Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 21 Discussion / Poll

[Kakkou]

DEEN must be having some problems keeping track of the sisters seeing how they keep mixing their hair colours up XD.

[chounokoe]

Originally Posted by Kakkou

DEEN must be having some problems keeping track of the sisters seeing how they keep mixing their hair colours up XD.

Well, to defend them on that one. Neither me nor a friend who's also reading it can distinguish the stakes by name, except Mammon (because there was such a focus on her in Episode 4).
Until now they are just 7 times the same girl with different wigs. XD
Still I agree that a studio animating it should be able to keep track of who they are animating right now...or at least let the person stay the same person...

Apart from the I really liked the episode, even though the art was seriously unstable this week. I've got no problem with moneysaving, but it's kinda distracting if a character looks 6 times different in the course of 20 minutes. Still it's nothing that would ruin this episode for me.
Rosa and Maria scenes were very well done, I really felt the tension, and the scene that was pulled a bit forward fitted very well at this point.

But I'm still unsure if next episode won't be a seriously rushed job, if they want to squeeze everything that's left in 5 episodes...because there's still so much to SAY especially...

[Kakkou]

Well, I wasn't really trying to put DEEN down or anything since I am their fan. But I'm glad to hear the episode was good, can't wait till I see the RAW.

[Ithekro]

Well who can keep track of all their "sins"? They got seven deadly ones and it is hard just with that.

[Kite22]

You need to train harder TBH, I've got no problems telling the Stakes apart.

[Tsuyi]

Spoiler for Episode 21 review:

FFFFF-- I was looking forward to this episode because of the scene where Rosa rips apart Sakutaro. I imagined blood and limbs and stuff, like a scene where human Sakutaro is ripped apart too D': That scene totally had epic blood splatter when Rosa was killing him. That's why I thought Maria freaked out so much, because she actually witnessed her friend being maimed and decapitated by her mother. I wanted bloody Sakutaro like he was in the TIPS ;_; Ugghh..../cry

But I guess I shouldn't base my rating off of something like that just because I'M into that kind of thing D':

Other than that, why was Lucifer destroyed twice? lol I know some people can't distinguish them, but it confuses the hell out of the people who can Honestly, I never bothered to distinguish them until Episode 4, where they acted more like humans and less like tools/furniture...haha.

This episode gets a 7. It was good, I guess, Yui Horie's crying was really good. But I really can't give it a higher score because they denied me the bloody shota scene D':

[KoiYuki]

Originally Posted by Kite22

You need to train harder TBH, I've got no problems telling the Stakes apart.

Same here. Granted, occassionally I'll forget one of their name's for a second, but I never mix them up.
I also tend to forget Siesta 410's name. But I know which ones she's not!

[luckyssol]

Originally Posted by Tsuyi

Other than that, why was Lucifer destroyed twice? lol I know some people can't distinguish them, but it confuses the hell out of the people who can Honestly, I never bothered to distinguish them until Episode 4, where they acted more like humans and less like tools/furniture...haha

By this point, the average viewer should be able to distinguish each stake by their asses alone. I guess people aren't trying to solve the mystery hard enough.

I absolutely loved this episode. Ange's classroom scene and Sakutarou's ripping scene had good emotional impact. Rating 10/10

Looking foward to "I'm on a boat" (Ange Remix)

[Proto]

I know it has been mentioned before a lot of times, but it is tiring to death that 90% of the conversation in the episode thread veers around animation errors and meta discussion about the episode rather than, well you know, what actually happened.

[chronotrig]

Originally Posted by Proto

I know it has been mentioned before a lot of times, but it is tiring to death that 90% of the conversation in the episode thread veers around animation errors and meta discussion about the episode rather than, well you know, what actually happened.

Unfortunately, consistency errors are a legitimate topic for discussion in a story like Umineko, especially when they're obvious ones. This anime is an adaptation and has to be judged as one.

Spoiler for episode:

That said, this episode was very well done for the most part. It was a bit weird to see only 3 girls bullying Ange while the others hid just out of frame 90% of the time. It'd probably have had much more impact with the girls crowded around Ange like in the game, but whatever.

Still, the rest of the episode was done well and they even added the full flashback with kid Ange. I remember that that scene confused a lot of people in the VN, and it's probably the single scene that works much better in the anime than the original.

