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Old 2012-06-10, 19:12   Link #29110
TwilightsCall
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Age: 33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wanderer View Post
I hear this kind of complaint a lot, but I have yet to actually see identified exactly what we were challenged to solve in Umineko.
To quote Bernkastel in the first ??? Tea Party:

Quote:
[Beatrice's] existence is a personification of the rules of this world. To beat her, you have to expose the rules of this world and unravel them.

For example, this can be likened to learning the rules of Chess by watching a game.

First, take a good look at the chessboard. Then, learn the movements and roles of the pieces. Then, look for the conditions required to win at her game.

When you've managed to reveal all of those things, her heart will be exposed.
I've always considered that to be Ryukishi's challenge to the reader, though admittedly I was too drawn in to following the story to put much thought into it when I went through the game the first time.

On top of that there is the first tea party, where we were essentially challenged (by Beatrice through Battler) to try and deny the witch until the very end, and to try and come up with a reasonable explanation for a human culprit.

Honestly, I never felt like what happened on Prime was within the scope of the story, but I can understand how people would be upset that Ryukishi would talk so much about it and then never give out the conclusion. Kind of reminds me of Ikuko, speaking to those people from the Mystery writing contest at one point in the story, saying she would gladly give them her manuscript, but under a different name and submitted legitly. If they could find it, they were more then welcome to use it. The situation is a little different, but I can see a few parallels.
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