[Anime] Umineko - Q & A

[battle22]

she doesn't live to her full potential

Yeah, Yukari Tamura didn't give her all.

[DoubtGin]

Hey guys,

is it worth "reading" the complete VN again although I've already read most of the arcs through mangas?

What I've read so far:

Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch (complete)
Episode 2: Turn of the Golden Witch (complete)
Episode 3: Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch

Spoiler:

until Rosa's and Maria's death because the manga didn't get translated any further

Episode 4: Alliance of the Golden Witch (complete)

Spoiler:

but I've read the manga until the final scene and watched the rest from various youtube-videos, so it's kinda mixed her

Episode 5: End of the Golden Witch (complete)

Spoiler:

up to the final court scene

Episode 6: Dawn of the Golden Witch

Spoiler:

up to Jessica vs. Kyrie (I don't know how that one ends though I guess Jessica will win)

Episode 7: Requiem of the Golden Witch - didn't even start this one
Episode 8: Twilight of the Golden Witch - didn't even start this one

So what I've been missing: (probably) some Tea Parties + the ??? chapters, TIPS, I guess around half of EP 3, EP 7, EP 8

Should I start reading/playing the VN from EP1 on although I basically know what's going on? I have to admit I've also forgotten some relatively important parts, I guess.

An advantage of reading it again from the beginning would be that I probably get a better understanding of the whole story/mysteries because I've been confused quite a few times.

If some of you have read both the manga and the VN, are there any huge differences?

Thanks in advance.

[Drifloon]

You should probably read the VN from the start, just because the music makes it so much better.

[DaBackpack]

Originally Posted by Drifloon

You should probably read the VN from the start, just because the music makes it so much better.

This.

Can't put enough emphasis in to how much the music makes the experience. The game's atmosphere is something that can't be replicated into manga. The manga is good too, but the VNs are phenomenal.

[DoubtGin]

Guess I'll have to read it from the beginning again, then. Thanks again.

Though I can't wait to see what happens from EP6 on.

[DarkLK]

I am really sorry for my terrible written English. But can anyone tell me, is it true that Bernkaster from Umineko has some connection to Rika Furude or Frederica Bernkastel from Higurashi?
Are there any confirmation of this? Any canon material or author interview?

Also, it is true that Ougon Musou Kyoku is canon?

[Drifloon]

If the ???? sections of Episode 1 and 2 didn't make that clear, her piece's name being 'Furudo Erika' should have.

The exact nature of that connection is of course open to debate, but it's pretty obviously there.

And I don't think that OMK is generally regarded as canon, but since there's no translation I really have no idea what its story content actually entails.

[GabrieliosP]

OMK's story varies from which team you chose in arcade mode.

Battler/Beatrice - Takes place in an EP3-ish setting. Beatrice asks Battler help to defeat Evatrice who took over the gameboard.
Battler/Rosa - Takes place in an EP2-ish setting.
Battler/Kanon - Culprit!Battler with Accomplice!Kanon commiting the murders.

The list goes on. OMK shouldn't be considered as canon, since most of its endings don't follow it.

[DarkLK]

Originally Posted by Drifloon

If the ???? sections of Episode 1 and 2 didn't make that clear, her piece's name being 'Furudo Erika' should have.

The exact nature of that connection is of course open to debate, but it's pretty obviously there.

I understand that there are plenty of hints, but it could just be fanservice.
There are people who claim that umineko and higurashi has no relationship to each other, as there is no evidence of this.
Umineko wikia says

It has been stated in an interview that she is the personality of the 100-year-old witch Rika seperated herself from in Saikoroshi-hen and is the crystallization of only the cruelest parts left over from the 100-year-old witch. It is possible this 100-year-old witch is Frederica.

That interview are actually exist?

[Jan-Poo]

There's no need for an interview to confirm what is esplicitly shown in Saikoroshi-hen.

Spoiler for Saikoroshi-hen:

In that extra chapter of Higurashi it is indeed said that Frederica Bernkastel and Rika separated. You can see it as a somehow an even better ending for Rika, so that she can live a normal life after the events of Matsuribayashi.
Though Frederica Bernkastel "existed" even before the split so I don't know what that quote is talking about.

That fact described in Saikoroshi-hen lead to the theory that the split Frederica Bernkastel is the Bernkastel we see in Umineko. However there is no clear confirmation.

Ryuukishi confirmed that Bernkastel does work as a connection between Higurashi and Umineko, but he didn't specify how.

here is where he mentioned that

This is the reason he created Bernkastel in order to put a direct link between Umineko and Higurashi.

