alittlebitmoreplz:

Natsuhi Ushiromiya xD

Entrandole al…Mario Kart?

This is a new thing for Natsuhi! After toting a gun in Umineko, she’s now to be feared in Mario Kart Wii! I wonder who she’s up against? Beatrice? XD

“Hora Hora! Naku nai yo, BATTLER!”

Spoiler Warning!

Episode 14 should probably be one of the best episodes of Umineko so far. We see two progressions in this episode: one was by Battler, going on the offensive against Beatrice; the second came from Eva, having solved the riddle of the Epitaph.

We start off the episode with some fancy light show a fantastic battle between Virgilia and Beatrice. Sadly, Virgilia lost because of two towers sniping from behind her. Okay, I know this involves magic and all, but Beatrice acted like some stubborn and bratty kid. True, I am impressed with her voice, her wits… and if she was a real person, I’d even applaud her for that acting. But… like some brat, she wanted her own way and twisted the battle against Virgilia. I’d say it’s cheating, having done that backstabbing maneuver. Virgilia, on the other hand, was an idiot for falling into Beatrice’s trap. She taught Beatrice! How could she not see through that farce of a magic. She’s supposed to be prepared, be more knowledgeable about this stuff, and more adept at magic than Beatrice!

I haven’t fully read the visual novel, so I don’t know if this next one has been explained properly. This third chapter showed a living Beatrice taught by Virgilia. She even died last episode 13. Only then were her memories restored as a witch. If she was then taught by Virgilia, how was she able to reach 1000 years old like she claims to be? Okay, so maybe anything’s possible here, so even paradoxes could be a possibility. But let’s move on…

We’re in a new puzzle now. Six servants are dead, each with an envelope containing a room key. It’s actually a chain of murders: a dead body plus a key to the next room containing another corpse and another key. This time, the episode employs the idea of Schroedinger’s Cat, the idea or existence of having multiple truths until one has been proven the absolute truth. It’s a good move from Battler’s side, and we give credit to Virgilia for that. Why didn’t Battler think of this before? It’s the same ultimate question we raise whenever Battler attempts to solve the puzzle. Personally, I think this time, Battler doesn’t contribute much to the game. Virgilia did all the homework and Battler just followed through like some freeloader.

The puzzle was also laid out to the viewers in a predetermined orderly fashion. This hides one other assumption: that the murders were done in a different or random order, and the keys were placed thereafter, giving it a “planted” order. Could we then safely assume that the killer might not be one of the 6, but from the other mansion residents instead? That the keys were gathered after the murders, and replanted to create a closed-door situation?

Moving on. Eva managed to solve the riddle of the epitaph, with the help of her schizophrenic symptom. Yeah, she’s deranged, talking to her “younger self” like that. Yay, she found the gold! Wait… she found the gold?! I prefer Natsuhi or Kyrie to spot the gold! Kyrie is definitely smarter! But hey, Eva will definitely be a renewed piece of the chessboard now.

It was irritating not to know what the river and village truly meant. I was expecting an answer to the riddle when she found things out. And I’m hoping the next episodes will do so.

One last thing before I conclude. This is the first time I saw Beatrice really flustered and agitated over Battler’s offensive. It was a pleasing sight to behold after all that Battler-bickering and despair-throwing antics she’s had in the past episodes. This provides a certain balance to the story between two opposing sides. After one side’s victorious offensives, it’s time we saw the other side take action. Such viewing pleasure is the epitome of anime excitement.

Overall, episode 14 is nothing but gorgeous. There are, of course, unanswered questions. So let’s hope they get answered by the time the series ends.

Sieg

For someone who’s read the SN, all I can say is that a lot of segments rushed too much of the exposition and details were left out from the anime compared to the SN. So as a fan of the series, it is a letdown.

But please, enjoy the anime, even if you read the sound novel. The artwork is relatively better but the sound is terribly lacking - even in this episode. Take this comment as an promotion for the sound novel. And that both adaptations have their strong points — now; only if they merged those things…

Cromne

Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 12: Impressions

I couldn’t express in words how excited I am about Umineko’s latest chapter. New characters, a new story, a re-energized Battler, and a more heated argument than the previous two chapters!

I have yet to read Chapters 2-4 of Umineko’s visual novel, so right now, I’m feeling a bit hung up on what’s in store for the following anime episodes. The third chapter has a new angle on the Ushiromiya massacre, that’s for sure. And looks like Battler knows what he’s doing now. He’s off to a good start against Beatrice’s tactics. He saves the face of the 18 people on the island by theorizing the existence of X number of other people apart from the 18. Seriously, he should’ve stuck with that theory from the beginning. But I suppose this was typical of a Ryukishi07 novel; that the better theories would be proposed as the events kept on replaying.

Another Beatrice was introduced in the first quarter of the episode. It seems that a different “alchemic consultant” existed in a distant Ushiromiya past. This indigo-haired Beatrice looked more elegant than our current Beatrice. In the visual novel, she’s named Virgilia (after Virgil from Dante’s Divine Comedy). Plus, our current Beatrice is as old as Maria, showing her desire to be a witch and thus becoming a student of the Virgilia. Sounds confusing? Yeah, I’m confused on how to explain it too.

The latter half of the episode shows all the adults in their usual debate for inheritance and the appearance of the first letter about the Ushiromiya gold. Upon reaching the end, you’ll be shocked at what Rosa will scream… I won’t spoil that one for you!

Compared to the other 2009 anime lineup, I’ve never been too excited and too giddy as much as I did in Umineko. The cliffhangers keep you asking for more, wishing that the next episode would already come. Episode 12 is no exception. The start of the third chapter gave a very brief but “meaty” re-introduction. But it still leaves enough room for speculation on the next episode altogether.

For readers of the visual novel, do us a favor and don’t spoil us. We’d love to watch it ourselves and feel our hearts race as the Battler-Beatrice debate goes on until the end.

If you haven’t watched any Umineko episodes, I suggest you do so now.

Does anyone have the guts to cosplay as one of Beatrice’s seven stakes of purgatory?

Sieg