I have no problem with them adding the uu-uu- scene here, and the way they tied it in with the anime episode 4's song was pretty interesting. I wonder if Ryuukishi had something to do with that, or whether it was just something the anime guys thought up.

[KanonTheFurniture]

Don't have all that much to say about this episode. I thought it was done really well, but it didn't particularly wow me. Two episodes in a row without seeing present-day Rokkenjima... *yawn* At least the VN interspersed the flashbacks and normal scenes somewhat.

Spoiler for review:

First off, Ange's classroom scene. I absolutely loved everything about it from the execution to the voice acting to the music...in and of itself. However, the flashback in last week's episode made this feel really bizarre...I mean, the flashbacks were confusing as all Hell in the VN, too, but this just made it even moreso. I think if they didn't have that flashback last week, but rather prefaced this scene with something like 'I remember the time I denied magic and my friends...' before the scene, it wouldn't have felt so...random. The scene itself was perfect, but the way they chose to show it was not.

On a somewhat related note, someone needs to seriously teach those St. Lucia bitches a lesson.

Oh wow, Ange certainly seems to take after Kyrie in terms of 'assets'. o_O;

Really loving Ange's VA more and more each episode. Mammon, however, hearing her a little more now, is just...I dunno, not BAD, but somehow feels unfitting.

Maria's convenience store scene was really nice, too. Would have liked to see her meeting the police officer rather than just sorta...teleporting to the station, but otherwise it felt appropriate.

Loved Rosa's 'Black Witch' scene. This is the scene that really made me (and I'm sure many others) hate her in the VN, and those feelings came back in full force seeing (or moreso, hearing; props to Koshizumi) it again here. It lacked the emotional buildup of the VN, of course, but that's to be expected. I think they pulled it off brilliantly...hearing Maria speak through Sakutaro before Rosa ripped him up nearly had me in tears. I'm hoping that now, Anime-only fans who've hated Maria since EP1 will have a change of heart about her, and understand why she is the way she is in October '86.

Hearing Maria's 'uu-uu' song... ;_;

Ange's resurrection of Sakutaro was really underwhelming. In the VN it was like "HOLY SHIT, DID SHE JUST...?!", but in the Anime it just felt like "check me out, I can bring Sakutaro back to life." Just...I dunno, felt too easy. Ange seems like a natural born witch in the Anime, between this and being able to manifest the stakes in no time flat.

OISHII HANYUU WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN UMINEKO

Finally get to hear Kasumi speak. I know she's got Kyrie's VA, but she could at least try to make her sound a little different. Meh.

Wow, it ended a little earlier than I expected...which is good because they did a great job on the scenes without rushing this episode, but it makes me worry a little about what to expect for next week.

Overall...hm, hard one to judge. Episode felt pretty boring, but at the same time, I'm very pleased at how they adapted the necessary scenes. It just didn't make for a very exciting episode. The real good stuff begins next week, though, and this one definitely sets the stage for later events, so I'm satisfied. Will wait for subs to rate, to get a better feel for things like the conversation in the classroom, but I think I'll give it a 9. Animation was, er, wonky to say the least, but that doesn't typically affect my ratings, especially considering the Higurashi Anime is what got me into When They Cry to begin with. Everything was really well done - just boring (as was the VN during this part anyways).

[June 1983]

Originally Posted by Proto

I know it has been mentioned before a lot of times, but it is tiring to death that 90% of the conversation in the episode thread veers around animation errors and meta discussion about the episode rather than, well you know, what actually happened.

Yes. It has been mentioned before, thank you.

[chronotrig]

Ah, I forgot. Not only did they revive Ooishi and include a boat called the Hanyuu-maru, they also had this:

Spoiler for uguu:

Uhh, different VN though

[Kakkou]

Fantastic episode... barring some rather... monstrous breasts. Seriously, Ange looked like she was packing oppai missiles in her uniform. Should've used those to smack those St. Lucia bitches. Rosa's crowning moment of model parenting was really effective. I hate her there just as much as I did in the SN, even more so with the voice acting as well. Oh, and I'd like to say that this is also one of the moments where Maria's evil face is genuinely scary and effective when it followed up from all the drama that occured.

[luckyssol]

Originally Posted by chronotrig

Ah, I forgot. Not only did they revive Ooishi and include a boat called the Hanyuu-maru, they also had this:

Spoiler for uguu:

Uhh, different VN though

Yep, Yui Horie does the voice for Ayu in Kanon. We almost had Uryu~ Uu~ and Uguu~ in one scene.