The interpretations vary depending on your take of the metaworld and the "sea of kakera".

Spoiler for Umineko ending:

If you think that's real, then you can conclude that the many kakera from "Umineko" and "Higurashi" exist in the same "sea" and that Bernkastel (originating from Higurashi) can travel through them at will.


The other interpretation is that the metaworld is a mere metaphor of the collective imagination, and that the various kakera of the "sea of kakera" are just fictional stories and not actual alternate universes.
From this perspective Higurashi in Umineko would be just a story in which the character Bernkastel was first created. And Ikuko would be the author that created her and named her after her cat.

There might be other theories but these are the ones I know. Anyway what matters is that neither was officially confirmed or disconfirmed.

[pampz21]

Spoiler for Weapons?!:

I want to confirm about their weapons?

So:
Battler= Golden Great sword & Red and Blue normal sizer sword?
Will= Black Cutlas?
Delanor= Red & Blue swords?
Erika= Blue Scythe
So what am I missing? /SPOILER]

[Drifloon]

Pretty sure that Battler never had red or blue swords, just the gold greatsword. The gold greatsword is able to make blue and red trails, though.

Battler also used blue stakes against Beato in EP4.

Will has a black katana and Clair has a silver one (though hers is never actually seen, only mentioned in text).

Dlanor has a red longsword and blue shortsword. Erika's scythe is referred to as purple, I think, and Bern has one too.

Kanon has a red sword; the goats and Seven Sisters have blue ones.

I think that's about it.

[GreyZone]

I am sure that Battler used a red and/or blue sword in the fight against Dlanor, where he

Spoiler for EP5: End of the Golden Witch:

"jumped through the window of Kinzo's study" in EP5

[Drifloon]

Ah, well done, you're right. Battler does use a red blade in that fight. I forgot about that.

[GabrieliosP]

This thread is for anime-only Q&A. We already have the spoilers, theories and interpretations for that.

[immblueversion]

It's been a long time since I've been here, hasn't it? I've kinda been locked out of the Umineko loop for a while, and I've only been brought back into it because of a YouTube comment by one "SakutaroChannel3" made in response to one I made about the quality and success anime. Eventually our "discussion" (well, argument) led to the commentor making this multi-comment statement:

I partly agree with you opinion, but your opinion of Umineko anime not selling well is totally a wrong information that is being spread upon western fans of Umineko.

When Umineko anime was finished, only EP4 was coming out (when they started making anime, only EP2 was released), and Umineko was not popular at all when the anime was made. For example, Umineko VN only sold less than 10,000 copies before the anime was made, and it was like 1/80 sales of Higurashi VN.

So, they know that Umineko DVD will not sell in quantity, they sat DVD price higher than other anime DVD and aimed 1000 sales per 1 Umineko DVD.

However, DVD sold much more than DEEN expected. Each Umineko DVD gradually sold around 2,000 copies. Because Umineko anime budget was low and the price of DVD was high, they made a nice profit out of it.

So, the reputation of Umineko anime by DEEN was very nice and Umineko became popular because of it's anime.

I hope you to spread this true information about Umineko anime.

Those fake rumors of "DEEN screwed up Umineko" is a false fact, which is being spread by the original VN worshipers who try to ruin DEEN's reputaion, and this negative campaign is a big loss for Umineko overall.

Can anyone verify this?

[battle22]

If that's the case, why didn't they do Season 2?

[immblueversion]

Originally Posted by battle22

If that's the case, why didn't they do Season 2?

The commenter said it was because EP5 and EP6 were terrible. I wonder if they meant that Chiru is downright impossible to adapt within a 26-episode format.

[battle22]

The commenter said it was because EP5 and EP6 were terrible. I wonder if they meant that Chiru is downright impossible to adapt within a 26-episode format.

I hope they meant that, because EP5-6 are nowhere near "Terrible" .

Whole Chiru is, according to my book, amazing.

Plus, how can studio decide not to animate a certain thing just because of their subjective opinion? So that's why the "Chiru is impossible to adapt" thing makes more sense.

Or they knew the fans wouldn't want another season because of the reputation the anime received after people read the VN. Personally, I want to see Chiru Anime for sole reason to watch Erika (Who made Umineko what it is today) animated.

[Drifloon]

Considering that's the first time I've ever heard that the anime isn't an awful failure, and considering that there was no second season even though they milked Higurashi for all it was worth......yeah, I don't have the statistics, but I'm pretty sure this guy's just wrong.