[jjblue1]

Originally Posted by goldendust

Well that is one possible explanation. We have to consider that it was said that pieces cannot act too much OOC in EP5.

Erika going mad is, as far as I'm involved, an unsatisfing motive for her to commit murder.

Originally Posted by goldendust

About EP6, I am not sure how much that as a valid game considering the blatant tampering on Erika's part and Battler's retroactive changes to the story. I do not think we saw Batter as a piece ever act like that nor ever shown awareness about his status as a piece.

Like how? He's just playing a prank. If you want an OOC Battler you've to go for EP 5. In it he solved easily an epitaph he previously couldn't figure out and cooperated in staging fake murders likely with the purpose of blackmailing Natsuhi.

Originally Posted by goldendust

A large point of EP3 was to help Battler after his abysmal failure in EP2. Beatrice dumped a lot of hints within the game. That no unknown person can exist, the catbox metaphor, the pony promise that Batter made etc. The whole EP has been basically training wheels for Battler.

This don't make impossible the fact that it was Yasu who placed there the cigarette butt.

Originally Posted by goldendust

Unlikely but not impossible. Depending on the circumstances, it is possible that Hideyoshi was able to kill them both but got killed himself.

The games are supposed to have a single culprit, Yasu. Now you're creating 3, Eva, Hideyoshi and Yasu.
Also, Rudolf and Kirye were skilled with weapons while Hideyoshi was not and, according to your theory, Kirye suspected of him.
Two people skilled with weapons and wary against one who's unskilled and might not know he's being suspected. The chances are so low Hideyoshi needs a miracle to accomplish this.

Originally Posted by goldendust

Why? Eva is desperate to gain money for her husband's sake as well deisred the headship since her youth. Something that was within Yasuda's means to give her if Eva agreed.

I'm speaking of how she shouldered the blame for the Rokenjima incident after it took place.
If Yasu is dead it would have been easy to place the blame on the 'mad maid who thought to be Kinzo's heir'. If Yasu is alive likely Eva wishes for revenge for the dead of George and Hideyoshi.
In both cases I doubt she would just take the blame and cover up for Yasu...

Originally Posted by goldendust

Yes the story portrays them as incomplete souls born from Yasuda's soul or in other words multiple personalities.

There was someone in the past who better explained how multiple personalities doesn't work the way we see in Umineko.

Originally Posted by goldendust

No I am suggesting that Nanjo's role was to cover up the life/death status of certain people like he was doing the whole time with Kinzo. People trust Nanjo as a doctor and Nanjo himself is an accomplished liar who aided other in the pasts in their ill deeds.

Of course people lie and can draw the line somewhere but like I said Nanjo is not "everyone" nor he is an entirely honest man, we do not know where he would draw the line.

With a vast amount of wealth and potential threat. Why would not be possible for Nanjo to aid a murder by lying about life/death statuses?

Because nowhere he's depicted as a man who has a thirst for money and would kill/aid someone else to kill to get it.

Originally Posted by goldendust

Of course we do not know although a lot hints towards it. The most glaring is the method of murder.

Beato didn't always make closed room murders.
In Ep 1 when Kanon is killed there'a a door that lead outside and that's not closed.
In Ep 2 Nanjo and Kumasawa apparently welcomed in their murderer.
In Ep 3 the only closed room murders are the ones of the first twilight and the one of George.
The same applies to Ep 4 where Maria is killed again and Beato uses poison to murder her.

I don't really see any problem in her causing Rosa and Maria to leave the house and then cause Rosa to die in such a way to after kill Maria through strangulation.
Note that Beato (well, chick Beato) attempted to strangulate someone in EP 6 as well.

Originally Posted by goldendust

Indeed in some cases fantasy being a comforting lie does not work. However in one of your examples like Ange, they story portrayed that giving up on fantasy friends was a negative thing.

The problem isn't that Age gave up on her magic friends but that she relied on them and when she was forced to crash with reality that they couldn't do a single thing she gave up on them.
The negative thing is that she relied on them, not that she gave up on them.
Fantasy isn't bad per se, it's when you start to live in a fantasy world that things tend to go bad.
If Ange hadn't blindly trusted in her friends to solve her problems but had remained aware they were just fantasies she wouldn't have put her hopes in them.

Through probably that scene is a mere metaphor to represent how she had reached a breaking point where not even fantasy could help her being happy as it can't solve her problems in the real world.

Originally Posted by goldendust

Although if you consider the magic vs trick ending that the magic one where Ange believes in magic and blindly hopes that someone will return is the most positive one.

Because that one is a completely different type of magic.
Hoping for something that has a chance at happening, although a low one, isn't lying to herself about something she knows for sure to be false.
Also, while she hoped, she still tried to live in the real world instead than closing herself in the fantasy world of her hope.

Her stance is completely different from the one she had at school where she acted like she believed her magic friends to be real and tried to cut herself from the real world.