Originally Posted by Kakkou

Oh, and I'd like to say that this is also one of the moments where Maria's evil face is genuinely scary and effective when it followed up from all the drama that occured.

Yeah, her face was much more different than her usual creepy face.

Spoiler for Maria's face:

[serenade_beta]

I'm starting to wonder if this anime is actually speaking in Japanese... orz

It was a wonderful episode full of noticeably large breasts, coloring mistakes, crazy mother and daughter, and delusions.
...
..... <--speechless

[momobunny]

Hmmm... color me unimpressed as far as Kasumi's voice goes. Not only does she sound just like Kyrie, but the attitude seems to be completely different from what I imagined. I imagined her voice sounding more... taunting and sly... kind of like Eva or Takano from Higurashi (not that I expected her to be voiced by Miki Itou)... I don't know, I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

Also, I don't hate Rosa... I expected to be extremely pissed off at her and hate her a lot. But in the anime she seems pretty angry. In the VN I got the impression that she smiled and actually enjoyed crushing her daughter's dreams, which was what made me really sick while reading it... also, I kind of imagined Sakutaro actually being ripped apart while in human form... which I'm extremely glad wasn't animated. @_@;

[Christen]

Originally Posted by Ssol

Yeah, her face was much more different than her usual creepy face.

Spoiler for Maria's face:

It actually looks close to Rena's USODA face.

Anyway, giving this episode an 8/10. -1 came from the lack of quality in a few scenes. +2 came from the parenting scene which was done well. Yeah, the Rosa hate comes back now.

[MarshmallowAngela]

Spoiler for LONG review:

To be bluntly honest, I didn't really notice the animation quality for this episode (not even the BOOBS).

Pros:

+ The denial scene. It made me cry in the VN, and it made me tear up here. That's already a large feat to accomplish. Rina Satou gets a thumbs-up for her spectacular performance at Ange the screamer.
+ Ange's schoolmates are bitches that need to be burnt at the stake. Yeah, that's a good thing.
+ THE BEST MOTHER IN THE WORLD IS BACK! The child abuse is played out quite well!
+ R.I.P. Trumpet bunny...
+ Maria's on the way to L5 again... only more dignified this time.
+ The "uu~" scene. ;_;
+ Ooishi and Hanyuu reference! Captain Kawabata has a nice taste for names.
+ Juuza's conversation with Ange. If that was skipped, then Juuza seriously won't have much interaction with his boss.
+ Kasumi's "IT'S RAEP TIME" face.

Cons:

- Lucifer died twice?! Seriously, is it that hard to distinguish two girls with black hair and green hair?
- The Hanyuu-maru seems really, REALLY small, especially with the stakes sitting there. But I don't know much about boats so...
- Kasumi sounds too similar to Kyrie. I don't mind that much, but it just feels weird.
- Ending at the Kasumi scene had me worried. Other than the problem where everyone wants the episode to stop at Kinzo's entrance, it also means that the future episodes will have to be rushed a bit, and the entire course of murders will have to fit into 4 episodes, if we want a "perfect" ending. But... I may be thinking too much.

Other points:

> Next episode is "Problem Child"... I had a good laugh at that.
> This is the only episode so far which has no Battler... I just feel like pointing that out.
> I expected the Sakutaro-ripping scene to have some blood, for dramatic effect. But it's a bit too extreme, I guess...

I liked this episode a lot in terms of adaptation, and the BGM was pretty good (just because it ain't in the novel doesn't mean it's bad). They had quite a few QUALITY problems though (like every other episode), and the pacing is good for an episode but it worries me. Ah, no point in worrying now. I wanted to give this episode an 8 for the quality, but since the important scenes were kept nicely, I gave it a 9.

[Workworkwork]

Originally Posted by Maho Momo

Also, I don't hate Rosa... I expected to be extremely pissed off at her and hate her a lot. But in the anime she seems pretty angry. In the VN I got the impression that she smiled and actually enjoyed crushing her daughter's dreams, which was what made me really sick while reading it... also, I kind of imagined Sakutaro actually being ripped apart while in human form... which I'm extremely glad wasn't animated. @_@;

Yeah, I was hoping they'd have reused Maria's croco-face from like, episode 2.