unless you know that is the ending, it won't mean anything to you until you finish the series.

[Jan-Poo]

Well except for the fact Beatrice's portrait is going to be shown since the first episode, so even those who are completely clueless about umineko's story will realize that she's the witch.

I guess most people will come to the conclusion that she's going to appear in the show sooner or later.

[Ithekro]

Even then...can be be sure she is real?

[Jan-Poo]

Ah well no, they might think she's going to appear as an illusion, a memory or as a real person.

I don't think it is possible to fully recreate the intended effect of the first episode, but a good part of it can be done, if they do it right.

To be honest i don't really like how things have been made in the manga, i hope the anime will be different.

[Proto]

Then again they could always leave the series with no op till the first chapter is over, like some series do when having the spoilers on the OP is unavoidable.

[Jan-Poo]

No OP until the end of the first VN episode? °° Usually they do that only for the very first anime episode but that's it.

[izmosmolnar]

I believe doing 5 episodes (or God knows how long the Legend of GW is going to be) without any intro is not a good idea. While I actually loved how there was no opening in the first episode of series like Maria+Holic to avoid early spoiling, 5 episodes or even more seems just too long not to show one.
As I said, I reckon if the creators wants the goat to be fed and the cabbage to remain (east-european saying with no famous equivalent I know), they should do an opening after The Legend of GW is finished (I estimate probably about 5-6-7 episode), then do a new with Beato (and maybe with the seven nee-chans) included.
And again when the Turn of the GW is finished do a new with Ronove included (as I think his first appearance can be included in the very first episode of the ark), and possibly with Virgilia in it too (Considering how the whole ark begins when she and Beato is conversing sometimes in the past, ergo her presence in the opening wouldn't give anything away). I believe it'd actually add some extra twist without going overboard too much, to change the witch-painting (provided it was shown in the previous 2 openings) to Eva-B's painting.
In my very own opinion that would be the best, the most sensible option, but obviously it's not a cheap thing to do a new opening after every ~6-7 episode.

Maybe it would be also a good solution to do a normal OP with none of the spoiler-characters included (ergo only with the "standard" people, and the painting of Beato), like the game's op1 + op2 is done, and stick with it all the way to the end of the Banquett of the Golden Witch. Possibly that's estimatedly about 1,5 chour anyway. In that case the following opening can also include such characters like Ange and co. Hell some shows keep the very same opening in both seasons (24-26 episodes), I don't think that would be so weird.

[maximilianjenus]

and some shows like gantz change the video of the opening, without changing the music to accomodate for new chars.

[Von Himmel]

They could just add the new character within each chapter one by one. . Probably during the first arc, they're only going to make them as a sillouthe. And Beatrice can remain 'foggy' and 'mysterious', as if she is not exist at all during the first arc.

[momobunny]

Like they did with the Higurashi Kai OP... at first it's just a dark image. But later on we learn that it's Takano.

Or maybe they'd be better off with just new additions. Like how Hanyuu was added in at the end.

[Rias]

Personally I think it's okay to include the all the charaters in the OP/ED, even the ones who lives in the fantasy world. It depends more on how they present it.

After all, the ep4 package shows like everyone on it, and it's meant for people who have been following the game and for people who are start out. (or else they don't need to inlcude in the early episodes)

[maximilianjenus]

In teh end, it won't matter too much, the only spoilerish characters are okonogi, rika and takano. Anybody else does not matter as new watchers won't know what are those characters supossed to be; I mean, bleach was showing some of the vaizados way back in the very first volumes, several dozens of chapters before they even appeared.

[Jan-Poo]

Well Ange is also somewhat spoilerish, especially if the ushiromiya's crest is visible.

But i agree that characters like Eva-Beatrice would never be understood (in fact she was shown even before the release of episode3 ^^)

[momobunny]

Originally Posted by maximilianjenus

In teh end, it won't matter too much, the only spoilerish characters are okonogi, rika and takano. Anybody else does not matter as new watchers won't know what are those characters supossed to be; I mean, bleach was showing some of the vaizados way back in the very first volumes, several dozens of chapters before they even appeared.

Rika and Takano?
Bern and Lambda aren't that spoilerific, I've seen them before playing the games and wasn't spoiled too much at all. (They're not really that active until EP3 or EP4 anyway...)

[Coruja]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

No OP until the end of the first VN episode? °° Usually they do that only for the very first anime episode but that's it.

They should keep the same OP for all the episodes, BUT change the Opening animation depending on the episode/arc. The way it happens with the Visual Novels.
But that's probably too much work.

[natyo2]

I hope it's just this pic that has Battler with blue eyes...

[Midonin]

As long as the characters act as themselves, is coloration really that big of a deal?